Arts Council grants funds creative celebration for Queen’s Jubilee

Wiltshire Community Foundation is an independent charity that gives grants and funding to the voluntary sector and charities across Wiltshire and Swindon.

We are delighted to have awarded £50,000 of Arts Council England funding to ten charities and groups in Wiltshire and Swindon to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee through the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund.

Dance, music and a variety of artwork will bring communities together throughout the month to provide lasting memories and a creative legacy to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne.

The money, originally from the National Lottery, has been distributed by the network of UK community foundations through a partnership with Arts Council England and is a £5 million nationwide programme to develop creative and cultural activities as part of the celebrations.

Commenting on the programme our Joint Chief Executive Fiona Oliver said: “We are excited at the breadth and variety of the celebrations being planned this June to mark the jubilee, they will involve large sections of the community and leave lasting memories.

"We are especially proud that our position as a key funder for the county and our close relationship with grassroots groups has brought this additional money into Wiltshire and Swindon so that these celebrations can go ahead. We thank Arts Council England for the trust it has placed in us to ensure its National Lottery funding makes the most impact at a local level.”

Age UK Wiltshire will use a £9,900 grant to create a record of older peoples’ jubilee memories through music, poetry and art. The charity will run workshops across the county with artists to record their memories and use them to inspire songs, poetry and artwork. The completed material will be presented to the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham but before that the artwork could go on display in libraries and schools and the songs and poems performed by Celebrating Age at events in June.

Wiltshire Scrapstore has been awarded £2,600 to run two days of creative workshops for children and families using materials diverted from landfill at its base in Lacock. They are working with children's centres, schools and Wiltshire Racial Equality Council to identify children and parents who are most in need of an event like this, whether due to family crisis, low income or social isolation. Afterward the workshops they will celebrate with a street style party.

Bratton Hall Management Committee’s £1,960 grant will bring the village together with artists to use unwanted plates and tiles to make three mosaics to decorate the outside of the hall. The mosaics, featuring the Westbury White Horse, Picquet Hill and the official Platinum Jubilee logo, will be made during five Saturday workshops. Villagers and pupils from Bratton Primary School will be invited to take part.

Muse SW in Salisbury will use a £5,795 grant to organise a day-long jubilee garden party over the bank holiday weekend in the Cathedral Close for people living with dementia and their carers, as well as the wider community. They plan to have music, entertainment, stalls and games for adults and children. The centrepiece of the project will be creative sessions (both musical and artistic) and intergenerational performances with two opera singers from Celebrate Voice and community musicians from Music for Wellbeing, using a backdrop of work done by participants attending art workshops in various parts of the gardens.

Roche Court Educational Trust in East Winterslow, near Salisbury, has received a £6,495 grant for a series of inclusive arts celebrations, including workshops and live performances with dance company Surface Area Dance, which specialises in working with deaf and hearing-impaired dancers. It will also run a multi-sensory art project working with children with profound disabilities and devise a singing sculpture.

The South Asian Performing Arts Centre in Pinehurst, Swindon, has been awarded £9,400 to create a one-day day festival on June 3. The Centre will work with Swindon Dance, Central Swindon North Parish Council and Create Studios to bring the festival of traditional music and dance together and will provide exposure for multi-cultural dance to a wider audience and give people attending the opportunity to take part on the day.

Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service will use a £5,000 grant to run three days of workshops at its shelter. Mothers and children affected by domestic abuse will be able to join in with activities including painting, singing, puppetry, storytelling, dance and jewellery-making. The programme will culminate in a Royal afternoon performance for residents and families.

The Open Door Centre’s £2,500 grant will help fund a jubilee choral festival at the Old Town Bowl in Swindon on June 12, featuring its own choir and as many others from the area it can attract to celebrate the town’s diversity. The centre provides drop-in day services for people with learning difficulties.

Reach Inclusive Arts’ Right Time For Art group will use a £4,975 grant to create a jubilee artwork consisting of a collage of small paintings that will form a portrait of the Queen.

Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley said: “This June, we’ll see communities across England coming together to celebrate a historic milestone for this country. I’m excited to see these projects brought to life in villages, towns and cities across the country as our wonderfully creative communities celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”

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