Funding for art and community projects in Cambridge – new funding round

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

For Section 106 funding – a call from Cambridge City Council on allocating money from developers

You can read the announcement here.

On the public art side:

“The funding is intended for new and original, high-quality public art which is accessible to the public, involves an artist, engages the community and will have a lasting legacy. We encourage proposals that can be delivered within 18 months of the grant being awarded, by May 2023.”

“We encourage applications from community groups working with artists in Abbey, Cherry Hinton, Coleridge, Romsey and Trumpington wards.”

Cool – that’s my neck of the woods.

On Community Facilities:
  • Abbey: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Arbury: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Coleridge: £75,000 to £100,000
  • King’s Hedges: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Market: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Queen Edith’s: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Romsey: £30,000 to £50,000
  • Trumpington: £50,000 to £75,000
  • West Chesterton: £30,000 to £50,000

“This might include improvements to the building itself, to facilities such as kitchens and toilets, or to storage, furniture or equipment.”

“Could we restore the Morley School Victorian Tiles?”

There’s a local history legend about Morley Memorial Primary School in Cambridge that dates back many decades – and its on the fate of the old Victorian tiles that were part of the original building when the school was founded in 1899. The school was founded at the behest of Lost Cambridge hero John Horobin, one of the greatest men of his era in Cambridge who died tragically young aged only 46. He was one of the best MPs Cambridge never had.

Above – John Horobin of Homerton College

When Homerton celebrated its 250th Anniversary, one of the photographs that emerged from their archives was one of their first trio of classrooms.

Above – the interior of one of the first three classrooms of Morley Memorial Primary School, Cambridge – credit Homerton College 250.

The challenge for Queen Edith’s and Coleridge residents (both served by the primary school) is whether they can get together to submit a bid for even part-funding to get the tiles (which are stored away in a secret location) restored back to one of the communal rooms at the school.

I’d like to think there’s enough money available to leave something left over for both of the wards, or even have the option of having a small fundraising campaign to provide match funding, depending on the work that needs doing.

One of the things that was significant about the founding of the school was that it was non-denominational – and at the time outside of the control and geographical boundaries of Cambridge Borough Council. (That changed with the expansion of the town boundaries in 1935). At a time of political disagreement between the predominantly Conservative-supporting Church of England congregations, and the predominantly liberal (and later, Labour)- supporting non-conformists (who in Cambridge at least, were a significant political force), the guest list had two of the most prominent non-conforming power-couples at the opening ceremony: The Tillyards and the Keynes’s. At the time, John Neville Keynes (father of Maynard) was the Registrar of Cambridge University, and Alfred Tillyard had just stepped down as Mayor of Cambridge, and was the Editor of the Cambridge Independent Newspaper. The local historical reputations of civic giants Catharine Tillyard, and Florence Ada Keynes are well known to regular readers of this blog.

Public art – a large mural?

Personally I’d love to see something similar to Jerome Davenport’s mural of Sylvia Pankhurst, but in Cambridge.

The above cost around £8,000. So we just need to find a suitable wall or building for it!

Any suggestions or questions? You can contact the city council here – scroll to the end.

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to:

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