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OCF is delighted to have awarded eight grants totalling £47,977 to local voluntary and community organisations from Arts Council England’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund. We are one of 44 community foundations awarding grants across the country on behalf of the Arts Council.

The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund 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. From puppetry and story creation, through to making crowns, carnival and art trails, there will be a huge range of exciting activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in.

Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund has been administered by UK Community Foundations on behalf of Arts Council England. 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.

Let’s Create Jubilee grants awarded in Oxfordshire:
Lead organisation
Activity planned
Amount awarded
Age UK Oxfordshire
Paint the Town for the Jubilee
 £9,972
The Recreational Trust
Steeple Aston Platinum Jubilee Weekend
 £3,000
Sunshine Centre
Community Platinum Jubilee celebration and Dance in Advance
 £4,448
Film Oxford
“This is Howard Street 2022” – Jubilee week celebration
 £9,955
Barracks Lane Community Garden
Jubilee Joy
 £2,335
African Families in the UK (AFiUK)
Weaving the Tapestry
 £9,122
Cutteslowe Community Association
The Not Quite Royal Variety Show
 £8,245
Abingdon Flower Club
Celebrate the Jubilee with Flowers
 £900

 

Look out for more details of these Oxfordshire activities and events over the next few weeks!

One of the successful applications was a collaborative project from The North Wall, Cutteslowe Garden Project and Cutteslowe Community Centre, working together to programme and produce an outdoor variety show featuring comedy acts, musical acts, family theatre and community performances. During the May half term, Cutteslowe Community Centre and The North Wall will run dance and drama workshops for young people where they will devise short performances to be premiered on stage at The Not Quite Royal Variety Show in June. These workshops aim to bring together young people living in Cutteslowe and offer them a place to socialise, gain confidence and connect with their community through drama and dance.

On 4th June, an outdoor event area will be created in Cutteslowe Park, with six to eight local acts, as well as free taster workshops from Cutteslowe Community Centre, the Garden Project, The Museum of Oxford and The North Wall. They hope that the workshops will create an ongoing legacy, and those who have joined in will continue to engage with each organisation after the Jubilee weekend. During The Not Quite Royal Variety Show, there will be a ‘Wishing Line’, asking the audience, passers-by and participants to express their wants and needs for their community.

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.

Find out about other grants available from OCF