The Electric Sunshine Project (TESP) has received £5,000 to fund a series of skills development, singing and performance workshops focusing on the arts for residents of homeless hostels in Blackpool.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
TESP is a group that organises workshops, events, projects and performances, primarily produced in Blackpool, that seek to engage those who are least connected to the arts. By offering a broad range of regular opportunities TESP aims to have a positive impact on social cohesion and create a stronger creative community.
Through regular group singing sessions with the residents of The Ashley Foundation hostels, TESP aims to raise levels of self-esteem, communication and self-confidence; supporting positive mental health and wellbeing. The programme is also designed to provide people with a platform for self-expression and to support individuals in finding their own creative voices.
Jo Cassidy, Director at TESP, said: “Singing together is beautifully unifying; it helps people to find common ground and most importantly everyone enjoys themselves. The feedback from both staff and residents has been really positive. We and The Ashley Foundation are very grateful to Santander for supporting us with this project and we look forward to continuing to work with local residents to provide a range of new singing opportunities as a result of the funding.”
Belinda Shore, Branch Manager at Santander’s Blackpool branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations to local projects every year with the aim of assisting organisations, communities and vulnerable people throughout the UK. The staff at our branch know the great work The Electric Sunshine Project does in our community and we hope this grant will help them in their support for local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact:
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander
Email: Leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk Tel: 020 7756 4543
Joanna Cassidy at Electric Sunshine Project
Email: electricsunshineproject@gmail.com
About The Electric Sunshine Project CIC
TESP is a collective of high-quality workshops, events, projects and performances, primarily produced in Blackpool, that seek to engage those who are least connected to the arts and which can be taken elsewhere. TESP wants to see a transformed landscape where residents can achieve more as a result of engaging with their own creativity. The charity wants to be an enquiring and diverse team responding to its locality; actively engaged in a dialogue with policy-makers, producers and artists to develop practice, influence change and engage new audiences.
For more information please visit: https://www.electricsunshineproject.co.uk
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 30 June 2018, the bank has c24,200 employees. It serves around 15 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking; and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.