£750,000 awarded to Creative Tendring "will change people's lives"
The funding comes from the National Lottery
A £750,000 investment will see more grassroots-led cultural experiences taking place in Tendring.
The funding is part of Arts Council England's Creative People and Places Portfolio, and it aims to help areas where participation in the arts is below the national average.
Hosted by Arts Trust Productions, in partnership with Tendring District Council, Community Voluntary Services Tendring, and the Harwich Festival, Creative Tendring will connect world-class artists with local communities to celebrate what makes the area unique.
Martin Collins, Founder of Arts Trust Productions told us that these events "will change people's lives."
He said that the money's allocation, is down to local people:
"The whole point of it is that we are handing the choices and the ideas over to the community, so that the community gets to ultimately dictate how this money gets spent.
"We do have a lot of loneliness and isolation, so this money will definitely be able to set up large scale projects where people can all come together."
The charity, based in St Osyth, was set up in 2012 to reduce loneliness and isolation.
"We will meet so many people that we've never come across in the past, so we will hear the challenges we haven't heard before.
"Sometimes we find in these endeavours that people don't know what's on their doorstep. I think that's the beautiful thing, being able to place artwork on their doorstep.
"With this funding we can take the art to the people."
Martin said that he was looking forward to being able to provide local art opportunities:
"It's a mixture of fear and pure excitement.
"It's such a responsibility. We've been trusted with this funding for our community.
"And it's lovely because I was born in St Osyth, so I came from that community."
"Without question it is all about fun. It's all about trying something new and experiencing something new.
"It will change people's lives."