Grants of up to £500 are being made available to organisations across West Oxfordshire looking to develop arts and heritage projects.
Last year, 12 groups were awarded a Community Activities Grant (CAG) from West Oxfordshire District Council which backed a range of initiatives ranging from staging an opera in Bampton to buying frames for village photographs in Leafield.
Charlbury Museum successfully applied for a £200 grant which went towards buying special boxes that provide storage for exhibitions including local author Bessie Marchant and the display of documents collected from a former draper’s shop in the town which will be on show when the museum opens again on 1 April.
Honorary curator Celia Faulkner said: “We bought about 40 acid-free boxes which have been very useful in providing storage for sensitive documents and literature.
“We are planning an exhibition of materials including 19th century bills and brochures found at what was Henry Allen’s draper’s shop in Church Street, so the boxes are ideal.”
The museum also received a £300 CAG award in 2015 which went towards compiling a book about Charlbury residents in the First World War. Glover, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor will now be published this year.
Grants of between £100 and £500 are available for specific projects to be carried out by community groups and charities.
Cllr Jeanette Baker, Cabinet Member for Arts and Sports Development, said: “These grants make a huge difference to local arts and heritage groups enabling them to fund new projects while also easing running costs.
“They ensure the rich cultural mix of West Oxfordshire continues to flourish and I look forward to seeing how we can help improve it even further.”
For more details and an application form, see www.westoxon.gov.uk/grants
The deadline for applications is 5pm on 15 April with applications to be made to the Woodgreen Council offices.