Hammersmith & Fulham Arts Festival, a charity that encourages community participation in arts, creative and performance events, has received a £74,500 grant from HS2 to deliver a series of sessions for people living in the London borough.
The new 84-week programme has a range of events catering to all age groups, ranging from lunchtime Knitting Clubs to ‘Literacy Bees’- storytelling and reading classes for under 5s.
Cathy Elliott, Independent Chair of HS2 Funds, said:
“The application by HR ArtsFest to HS2’s Community & Environment Fund clearly demonstrated that the charity understands the needs of local people, including offering a host of inter-generational activities that people can attend across the year.
"I would encourage any organisation that can also demonstrate that they have been impacted by the construction of the rail line to also apply to the CEF & BLEF schemes.”
The grant provided by HS2 is being used to deliver a new series of weekly events aimed at encouraging community cohesion, including the ‘Super Sunday Socials’ workshops which run every weekend.
Led by experienced artists and facilitators, attendees will be able to explore and socialise through a wide range of art forms including visual, performing, digital, music and crafts.
The charity are delivering some of the events through Bubble and Squeak Studios, a retrofitted bus donated to a local school by HS2’s enabling works contractor Costain-Skanska joint venture (CSjv), ensuring the programme is accessible to residents across the borough.
Melanie Nock from HfArtsFest said:
"The Hammersmith and Fulham Arts Festival is very excited about this project and delighted to be working with HS2 to make it happen. Arts activities are a very important part of the glue which brings people together and makes communities supportive, welcoming, and vibrant.
"With this project, we are working with the people of Old Oak to create an ongoing celebration of their creativity. We see this project as an important model for our community arts work across the borough.”
The HS2 Funds are still open to applicants and are made up by the Community and Environment fund (CEF) and Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF).
They are available to local communities and businesses that are demonstrably disrupted by the construction of Britain’s new high speed railway, with 192 projects between the West Midlands and London already sharing a total of £11m funding.
Both the CEF & BLEF Funds are still welcoming applications, which are independently administered by community charity, Groundwork UK: https://hs2funds.org.uk/home/community-environment-fund/.
