Small Community Commissions
For creative community events & small projects!
We are offering the opportunity to brighten up the lives of residents in your local community through our small commissions!
Every quarter, there will be the opportunity for three groups or individuals to receive up to £500 to bring your creative idea to life.
Maybe you’ll use your funding for a music night, creative reading group, heritage walk, or to launch a new short project like a community hub to develop art/craft activities. You might want to start a walking photography club, ukulele or dance group, a filmmaking after-school club for teenagers, or an intergenerational storytelling project. The possibilities are endless!
Your project will need to take place in, or close to, one of our Priority Areas: Totton & Eling; The Waterside; New Milton & Pennington; Ringwood & Fordingbridge.
Or/and with our Priority Groups: Older Isolated People; Young People aged 11 – 25 years; People with Life-Limiting Illnesses; Ethnic Minority/Marginalised Groups; Intergenerational Groups.
All expressions of interest will be assessed by a panel, who will particularly consider the following:
Community Impact: Does the project demonstrate good local community engagement? Are a number of people in your community passionate to see this happen?
Creative Ambition: Is the activity/event presented to a high standard? Is it original?
Accessibility: Does your project plan overcome any potential barriers e.g. ticket cost, public transport, venue accessibility?
If we have more expressions of interest than we can fund, our assessment will take into consideration the following balancing criteria:
– Geographic Spread across the New Forest
– Art Form Diversity
– Range of Participants/Audiences
Some examples of previous small commissions include: a 48-Hour Film Challenge; Nature Journalling, Clothes Upcycling Workshops, Acro/Dance Taster Sessions and more!
If you are awarded £500, Culture in Common will need to see a copy of your Public Liability Insurance, Safeguarding Policy and Risk Assessment. We will also provide a feedback form to gather monitoring information, required by our funders, Arts Council England.
Please submit your Expression of Interest using the form below. Deadline for the first round of funding is 12pm on Monday 14th September.
If you have any questions or require support to complete the form, email us at cultureincommon@energiseme.org.
If you would like to submit in an alternative format e.g. video, storyboard etc. this would be very welcome too!
FAQ
Please see below for frequently asked questions – email us at cultureincommon@energiseme.org if the following doesn’t answer your questions!
Deadlines
When do I need to complete my Expression of Interest by?
You will need to complete your Expression of Interest by the following dates:
Round 1 (June 2026) – Monday 15th June, 12pm
Round 2 (September 2026) – Monday 14th September, 12pm
Round 3 (December 2026) – Monday 14th December, 12pm
Budgets & Who Can Request Funding
How much can I/my organisation request?
You can request up to £500 to pay for, or contribute towards, your creative idea. We would encourage you to put a realistic budget together within these limits, but please be aware that we may offer a smaller fee than requested.
Please note, at the moment we are limiting Expressions of Interest to one per individual/organisation, to allow these Small Commissions to reach as many people as possible!
Do I need to be registered to submit an Expression of Interest?
Individuals must be over the age of 18. We will need the bank account receiving the payment to be in the same name as the individual asking for funding.
Organisations must be constituted and have a bank account in their name e.g. CIC, CIO, Charity, Company Limited by Guarantee. Any organisation looking to deliver a creative idea with the community can apply; you do not need to be a registered charity or not for profit.
What can I include in the budget for my creative idea?
You can ask us for anything that will support you or your organisation to deliver your creative idea. This might be creative materials, marketing materials, ticket subsidies, artist fees etc.
If you have previously received funding or grants from other organisations, you can apply for this funding to continue your work/ the work of your group/organisation. It doesn’t need to be a new creative activity but we welcome ideas to include new unengaged people to the group/sessions.
We will also consider ideas that will be used to subsidise the cost of existing creative activities/events/workshops so that more participants or audience members can attend and/or have the opportunity to access reduced prices to overcome financial barriers to attendance.
Please be aware that, on occasion, you may be offered a smaller budget fee than you have asked for if your creative idea is selected by our panel.
