Central Warwickshire LEADER

Submitted by the LEADER Administrator on behalf of The Rural Media Company (Nic Millington)

Assist in enhancing safe parking for visitors to Hay Wood.

Re-model and enhance the Village Green in a low maintenance manner

Our approach to increasing the sustainable numbers of volunteers and thereby building local capacity is essentially a simple one.

• Creating support mechanisms to help them to recruit and retain their own volunteers and to put in place appropriate succession plans;
• Recruiting local mentors who will act as local volunteer support for our network;
• Developing a range of procedures/tools that will provide more regular contact between the network outside of the actual process of helping them to choose and organise art activities;
• Giving volunteers the chance to participate in a package of skills development workshops designed especially for their needs and interests. (E.g. Fundraising and Sponsorship, Making Plans, Networking within Communities, Planning and Programming Events.)

This project would bring together mid-Warwickshire communities and Boka Halat in a series of workshops to create new ‘ceilidh’ dances. These would feature as part of a later tour to those communities under the Live & Local banner of their popular AfroCeilidh evening. This lively evening features music from around the globe and community dancing in a new take on a traditional Barn Dance.

All Live & Local events are chosen and organised by the local community with the support of a professional team. The project will bring people together both within and between communities as participants and organisers, to learn new skills and build confidence in a fun way as well as providing a new local leisure opportunity for the wider community.

Live & Local has a current network of approx 20 groups in the mid-Warwickshire area and Boka Halat has over 14 years experience of national touring, workshops and numerous album successes. Their name means ‘Mutual Inspiration' in the Wolof language of Gambia/Senegal.

The project would give young people in mid-Warwickshire the chance to choose, promote and organise professional arts performances for their own communities.

Make sculptures out of local rubbish, the contents of our red boxes and bags etc. for exhibition in gardens during an Open Gardens weekend.  The project would be led by a Cornish artist (David Kemp) who specialises in exactly this sort of thing - (e.g. 'Hounds of Geevor' made from wellington boots of old Geevor tin miners). 

He would be invited to visit for a week or two weekends, providing workshops for everyone interested, and also creating something of his own.  Depending on numbers interested, this might be open to people from surrounding villages of Wappenbury, Hunningham, Offchurch as well;  but the major focus would be on the people of Eathorpe, including members of its long-standing wood workshop and the botanic art class.  The finished articles would be exhibited in Eathorpe gardens during an open gardens event on a subsequent weekend, and the major piece outside the village hall on a more permanent basis.

This might become an annual event with different artists invited to lead.

RoSA is a registered charity that supports victims of sexual violence, and their families, in Rugby and surrounding districts.  The Craft.com project would encourage people of any age or ability who support this type of work to explore and develop their creative skills, using a range of art and craft materials.

Marton has started a pig club whereby members will share the costs and maintenance of rearing 10 rare Berkshire piglets. The group will start building the pens this weekend and are hoping to eat their first pork in the spring. The organiser didn't have the time or the land to raise his own pigs but wrote to 200 residents and has 20 members of the club so far. He says that his children are very interested and have already started asking questions about life and death!

As the recession starts to bite many people, particuarly the elderly, will become increasingly isolated. Many will be unable to get out and about and certainly won't be taking holidays. Why not have a Holdiay at Home scheme whereby a series of events and outings are organised over a week-long period. People could be collected from their own homes (the community bus could be used for this) and taken to places of interest, or even to the local hall for tea and entertainment.