Last year, local charity Heids and Herts ran a series of art workshops throughout the Howe of Fife, helping communities reconnect after lockdowns. They showcased village halls as creative spaces. This year, they are developing their Village Creative and have secured funding for a new series of projects. Jenni Gudgeon from Heids & Herts explains …

“We have four Village Creative Awards available for groups within North East Fife.” They will run across the autumn and winter and be completed before the 5th April next year. Jenni adds: “Each is worth £650 for creative community projects that tackle loneliness and improve community cohesion, well-being and interest in arts & heritage.”

They are inviting groups, clubs, associations and organisations to apply for an award.

Celebrating Community

The projects theme – celebrating community – aim to “stimulate community cohesion, inclusion and equality” and “tackle the crisis of isolation and loneliness.”

Jenni says: “Isolation and loneliness affects over 15,000 adults across all of our communities in North East Fife” adding: “Projects can encourage participants to try new art, craft or creative activities, from drawing and painting to performing, writing poems, recording people’s stories, cooking or creating a memory book. It’s entirely up to you what you want to do.”

Support …

A creative professional will oversee each project, and £350 of the bursary is dedicated to paying for ten hours of their time. If you already have a professional in mind, you can share their details on your application. The remaining funding will be split between venue hire, materials, and travel.

Jenni concludes: “We want your application to suggest ways to use your project to involve people in your area who are vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation. We will ask all successful projects to monitor the success of your project and provide us with feedback.”

Apply now …

Please email Jenni back via this link with your application by 5^th November 2023; you should include the following information …

• Organisation and Project name.
• A summary of the aims of your organisation (250 words max)
• A description of your creative project idea (350 words max)
• An outline of your budget
• Do you have any ideas on how you might invite new participants to your group and how to monitor your project’s success regarding loneliness and social isolation?

Need more?

You can read more about the charity via their website on this link.

 

Thanks for reading.

Feel free to share with those who might be interested.