Royal Park School

Nicola and I heard about a Jumble sale & Open Mic night happening at the old Royal Park school and decided to check it out. The building has been reclaimed by people who want to help repair it, for community use. The night included performances and tours of the building. The night had a lovely atmosphere which definitely rubbed off on me and made me want to get involved with this project.

It was quite hard to photograph due a number of things, firstly the lighting conditions weren't the best and using flash would have not been possible due to the relaxed atmosphere I didn't want to ruin. It was also hard to photograph the rooms as they were filled with large numbers of people. I did manage to take a few shots but would have liked to photograph during the day with better conditions and more time & space.

With the short time and photography permission issues, I feel that I did an average job. I hope to go back during the day and make use of the natural light.

Campaigners are re-launching a bid to take over a disused Leeds school and put it to use for surrounding communities after a private firm pulled out because of the recession.For four and a half years, Royal Park School at Hyde Park has stood empty.
During its time as a primary school Royal Park was host to a wide range of community groups with interests ranging from language classes to keep fit and health projects, and a Government-backed Sure Start scheme.Pledges were made by councillors and officials after its closure that at least part of the school would be kept for use by the community. But they refused to let it be taken over by local groups and the building was put up for sale.Local groups and residents were determined it should remain a focus for community activities and formed the Royal Park Community Consortium with the aim of taking over and renting the Victorian building. - Peter Lazenby (Yorkshire evening post)

I decided to go back to the Royal Park School to photograph a Jumble Sale. Because I couldn't include people faces in the shots I had a hard time gettings shots which led me to close ups of some the items on sale. I wasn't particulary happy with the photos apart from the shots of the full room. I would have preferred to have photographed using natural light as this room included many windows.

Overall I worked with Royal Park School for about 3 and a half weeks, part of the advertising team which included designing and producing posters, door to door campaigning and helping with their events held on site. I enjoyed being part of collective and found volunteer work very fulfilling.