Funding helps festival pen its next chapter

A West Yorkshire community literature festival is expanding to three days after securing further support from a local wind farm benefits fund.

Aberford Literature Festival will run from Friday, June 19 to Sunday, June 21, with a programme of talks, workshops and performances.

The event has received a further £3000 grant from the community fund linked to Hook Moor Wind Farm, which is owned by renewable energy producer ERG and managed by Sunderland-headquartered OnPath Energy.

Last year’s festival was also supported by OnPath Energy, with the latest funding helping organisers extend the event and increase its programme.

Speakers will include playwright and Wakefield Theatre Royal creative director John Godber, award-winning US writer Yvonne Battle-Felton, youth fiction author Linda Jones and BAFTA award-winning CBeebies presenter George Webster.

The festival will also feature a children’s writing competition, with young authors receiving a specially commissioned book featuring their work.

Other activities include a sonnet-writing workshop, an independent publishing session and performances of radio scripts written by members of the Aberford Authors Drama Collective.

Chris Berry, pictured below, a locally based author and one of the organisers of the Aberford Literature Festival, said: “The idea for the festival came about after a World Book Day visit to Aberford Primary School three years ago, as a way of encouraging the children’s huge enthusiasm for books and writing.

“Our first two years have been extremely successful and there was a clear appetite for extending the festival into a third day this year, as well as increasing the range of events that we put on as part of it.

“The quality of this year’s speaker programme and the breadth of knowledge and insights that these successful writers will be sharing with us is far greater than might be expected of a community festival like ours, while the creative opportunities we’re providing for local young people will hopefully encourage many of them to one day follow in these authors’ footsteps.

“The standard of their work is absolutely amazing and giving them all a book which features their stories means they’ll all be able to say that they’re already published authors.

“The ongoing support we’re receiving from the Hook Moor Wind Farm Fund means we can plan ahead with confidence and continue to raise our ambitions for this year and beyond.”

The Hook Moor Wind Farm community fund provides around £11,000 a year for local good causes, with additional festival support coming from Leeds City Council, Aberford Parish Council and local businesses.

Melissa Falconer, head of business development UK at ERG, added: “In acquiring the Hook Moor Wind Farm, ERG has embraced the responsibility of upholding all commitments to ensure that the site remains both a producer of clean energy and a trusted ‘Good Neighbour’ to the local community. 

“This means more than just providing support; it is about genuine alignment of values.  

“For the Group, being part of this landscape means looking after it, from supporting community events like the Aberford Literature Festival to caring for the wider environment.

“ERG views the Wind Farm not just as an infrastructure, but as a ‘shared asset’ held between the company and the community; a collaborative resource designed to foster a sustainable future where clean energy production and the preservation of rural heritage go hand in hand.”

Tom Chaplin, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy, added: “The Aberford Literature Festival has quickly become a highlight of the local cultural calendar and offers fantastic opportunities for people of all ages to get involved.

“It’s great to see funding from the Hook Moor Wind Farm Fund continuing to support its ambitions and to see how this funding is delivering tangible community value for local people.”

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