Axbridge Town Council are collaborating with Axe Vale Arts (AVA) who have recently established a new Arts Centre in the former Methodist Chapel in Axbridge. This project will trial a taster programme of workshops, offering subsidised tickets. Sessions planned include:
Axbridge Town Council and AVA are keen to maximise the Chapel’s potential to establish it as a vibrant, accessible and inclusive community asset for people of all backgrounds, genders and ages to come together to experience and participate in art activities. The grant will support this project by funding the workshops and artists, subsidising ticket fees to increase participation and contributing towards production and communication costs.
This project is part of the wider renewal and revitalisation of Bridgwater. It focuses on cultural development, enhancement of public spaces, and the promotion of community health and wellbeing.
The project has three key strands:
The Eastover Mural Project – Seed Sedgemoor
Brompton Regis Parish Council have been awarded a mini grant to support a local community group, ‘The Crafternooners”, to expand from their current informal friendship focus into sustainable, long lasting group. The group will provide open, engaging and sociable weekly afternoons that will attract more residents from the parish with a hope to broaden social connections in the parish and with near neighbouring parishes. This grant will support the group to hold workshops in the village hall and to hire the Exmoor Community Bus for trips to craft events and workshops outside of the parish.
Nether Stowey Parish Council are collaborating with The Thomas Poole Library in Nether Stowey to deliver a an oral history exercise.
The Thomas Poole Library has operated very successfully as a volunteer-led library since 2019. The library has recently received grant funding to develop a Heritage Centre within the library, with a specific focus on Coleridge and the Romantic Poets who lived in or visited Nether Stowey during the late 18th Century. It will also be an Environmental and Education Centre for the Quantock Hills raising awareness of environmental issues and conservation, linked with the AONB.
To support the development of the Heritage Centre, Nether Stowey Parish Council will collaborate with the library to develop an oral history exercise, where the histories, stories and anecdotes of residents will be recorded to ensure that these vital stories are not lost and will be available to all future generations. This grant will support the staffing costs to bring in a project contractor who will support the library volunteers to undertake the oral history project.
‘Growing Together’ is an inclusive, proactive health and wellbeing initiative aimed at reducing loneliness, increasing social cohesion, and improving community resilience. The project aims to use arts, crafts and gardening to foster social health and connection amongst residents of all ages.
Key aims:
Key activities:
Together in Tone is a collaborative musical initiatives designed to improve health, wellbeing and social connection across the Wellington & Wiveliscombe Local Community Network (LCN). The project aims to weave a musical thread through local events and communities, reducing isolation and celebrating shared identity and cultural pride.
Key deliverables:
This project is designed to be inclusive, cross-generational, and sustainable, with a focus on building skills, confidence, and long-term creative networks. By foisting partnerships between choirs, musicians, volunteers, community groups and schools, Together in Tone will create a replicable model for future wellbeing projects and festivals.