Peasedown party grant scheme to give away another £500!

A popular community festival that has achieved record success over the last 15 years has re-opened its grant scheme to give money back to the community.

Peasedown St John’s Party in the Park is held every summer on Beacon Field, and due to the success of last year’s festival, thousands of pounds were raised.

The majority of the money goes towards covering the festival’s running costs, but the organisers have set an amount aside – the Party in the Park Grant Fund, to reinvest back into the community in the form of small and medium-sized financial grants.

Since the scheme was set up in 2010 over £15,000 has been given away to organisations such as Peasedown Primary School, Peasedown Methodist Church, Little Treasures Toy Library, Peasedown Youth Albion FC, The Hive Community Centre, Bath All Starz, Peasedown Wellbeing Group, Somer Valley Foodbank, Peasedown Croquet Club, Laurel Farm Kindergarden and the local scouts.

And now, event organisers are pleased to announce they’re giving away another £500 this year.

Cllr Karen Walker, who helped set up the festival in 2008, said: “When the organisers first met to plan Party in the Park all those years ago we decided that no matter how much money we raised we’d like to give some of it back to the community. Thanks to the success of our 14 previous festivals, we are pleased to announce that the Party in the Park Grant Fund will give away another £500 this year. This is our way of thanking residents for supporting last year’s festival and making it such a special day.”

Local organisations can apply for funding themselves or be nominated by a third party.

To qualify for a Party in the Park Grant, applicants must be part of an organisation that’s either based in Peasedown St John or one of the surrounding villages. The organisation should be not-for-profit and have a total annual income of no more than £10,000 per annum.

Preference will be given this year to groups and individuals who haven’t applied before.

Party in the Park is run by local charity, the Peasedown Community Trust. It’s Chairman Cllr Gavin Heathcote said: “All the members of the organising team have a strong sense of pride in Peasedown St John. We believe passionately in supporting the community at a grassroots level. Therefore, as well as just organising a large summer event each year we also want to do things for the community all year round.”

The closing date for grant applications is Friday 26th April. All interested applicants can download a copy of the Grant Fund application form at www.peasedownpartyinthepark.org.uk or email the festival directly at info@peasedownpartyinthepark.org.uk

Successful grant applicants will be congratulated in front of a packed festival crowd at Party in the Park 2024 on Saturday 8th June on Beacon Field, Peasedown St John.

To keep up to date with the 2024 festival plans visit the event website or follow Peasedown Party in the Park on Twitter: @peasedown_party