MORE than £100,000 has been awarded to art projects and events across Dorset celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Music, dance, artwork, theatre and poetry will bring communities together all through the month to mark the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Dorset Community Foundation has used Arts Council England funding, bolstered by a donation from manufacturing company Superior Seals, to fund the projects.

The foundation is one of the network of UK community foundations supporting the Lets Create Jubilee Fund, a £5 million programme to develop creative and cultural activities as part of the celebrations.

Among the successful recipients is Borough Harmony Centre, which provides support for adults with mental health difficulties.

It has been awarded £2,980 to work with Bridport Arts Centre and run a series of writing and story-telling workshops with artists to allow members to tell their stories through drama, poetry and artwork.

The project will culminate in a performance on a specially constructed sensory stage at the arts centre as part of its jubilee celebrations.

Trustee Ali Cliffe said: “We want to give members and staff an opportunity to celebrate this event by highlighting people struggling with their mental health, their creativity, their perspective on life and raising their profile in the community.”

Island Community Action (ICA) on Portland has been awarded £9,750 to run, with arts group b-side, a community project involving residents decorating hundreds of ceramic cups, plates, jugs and bowls with photographs that mean something to them – lost loved ones, the homes they grew up in or the landscape of the island.

The pictures will be digitally transferred to the ceramics, which will then form part of displays around the community over the course of the jubilee.

ICA chief executive Kim Wilcocks said: “Souvenirs of Place and Love will not only provide a stepping-stone for enabling islanders to get to know more about each other through participatory and visual workshops and exhibitions, it will also add to the incredible sense of community pride that has been powerfully put into practice during the pandemic.”

Dorset Community Foundation director Grant Robson said: “We have been blown away by the variety and creativity of the projects that have come forward. Not only will they showcase the fantastic depth of artistic talent in Dorset but they will bring together communities for celebrations that will make memories that last.

“We are very proud to have brought this money into Dorset from Arts Council England, which has used its National Lottery funding for this programme. It is very gratifying that we are seen as the most effective way of bringing this money into the community because of our close relationship with the grass roots groups here.

“And of course we are incredibly thankful to Superior Seals for its wonderful support in enabling us to find as many projects as possible.”

Find out more about the work of Dorset Community Foundation at dorsetcommunityfoundation.org.