Council supports 14 local community organisations to celebrate 1066 Anniversary

Hastings Borough Council announces the organisations that were successful in their bid for the £30,000 Anniversary Community Grants Fund 2016

The 1066 Anniversary Community Grants Fund 2016 grants scheme was set up to help the communities of Hastings mark the 950th anniversary of the battle of Hastings. The fund is to help local community groups to hold their own events or projects as part of the town’s anniversary activities.

Cllr Dawn Poole the council’s lead member for regeneration explained:

“A particular focus for this one-off grants programme was to support activities in more isolated and disadvantaged communities where the main 950th anniversary programme of events will not be staged.

“We wanted the fund to support a range of projects which enabled people to mark the anniversary in any way that included cultural or community events, educational activities or more permanent memorials. The activities were for small groups and schools and had to take place during 2016 within the borough of Hastings”.

The funds were hugely oversubscribed but finally fourteen organisations and groups were selected to benefit from the £30,000 fund.

The grants ranged from £500 to St Leonards Primary Academy for an educational school trip to Battle Abbey and up to £2640 awarded to Women’s Voice for Echoing Jeremy Birch’s One Hastings Many Voices. Their aim is to encourage social cohesion using cooking to bring women together to share skills and learn about which types of food were eaten in 1066. And, £3000 was awarded to aGender for a 1066 Anniversary Steam Print Spectacular; following the battles of 1066 -2016 and how to resolve them a series of print-making workshops where people’s creations will be shown at the Stade as part of Hastings Cartoon Festival.

“We are delighted that so many groups and organisations were keen to get involved with the 950th celebrations and look forward to seeing all the winning projects come to fruition” added Cllr Poole.

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