The Coalfields Regeneration Trust has announced the next funding round of Coalfields Community Investment Programme will re-open for applications on the 18th July 2016. The Coalfields Community Investment Programme make grants of up to £10,000 (£5,000 for capital costs to community groups that:

    Help people gain the skills they need in order to increase their opportunities
    Increase the number of people in work
    That improve the health and wellbeing of all age groups.

The Wingate Foundation has announced that its Music Grants programme is open to applications. The Music Grants programme supports those areas of music performance and education which do not readily attract backing from commercial sponsors or other funding bodies, or which are not eligible for public funding. Priority will be given to those organisations which give opportunities to young professionals and to education projects for young people as well as for new adult audiences.

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music Foundation, the UK's leading funder of new music across all genres, has announced that the next application deadline for its funding programme for organisations and music creators is the 3rd October 2016.

The National Centre for Circus Arts has announced that it will launch the next round of its Lab:time programme on the 27th June 2016.

The next applications deadline for the Performing Right Society's (PRS) Women Make Music grant scheme is 6pm on the 3rd October 2016. Through the grant scheme, financial support of up to £5000 is available to women musicians to create new music in any genre. This can range from:

    Classical
    Jazz
    Experimental
    Urban
    Electronica
    Pop.

Grants are available for projects:

A research team at the University of Leicester has created the East Midlands Creative Practitioners Survey. Previous research, conducted in 2014 with Attenborough Arts Centre and The Mighty Creatives (Arts Council England’s bridge organisation for the East Midlands), suggested that regional arts organisations are adapting to austerity measures but the challenges faced by freelance arts and cultural workers are being overlooked. (Read the report at bit.ly/299AIeA or case studies from the project at storiesofinclusivearts.com)
 

Popular craft activities for children will be run at Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire during August.

The fun sessions will be held from 10am to 4pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1st to 31st August as part of the store’s programme of events. The perfect way to help keep kids entertained during the summer holidays, the sessions are themed around the farm and countryside and include creating farm animal pompoms, bee and butterfly weaving, and making corn kernel mosaics.

The Chatsworth Festival - Art Out Loud (23-25 September) is delighted to announce its full programme of talks, as tickets go on sale today. Festival speakers now revealed include world-renowned artists Jenny Saville and Maggi Hambling, the legendary historian, diarist and curator Sir Roy Strong, and the potter and designer Emma Bridgewater. They - and 20 other artists, curators and writers - will transform Chatsworth into Britain’s most exciting destination for art lovers over three days this September.

The “Banksy of the photography world”, Peak District wildlife photographer Villager Jim has been chosen to help market Barbour International for 2016 around the world. Barnaby the labrador is the main star of the show however sporting his Barbour coat on the website blog : http://www.barbour.com/blog

http://www.villagerjim.com/

Over the last 12 months young people aged 16-30 have taken part in the Courage of Conscience project to research the lives of Derbyshire’s World War One conscientious objectors.  Working with River Wolton they have created fictional pieces of creative writing in the ‘imagined voices’ of these individuals, their communities and families.