A third stage of Community Sparks grants was made possible thanks to funding by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall (OPCC). They will again be delivered by POP (Plymouth Octopus Project) and supported by Plymouth City Council. Previously, the second round was funded by the OPCC while the first round was financed by the Home Office’s Safer Keyham grant and Department for Education funding. The project end date for this new round of funding must be no later than 31 March, 2023.
The idea of this project is to provide a women-only, martial arts/self-defence bootcamp, running for five – six weeks. Within the session they will provide a fun martial arts session that teaches fitness self-defence and encourages positivity.
Mum & Baby Pilates
A free series of Pilates classes tailored for mums and their babies.
To continue with their baby and toddler sessions which are held in Keyham and ceased in July 2022.
The Tree Project CIC
Wellbeing Warriors is a low cost, weekly, after school club for local children aged 7-12 years who live in Keyham and the surrounding area. They would like to use the funds to help towards costs of an October half term trip to The Box and staff training-development costs.
Keyham Young People Participation Voice Group, is a new group to the PL2 area. This group is to work with young people age between 13 plus to identify needs and gaps in the area, while supporting the community in any local events.
Foraging walks for groups of up to 12 people. The aim is to reconnect people with nature and teach participants how to relax and make the most of their time outdoors.
To run fitness classes for mums where their children are able to come along and play at the same time. It will be a six-week course taking place at the Jan Cutting Healthy Living Centre.
To create a community event at the Kintsugi Garden; to bring the Keyham community together; to highlight the opportunities at the garden and to launch our gardening and cooking workshops.
To support the food bank at Keyham Green Places. Money will go towards food, foodbank deliveries and staffing costs.
Working on behalf of Weston Mill Primary School they will organise Stay and Play sessions for parents and children of the new foundation stage cohort for September 2022, focusing on the importance of play for children. There will also be informative support sessions for mealtime assistants and teaching assistants on the importance of play and attuned approaches following community trauma.
Plymouth Argyle Community Trust
The trust would like to host an activity day every week of the summer holidays for any child or young person aged 8 to 16 who live in the Keyham or Ford area
Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity
To deliver an interactive, whole class workshop session based on British values. These workshops explore a range of values through story and small group work
To hold community parenting sessions at Keyham Green Spaces with parents who are sharing difficult experiences of managing behaviours at home and who need support
The school would like to turn an empty room into a fitness suite to assist students with their mental health needs and sensory diet. The room will be used to provide 1:1 sport therapy sessions and group work
Keyham Green Places Youth Club Drop In
Funding will extend the reach of the relatively new youth club by providing a greater range of activities and opportunities for young people
The grant will fund a transitional sports day for Year 6 pupils at Drake Primary and other schools to prepare them for the move to Year 7
Over the past 12 months Yoga& has delivered a successful active mums class at LARK Children’s Centre. Yoga& would like to use this funding to extend the mum and baby yoga class which has been well attended by local residents in the PL2 postcode
Purchase litter picking equipment for the 1st St Mark Scouts group and badges on completion of a specific programme designed for all ages of the scout group
Foraging walks of groups of up to 15 people in local green spaces. Aim of the sessions is to reconnect residents to nature, teach participants how to relax and make the most of their time outdoors
St Levan Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme
To purchase protective sealant for a community mural. This will ensure that the mural leaves a lasting legacy in Keyham and the community will be able to enjoy it for years to come
A weekly therapeutic play session for a group of year 3 pupils to express how they feel in a non-threatening environment
Barbican Theatre – Keyham Giants
During March two giant puppets were made with five community groups in Keyham. Over the spring an additional giant and further costumes and mini puppets were made with the original community practitioners. All of these puppets were paraded through Keyham by the communities who made them as part of a Giants’ Jubilee Tea Party on Thursday, 2 June. “From April to June, residential areas in Plymouth, after school clubs and community groups spent time with specialist community art leaders, puppeteers, musicians and theatre companies to build one more pupped and to build extra props and costumes of their own Plymouth Giant puppet for a Giant Jubilee Tea Party. The end result was a community arts event of giant proportions! The four giants set off from their parade from their home turf at noon, along the residential streets with music and movement. Each parade had 12- 30 participants and puppeteers, collecting more people as they went. The Keyham Sparks fund helped us to pay local community and leaders for their time, or support their communities attending. Its also enabled us to train a number of the Keyham leaders in puppeteering, assisting us with other events afterwards. The parades met at North Downs Park to have a Giant Tea Party. As the puppets arrived over 350 people welcomed them into the park, where live music had already begun and entertainers were getting the children to take up a karaoke slot. Across the afternoon there were additional activities delivered by the partners and practitioners, each engaging 30-70 people at a time. This project offered the communities a memorable, high-quality event for four areas of Plymouth which are often underrepresented in cultural provisioning across the city. It engaged 1100 people across the day at the North Downs Park and entertained another 600 in their homes as they paraded past.”
A retreat held from 10am to 1pm every week at Keyham Green Places for a dozen people. Activities include guided mindfulness, Qi Gong and simple art activities.
To replace cookers and fridges to provide meals for the brigade’s week-long camp held for youngsters every summer.
Keyham Barton Toddler Group
To hold a weekly toddler group that will provide much needed early socialisation skills for children.
Keyham Barton Community Coffee Morning
To hold a weekly coffee morning for the local community to bring people together and to create friendships.
To take drama-based storytelling workshops into the various ‘fit and fed’ programme schools. This will help build confidence, work as a team and explore theatre, possibly for the first time.
Character Creation Roleplaying
This project will build on the ‘Learn to Roll with Keyham’ and ‘Roll with Keyham’ projects and will give local children the opportunity to play roleplaying games in a safe and welcoming environment.
A number of individuals, groups and organisations were successful in their applications for small grants. You can read some case studies about successful applications here.
The nine successful applicants of the large Sparks grants (up to £3,000) – as voted for by the community – were:
Drake Primary School (Forest School)
College Road Primary (Nurture/Sensory room)
The Tree Project CIC (Wellbeing Warriors) “The Wellbeing Warriors After School Club was delighted to receive the small grant and votes from the community for the large grant to enable us to continue delivering our weekly club…Through the funding we were also able to take several children to visit the Songlines exhibition at The Box during half-term. We were so inspired by the trip that we are in the process of creating our own superhero shapeshifter Songlines-inspired story and will be completing this during the Easter holidays.”
Barbican Theatre (Giant puppets for Keyham) Free puppet-making workshops were arranged at Keyham Green Places on March 12 and 13 ahead of the Giant’s Tea Party which was a great success at the same venue on Saturday, March 26. Find out more here. “The two giants made were The Keyham Pirate and The Jolly Green Giant. These puppets were a symbol for the active, confident Keyham, connected to the ocean, their green spaces and a spirit of connection. The two creatures were animated by the community members themselves on the Party Day incorporating the Scouts and Ford Boys Brigade into the party activities…The 24 free activities we have facilitated In Keyham over March have offered creative expression, facilitated community spirit and encouraged dialogue about what makes Keyham epic. We know that these creative sessions can be successful because: we had 187 people attend the Keyham Party from the local area; the six community groups we engaged with weekly had return attendees and all attended the party on 26th March; the puppets are visible in the community and are being booked for follow-up projects; Wolseley Trust have worked with us on applying for further Jubilee funding.”
CROPS/KGP(Men’s Shed at Keyham)
Mount Batten Centre Charity Trust(Adventurous activities on the water)
Ford Primary School(Family support room revamp)
National Marine Aquarium (To open the Aquarium for the residents of Keyham for one evening in February or March and provide transport to get people to and from the site.) “We ran our Keyham at the Aquarium evening last Wednesday and it was a success! 240 of the 350 tickets were used, and the coach taking people to and from the Aquarium was full.”
1st Keyham Scout Group(Defibrillator and noticeboard)
Exim Dance(Weekly sessions)
The successful applicants for the first round of small Sparks grants (up to £500) were:
Keyham Community Chaplaincy 
A chaplaincy called Conversation Corner to offer non-threatening and confidential pastoral care on a one-to-one or small group basis to all those in the Keyham and surrounding community who have suffered trauma and loss
Provision of food to many families and provision of toiletries, baby nappies and pet food. Find out more here “Our Foodbank service is now meeting additional challenges resulting from reduced donations of food and household essentials. There is also an increasing level of demand.”
Purchase a replacement notice board for community and church notices
1st Keyham (St Mark) Scout Group
Set up a new scouting section called Squirrels aimed at four to six-year-old boys and girls and invest in badges, resources, equipment and activities. For more details visit here
1st Keyham (St Mark) Scout Group
Buying new pioneering equipment. For more information visit here
Having consulted a number of youngsters they came up with a range of activities which the young people may not have had the opportunity to do before that will help them gain confidence and improve their communication. These have included: youth club sessions on a Tuesday evening, the cost of a computer, refreshments and volunteer costs for a trip to the cinema and staffing costs to watch Plymouth Argyle Vs Rotherham. “We had positive feedback from all the young people that took part in these activities and most would like to do more. Six young people also attended the Sparks Showcase Event on 23 March and read a script that they had put together at the youth club session the day before. One of them who suffers with anxiety said that she ‘loved it and wanted to do more’ and another said, ‘I didn’t know what to expect but I really enjoyed myself.’ On the way home there were all very excitable and discussed their presentation, and all of the partners’ presentations, they were all very proud of themselves as were their parents.”
Ford Youth and Community Centre
Free gym membership and youth classes for all youngsters who will be entitled up to ten weeks free membership. And free access to their young martial arts school, engaging with five to 17-year-olds. Find out more here “During February alone there were 58 attendances which are continuing throughout March. We have offered a free taster young weightlifting session during half-term which generated a lot of interest with youths now attending regular classes at the gym. We have also run a number of one-to-one session with young people who have anxiety/confidence issues with the aim they will feel able to join the regular classes, mixing with others of their age…We have been working with some who have been traumatised by the tragic events of last August. Our Martial Arts School continues to thrive.”
To help with a complete overhaul of equipment at a holiday club run at College Road Primary School. You can read more about its Easter activities here and for a little background about its Sparks application read more here. “We ran the holiday club at College Road Primary School during the February half term. The children who attended absolutely loved their time with us and the equipment has made a massive difference, bigger than even I could’ve expected. It allowed all children to have the freedom to choose their activity at any point through the day, keeping them engaged and active throughout…Thank you so much for making some wonderful little people’s half term so memorable!”
Teaching 12 to 16-year-olds to host their own games of Dungeons & Dragons over a six-week course from Character Creation Roleplaying. “Six weeks, 12 encounters, nine kids, two cakes and no-one knows how much toast! We had such a creative and rewarding experience teaching these players how to run their own games…This will not be the end in Keyham. We are so close to realising some more dates and we are hoping to get some more funding.” (A few weeks later we received this from Chris): “Thanks to the Keyham Sparks Fund we have been able to secure a £15,000 grant from GWR to continue with the Lego and Dungeons & Dragons projects we started!”
To open up sessions for young people, parents and carers who want to get out and meet new people. “With your help we have been able to offer some of our young people with lower incomes access to the football sessions free from fees and stress. We have also gained more training equipment which is always a welcome sight for our teams…For the whole of the club to receive the funding goes a long way to helping raise self-esteem and confidence. In these trying times to get funding really goes a long way and keeps a club like ours operating in this close-knit community.”
Keyham Kolts Active Autism Football Club
Inclusion football team to help young people with any diagnosis to join in with an all inclusive football team. “For our active autism team we have again been able to secure some free slots to help include the young people with the diagnosis of autism, or who have social and emotional needs, access to sessions with coaches and parents who truly understand their needs. This in turn helps improve their social and emotional understanding when facing challenging situations under the guidance of supportive volunteers and parents.”
For children and families to meet weekly, enjoy refreshments, and play games with art activities
Create a seed bank in Alexandra Park with insect friendly mix. “As there are ongoing plans for Keyham parks to be ‘regenerated’ and upgraded we are working with PCC and Green Minds on making sure that what we all do is aligned and all stakeholders are informed and aware of each other’s activities…We took part in planting a community orchard on 22 March and will make a start on a few areas in Keyham Green Places (KGP) over the next few weeks. You will see bee hotels around the park and in KGP. We will be sowing flowers together with Green Minds in the near future.”
To provide a safe area for people to congregate and craft together. The Krafties are currently working on an Easter display to decorate Keyham Green Places. For more details visit here.
Plymouth Artists Together (Wolseley Centre)
To organise images to decorate the outside walls of the Wolseley Centre, inviting young people to participate
Plymouth Artists Together (Biddick Drive)
To place a mural on the wall on Wolseley Road opposite Biddick Drive. “This project aimed to increase local pride and add strength to the feeling of arriving and being ‘home’. The lovely visual surprise and a welcome feeling of recognition will do much to help people feel local pride and a sense of place.”
(From social media) “I’ve driven past it a few times now and it really lifts your spirit. It’s beautiful. Great work!…” “It’s absolutely gorgeous…” “Absolutely stunning…” “Wow! I really love this. I feel that it’s an emotional painting. Well done to the artist….” “This project shows what can be achieved by finding creative solutions that benefit us all.”
To resume Keyham Green Places Juniors Club targeting 30-40 attendees
North Prospect Community Choir
A male voice choir for wellbeing. “This funding means we can keep the subscription charges to our members at a very low rate which is so important in these times of ever-increasing household bills. We don’t want to prevent anyone in the community from accessing the arts and that is why we never charge anyone attending any of our concerts.”
The Clean Sheet Mental Health Awareness
Promoting costs to encourage engagement, increase pride and involvement with community/public spaces
Ministry of Martial Arts
Begin three martial arts classes: junior taekwondo, teen/adult kickboxing, ladies only martial arts
Establish a coffee morning for parents to collaborate, make friends and engage in school activities.
To resume the club targeting 30-40 attendees per week
Host two activity days during February half-term for youngsters
Plymouth Children’s Book Group
The grant funded four events focused on reading and sharing stories for three to 11-year-olds. One of them was called Into Outer Space and featured bedtime stories and activities at Keyham Green Places. The grant also enabled the group to provide every child who came along with a free book. (From family members) “Thank you for a lovely time at the dinosaur-activity morning. My daughter loved it…” “My son sat and read his book before bed. He picked Howard the Gecko. Thank you so much for a lovely evening…” “All of you were lovely kind and welcoming…” “Isaac had a great time. Thank you so very much.” (From volunteers) “One child asked a volunteer to read the book she had just chosen, ‘Because no-one would read it at home with her…” “Everyone seemed to want to come back next time. It means a lot to them all…” “The atmosphere created is inclusive and non-judgmental.”
“A total of 12 stories were shared with 56 children and 47 family members. A total of 57 new and recently published books were chosen by children to take home and keep.”
Working with Wellbeing Warriors to fund a mental wellbeing day out for children
The Tree Project
Funding to continue beyond January 22; hope to deliver a Keyham-wide event during half-term
Celebrate Steam
Create new resources including animation and 360 video footage for viewing with headset and deliver to three communities in Keyham
To stage an exhibition of tree drawings and art based on the area
Upgrading soft play setting. “A HUGE thank you to ‘Keyham Sparks’ for the amazing opportunity to be awarded a grant to enable us to buy new items for our soft play room! This room ensures in all weathers the children are able to enhance their physical development and a quiet space during our session for those who need a bit more support in the setting to go and explore. The children are absolutely over the moon with the transformation.”
