ellenor awarded £6,200 for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Kent hospice ellenor has been awarded £6,200 from the Arts Council’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund by Kent Community Foundation – ensuring that creativity plays an important role in local community celebrations for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

ellenor will use the grant to work in collaboration with Live Music Now to help patients write, compose and create a celebratory song. Our patients will perform the final composition with the support of musicians from Live Music Now at ellenor’s Jubilee Garden Party on 1st June to an audience of staff and patients. The song will also be professionally recorded, and ellenor will create a video with the patients to accompany the music.

Inspiration for the song will be found in the example set by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in making the most of the lives we have, recognising the things important to us, and cherishing each day to its fullest. Direction for the composition will be provided by Live Music Now’s experienced musicians. The final song will not only allow ellenor to look back at this auspicious event in years to come, but also produce a lasting memory for families of those patients involved in the project and a piece of music which reflects the work carried out at ellenor.

The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund will ensure that thousands of people from communities all across England will have the opportunity to take part in exciting creative events – all in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee. From puppetry and story creation, through to making crowns, carnival and art trails, there will be a huge range of exciting activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in.

Made possible thanks to National Lottery players and administered by UK Community Foundations on behalf of the Arts Council, the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund will support a huge range of projects throughout England. Forty-four community foundations have been awarding grants across the country.

Andrew Lowden, Operational Wellbeing Lead at ellenor said: “Having worked closely with some of the talented musicians at Live Music Now this year, we are looking forwards to coming together to create this song. The Queen has been such an inspiration for so many of us and given her passion for music it feels fitting that we should acknowledge her in this way. It is also an opportunity to show that hospices are vibrant, energetic and fun places to spend time, breaking some of the stigma that surrounds them, whilst giving our patients a unique opportunity to be part of something special.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England said: “The Let’s Create Jubilee Fund is a wonderful example of our ambition to give everyone the opportunity to participate in and experience the arts, culture and creativity – made possible thanks to National Lottery players. This June, we’ll see communities across England coming together to celebrate a historic milestone for this country. I’m excited to see these projects brought to life in villages, towns and cities across the country as our wonderfully creative communities celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”

Rosemary Macdonald, CEO, UK Community Foundations, said: “For community foundations, people and places are the priority and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee is a unique opportunity for people to get together and celebrate in their communities. We are proud to have connected Arts Council England with local organisations whose imaginative and exciting projects and collaborations with professional artists will bring communities together to enjoy marking this milestone moment in our history.”

HM The Queen Elizabeth II is the first monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, having overtaken Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in 2015. Her reign has been marked by a commitment to public service, reflected by her extensive programme of engagements at home and abroad, and support for over 600 cultural organisations, charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations.