Lottery hands over £99k for project to bring Corby’s estates together

Groundwork Northamptonshire has been awarded just over £99,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund and the government to help it run Connecting Corby - a programme of arts and environmental activities on four estates.

The programme aims to bring people together on the Exeter, Lloyds, Kingswood and Hazel Leys estates, creating new friendships across the generations and helping people to plan their own activities for their community.

There will be regular sessions in each location working with artists and gardeners to create, grow and contribute to events for the whole community to enjoy. Connecting Corby will launch with an event in each area in March 2019, with a range of fun art workshops, performances and activities suitable for all ages.

Connecting Corby has been funded through Building Connections, a new fund aiming to combat loneliness and improve social connections within communities. Over 27 months, the project will bring together all of Groundwork Northamptonshire’s separate arms, including the JAM team, who will be working to encourage young people to participate in sessions and Made in Corby, who will be managing the artistic activities. Together, they will be working with a wide range of local partners, including Pen Green Centre for Children and their Families, Eden Park and the Autumn Centre.

This new programme builds upon the extensive work that Groundwork Northamptonshire delivers across the county, on youth, environmental, community and art programmes. During 2018, their work engaged over 60,000 local people, including 1,600 individual young people, which was supported by more than 250 volunteers.

Launch events will be held at Stephenson Way Community Centre on Saturday, March 9, The Autumn Centre on Saturday, March 16 and Hazelwood Neighbourhood Centre on Sunday, March 24 from 11am until 4pm on each day.

At each event you’ll be able to find out more about Connecting Corby and try out a whole range of free taster activities suitable for all ages, as well as free facepainting and refreshments.

The £11.5 million Building Connections Fund is a partnership between Government, The National Lottery Community Fund and the Co-op Foundation which was set up in response to the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness to support projects that prevent or reduce loneliness.

For further details about the Connecting Corby programme and launch events, please visit Made in Corby, call the office on 01536 267895 or follow Made In Corby on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.