Apples and Snakes has nurtured a wide range of poets across the decades, everyone from Roger Robinson to Joelle Taylor. Equally important has been our work engaging young people in poetry projects to develop confidence, and aspiration alongside creative and social skills, with positive impact on young peoples mental health and well-being.

In our 40th Anniversary year we want to bring back our successful national youth project WORDCUP, which previously ran in 2006, 2010 & 2014. The current funding environment means we have not been able to deliver this activity for a while and we are living at a time when young people need access to positive creative activities more than ever.

WORDCUP2023 will bring together 5 teams of young people from the North, South, East and West of England from inner cities and areas of rural deprivation via partnerships with: Young Identity, Manchester; Geraldine Connor Foundation, Leeds; ArtfulScribe, Hampshire; Suffolk Libraries and Sound Communities, Devon.

It will inspire young people aged 13 to 16 to express themselves and share what is important to them through writing and performance. It will raise self-esteem, encourage working in a team and give young people a chance to represent who they are and where they come from in a positive way.

Each team works with a professional poet and trainee poet over 7 weeks with an opportunity to share their work in their local community before heading to Manchester in July 2023 for a residential weekend hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Over the WORDCUP weekend, the young people will meet peers from across the country, perform as part of a professional level spoken word showcase and experience masterclasses from some of the best UK poets. Providing inspiration, making new friends and challenging them to reach high to fulfil their personal and creative ambitions.

Any contribution towards our target will help ensure as many young people as possible can participate. By donating you will be helping make a significant difference to the lives of young people facing serious financial, social and educational challenges.

You can see more about the previous WORDCUP events here:

WORDCUP 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmy23wrPP5M&t=8s

WORDCUP2010:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpGwoSTeOpY