Celebrating Community and Culture: Walk the Plank’s Year in Review

People and communities want to feel proud, they want to feel connected, they thrive on recognition, celebration and the thrill that a cultural moment can bring to their doorstep. It is a privilege to step into a community space – be it a park, a street, a city centre – and deliver this, week in week out, and I know that this is what drives us all at Walk the Plank. 

No doubt you’ll have seen in this newsletter numerous quotes and testimonials across the year, but I don’t think many capture the reason for my pride in what we do as much as this one…

“It was an absolute pleasure to be part of Manchester Day with Walk the Plank this year. The atmosphere was electric, and the energy from the crowd was incredible — it’s always a joy to perform for such an engaged and diverse audience. From start to finish, the team were welcoming, supportive, and professional. Events like this are so important in bringing people together, and it was inspiring to see the city come alive with music, movement and colour.” - Nachda Sansaar

In 2025 we have reached live audiences of over half a million across 68 locations – from Salford to Ashington, Lincoln to Barcelona.  

Our Social Value policy means we invest in local talent and suppliers wherever possible – we have worked with an incredible 232 community and cultural groups - and we have been for the first time carbon neutral in both our Salford operations and on our travels, following our continued efforts to improve our sustainability credentials.

Our Emerging Creatives internship scheme is in its third year, and we welcomed another two talented early career cultural industry professional to our team for 6 months. In our efforts to develop new talent, we also delivered local placements on projects across the country, university placements and training. From metalwork to project management, performers to crew, we have hosted 112 placements in 2025 alone.

We have delivered small scale work to audiences of just 50, and major spectacle to crowds of over 150,000, and of course everything in between, each with care, professionalism, and skill, and with communities at the centre of each project and each plan.

2026 will be another incredible year as we build on this. I’m particularly looking forward to our immersive BODY show coming to Oxford in January, Children’s Capital of Culture in Rotherham, Blyth Festival of Energy in March… which alongside an incredible programme of large scale installations, will feature a session for young people led by the first British person in space, astronaut Helen Sharman (!), and to delivering a major programme of activity throughout the year, right on our doorstep, for Salford 100. It will be quite the year.

To wrap up 2025, I want to give thanks to our clients and partners, our supporters, our community collaborators, but mostly I’d like to take this moment to thank our Walk the Plank team – our crews and designers, dancers and pyrotechnicians, and our 18 strong core team who turn up each day and do the most amazing work to make all of the wonderful ideas and happenings a reality.

Thank you! I’ll look forward to seeing you in 2026 for another exciting year.

Charlie Morrison

Executive Director