Geography
I live/my organisation is based outside of the New Forest, could I still ask for funding?
You can still get in touch with us with your idea, as long as your activity/project takes place and will benefit local communities in the New Forest! However, please be aware that our decision-making panel may favour proposals from organisations/individuals within the New Forest and priority areas.
I live/my organisation is based in the New Forest but I would like to deliver my creative idea to communities outside of the New Forest area. Can I still express my interest?
Unfortunately not at this time, as our intention is to support ideas that delivered directly to benefit the people and communities within the New Forest.
I live/my organisation is based in the New Forest and want to work with local communities, but my creative idea involves a venue/artist outside of the New Forest. Can I still express my interest?
Absolutely! We are keen to match the right creative practitioner to the community need/request and we regularly work with local and national artists. It might also be the case that you would like to arrange a trip to take part in a creative activity or see a show/creative experience; we would also be able to consider funding these proposals.
Decision Making
Who will be making the decisions on which ideas get selected?
The applications will be reviewed by the Culture in Common team, and approved by our Consortium, which is made up of Energise Me, NFDC, NFNPA, The Handy Turst and Folio members. You can find out more about this here.
What will the panel particularly be looking for in my expressions of interest?
Our aim is to reach people who currently don’t engage in arts and culture, to create more opportunities for everyone to see and take part in creative activities in the New Forest. This might be demonstrating grassroots creative ideas by the community for the community; connecting local communities with quality creative experiences; creating opportunities to reach members of the community who might be facing additional barriers.
We have identified our priority areas (Totton & Eling; The Waterside; New Milton & Pennington; Ringwood & Fordingbridge) and priority groups (older isolated people; young people aged 11 – 25; people with life-limiting illnesses; ethnic minority/marginalised groups; intergenerational groups) that we are particularly interested to get involved with this funding.
If we receive a substantial number of expressions of interest, then our panel will be looking to select creative ideas that, as a whole: reach as many different areas across the New Forest, allow the widest diversity of artistic activity to be happening across the region, reach the widest range and diversity of participants/audience members.
When will I find out if I’ve been successful?
We aim to contact everyone who has applied approximately one month after each round of funding closes.
Bringing it to life!
I’m not sure on what the positive legacy of my creative idea would be, can I get some inspiration?
There is not a set answer or scale to this question! We are equally interested in ideas that have the opportunity to reach a few people for a particular memorable moment, to those that are looking at this funding as part of a wider programme of activity.
Will the Culture in Common team be able to help deliver my creative idea?
While we would love to be able to offer assistance in making your creative idea happen, we have limited capacity within our team to be able to help deliver your project. You will need to be able to manage the project yourself, but we will be able to help with promotion and signposting towards resources and partners.
What might promotion of my creative idea look like?
We will provide you with a copy of our logo and ask that you use it on any printed leaflets or marketing materials that you are creating. Culture in Common will promote your activity but it is important that you use your local networks and contacts. Here are some ways you might want to think about letting people know about your activity:
- Door-to-door leafletting
- Word of mouth through your networks
- Social media and local Facebook pages
Will I need to evaluate my creative idea after delivery?
Yes, it is a condition of our funding agreement with Arts Council England that we gather feedback and monitoring information from all our funded projects. We would also love to hear anecdotal comments about how it all went! There will be a little resource pack sent out to you to help you to gather feedback as a requirement of the funding:
- Photographic/Video Consent Form
- Participant Feedback Form
What else might I have to consider when delivering my creative idea?
We want to make sure that all funded creative ideas are delivered safely and at contract stage, we will request details of your:
- Public Liability Insurance (PLI) / Insurance cover
- Risk Assessments
- Safeguarding Policies (if applicable)
We can provide templates for these policies if you don’t have them. We understand that plans can sometimes change, and would ask that you contact us prior to making any major changes to the creative idea that you have originally outlined in your expression of interest.