WORCESTER Live is launching a new online community outreach project this month aimed at reducing isolation for people who have limited access to the Arts.

Culture Call was set up after the city-based organisation was successfully given a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.

Culture Call will be a series of one-to-one free online sessions with art practitioners and freelance artists. The aim is to help people who are isolating during the current pandemic to still have access to activities such as music, dance or theatre.

It will provide a friendly face or some escapism in the current climate, help develop participants’ skills in different crafts, and encourage them to have fun at the same time.

Participants will have a choice of which art form they would like to take part in so that they can enjoy a programme that best suits their interests. Places for this project are limited and it is expected the project will be very popular - so people are encouraged to register interest to avoid disappointment.

Worcester Live’s chief executive Sarah-Jane Morgan said: “Working with members of our community is vital to our participation and engagement work, ensuring everyone can access the arts at all levels.

“Culture Call will enable anyone who is in isolation, for whatever reason, the opportunity to engage with one of our many talented practitioners for a number of free sessions, offering not only the opportunity to benefit from the cultural medium of their choice, but also giving them an exclusive opportunity for relief from the isolation they may be feeling as a direct result of the pandemic.

“I was saddened to learn of so many individuals in our immediate community who have not been able to leave their homes for weeks or, in some cases months, due to the on-going pandemic.

“And this enabled me to think of engaging ways in which we could reach out and extend our work meaningfully.

“I am thrilled that we have received the funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to run Culture Call and look forward to seeing the project come to life over the coming weeks.

“Participants can register interest and request further information by contacting Worcester Live’s Creative Learning and Participation Administrator, Leah Adkins, via email leah@worcesterlive.co.uk.” Worcester Live is a registered charity, and the main arts provider in Worcester, running Huntingdon Hall and The Swan Theatre.

The organisation is home to the Worcester Repertory Company, which produces the outdoor Worcester Rep at the Commandery and Shakespeare in the autumn, as well as touring shows, Theatre in Education tours, new work and the annual Swan Theatre Pantomime. It also runs the thriving Swan youth theatre and Young Rep.

Worcester Live relies heavily on charitable donations to exist, including arts grants, money from trusts, legacies and other organisations.

John Phillpott