Jubilee Celebrations

Sitting at my computer one day I received an email about a funding opportunity from the Arts Council offering up to £10,000 to put together a project celebrating the Queens Jubilee. I read it, thought about it and then picked up my phone to ring a talented local resident and musician named Ros.

Ros had put together a musical production of The Snowman the previous Christmas at the Old Boat and knew that she would have not only some fantastic ideas but be crazy enough to apply for the hard to get fund. 

After careful planning late night bid writing and chewed fingernails we received news that we had been successful with the grant! We felt overjoyed and then very quickly overwhelmed. With some deep slow breathing we sat, focused and started planning.

A few weeks later what had been produced was a drama workshop, an art workshop, a music workshop and a showcase celebrating what it meant to be British. 

All in all there was over 60 participants in the workshops in varying ages all coming together in this free community venture all managed by the amazing Ros.   

As if this wasn’t enough we also decided that we would love to put on an afternoon tea for some of the older people in our community. So on Friday the 3rd of June The Old Boat held its first afternoon tea with a four piece string quartet and a ballroom dancing teacher. People came down to eat, listen to some beautiful music and learn the foxtrot. It brought another element to the Old Boat and something that most people there had not experienced.

Things always come in threes so when a local resident came to me and offered a generous donation from the company he works at to throw a community event I smiled. The residents name was Jay. When he then enlisted another company to match the donation I grinned from ear to ear. Both G&K Heating and Mansell McTaggart donated £250 each to the event. This amount was then doubled again by a grant from Brighton and Hove Council. 

With these funds we were able to put on a huge community event which was mostly for free or on donation. It included bouncy castles, face painting, games and more. It also allowed us to make sure that every child that came to the event ate for free. In total we were able to give out over £700 worth of food and raised an amazing £568 in donations for future community events. The event was run and supported by staff, volunteers and trustees from the Old Boat so thank you to of you who left exhausted from working so hard that day. You will never know how much I appreciate every single one of you.

All of these projects could not have been possible without the generous funding from all the people below so we want to say a massive THANK YOU!

G&K Heating 

Mansell McTaggart

Arts Council

Sussex Community Foundation

Brighton and Hove Council