City of Culture legacy funding success for Derry community groups-

Two community arts and culture projects in Derry have received grants from the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland’s Acorn Fund to tackle issues such as social inclusion, rural isolation and marginalisation.

Eight projects have been funded through the Legacy Fund, supported by the Big Lottery Fund as part of its three-year commitment to build on City of Culture 2013 and the remaining projects through The Acorn Giving Circle.

This is the third allocation of funding from the Legacy Fund, which has been benefitting local communities since 2014. Three of the successful projects are outlined below:

Ally Foyle (Active Living in Later Years), a network of older people aged 50+ in the Derry city area, received a grant of £1,995 to run a series of workshops with ethnic minorities.

Through a range of different mediums, everything from painting and knitting to crafts, the group will celebrate their culture and traditions. The workshops will culminate in a public craft exhibition later in the year.

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company (£1,985) will programme a number of outreach workshops aimed at teenagers from disadvantaged communities across Derry, between September 2015 and March 2016. The young people will be introduced to new dance and movement techniques and will have the opportunity to become part of a wider production.

Other recipients of the Legacy Grant included Big Telly Theatre Company in Portstewart, Celtronic for Music City Day 2015, Liberty Consortium, North West Women’s Collective, Obon on the Foyle Festival Group and Glenshane Care Association.