The Grants Committee of Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation met in October to discuss the latest applications received for funding. The meeting resulted in four community groups receiving funds totaling £8,624 on the recommendations of the grants committee.
Letchworth Arcadians Musical Society requested a grant towards the cost of staging Beauty and the Beast in May 2024 as part of the Letchworth Festival. The grant request covers the difference between the income and expenditure of putting on the show. Each year it is becoming more and more challenging for small community based performing arts organisations to put on live performances. The grants committee decided to cover a part of the grant for the fees requested by Disney.
The Letchworth Croquet Club has two lawns and provides the opportunity for local residents to play both competitive and social croquet. The club has 68 members, 48 of whom are Letchworth residents. The club had requested a grant to replace old decking, provide a patio area and make the route from the tennis courts to the club more accessible and safer for members. The grants committee granted the whole amount of £1,250 to create the new safer route.
Culture Wood CiC is based in Welwyn Garden and delivers inclusive and affordable Forest School and outdoor environmental educational based sessions to adults, children, families, and young people. Culture Wood requested a grant of £2,000 to enable them to run a two-hour monthly drop in session at Norton Common for adults with low levels of mental health. The grants committee approved this application and hope they meet their expected outcomes by encouraging participants to care and respect their local greenspaces, the wider environment and natural world, encouraging active lifestyles, through open space; improving mental well-being through the use and access to, the natural environment; reducing feeling of social isolation and introduce the participants to well-being techniques to reduce anxiety.
Open Art Box CiC is an arts organisation that specialises in providing arts-based activities for older people with dementia. The organisation had requested a grant of £2,640 to continue to provide twelve arts-based workshops at Mrs Howard Memorial Hall until May 2024. The grants committee approved this application as the Open Art Box CIC believe this project will create opportunities to socialise and reminisce based on the contents of the sessions. They hope to provide a focal point for the week for the participants, and endeavour to improve coordination of motor skills along with an uplift of mood and enable respite for family members.
Grant applications are usually completed online and then proposed to the grants committee who meet regularly to discuss the details and viability of each application. The next grants committee meeting will take place in December 2023. Potential applicants are advised to visit https://www.letchworth.com/grants before the deadline of Friday 17th November.
