11/09/2026
📸 Oakworth Shed 📸
As part of Bradford 2025, Keighley photographer, Bob Smith, launched K-Town People, a project celebrating local folk through photography.
One of the subjects of the exhibition was Oakworth Shed which was started in 2018, with help from Keighley Healthy Living, to help combat social isolation.
Initially just for men, a couple of the early users had dementia and brought their wives to support them, and the Shed evolved, by word of mouth, to provide a weekly meeting for both men and women from Oakworth and the Keighley area.
About 20 to 25 people, mostly retired but some younger, come to the Thursday meetings at Oakworth Village Hall, paying a small fee to join each session. Activities include creative activities such as carpentry and joinery, knitting and crocheting. They also support attendees with who may not be tech savvy or need advice re avoiding scams.
The organisation raises its own funds by selling items produced by the joinery group and has previously received grants from Haworth Rotary Club and Keighley Town Council.
For more information on Oakworth Shed, please follow and contact them via Facebook.
The K-Town People project is now being showcased across social media as part of Pride In Place Conversations, discovering ways for local people to feel pride in Keighley. This Creative Conversations project is a partnership between Pride in Place and the Keighley & Ilkley Neighbourhood team (BMDC), and Our Patch Keighley (BCC).
Pride in Place is supported by UK Government funding.
Our Patch is funded by The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund. We extend our thanks to all players of the National Lottery.
