A WELL-KNOWN project which supports about 200 women a week in York is celebrating after landing more than £3,000.
Kyra Women’s Project has been awarded £3,170 from the Arts Council’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund by Two Ridings Community Foundation – ensuring that creativity plays an important role in local community celebrations for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The funding will be used to enable the women who come to Kyra for support to design and create a hand-crafted frieze with the aid of a community artist. This will be a permanent memorial not just to the Queen’s long service to the country, but to the resilience, fortitude and determination of the members themselves who have overcome trauma and challenges to make positive changes in their lives. The charity will collaborate with the York Museums Trust to display the frieze to a wider audience before it is hung permanently in the charity’s premises.
Rosemary Cook CBE, CEO of Kyra, said: “We are very excited about this project.
"Our members often use arts and crafts as a way of expressing themselves and this frieze will capture their achievements and emotions on this very special occasion.”
Kyra is a York charity that is a one-stop-centre for women that provides training programs, counselling and support services to women who need assistance to improve their lives.
Made possible thanks to National Lottery players and administered by UK Community Foundations on behalf of the Arts Council, the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund will support a huge range of projects throughout England. 44 community foundations have been awarding grants across the country.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England said “The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund is a wonderful example of our ambition to give everyone the opportunity to participate in and experience the arts, culture and creativity – made possible thanks to National Lottery players.
"This June, we’ll see communities across England coming together to celebrate a historic milestone for this country.
"I’m excited to see these projects brought to life in villages, towns and cities across the country as our wonderfully creative communities celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”
Rosemary Macdonald, CEO, UK Community Foundations, said: “For community foundations, people and places are the priority and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee is a unique opportunity for people to get together and celebrate in their communities. We are proud to have connected Arts Council England with local organisations whose imaginative and exciting projects and collaborations with professional artists will bring communities together to enjoy marking this milestone moment in our history.”
The Queen is the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, having overtaken Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in 2015.
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