A small art group based in Barrow is hoping to make a large difference in the community after receiving financial backing.

Artworks – Art4All uses art to bring people together and raise funds and awareness for mental health and wellbeing charities.

Their project, 'Turning the Tide', has received a £2,500 micro-grant from Westmorland and Furness Council's 'Barrow’s Heritage – Micro to Mighty' scheme.

Read more: Barrow heritage groups backed by £50,000 council funds | The Mail (nwemail.co.uk)

Sharon Tait, an artist and volunteer, said: "At the moment, we have worked with more than 700 people with ages ranging from four to 88.

"We have worked in community halls, schools, outside in Barrow town centre, at learning hubs and in our own workshop space at Drop Zone, Lakeland House - the project has proved to be a great success and very popular.”

The 'Turning the Tide' project was inspired by the area’s long history of paper-making to combine the themes of memories of water, combating pollution and making environmentally friendly paper by hand.

"We still have large [production] companies like Kimberly-Clark in Barrow and James Cropper near Kendal," Sharon explained.

"Artworks wanted to show people how to make environmentally friendly paper using traditional techniques - we wanted to provide a legacy so the project continues to run without any costs to groups involved."

Fifteen groups including schools and charities around Furness were given a kit including a hand blender, large bowls, environmentally friendly pens, paper making frames, towels, cloths, ladles, a timer and containers for pulp and dyes.

Sharon added: "We didn’t want a gloomy message but one that suggests we can make a change.

"Stopping the impact pollution is having on the waters around us created an idea, and image, of a turning tide bringing in new waters and new opportunities."

Each group taking part in 'Turning the Tide' is given a folder of information about CancerCare, as part of Artworks’ efforts to support local charities.