Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Grant funding offered to North Kesteven communities for VJ Day celebrations

Seven community celebrations and commemorations of VE Day in North Kesteven have benefitted from a grant fund made available to help deliver local activity.

With the grant fund remaining open for further applications for events relating to the 80th anniversary of VJ Day in August, community and voluntary groups, charities and social enterprises with financial resources below £10,000 can still apply for up to £500 each to support local events that benefit communities.

Funded activity must take place within a week either side of August 15 and be of benefit to North Kesteven residents. Deadline for applications is July 21.

The seven events funded for VE Day were:

  • Anwick – towards catering, licensing, advertising and entertainment costs for a day of cinema screenings, village decorations and showcase of village memories on May 10.
  • Bassingham – towards decorations, catering and costs associated with a Brownie and Guides tea dance and afternoon tea on May 6.
  • Billinghay – towards food, decorations and a 1940s singer at a buffet following a parade and wreath laying on May 8.
  • Burton Pedwardine – towards the costs of a commemorative Tommy state bunting and flags for a village barbecue and quiz on May 5.
  • Greylees – towards food, entertainment and dance captain for a tea dance at the New Chapel on May 8.
  • Swaton – towards the costs of ice cream, drinks, bunting and planter displays through the village linked to a beacon lighting on May 8.
  • Walcott – towards food, decorations, drinks and promotion of an afternoon tea at the village hall on May 11.

Council leader cllr Richard Wright said it was clear that these small grants had made a significant difference in both initiating and broadening celebration events and activity, ensuring more people could participate in paying tribute to a generation of people who had contributed so much in the pursuit of freedom and peace.

“A we saw, VE Day 80 was a wonderful opportunity to come together in celebration of what we have in common, and to use the occasion to reach out to neighbours, friends and our wider communities, and VJ Day brings that opportunity again,” he said.

“The fund remains open through to July in order that communities can again acknowledge the significance of VJ Day in August that brought the war to its eventual end, and pay further tribute to all those who served in the Second World War, to reflect on the values that they were fighting for and to collaborate in joyful celebration of everything they secured through victory.

“For those community groups that applied and were eligible, the grants made all the difference in promoting, providing and putting-on fun, inclusive, and reflective parties, activities and events for VE Day in order that victory could be sensed again.”

Eligible costs include venue hire, promotional materials, decorations, and entertainment and the purchase of refreshments, but not alcohol, commemorative benches or structures.

 

Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Robert L Parker

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our news site - please take a moment to read this important message:

As you know, our aim is to bring you, the reader, an editorially led news site and magazine but journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them.

With the Covid-19 pandemic having a major impact on our industry as a whole, the advertising revenues we normally receive, which helps us cover the cost of our journalists and this website, have been drastically affected.

As such we need your help. If you can support our news sites/magazines with either a small donation of even £1, or a subscription to our magazine, which costs just £27.55 per year, (inc p&P and mailed direct to your door) your generosity will help us weather the storm and continue in our quest to deliver quality journalism.

As a subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our web site and magazine. You'll also be offered VIP invitations to our events, preferential rates to all our awards and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Just click here to subscribe and in the meantime may I wish you the very best.

Advertisment












Latest posts

Farm offers fun and free day out for the whole family

Spalding-based Worth Farms will be one of hundreds of farms opening for Open Farm Sunday on 8th June. The gates at Worth Farms (PE12 8LW)...

Weekly food waste collections to begin in Lincolnshire by 2026

Lincolnshire is set to introduce weekly food waste collections, in line with a UK-wide rollout scheduled to begin by 30 March 2026. The change...

Scunthorpe event highlights armed forces commitment

North Lincolnshire Council is set to host Armed Forces Day on Saturday 21 June at Brumby Hall Sports Ground in Scunthorpe, reinforcing its ongoing...

Bus improvements in North East Lincolnshire drive passenger growth

North East Lincolnshire has been recognised as one of the most improved areas for bus services across Yorkshire and Humberside, according to the latest...

Job-creating data centre planned for North Lincolnshire industrial estate

A major extension is planned for Elsham Wolds Industrial Estate.  If approved, the development would create a new data centre, bringing hundreds of new jobs,...

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close