More projects join the Vital Sparks family

Vital Sparks has added six more projects to its growing family in its fourth round of funding.

The Plymouth Culture project, which is led by Plymouth City Council and funded by Arts Council England, is designed to inspire arts, culture and creativity in local communities.

The new additions include community events, dance sessions, an innovative project to screen films on the Tinside Lido fountains and a scheme that will use electro conductive paintings embedded with poetry and music to bring communities closer together.

Councillor Peter Smith, Deputy Leader said: “At the heart of Vital Sparks is its funding scheme, which provides small bursaries of £500 to £5,000 to community, youth and residents' groups. This new funding round takes the total number of projects to 23 – all of which have, or are, making a difference to their neighbourhoods.”

The six new projects that have been awarded bursaries are:

Hoe Conservation and Residents’ Association (£5,000)
The Salt Screen project aims to install water screen technology at Tinside Lido to screen specially commissioned films. A Vital Sparks bursary will pay for an artist/filmmaker commission and a music commission. The film commission will use footage from the South West Film and Television Archive while the Imperfect Orchestra will produce a live music score for it.

Animate Theatre (£4,100)
During World War One nearly eight million men returned home with a disability. Animate Theatre will be using its bursary to explore this and capture the stories from people who lived in Plymouth at the time. The end result will be a film that helps to change perceptions about disability.

Bridges, Fridges and Friends (£2,577.16)
A multimedia art project that seeks to integrate members from the local homeless hostel with the wider community of Devonport. Soundscapes, poetry and a series of electro conductive paintings will be produced in partnership with artists and will explore locals hope and dreams for Devonport.

Dance the Deck (£1,000)
Plymouth will have a brand new Appalachian Precision Clog Dance Display Team next year thanks to Vital Sparks. Weekly dance sessions in the city centre will start in January 2016 and no actual clogs are needed! This type of dance has its roots in Europe but evolved further in the Appalachian Mountains of North America where it merged with the celebratory steps from the indigenous population.

Plymouth Argyle Disabled Supporters Association (PADSA) (£1,000)
Attending a football match may seem straightforward but for people with disabilities or for whom English is not their first language it can be intimidating. PADSA has been granted £1,000 to work with a photographer to produce photo books that will visually describe the process of attending a match.

Nepalese community (£500)
Vital Sparks will support an awareness raising event for the local Nepalese community.

Plymouth Culture Executive Director Dom Jinks added: “It’s a great pleasure to support the Vital Sparks bursary scheme. This round is supporting a range of projects ranging from photography to animated projections at Tinside Lido – all of which demonstrate a real commitment to engaging a range of communities and helping build expertise and knowledge at a local level.”

The fifth round of Vital Sparks funding is now open. The deadline for applications is 30 April 2016.

For more information and to apply online visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/vitalsparks