The Vision!

Community Art Clubs support people in rural communities to create and experience art. We run art clubs and classes, organise art trips and help local people get involved in their communities. All the research shows this doesn't just help the artmakers - it helps build stronger, healthier communities, so it's good value for everyone.

The story so far:

I've been running a pilot art club in my own community for over a year, and the next stage is to win funding to upscale so other communities can benefit too

To make the club as accessible as possible I offer a Pay What You Can option or suggest a donation of £5. For this, participants get 2 hours of high quality art tuition with all materials provided, plus tea, biscuits, companionship and fun.

My pilot art club has been really successful and it was founded on just a £300 grant from South Norfolk District council which bought us our first paints, brushes and paper.

Participants' donations have paid for venue hire and some of the replacement art materials- but they all really love learning watercolours, and watercolours are expensive! We've been getting by on the budget brand I bought with our original grant, but these are getting very worn out after 18 months.

So I'm asking for help:

What we really need is 25 sets of decent watercolours so people don't get frustrated by their results as they improve and learn. The best I've seen in our range are Winsor & Newton Cotman travel paints- and at £13.99 a set, this comes to £350.

Can you help?