Welcome to the latest edition of the Vibrant Shropshire newsletter.
We want to highlight some of the great opportunities and projects happening across Shropshire's cultural sector.
If you have something you would like to share in future newsletters such as a job opportunity, funding, cultural opportunity or a success story, do let us know by emailing culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk
Make sure to check out the Cultural Funding Opportunities at the end of the newsletter.
If you think this newsletter might be of interest to someone you know, please forward it onto them. To make sure you get this newsletter every month, subscribe here.
On Thursday 18th September, join us at Bridgnorth Community Hall to learn how your organisation can effectively work with volunteers.
Date: Thursday 18 September
Time: 10:00 - 1:00
Location: Bridgnorth Community Hall, WV15 6BB
Price: FREE
This workshop, led by Community Resource, will cover:
- volunteer recruitment
- policy documents
- support for volunteers
- retention of volunteers
The workshop will also cover creating a volunteer handbook, appointing a volunteer coordinator and any extra training that may be required.
This training is aimed at Shropshire organisations that have volunteers or may be looking to recruit volunteers.
This is a repeat of the workshop held previously at the Qube in Oswestry in 2024.
Funded by the UK Government through the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
If you have any access requirements, please let us know by emailing culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk
Please note you must be a partner of Vibrant Shropshire: A Cultural Compact to attend this training. It is free to become a partner and only takes a couple of minutes. You can sign up here. If you sign up to this training without being a partner, your registration may be cancelled/removed.
Sign up for this event below:
 A new and constantly expanding media library is now available on the Tourism in Shropshire website - a fantastic free resource for businesses in Shropshire.
The library of images and video clips is a new resource for business in Shropshire to help tell the story about visiting or working in Shropshire.
You can search the library by location and/ or theme and then download any images you would like to use for your own marketing.
Take a look at the library here:
 Also available are FREE assets from the In Shropshire brand including suggested copy when talking about the county as a visitor destination and templates for social media posts.
Read more about the In Shropshire brand here
This project is part of the Visitor Economy project funded by the UK Government UKSPF.
British Council has a call out for professionals in the cultural and creative industries to join a programme that will explore the role of arts in climate and environmental action.
The programme is for creative practitioners and those supporting the creative industries. If you are passionate about the potential of the arts to contribute to a more sustainable future, and you meet the criteria, the British Council would love to hear from you.
Throughout the programme, participants will:
- develop climate literacy; understand the causes of climate changes; identify different climate scenarios
- explore the role of the arts, understanding the different ways in which the arts are driving the climate and ecological emergency, as well as how art practice is a force of positive change.
- explore what you can do in the face of the climate crisis through a practical project.
- learn and practice alongside supportive peers, forming a creative ecosystem of people across different countries, disciplines and backgrounds.
- have the opportunity to reimagine your career, organisation or business, and unlock the potential for meaningful action in a climate impacted world.
The programme is free of charge.
To complete the programme successfully, you will need to commit to spending two hours per week, in either live sessions or independent study, between October 2025 and February 2026.
Find out more below:
A Creative West Midlands, developed by Culture Central, is a report created to better understand the creative engagement of people living in the West Midlands region. The initiative also developed powerful tools to the creative and cultural sectors to increase creative opportunities for residents across the region.
You can now register for the 'A Creative West Midlands' event to:
- find out more about the findings from the report and the scope of the research
- understand how to use the tools and datasets developed through the project
- learn how other organisations and places use the research to inform their work
Date: Tuesday 23 September 2025
Time: 13:00 - 16:00
Location: Telegraph Hotel, Coventry, CV1 1GU
Sign up now:
 Are you 18-25 and passionate about driving social and environmental change? Join Shropshire Wildlife Trust on their FREE Environmental Leadership Programme, ELP2.
Hybrid, flexible and able to fit in with your studies, running from October 2024-July 2025
- Take part in online and in person events, supported by the Wildlife Trust's friendly team
- Connect with nature and like-minded people in a friendly and challenging way
- Develop the skills needed to create change in your community
Applications are open until the end of September.
Click the button below to find out more and apply:
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Professional Community Theatre Company, Moonstruck Astronaut, has been awarded an Arts Council England National Lottery project grant to deliver a series of vibrant, co-creative drama workshops in Telford Town Centre during the school summer holidays, followed by Saturday and after-school sessions in September.
This is the first time professional theatre-making will be made accessible to children and young people in Telford Town Centre. The aspiration of the cross-arts project, called ‘Telford Tall Tales’, is to help put the ‘elf’ back into Telford. ‘Telford Tall Tales’ is to excitingly weave storytelling with puppetry, performance, dance and drama nurturing local children’s co-creative skills and enabling local artists to work together for the first time.
Summer workshops began on August 4th with a five-day Storytelling Week to boost the performance skills, self-expression and self-confidence of 8 to 14-year-olds.
