A CREATIVE community event was held thanks to a lottery grant.

Kearsley Mount Methodist Church, Community and Conference Centre in Manchester Road held the Create in Our Space event which saw people of all ages coming together to get creative.

The £2,000 grant enabled people to try photography, painting, modelling and other forms of art for the day.

About 60 people took part, many of who designed their own tile, which will be used in the church’s community garden.

Members of the community were asked to create a piece of art representing either the building, the community garden or both.

Prizes will be awarded and all of the work will be displayed in an exhibition in April.

Tiles will be placed permanently around a memorial in memory of Sam Lindley and Frank Eckersley, who both died tragically on June 21, 1910.

Both attended the school which was based at Kearsley Mount Methodist Church.

The young people worked for The Clifton Tile and Pottery Company in Clifton and drowned after trying to get a football out of the River Irwell while on their lunch break.

A third young man, Herbert Taylor, from Swinton, also drowned. The memorial was damaged but is going to be restored.

Stephen Tonge, from the church, said: “It is important to remember the boys who died as it’s part of the history of the church. The plaque will look different to the original but it will be a tribute to them.

“We will be surrounding it with fresh tiles designed and made at the Create in Our Space day.” He said people took part in canvas painting and a clay model of the church’s pipe organ was made.

The event took part on Sunday, January 26.