Arts & Culture

The Office for Civil Society is changing name to the Civil Society and Youth directorate of DCMS, a simple description of the policy work that we do. This name change reflects that we are a directorate within DCMS and is aligned with the names for other DCMS directorates. 

So, we will gradually change our name to Civil Society and Youth directorate. Please be aware that we will be making a gradual change over from now on and it is just a simple switchover to a name that reflects exactly what we do. 

There are no deadlines. Applications can be made at any time.

Grants of between £30,000 and £400,000 for activity lasting between 12 months and 4 years with an option to extend for a further period. Most grants are in the £60,000 to £250,000 range.

Pre-application access support and a bursary of up to £500 is available to help groups apply.

It’s Autumn, the leaves are changing, acorns are falling and spiders are seeking sanctuary in our houses - well trying to!

It’s time for me to unearth my woolly hat, my wellies, and pack a spare pair of socks in my work bag. As Wildchild Officer, I will be in the Trent Valley landscape delivering fun, nature-themed events this October.

The Wildchild project is dedicated to providing events for families to engage with nature on their doorstep. These events provide great opportunities to learn about wildlife, be creative and work with natural materials.

It has been fantastic to welcome so many of you back to our libraries as our phased re-opening began in July.

We re-introduced item requests from Thursday 1st October.

We also have ‘Grab and Go’ so you can pick up a pre-selected ‘lucky dip’ bag of books from your library.

You are still able to ‘Order and Collect’ titles as well.

You are welcome to browse in our libraries - our library colleagues will support you with this when you visit.

We are all adapting to the new world and guidance is being released all the time on what we should/shouldn’t be doing.  Keeping on top of it all can be quite a challenge.

Have you ever seen a pillbox? If you’ve driven around the country the answer is probably yes. Many roads pass these little concrete bunkers left over from the wall.

Do you know what pillboxes are? Many of us know these were places for soldiers to shelter from gunfire while being able to shoot back.

Do you know why they were built? Often the clue is in the location of a pillbox, overlooking a road or abridge, even a river or railway; the pillbox would have been to stop the enemy from going any further.

Libraries and Arts Service have developed a new online resource of creative activities which includes two programmes - Creative Explorers for children & young people and Createspace for adults and older people: 

Staffordshire’s record office is preparing to reopen to the public from Tuesday 14 July.

The office, on Eastgate Street in Stafford will be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for two weeks and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for a further two weeks, before resuming normal opening times from 11 August.  Saturday opening will commence from 22 August reverting back to one per month.

The Kingswood Trust, as many other local charities, have been deprived of their lifeblood of income and donations for several months now (especially with schools being closed down also) and are looking for support from the wider community. 

Staffordshire Archives & Heritage and the William Salt Library are working in partnership to create and deliver the new Staffordshire History Centre.

The project will transform the way the public engage with our services, our collections and create an exciting new visitor experience. We are interested in learning more about your personal experiences of Staffordshire Archives & Heritage (both in person and/or online), as well as some more information about how you spend your leisure time in general.