In Praise of Trees
The Pitch
Problem statement
As a community we were horrified to hear about the unnecessary felling of the sycamore tree in Northumberland. We have been approached by members of the community to organise a series of events to honour the historic landmark at Sycamore Gap.
Solution
We are planning an exhibition featuring people's artwork. It can be any form of art from sculptures to watercolours or acrylic. The art will then be shown in the community room at The Gather. The upstairs space in the venue will be taken over with a full exhibition, but this will not just include the physical artwork. We are in the process of contacting speakers and plan to host a series of talks that will appeal to the wider community. We would also like to encourage local schools to get involved with the exhibition and to attend talks. Any funding received will be used to enable schools to attend from outside of our immediate area and will allow for the exhibition and talks to be free. +
Why are we best placed to deliver?
We have over 50 volunteers actively involved in our community enterprise all with a different range of skills and interests. We are keen to provide a focus to encourage more local involvement. Over the last two years we have successfully delivered on a number of funded projects and have experience in helping reduce rural isolation and bringing people together.
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| Staff Costs - 1 member of staff x 16 hours per week x length of project (7 weeks) | £1,500 |
| Transport Costs - To encourage local schools to take part we would like to subsidise the cost of transport - 7 week long project, 7 schools @ £100 | £700 |
| Materials for workshops and exhibition - 7 week project, 7 workshops @ £100 | £700 |
| Advertising | £100 |
Beneficiaries
350 people
Who will benefit
Expected impact
Our aim for this project is to create an immersive exhibition that will appeal to people across all age ranges and encourage the to get involved in something they may not have previously considered, while highlighting and creating a legacy of the historic landmark at Sycamore Gap. We have a target of one talk/film per week, one school visit per week and an exhibition open 7 days per week. The exhibition will showcase a range of works submitted by local artists.
Track record
We have previously been successful on a project with Arts Council England, this project provided equipment and funds to create a live music venue in 2020. This is now a self sufficient area of our business with live music events taking place approximately every 6 weeks. We received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, for this project we successfully delivered a film celebrating 70 years of Ennerdale history. This film is now available for future generations and captures a moment in local and national history. We run a successful monthly community film club thanks to funding from Cinema For All. They provided a small contribution to enable staff to receive training and guidance on how to operate a film club. Our most recent funded project was for us to become a Warm Hub. From November to March last year we provided a warm space for vulnerable members of our community.