Background
Nottingham City Council is looking to use funding from its UK Shared Prosperity Fund to contribute to the costs of community activities events which aim to:
- Increase the number of people engaging in community events and activities
- Celebrate the heritage of the City
- Encourage people to engage in creative activities
- Promote and celebrate the City’s diverse cultures
- Encourage community cohesion
- Aim to engage the most vulnerable in our communities and those who feel excluded or isolated due to their labour market status, age, gender, ethnicity, health or sexuality.
- Increase the use of community facilities and amenities
- Create local volunteering opportunities
All events and activities supported using this grant will be:
- Free to all (i.e. no entry or admission fees)
- Accessible to all (i.e. entry is not limited to members of a particular organisation or group)
- Delivered before 31st March 2026.
Grant Amount
The funding available to organisations through this grant scheme is revenue funding.
- The maximum amount available per project application was £10,000
- The minimum amount available per project application was £5,000
The 23 organisations below have been awarded a grant. Each has more information about their projects and contact details via the links.
| Organisation | Summary of background |
| BACKLIT | BACKLIT is a female and LGBTQ+ led charity, gallery, and the largest studio space in the Midlands. Established in 2008, it supports early-career artists with studios, exhibitions, and development opportunities. BACKLIT’s mission is to advance arts education through inclusive programming focused on mental health, digital access, environment, and EDI. It works with underrepresented communities in Nottingham—women, LGBTQ+ people, young people, and residents—via workshops, exhibitions, and heritage projects. Based in a 19th-century building, BACKLIT explores local histories, including those of factory workers. It also hosts Lumina Collective, a feminist group of women and genderqueer artists promoting representation and leadership. |
| Belong | Belong empowers refugees and asylum seekers through Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) that promotes integration and independence. We offer employability support, one-to-one assessments, CV writing, job-search assistance and interview coaching so beneficiaries gain the confidence to navigate the UK labour market. Our learning programmes deliver ESOL, personal development and employability training and digital skills, while welfare-rights advisers guide clients through benefits claims, debt management and PIP applications. A dedicated youth and sports projects provide social activities and mentoring for young people, and our heritage programme and community events enable participants to explore pasts, celebrate cultural identities and build local connections. |
| Bestwood Park Community Association | Bestwood Park Community Association has operated since its constitution as a CIO in February 2015. Originally managing the Bestwood Park Community Centre, the association pivoted during COVID-19 to continue fulfilling its mission through partnerships with local groups and venues — such as Bestwood Park Church, The Ridge Adventure Playground, Bestwood Partnership, Rainbow Parent Carer Forum, and Bestwood Park Nursery & Out-of-School Club. Hosting inclusive events underpinned its work. |
| Brighter Futures Through Sport | Early interventions with young people to improve mental and physical health. Working to provide better communities with events to engage all. |
| Broadway | Broadway is a nationally recognised cultural cinema and creative hub located in Nottingham’s Hockley area. We screen a diverse programme of independent, international, and mainstream film alongside talks, festivals, and community-led events. Each year we welcome over 160,000 visitors and collaborate with a wide range of grassroots and cultural organisations. We are committed to inclusion and audience development, supporting diverse communities through partnerships, accessible programming, and a growing volunteer initiative. Broadway has over 35 years’ experience delivering high-quality, meaningful engagement in the arts. |
| Circus Hub | Circus Hub is a Community Interest Company teaching aerial and ground based circus skills to a wide community of adults and children. We offer regular classes to all and carry out workshops in schools, festivals and local events. Our aim is to make circus as accessible as possible to everyone and engage a wide range of people in the magic and joy of circus. |
| Epic Partnership | Epic Partners delivers high-quality opportunities for children and young people in Nottingham City. Based in St Ann’s and Sneinton, two of the most disadvantaged communities in the country (bottom 3% IMD), we work with over 1,000 children and young people each year, including those at risk of exclusion, involved in crime, or experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We engage with children aged 5–18, including girls, young people with SEND, and those from low-income families. Our community programmes include youth clubs, the Epic Sports Academy, holiday clubs, mentoring, and family support. |
| Evolve | Evolve Nottingham CIC was incorporated on 8 December 2016. We established our organisation to address challenges in North Nottingham's outer estates, an area of high deprivation where austerity places significant pressure on families and communities. Evolve was needed to deliver activities and services supporting our local community whilst mitigating deprivation's impact. Statutory services and partners deemed the area forgotten and too hard to reach. |
| Hawa Hubb | Hawa-Hubb is a Nottingham grassroots community initiative aimed at empowering women and girls—particularly from ethnically diverse, faith-based, and traditionally underserved communities. The organisation emerged in response to widespread social isolation, limited access to culturally appropriate recreational spaces, and a lack of inclusive opportunities for women’s physical and emotional well-being. Hawa-Hubb was created to bridge these gaps by fostering sisterhood, promoting healthy lifestyles, and nurturing leadership through sports, arts, and shared cultural experiences. |
| Himmah | Himmah is a Social Justice Organisation, with a mission to tackle food poverty, racism and educational inequalities. As well as operating the largest independent food bank in Nottingham, we offer hot meals every week, distribute school uniforms to low-income families, and campaign to eradicate disproportionality in stop and searches, among other crucial initiatives. We work to tackle injustice on our doorstep |
| Hope Hut | Founded in 2018, Hope Hut facilitates “activities you will love in the heart of the community” and aims to be a safe space for people in St Ann’s to find hope and a supportive community. Our activities include a running group for youth and adults (Running Hut), sports and activities for children/families (Summer Hut), and a warm space with food/drinks and games (Warm Hut). Held weekly (Tuesdays after school, term-time only) at our Hope Hut building and neighbouring primary school playing field. We also run a twice-monthly ‘Craft Hut’ (Mondays) for families and quarterly large-scale community events. |
