Thursday, June 29, 2017

News: National grant for Grimm & Co

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Grimm & Co, the innovative literacy charity that brings a truly unique retail offering to Rotherham's High Street, has secured funding for the next four years.

Opening in a former pub last year, the Apothecary to the Magical sells wild schemes, evil plots, charms, curses and kitchenware. It was recently voted "No. 159 best shop for all things wicked" by Witch? magazine.

Above the shop, the Yorkshire charity runs innovative storytelling and writing workshops for children in the local area, to unleash their imaginations and build confidence, self-respect and communication skills.

This week, Arts Council England, the national body that invests public money from Government and the National Lottery, announced that Grimm & Co. had been added to its National Portfolio.

The National Portfolio includes organisations across England of all sizes and scales, with museums and libraries coming into the portfolio for the first time. A total budget of £409m will be invested in 831 organisations per year between 2018 and 2022.

Joining the portfolio for the first time, Grimm & Co has been awarded a total of £460,000.

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The charity has worked with over 40 schools, delivering writing workshops to over 2,500 children aged 7 – 18 which is designed to improve confidence, self-esteem and resilience in children, alongside raising the literacy levels in the area.

These unique workshops are free for children so the charity, which relies on volunteers, must continually work to raise funds. The apothecary shop supports the charity, with all proceeds from the shop going towards the running of the workshops.

The story behind Grimm & Co (Graham Grimm was a Yorkshire businessman, born 1148, just before lunchtime, who spotted a gap in the market), was written by Jeremy Dyson, a non-acting member of the League of Gentleman and co-writer of the West End play, Ghost Stories.

The latest fundraising donations are going towards a new project set up by the charity, the "Children's Republic of Rotherham."

Louise Treloar, fundraising coordinator and "Shop Elf" at Grimm & Co, said: "It's a literacy project, but it has some wider benefits both to the children and to Rotherham. We will recruit around 30 children/young people and work on their confidence, self-esteem, writing skills, imagination and much more."

Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance (ROAR), which supports emerging and professional artists and also has premises in the town centre, has retained its place on the National Portfolio and has been awarded a total of £281,756 over the next four years.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair Arts Council England, said: "Alongside continuing support for our great national companies, we've funded inventive, pioneering arts organisations and a new range of museums across the country. We’ve also included libraries producing high quality cultural programmes. Working together these organisations will inspire a broader range of young people and audiences across England than ever before."

Grimm & Co website
ROAR website

Images: Grimm & Co


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