How you can get involved in creating Scarborough's alternative Christmas experience out of recycled materials

Grue’s installation was designed to inspire people to think about the environment and the impact of packaging and waste, especially at Christmastime.

And after a successful pilot event last year, Grue is back for round two.

“We think it’s a nice, gentle way of approaching what can be quite a scary topic for kids,” says Rach Drew, the co-director of Arcade, a local arts charity and one of the project partners.

“It’s all a bit doom and gloom is global warming and what we’re going to do about it.”

The project aims to prompt people to think about what action they can take to help address climate change “in a fun and interesting way that people can get involved in from the start”.

Last year’s immersive world installation took visitors on a journey through a town, into a living room, through a forest and under the sea on an adventure looking for snow.

“It had a huge nod to the environment because it was made out of recycled cardboard,” Rach says.

"We wanted to highlight the message about global warming and how it’s going to snow less and less as the world gets warmer and also get people to go away thinking about waste at Christmas, things like wrapping paper, and what they might do [to reduce it].”

The interactive installation this year is themed around the idea of collaboration.

Something strange is happening inside the world of Grue and people will need to work together to figure out what.

“One person recycling is great but really it needs more of us, all of us, to do more, and big companies as well, making changes to how they work to improve the environment,” Rach says.

“I hope people go away and think about how they can recycle and what they can do to help the planet, what changes they could make to help.

"Maybe it might inspire them to think about joining a group that works towards saving the planet.”

Grue is designed by Scarborough artist Steve Wintercroft, who has previously created work with Sir Paul McCartney, Bjork and Tracey Emin.

It is produced by Arcade and supported by funding from the Yorkshire Coast Business Improvement District.

Steve says: “It’s been brilliant working in Scarborough on such a large and ambitious project.

"Grue highlights the transformative power of creativity and explores what can be achieved with an empty space and a belief that we are all creative.

"We hope the work inspires children and their families to experiment with their Christmas packaging and think creatively about materials we usually regard as rubbish.”

Set to be staged at Scarborough’s Old Parcels Office in December for a second year, the alternative Christmas experience is geared particularly towards families.

But people of all ages in the community are encouraged to visit Grue – and also to get involved in its creation.

Last year, more than 300 people took part in Grue’s build and the installation itself was seen by around 1,500 visitors.

This year, the team wants to engage more people throughout the process and will be hosting a series of drop-in build days.

Materials such as scripts from the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and offcuts from GF Smith paper factory in Hull will be repurposed to become part of the land of Grue, Rach says.

“Steve is very clever in that all the designs he makes that people put together are challenging enough to make you feel like you’ve really achieved something but not so difficult that it’s impossible.

"Once you’ve built it you can come back and see the installation and see what you’ve been part of creating. You get to feel part of something really quite big - and it’s great fun.”

The free workshops begin on Saturday, October 22 and the installation opens at the Old Parcels Office on Saturday, December 3, and runs until Christmas. For full details, visit www.hello-arcade.com/grue