Chhaya Collective: Ophelia [£2,990]
In collaboration with Plastic Free Exmouth, gathered materials from beaches will be repurposed into costumes for Chhaya’s new outdoor dance theatre and live music production. Ophelia; a resiliently hopeful, feminist reclaiming of Hamlet will be performed outdoors at Exmouth Community College. Processional sections of the work will be performed as part of Plastic Free Exmouth’s weekly beach cleans in March 2024.
The Community Waffle House CIC: Community Gamer [£2,856]
In partnership with local games company Beacon Games, this project will build on an existing pilot to reach young people through games clubs and events and tackle loneliness within the gaming community.
Jess Magill (Exmouth Town Council): Magpies Festival of Thrift [£2,000]
In partnership with Sideshore CIC, this new festival from 2nd – 9th March, will celebrate, demonstrate and facilitate upcycling, repurposing, mending and re-using, with a series of pay-what-you-can workshops, free activities and a family fun day, exploring skills and ideas for fixing old items or turning them into new ones, and creating community along the way.
Paddle Boat Theatre: Music Making with Deaf/Special Education Needs Young People [£1,500]
12 music workshops with PaddleBoat artists, freelance musicians & SEN young people at The Deaf Academy and Mill Water School culminating in a special celebratory end of term performance.
Seaton Gateway Theatre: New Signage Noticeboards [£1,200]
New units to be built by the Beer Men’s Shed will be enclosed accessible units with solar power lighting to replace the signage at the front of the building that is not fit for purpose.
Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub CIC: Peace Garden Mural Project [£3,000]
A new mural for the Dissenters Hall Peace Garden co-created with over 20 user groups. Once in place, the mural will be visible from Sidmouth High Street to residents and visitors.
Sidmouth School of Art: Sidmouth On Sea – Save Our Seas, Winter Lights Festival ’24 [£3,000]
A brand new free community event for Sidmouth, 9 – 17 February over 5 evenings. Light installations made using recycled materials, will highlight environmental sustainability encouraging individual and collective actions to combat the climate crisis.
Sidmouth International Jazz Festival: Workshops 2024 [£2,970]
The 2024 festival will take place 23 – 27 May, and funding will give free access to a range of live music workshops including a Rhythm & African Drum Workshop and Gospel Choir Workshop.
Sleight of Hand Theatre: A Silent Era – Diverse Local Filmmakers [£3,000]
The making of a creative film documentary from archival footage celebrating the history of filmmaking in the region and promoting the creation of brand-new theatre piece “A Silent Era”, which celebrates the contributions of women filmmakers to the history of cinema. Screenings will take place in Sidmouth, Honiton and Seaton with Q&As as well as an East Devon wide competition, judged by East Devon filmmakers and film academics.
Tidelines: Overwintering [£3,000]
Overwintering builds on Tidelines’ Sustainable Tourism leaflet: Wider Than a River – a guide to the Exe estuary from local people, which offered different ways to look at, experience and value the Estuary throughout the year. Experienced artists will learn about the estuary’s wild inhabitants including overwintering birds with South East Devon Wildlife nature wardens and RSPB bird expert/artist Tony Whitehead and share this through sound, song, audio recording and participatory performance.
Wendy Van der Plank (with Stockland Parochial Church Council): Stockland Past and Present [£1,000]
In collaboration with local historian and author Bryan Drew, the project will gather photographs, footage, documents, and stories from the community, then curate it for the Stockland Past & Present exhibition in March. The culmination of the exhibition week will be a concert featuring Devon folk musician Jim Causley, which will include tunes from Stockland fiddle player Fred Pidgeon on Saturday 16 March.
Whimple History Society: Display Improvements [£869]
The purchase of two new display boards about the Hogarth Puppets and Muffin the Mule (the puppeteers who created Muffin the Mule lived in Whimple, where they had a puppet theatre and put on shows nationally and internationally). Additionally, the purchase of a five year licence to show a film clip of wassailing the apple trees in Whimple in 1927 to show in the Heritage Centre.
Word Kitchen (with Dunkeswell Youth Club): Word Kitchen East Devon [£1,484]
A literary and performance project, encouraging a range of people to find and share their voices and stories and discover the pleasure and value in not only writing and sharing, but also hearing live, spoken word prose and poetry. The project will be delivered through 2 open mic events at Brook Kitchen, Budleigh, and 1 writing workshop; 3 creative writing and performance sessions at Dunkeswell Youth Club, culminating in a community celebration sharing.
Youth Arts & Health Trust – Supporting Young People’s Mental Health Through the Arts: Cranbrook Art Club pilot [£3,000]
A pilot community youth arts offering to improve social engagement, connection and belonging by using arts activities for developing confidence, creative skills and wellbeing through a series of taster sessions aimed at young people in years 6, 7 and 8 at Cranbrook Education Campus & Cranbrook Community Hub. A fundraising strategy will also be created to sustain this offer.