Several Community Grants Awarded at Finance and Governance Committee

A number of projects benefitting Weymouth communities received funding at last week’s Finance and Governance Committee meeting.

The grants include:

Weymouth Museum Trust – £5,000 towards creating a pop-up museum with displays and exhibitions which showcase the town’s history, and encourage visitors to engage with the collections through fun and memorable experiences.

As One Theatre Company – £4,275 towards performances on or around the VE day celebrations at the Nothe Fort for visitors and locals alike as part of ‘VE Day Voices & Anthem for Peace’. The theatre
company will invite local children and adults to participate, work with, and learn from professional
theatre practitioners creating a string of short vignettes with songs.

DAIT 4 Change – £3,900 to run ‘The Freedom Programme’, free courses suitable for women who have left an abusive relationship or are still in an abusive relationship.

MelWey Organising Committee – £3,000 to develop a robust digital events platform that will serve
as a long-term cultural resource for Weymouth. It will enhance the visibility, accessibility, and coordination of cultural events during Weymouth and Portland’s Town of Culture 2025, while also providing a legacy tool for continued cultural and economic growth.

Saint Nic’s Community Interest Company – £1,768.97 to buy a lighting rig for use at Saint Nic’s. This equipment will primarily support Towns of Culture-related events and other community activities hosted at the venue. Additionally, the lighting rig will be available for local groups to use.

The Friends of Radipole Park and Gardens – £1,422 to host several nature related events throughout the year using various local artists, makers and writers. Events will be free of charge and allow residents to experiment and try different art forms within the park.

Two other grants were also awarded for projects to help tackle the climate and ecological emergency.

These include:

Climate Resources and Guidance operating as Weymouth Climate Hub – £700 for an artistic project using a series of “signposts” to depict two imaginary futures for the natural world.

Guardians of the Old Town Hall – £2,700. The money will be spent on improvement of the hall with secondary glazing to cut the heating costs and this will also protect the fabric of the building by retaining the heat inside.

Other agenda items included the Beach Operations Building Lease. The committee agreed to conduct a tender exercise asking community groups to submit applications to use this space for a three-year period.

First Bus Information Kiosk – the committee agreed to award a two-year licence to First Buses to continue operating a bus information kiosk on Weymouth Seafront.

The meeting took place on Wednesday 26th March.

ENDS