The D-Day Story is offering small grants to local charities and community groups to support greater wellbeing for the people of Portsmouth.
The grants of up to £500 are being made available for COVID-19 compliant activities and projects which will benefit people in Portsmouth. They must meet one or more of the following priorities:
- Improving the health and wellbeing of local people
- Community celebrations and bringing people together online
- Sharing the stories of D-Day and Landing Craft Tank 7074
This project is being delivered as a partnership between The D-Day Story, Portsmouth City Council and the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the project lead partner the council are working with to realise the LCT 7074 opening. The scheme is making use of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with a total of £5,000 available to be spent by 30 April 2021.
There will be two rounds of applications, the first in November 2020 and the second in February 2021. The deadline for the first round of applications is 15 November.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member of Culture, Leisure and Economic Development at Portsmouth City Council, said: "Given the year we've found ourselves facing it's great that these grants are available to enable charities and community groups to deliver projects to help the wellbeing of Portsmouth residents in line with COVID-19 regulations. Also any projects that help to share the important stories around D-Day and the Landing Craft 7074 can only be welcomed as they're such an important part of history."
Daniel Jessop, Community Participation Officer at Portsmouth City Council, said: "It's wonderful that The D-Day Story has been given this funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We're pleased to be working with Hive Portsmouth and look forward to seeing the proposals from groups of how they could use these grants to help support the health and wellbeing of Portsmouth residents. Due to the challenges brought about by COVID-19 restrictions, we hope this will inspire some creative ideas about how residents can participate safely in activities from home."
The D-Day Story is currently closed in line with government lockdown restrictions, with plans to re-open on 2 December. This project is an example of one of the many ways museums continue their work during COVID-19.
More information about the grant eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found on the D-Day Story website.
