A Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2025 has been awarded to the Parish of Wyke Regis All Saints Church with St Edmund.
The church runs an arts and crafts group as part of its fellowship activities, bringing people together to engage socially and take part in craft activities.
In 2024, the group made wooden cupboards to house 14 stations of the cross panels. These were set up around the village, and a study guide was prepared for a procession at Easter involving local people. The group are developing this idea for 2025, by preparing new booklets for the cupboards using lino cut images created by the group. This community project will engage with local people, encourage the group to develop new skills and add information to the formal church procession. The DACA grant will be used to purchase materials for this project.
The award was presented at the DACA AGM 2025 to Keith Holdaway and Janet Hall, representing Wyke Regis Church by Amy Yeats (DACA Grant Officer, pictured right) and Jenny Gurden (DACA Chair, pictured left).
A Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2025 has been awarded to the Islanders Youth and Community Group.
The Portland ‘Islanders Club’ has been running since 1974 and is a non-profit charity supporting the most deprived community in the UK. The facilities are needed to keep the families of Portland healthy, engaged and warm during these difficult times. In the Verne Common estate area there are no children’s play parks and in general, adult and youth facilities on the island are limited.
The community centre applied for funding to deliver a series of graffiti art workshops aimed at engaging local teenagers in positive, creative activities. Leveraging the newly installed graffiti wall in our sports hall, this project will be led by a graffiti artist who will teach participants essential artistic techniques, encourage self-expression, and foster a sense of community pride.
The award was presented at the DACA AGM 2025 to Jemma Phelps, representing the Islanders Youth and Community Group, by Amy Yeats (DACA Grant Officer, pictured right) and Jenny Gurden (DACA Chair, pictured left).
The Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2024 has been awarded to Bere Regis Primary and Pre-School.
Bere Regis Primary and Pre-School is a village school with links within the community. The grant will support a project involving the whole school, to design and make a sensory garden, providing a quiet space for children to use and enjoy. The garden will feature a living willow kit, which will be installed by the children with the support of volunteers.
The current Art and Design curriculum will be extended to give all children the opportunity to learn basic woodworking skills. These skills will be used in smaller projects for the garden, including building planters to grow herbs and flowers, making sculptures using wood and other reclaimed materials and creating benches for seating.
The award was presented at the DACA AGM to Chloe David from Bere Regis Primary and Pre-School by Amy Yeats (DACA Grant Officer, pictured right) and Jenny Gurden (DACA Chair, pictured left).
Two awards were made from the Dorset Arts & Crafts Fund for 2023, to Dorchester Middle School and to Luccombe Hub.
Creative Club is open to all abilities in Year 6 of Dorchester Middle School. The Club’s purpose is to be creative, designing small projects in different materials, gaining skills which will reinforce classroom skills.
The grant funding will support the production of a school mural which will display the school ethos of ROARS (Ready, Original, Ambitious, Respectful, Safe). This will be displayed in the school foyer, creating a focal point for celebrating achievements within school.
The award was presented at the DACA AGM to Fiona Turner & Katrina Vernon from Dorchester Middle School, by Amy Yeats (DACA Grant Officer, pictured left) and Jenny Gurden (DACA Chair, pictured right).
Two awards were made from the Dorset Arts & Crafts Fund for 2023, to Dorchester Middle School and to Luccombe Hub.
Luccombe Hub is an Independent Specialist School offering those unable to engage in traditional mainstream schooling an opportunity to access an alternative form of education with 1:1 support, alongside the national curriculum through project-based work as well as alternative qualification routes.
Art forms a large part of life at Luccombe Hub. The grant funding will support a whole school art project, making a mosaic to be displayed at the school. The project will allow the learners to gain a range of skills, including teamwork, problem solving and developing creative ideas. The intention is for the work to be portable, so that it can be displayed at Showcase 2023.
The award was presented at the DACA AGM to Hazel Lappin, Rachael Brewer and Henri Monier-Williams from Luccombe Hub by Jenny Gurden (DACA Chair) and Amy Yeats (DACA Grant Officer).
Two awards were made through the Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2020, to Allsorts Craft Club and to Creative Kids Arts Education Centre.
Creative Kids is an Art Education Centre in Boscombe for children age 6 – 14 which includes a holiday arts club, after school arts club, seasonal public arts events, an exhibition gallery and pop-up family cinema.
Our grant will support the work of Creative Kids by replenishing art materials and equipment. One of the unique aspects of the club is that the children have an opportunity to experiment with a wide variety of art forms, materials and equipment, and the resident artists introduce children to what are often considered grown-up materials such as oils and charcoals and traditional crafts such as willow weaving. Up to 500 children will take part of workshops which will take place at the Arts Education Centre in Boscombe and at live events across the county.
Two awards were made through the Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2020, to Allsorts Craft Club and to Creative Kids Arts Education Centre.
Allsorts Craft Club meets monthly to share skills ideas and companionship. Its success lies in its social inclusivity and collaborative support for local charities and community projects, including items for Dorchester Macmillan Breast Care Unit, Blandford Hospital and raising funds for CLIC Sargent by knitting chicks to cover crème eggs.
In 2020 they were asked to produce Fidget Mats for Dorchester Hospital. These are designed to stimulate the minds of vulnerable patients and to have a calming effect on those suffering with dementia or anxiety. The grant will allow the group to purchase equipment and sundries needed for this project.
The Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2019 has been awarded to Penelope Williams.
Penelope is writing a new book on Dorset Feather Stitchery. Some of you may know the book by Olivia Pass, which is now 60 years old. Penelope will be looking to keep this traditional craft alive with a new book, designing and embroidering all the work herself. Penelope has won the Dorset shield for her Dorset needlework on three occasions and for the last two years has been demonstrating her embroidery in the main hall at the exhibition.
Our grant will support this work by helping with the costs of materials and other items.
The Dorset Arts & Crafts Grant for 2018 has been awarded to Westfield Arts College.
An award was made in 2017 to allow the College to purchase digital cameras for use by students. This College made a further application for 2018 to purchase further cameras in order to allow more students to benefit from their use.
Dorothy Karley, our Bursary Officer, accepted a cheque on behalf of the college at our recent Annual General Meeting.
We are delighted to announce that the DACA Arts & Crafts Grant for 2017 has been awarded to Westfield Arts College.
The grant will be used by the College to purchase digital cameras for use by students to record observations and ideas to support their art work. A presentation was made to Craig Hart, Director of Arts Specialism, at our recent Annual General Meeting, by Dorothy Karley, our Bursary Officer and Jenny Gurden, the Association Chairman.
The Association’s Bursary for 2016 was awarded to Kate Seeger, Festival Director of the Free Expressions Art Festival, Blandford.
This festival took place in June 2016 and a lively and colourful range of art work was produced by local schoolchildren and visitors to the festival. We were delighted to be able to display some of this work at our 2016 Exhibition.
Congratulations to Westfield Arts College, Bursary award winners in 2015, who displayed their magnificent wall hanging at the 2015 Exhibition.
The College were awarded a Bursary by the Association to support a project involving the whole school in using Shibori textile dyeing techniques to produce textile art pieces.
The wall hanging and accompanying book of images were given pride of place in the exhibition hall and were much admired by visitors.