| IMPACD | IMPACD CIC is a community organisation based in Nottingham, founded in 2022 to reduce isolation and improve wellbeing through inclusive creative activity. We support people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities in connecting through movement, music, costume-making, puppetry, and storytelling. Our work is person-led and shaped by people with lived experience. We host regular workshops in our local area, as well as in collaboration with groups throughout the city. We have delivered Arts Council, Sport England, Long Covid and Levelling Up funded projects, and engage over 150 people weekly across community hubs, care settings, festivals and public events. |
| Mojatu | We are a Nottingham based CIO that promotes social cohesion and empowers marginalised communities through culturally tailored skilling, employment, health and wellbeing, and creative programmes. We engage diverse ethnic groups, isolated older people, and at-risk youths, with a focus on inclusion and accessibility. We have over 12 years’ experience in supporting BAME and migrants communities in Nottingham. |
| New Art Exchange | New Art Exchange (NAE) is a contemporary arts space in Nottingham dedicated to culturally diverse arts and global perspectives. NAE supports emerging and established artists through exhibitions, residencies, and community-focused programmes. It delivers inclusive events, community programmes, and creative opportunities that engage local, national, and international audiences. NAE champions equity in the arts and plays a vital role in nurturing talent and fostering dialogue across cultures. Its work spans visual arts, performance, and socially engaged practice, making it a dynamic hub for creativity, collaboration, and social change. |
| Nottingham Womens Centre | Nottingham Women’s Centre has been supporting women in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for over 50 years. We are a community space based in Nottingham City Centre, led by-and-for women, and we bring women and women’s organisations together to find support and friendship.
Our services include:
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| Nottz Garden Project | Nottz Garden Project runs 9 community gardens and growing spaces in Radford, Hyson Green & Bestwood. All gardens are open to the public to enjoy and focus primarily on food growing for communities that need support. We hold volunteering sessions and themed events at gardens that encourage grow your own, allow communities to get creative and also promote healthy eating. We also work in city primary schools delivering garden clubs and are a Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) provider for the city council. |
| One Vision Partnership | Founded in 2001 by local residents and community leaders, in direct response to socio-economic challenges within our community, OVP aims to strengthen connections and networks locally, making a better place to live. We engage with our community through the delivery of:
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| Primary | Primary is a visual arts charity and community space housed in a Grade II listed former Victorian school in Radford, Nottingham. Founded in 2012, our mission is to sustain a thriving arts ecology in an unpredictable and inequitable world, by supporting artists and communities to engage in a wide range of cultural activity. We believe in the transformative power of creativity to build connections, challenge injustice, and reimagine the world. Rooted in creativity and collaboration, we champion artists' development, community building, and drive social impact in our neighbourhood and beyond. Our free programme includes exhibitions, creative education, commissions and long-term projects developed in collaboration with local communities. |
| Rebel Sparks | We are a Nottingham-based company (Formerly The Gramophones) making theatre that lights up our audiences, fans the flames of change and sparks connection. Our shows burn the rulebook by centering female and non-binary characters and setting fire to audience expectations. Our work is ambitious - made for, by and with communities. We support everyone to join the campfire by breaking down barriers, giving a loudhailer to unheard voices and making the world a little bit brighter. We recently made Take Flight a sensory aerial theatre show for babies and their grown-ups |
| STAA | STAA provides community access to 4 amazing green spaces on St Ann’s Allotments. Offering something for all ages, we support local people to learn, play, relax and explore. Specific activities enable participants to develop their horticulture skills, improve their health & wellbeing, connect with others and explore the heritage of this grade 2* heritage site. Supported by around 100 volunteers per year, STAA runs children, family and school activities on St Ann’s Community Orchard, grows produce at the Nursery for the local community, and is a City and Guilds Accredited training centre delivering qualifications in Practical Horticulture. |
| Stonebridge City Farm | We remain free-to-enter and recognise the multiple deprivation challenges faced by our local community. We have a volunteer family of 183 people, around 65% of whom have additional needs or vulnerabilities. Our volunteer family supports provision of our community hub to a diverse local population of whom only 59% are white and where 23.7% of households experience income deprivation. Last year we had 100,000 visits. We actively partner with local agencies representing diverse service users. Last year enjoyed visits from 1,200 schoolchildren and supported 86 different activities including a successful Arts Festival (c.1,500 people). |
| Sugar Stealers | Sugar Stealers are a team of 4 women with combined experience in arts, entertainment, wellbeing and community projects. The organisation started in 2019 with the purpose of breaking down barriers that affect deprived communities in order to encourage healing and social progression. We have since built a safe space where all women & gender expansive people come to explore positive wellbeing and creative practice. Our mission is to reduce social isolation, support mental health, and create access to free cultural and creative programming that reflects our diverse cohort. Our programme include dance, yoga, paddle boarding, art, music and poetry. |
| Summerwood Community Gardens | An organic off-grid community garden situated on an allotment in Clifton with growing areas, children’s play spaces, outdoor cooking and social eating areas, a wildlife pond and community orchard. We provide activities, events, workshops and volunteering opportunities for all ages that provide the physical and mental health benefits of being in nature, develop environmental education and reduce social isolation. |
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