Helping communities to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
11th April 2022
Essex Community Foundation (ECF) has announced 19 grants totalling £128,842 to voluntary and community organisations in Essex from the Arts Council England’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund.
The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund, which is made possible thanks to National Lottery players and has been administered by UK Community Foundations on behalf of Arts Council England, will ensure that thousands of people from communities all across England will have the opportunity to take part in exciting creative events – all in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee.
The programme is designed to help voluntary and community organisations develop creative and cultural events to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June. From puppetry and story creation, through to making crowns, carnival and art trails, there will be a wide range of activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in.
Essex Community Foundation is one of 44 community foundations awarding grants across the country on behalf of the Arts Council.
Funded projects in Essex include:
- Butterflies Club received £10,000 to run creative artistic projects and events to celebrate the Jubilee in Rochford for children who have disabilities.
- Colchester Chinese Culture Society received £8,500 to run a range of diverse events and activities in collaboration with partners to promote cultural diversity across Tendring.
- Chelmsford Festival of Arts and Culture received £10,000 to run a Commonwealth themed celebration of the Queen’s reign through visual and digital art, music, puppetry, dance, workshops, and performances as part of the 2022 Chelmsford Arts Festival.
- Accuro (Care Services) received £2,400 to run creative workshops for children and young people with disabilies, working with the community, culminating in a Jubilee event for the children, families and community.
- Voluntary Action Epping Forest received £6,760 towards a tea party celebrating the volunteer sector throughout the queens reign, that will include an art exhibition and musical performances.
- The Complete Commedia Company Ltd received £9,825 to support a street theatre project in Thurrock bringing schools in different communities together.
A 14-year-old ambassador for the Butterflies Club shared her thoughts about the upcoming project: “We are very excited to receive this very generous funding for our Jubilee celebrations at Butterflies Club.
“This will make sure that we can celebrate the Jubilee in different ways with different groups of children and young people to make sure they all have something that’s interesting and exciting to them personally.”
Andy Payne Worpole, Head of Programmes at ECF, said: “We are delighted to channel this funding into local communities to bring people together to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England said “The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund is a wonderful example of our ambition to give everyone the opportunity to participate in and experience the arts, culture and creativity – made possible thanks to National Lottery players.
“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.”
Rosemary Macdonald, CEO, UK Community Foundations, said: “For community foundations, people and places are the priority and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is a unique opportunity for people to get together and celebrate in their communities. We are proud to have connected Arts Council England with local organisations whose imaginative and exciting projects and collaborations with professional artists will bring communities together to enjoy marking this milestone moment in our history.”
HM Queen Elizabeth II is the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, having overtaken Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in 2015. Her reign has been marked by a commitment to public service, reflected by her extensive programme of engagements at home and abroad, and support for over 600 cultural organisations, charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations.
If you are a charitable organisation in need of funding, call our grants team on 01245 356018.