During this immersive week, children and young people were guided by a team of professional drama, movement, music, puppetry and storytelling artists and enthusiastic volunteers to co-create a bespoke ‘Tall Tale’ performance.
The Telford Tall Tales team are back in Telford Town Centre in Autumn with a full-day workshop on Saturday 13th of September, and Thursday early-evening sessions during September and October, again offering rare access to professional cross-arts workshops for Telford’s children and young people.
Last year the theatre company was awarded £7,500 through Postcode Local Trust, thanks to funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, to develop the project over this past winter. The delivery of the project has been made possible with £35,785 funding from Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants awarded this May. The project is also supported by Telford and Wrekin Council’s Healthy, Happy and Active Holidays Scheme who have provided places for free to children on free school meals.
Peter Knott, Midlands Area Director at Arts Council England, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Moonstruck Astronaut to deliver drama workshops for young people, with more than £35,000 of funding from the National Lottery. By championing inclusion, accessibility, and professional development, Telford Tall Tales aligns with Arts Council England’s Let’s Create strategy, ensuring a lasting impact for Telford’s young people and artists.”
To find out more about the workshops, click the button below and follow the links to the Eventbrite pages. Early Bird prices are currently available.
 We are getting lots of great feedback about our new, dedicated website for Vibrant Shropshire: A Cultural Compact.
You can check it out here: Vibrant Shropshire | Supporting Shropshire's Cultural Sectors
Developed by Shrewsbury-based web design company, Verve, this website will act as a home for:
- Information about Vibrant Shropshire
- Our latest news, project updates and events
- Available Cultural Funding: a summary of funding opportunities for cultural projects regionally, nationally and internationally
- Vibrant Shropshire Partner directory
If you have any ideas for additional content that would be useful for the sector, feel free to let us know. Please send suggestions to culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk.
 Our new Vibrant Shropshire website includes a directory of all the Vibrant Shropshire partners. This directory will be used to connect partners, promote co-working and link up Shropshire's cultural sector.
To be included in this directory and share the work that you do, please fill out the form linked below.
Once you have filled out the form, please send us a copy of your logo to culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk
If you are not a Vibrant Shropshire partner, why not become one for free? Please sign up using the link below, you will then be able to complete the directory form:
Have you got a project coming up that you would like to promote?
Do you have news that you would like to share with your peers?
Perhaps you know about an opportunity for cultural practitioners that isn't listed here.
We want to hear from you.
Please send us details of:
- events
- exhibitions
- classes
- employment opportunities
- shows and performances
- commission opportunities
- available funding
- partnership projects
Our aim is to make this newsletter as informative and useful for Shropshire's Cultural Sector. If you know of an opportunity that's of interest to you, chances are it's of interest to another creative practitioner too.
Please send details to culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk
 Below you will find a selection of currently open cultural funding opportunities. To see a full list of cultural funding opportunities, please visit the funding page of our website.
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Unlimited Open Awards
Unlimited's Open Awards are offering ten opportunities for disabled artists based in England, Scotland or Wales. These awards offer a grand total of £413,000 to disabled artists with individual awards ranging from £15,000 seed commissions, to £80,000 for major production-ready backing.
This commissioning awards round supports bold, brilliant disabled artists to create, develop and share extraordinary work.
They welcome applications from disabled artists across all disciplines and backgrounds including those who may not have applied before. If you’ve got a boundary-pushing idea and need someone to believe in it, they want to hear from you.
These awards are made possible with the support from Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, and Creative Scotland.
Grant amount: between £15,000 and £80,000
Deadline: 29 September 2025
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National Garden Scheme's Community Garden Grants
The National Garden Scheme's Community Garden Awards provide grants of £1,500 and £5,000 for gardening projects carried out within local communities in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The aim should be to bring a community together by creating or developing a space that people can share, by the acquisition and sharing of gardening knowledge and skills, and by inspiring a love of gardening.
Grant amounts: between £1,500 and £5,000
Deadline: Application window 15 September to 20 October
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Arnold Clark Communities Support Fund
UK registered charities and community groups who provide services that are widely accessible to their local community and are located within a 50-mile radius of an Arnold Clark branch can apply now for a Community Support grant of up to £1,000.
The funding must be used for charitable or community purposes that address at least one of the following categories:
- Pet welfare
- Arts and culture
- Community enhancement .
- Disability
- Educational training / advancement (
- Sustainability enhancements / projects
- Mental health support
- Relief support organisations
- Equality and diversity
- Youth clubs and groups, such as Brownies, Scouts, Guides, Sea Cadets, Cubs, amateur sports teams, dance groups and gymnastics can apply for up to £750 for community trips, club costs materials, venue hire, transport.
Grant amount: up to £1,000
Deadline(s): rolling. Applications may be paused due to high demand.
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To find more available funding opportunities, take a look at the Available Funding page on our website:
Know about an arts or cultural funding opportunity that isn't listed here? Please contact us
To share your news with Vibrant Shropshire partners and members of the cultural sector please email: culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk
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