£350k Boost for Well-City Salisbury Community Project
Well-City Salisbury is celebrating after receiving a massive funding boost. The National Lottery Community Fund has agreed to give the programme a sum of more than £350,000, which will ensure its services can run through 2025 and beyond.
Lottery funding is going to be used by the Well-City Salisbury project. © Alexas_Fotos, Pixabay
Three More Years
Well-City Salisbury was set up three years ago, and the lottery funding news ensures that the programme will be able to run through 2025 to 2027.
The idea behind the scheme is that creative sessions will be delivered by professional artists and practitioners, with people also able to access them online via additional resources.
Participants can be referred to Well-City Salisbury by their GP or from a support organisation, community group or a school wellbeing team.
Self-referrals to the scheme are possible too. There are 10-week long free creative courses for adults and youngsters running as part of Well-City Salisbury. It has delivered 29 creative courses for 191 participants so far.
For the time being, it has worked with 19 local artists as well as 18 referral organisations. To wrap up the numbers, it ran 53 community events and trained 54 individuals in mental health awareness.
The funding boost means that it will soon be working with new guest delivery partners too.
Building On Successes
Well-City Salisbury project leader Leigh Chalmers said the scheme is “delighted” to have received three years worth of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
She said: “This means we can build upon our successes from the first three years and present participants with more opportunities to engage with the project.”
“We can’t wait to welcome people back and to reach out to new people who might be interested in getting involved.”
Well-City Salisbury partners with a range of local groups, including the following:
- ArtCare at Salisbury District Hospital
- Wessex Archaeology
- Wiltshire Creative
- Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
The funding from the National Lottery Community Fund will help Well-City Salisbury to reach a more diverse audience, boosting their mental health in the process.
Eight Courses A Year
Well-City Salisbury has been running eight courses a year but may be able to expand this offering as a result of the new lottery funding.
Options for Well-City Salisbury courses have included the following creative departments:
- Printmaking
- Textiles
- Creative writing
- Map-making
- Photography
Earlier this year, it held the Well-City Salisbury Celebration and Symposium, which allowed those who have taken part in courses to show off their work.
The National Lottery Community Fund hands out more than £600 million a year to communities across the UK, with the money being raised by players of the UK’s National Lottery.
