Curious Motion celebrates after receiving £93,778 in National Lottery funding
Curious Motion based in Elland, Calderdale is celebrating today after being awarded £93,778 in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
Curious Motion will use their funding to reduce chronic loneliness and isolation in and around Elland, supporting local people to feel deeply connected to, and positive about, their local community.
This new National Lottery funding will support their 3-year project, The Welland Activator, which focuses on embedding excellent dance, movement and arts-based health activity in the area to foster positive mental health, bring people together who might not ordinarily meet, and help support community spirit. The project includes a regular activity programme of classes, workshops, and walks; a new podcast; and an annual ‘Welland’ showcase event that will include performances and exhibitions to share stories, experiences, and learnings from the project.
The project will cater for people of all ages and backgrounds, centring access and fostering a sense of togetherness and belonging. There’ll also be opportunities for local people to help steer and design the project throughout, including via Curious Motion’s Sounding Board, a new group that meets once every two months to discuss topics around mental health and how Curious Motion can best support this in the local area.
A background programme of regular activity has already begun, with the podcast set to launch in June, and Welland is scheduled for Saturday 29th July. Information and updates will be released on Curious Motion’s website, social media, and via email about how to get involved.
Curious Motion would also like to extend their thanks to Calderdale Council for their support of The Welland Activator, and the other partners and funders who support them including Arts Council England, The Community Foundation for Calderdale, St Augustine’s, Healthy Minds, Staying Well, Elland Ward Forum, Creative Minds and SWYPFT, and Rastrick Big Local.
Samantha McCormick, Artistic Director and founder said: “We are over the moon to have received this support! Thanks to National Lottery players, this grant means that our community can benefit from a consistent, excellent, and sustainable programme of innovative and creative approaches to wellbeing that will support them to live healthy and happy lives. This support is transformational for us, bringing sustainability to our organisation and helping us reach many more people in order to tackle loneliness and isolation. This will make a big difference to people’s lives.”
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.
During the pandemic, in 2020 alone, The National Lottery Community Fund distributed almost £1 billion to charities and community organisations across the UK.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
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Press contact: Samantha McCormick – sam@curiousmotion.org.uk
Additional images available on request
Notes to editors:
About Curious Motion
Curious Motion is a non-profit arts organisation using dance, movement, and creativity to tackle loneliness and isolation in Calderdale, with a particular focus on Elland, the lower valley, and under-represented communities. Founded in 2019, Curious Motion’s mission is to facilitate togetherness through accessible, inclusive, and high-quality dance and arts activities, focusing on long-term social change alongside supporting people with their needs and quality of life now. The organisation has grown from strength-to-strength; their most recent project, Elland’s Happiness Lab won a Community Spirit Award in November 2019 and a Communitas award in March 2023, and they run a thriving programme of activities that support local people from the ages of 2 to 90.
Curious Motion was founded by local arts professionals as a direct response to conversations, ideas, and feedback they received from local people by living and working in the area. The organisation is run by a small team who have lived experience of health inequalities and a willingness to share their life affirming work with others. They provide a compassionate, curious, and inclusive service that supports people to foster positive mental health, social connection, and a sense of belonging. Much of Curious Motion’s work directly complements wider health services and they regularly partner with other local health services to help enhance, inform, and develop their offer. They are at the forefront of creative approaches to health and wellbeing in Calderdale and aim to make this accessible to as many people as possible.
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About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we support people and communities to prosper and thrive.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
Our funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. We support projects focussed on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach NET Zero by 2050.
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects – 255 projects per postcode area.
