CHILDREN in a deprived area of Oxford are saying a big thank you to Pudsey Bear after receiving a £31,000 boost.

Cutteslowe Community Association was granted the money by Children in Need to spend over three years on art and dance schemes in the area.

Organisers said the grant would secure the future of two clubs held at Cutteslowe Community Centre, which were under threat of closure, and help start a new one.

Community worker Anna Thornhill, who applied for the funding, said: “It’s an opportunity to develop the art and dance that we have done here for some years and put it on a firmer footing.

“We will be able to get more disadvantaged young people involved.”

She said the two clubs had previously received support from Oxford City Council and the Big Lottery Fund but both sources had dried up, meaning the activities were being funded by the community association’s own resources, which could not carry on indefinitely.

Ms Thornhill said: “Some of the children who come here have quite difficult home backgrounds.

“The arts give them an opportunity to express themselves, find a voice and articulate different feelings to channel them in a constructive way.”

Currently about 10 children aged five to 11 attend the weekly art club sessions, and about twice that number go to the dance clubs, one for younger children and one for teenagers.

The organisation now plans to launch an art club for 12- to 16- year-olds, starting with a mural project in the community centre involving teenage girls working with a professional artist.

The money also means that instead of charging youngsters £1 to participate, activities will in future be offered free of charge.

Ms Thornhill said: “The community centre is the only hub of activity in Cutteslowe and we are really providing the only activities outside of school.

“This money is validation of what we have been doing and all the work we have put in.”

The programme they will be developing is to be called Explore Arts, which will include opportunities for people to take part in the Arts Awards scheme, a nationally recognised certificate.

Community association chairman Sarah Burton said: “This grant is hugely significant.”

She added: “In the current financial downturn, it’s a real concern getting both project funding and core funding for community workers and so on.

“It means our art and dance projects will have a strong future.

“To get this funding for three years, and from such an organisation as Children in Need, is fantastic and really encouraging.”

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