Salford community event educates families on the story of Thomas Paine

Walk the Plank hosted an event for the community of Salford to learn about the history of political activist, Thomas Paine.

The event had activities for people of all ages including, arts and crafts sessions with Salford Victorian Theatre Trust, badge making activities and a pumpkin tombola.

Organisers of the event, Walk the Plank, have been getting the community involved in events for 27 years.

Ben Turner, the organiser of the event, spoke about how the event came about: “We went to the Working Class Movement Library to do a writing session and nobody came so we went to the Thomas Paine room and read about him.

“I had never heard of him before, he was a radical thinker and that is where the idea came from.”

A puppet dance session and the window paintings were a highlight for the children at the event, which can be viewed below.

 

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A day full of making, doing, eating and dancing The Bones of Paine @funpalaces at our #Salford home, Cobden Works. Thanks to everyone who came! What a fantastic day ?☠️ #funpalaces #workshops #making #communityarts #fun #artsandcrafts

A post shared by Walk the Plank (@walktheplankarts) on Oct 6, 2019 at 12:43pm PDT

Ben added:

“The event has gone great and its good to see people trying things out and having a bit of fun.”

The Bones of Paine puppet, which is used to educate people on the story of Thomas Paine, was also at the event.

Thomas Paine was a political activist in the American and French Revolution who died in 1809 and was buried in New York.

Thomas Paine’s bones are now believed to be in Salford after being brought back by Salford publisher William Cobbett.

Here is more about the history of Thomas Paine and the Walk the Plank event.

Image credit: Imogen Holland