From a community VE Day celebration in Formby, to a borough-wide programme of engaging young people with the older generation, these are some of the events Sefton is supporting for its Borough of Culture year!
Groups interested in hosting Borough of Culture themed events were asked to submit applications earlier in the year and the first wave of successful bids has just been announced.
This includes money for The Inclusion Network and their ‘Bootle’s Seal for Sefton’ project that looks at engaging disadvantaged young people with the arts.
A grant is also going to a VE Day Community Group set up to host a community street party in Formby celebrating the 75th VE Day anniversary. This will be held on Saturday, May 9 with live entertainment from the area and a parade in the village with military vehicles.
Brunswick Youth and Community Centre was also successful in securing money for their ‘Time Machine – VE Day celebration’ exploring history, art and young people.
A further grant was also given to The Windmills Foundation and their ‘Words of Wisdom’ project that is engaging with primary schools in the borough in cultural and social activities while linking them to isolated elderly residents in Sefton.
Sefton based AlsopDrama has also been successful to help fund a ‘Myths and Realities’ themed Borough of Culture production in October while Southport’s Origami Pulse will receive funds to run origami workshops across the borough throughout the year for people of all ages.
Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s lead sponsor for the Borough of Culture, said: “It has been really refreshing to hear from so many different groups contacting us with some great ideas on how to celebrate our Borough of Culture year.
“This is the first tranche of successful bids and we look forward to working with all the groups during 2020 and what is going to be a fantastic year.
“We will be announcing more successful groups in the coming weeks and if you are still interested in hosting an event, please get in touch.”
Groups can still express an interest in securing support from Sefton Council with their proposals. This may include bidding for money to help them organize events throughout 2020 with two different tiers of funding available – up to £5K and £5k-£15K. It may also include support with such areas as event management, communications and marketing, or connections with other partner organisations.
Forms are available to download at www.sefton.gov.uk/sefton2020 and once completed, will be reviewed and if support is allocated, groups will be notified within 4 weeks for non-financial support and for support up to £5K and 10 weeks for £5K-£15K applications.
Visit www.mysefton.co.uk
