Local arts festival benefits from National Grid community grant award
- Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts receives £20,000 from National Grid to support outdoor community arts event
- The funding will help young people to develop their own cultural event in Devizes whilst learning all aspects of event management
Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA) is celebrating the news that it has been successful in its application for funding from National Grid’s Community Grant Programme.
The Community Grant Programme is aimed at community organisations and charities in areas where National Grid’s Electricity Transmission work is impacting on local people through its operations and site activities.
Since its inception in December 2015, the programme has awarded over £4.6 million to projects across the country.
DOCA has been awarded £20,000 for its project to work with 45 young people from Devizes and the surrounding area to develop and deliver their own outdoor community event. The young people will have the opportunity to learn the many different aspects of event management including layout planning, scheduling, health and safety, sustainability, production, and how to book artists and manage the event on the day.
In parallel, the funding will also enable young people to produce a short film about their life growing up in Devizes, and consider what their future might look like socially, culturally, and ecologically.
Speaking about the funding Annabel Lake, Production Director at DOCA said:
“We are delighted to receive this grant from National Grid for a project called Youth Event Activities - YEA Devizes! This will enable us to work with young adults to run their own outdoor event, through which they can represent their generation in our community. Whilst doing this they can learn vocational and practical skills and shape their own opportunities to build a better future.”
Amardeep Malhi project manager for the North Wessex Downs VIP project said:
“Our Community Grant Programme has been specially designed to support organisations in communities near our operations, and we’re very pleased that funding has been awarded to such an important organisation in Devizes”.
“This project will play an invaluable role in supporting young people in the community develop a broad range of new skills and it’s great that our scheme can support their work”.
The next window for applications will open on 1st October 2024. Further information about how to apply is available on National Grid’s website at: www.nationalgrid.com/community-grant-programme”.
