A LONDON based arts group is planning to move to Bradford and is hoping to boost the city’s standing in the creative community.

Brick Box is in the process of setting up a permanent new home in Bradford, and has just been awarded a grant to bring a major arts event to the city later this year.

The arts organisation and community interest company was founded by Eleanor Barrett, former director of the Bradford Playhouse as a way of engaging people who are not normally interested in arts.

It has been awarded a £32,000 Arts Council grant that will help it bring the Independent Street Arts Network conference to the city centre in October. It will involve over 300 people from around the country, and see performances in Darley Street and other “neglected” areas of the city centre.

Before the group sets up in its permanent base, which it is still finalising the contract for, it will be based in an empty payday loan store on Ivegate.

The group had strong links with Bradford - last year it held two “light nights” in Oastler Square and on Ivegate, and both Mrs Barrett and fellow director Rosie Freeman are now making a permanent move to the city.

Mrs Barrett said: “We’ve tried to share out the funding we got in the past between London and Bradford. We’ll still be running projects in London, but from now on our main efforts will be in Bradford.

“We’ve got a place in the city centre we’re planning on buying, we just need to sort the last few details out.

“We’ve done a lot of events in markets, our main thing is to bring art to unusual places, or parts of city centres that have issues with footfall. We push to do things in these neglected spaces because if we’re not careful then people start thinking of these areas as being places they will stop going to or that they aren’t comfortable going to.”

Areas the group hopes to re-invigorate include Darley Street and Ivegate.

She added: “It is quite a coup, it is a big event and we wanted to bring it to Bradford to show the potential of the public spaces here. There is a lot of potential and a lot of energy in the city. It is a fantastic space for art.

“There will be a lot of people who haven’t been to Bradford before.

“Bradford has its own unique personality and its important we celebrate that personality rather than just try to be like Leeds or London.”

The group's first event in their temporary Ivegate unit will be on Friday, September 9 when they host an evening of art, music, drinks and an opportunity for local artists to meet. The event starts at 7pm.