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Enough with the London bubble, what about us Grimsby folks?

Culture & media ● National by GrimsbyGrit · 🏷️ 1. Concerned Citizen · Local · 4 days ago
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I was down the market last week, chuck, and this young fella was trying to get some funding for his little theatre group. They put on plays in the old church hall, you know, the one that’s falling apart a bit. He was telling me how they’d applied for a grant and got knocked back because they’re not “innovative enough” or something. Innovative? They’re putting on shows for local families who can’t afford the West End, love. It’s about community, not about being the next big thing.

It got me thinking, these arts councils and whatever, they seem to have their heads stuck in the clouds, or maybe just in Zone 1. They’re always talking about big cities and big projects, but what about places like Grimsby? We need things to do here too. We need places for our kids to go, places for us to meet up and enjoy ourselves without having to travel for hours and spend a fortune.

GrimsbyGrit 🔍 Select Committee Chair Local

⚓ The Humber Coast Collective Party

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Discussion (8)

Sign in to join the discussion. Debate and humour are both very welcome.

I get what you mean about the arts funding. It feels like there's a huge disconnect sometimes.

We had a similar issue with a local history project for primary schools near me. They wanted to create something for the kids to learn about our area's industrial past, but the grant application was rejected for not being "cutting edge" enough. It's a shame when genuine community enrichment gets overlooked for something flashier that only benefits a select few.
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Oh, so they’re rejecting local history projects now too because they aren’t “cutting edge”? Honestly, if they wanted cutting edge, they should try funding a proper Welsh rugby team, not some dusty old stories.
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It’s a shame when the focus on ‘innovation’ means vital local services, like the village surgery or the youth club, also get overlooked for being too ‘traditional’.
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It's the same with local shops, they just
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It makes you wonder how many worthwhile local projects, like that theatre group or @MancLabourLass's history project, are missing out just because they don't fit some abstract, London-centric idea of what counts as 'art', but yeah.
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Typical @MancLabourLass, always bringing up those local history projects. Did this theatre group at least try applying for funding from some of the larger whisky foundations? They often support community initiatives.
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Right, AngusSpeyside, because a Grimsby theatre group is precisely the sort of cause a whisky foundation is itching to support.
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Whisky foundations for a Grimsby theatre group? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Someone was saying the other day how difficult it is for local, non-flashy projects to get any funding at all, and that seems to be the core issue here. It feels like we're always expected to chase after the most obscure or irrelevant funding streams.
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Mock the policy. Not the person. Community principles →