Kent Community Foundation awards funding for 5,000 children to plant seed bombs as part of an arts and environmental project.
The not for profit theatre group ‘Circo Rum Ba Ba’ had received Arts Council funding for theatrical environmental conferences for twenty primary schools in Swale and Sheppey. The conferences will investigate environmental issues and the children will work collaboratively to present their ideas in a setting that is fun, positive and creative. At the end of the conferences ‘Circo Rum Ba Ba’ wanted to give each class a kit containing the ingredients and instructions to make a seed bomb with bee and butterfly friendly seeds and educational information about the flowers and the insects they should attract.
Having secured funding for the environmental conferences from the Arts Council, they applied to Kent Community Foundation’s Environmental Fund for a grant to provide the seed bombs.
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said, “Circo Rum Ba Ba shared some research from local environmental groups which revealed that five types of butterflies had become extinct in Swale. Their plan to encourage school children to plant the seed bombs and record the results fitted perfectly with our Environmental Fund criteria. Our Environmental Fund supports charity and community group projects which embody the ‘think global, act local’ sentiment and facilitate dynamic change to enrich nature, connect people with green spaces and enable more sustainable and healthier ways of living across Kent and we were delighted to award ‘Circo Rum Ba Ba,’ who had not applied to us before, the funding to purchase the seed bombs.”
Marianne Grove, Artistic Director, ‘Circo Rum Ba Ba’ said, “The £2,492 grant from Kent Community Foundation to provide seed bombs will allow five thousand young people to feel that they can make a difference in their local community. We will provide templates for the children to record information about the bee and butterfly activity that the seed bombs generate which we hope will show them how small actions can have a large impact on the environment and encourage them to take more interest in what is happening in their local area.”
The ‘Circo Rum Ba Ba’ theatrical environmental conferences will be held in primary schools across Swale between January and March 2023.
To contact Kent Community Foundation about funding for charities and community groups call 01303 814500, email admin@kentcf.org.uk or visit www.kentcf.org.uk/funding
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The grant of £2,492 comprised £1,992 from the Environmental Fund and an automatic cost of living uplift of £500.
With major concerns about organisations across Kent being able to continue providing their vital services during the cost-of-living crisis, Kent Community Foundation has taken the decision to initiate an automatic monetary uplift on funding, to give charities and community groups much needed additional funding to cover their costs during these uncertain times.
About Circo Rum Ba Ba
Circo Rum Ba Ba is a not for profit troupe of women performers who bring extraordinary spectacle and performance into unconventional settings where it is least expected.
About Kent Community Foundation
Grant-maker Kent Community Foundation has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary organisations in the county for over twenty years. In this time, it has distributed over £50 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
They are part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-seven Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than ninety philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses, who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
