Wilderness 2025 Local Bursary Nomination Info

Bridewell Gardens offers a life-changing mental health recovery service at their therapeutic garden in West Oxfordshire for people recovering from serious mental ill health. Their objective is to help people recover to the point that they can participate in activities in the wider community, including returning to work, training, education, and social activities.

In the last 12 months, 48% of people moving on from Bridewell have returned to paid employment (28%) and volunteering (20%). Everyone attending is supported to engage in meaningful activity, to rebuild self-esteem and confidence.

We deliver our service using social and therapeutic horticulture from our six-acre site. In this safe, supportive, but work-like and challenging environment, people are encouraged to work together in teams on a range of horticultural and rural craft activities. Each person is supported to work towards the next steps with employment and recovery coaching available throughout their time at Bridewell.

Working in the garden as part of a group is an excellent way of helping people with mental health illnesses, who are typically very isolated, to mix with others, socialise and regain self-esteem and self-confidence and ultimately to recover from their illness.

A bursary would help us continue supporting local people who have to live with a debilitating and often life-limiting condition. It would help us offer new opportunities and crucially, hope. Feedback from a service user who recently moved on from Bridewell: “I’m still not sure what the future holds, but the main thing is I can see one now.”

We are looking at taking the Brownies away next year so they can experience the joys of doing things with friends, working as a team and developing their skills. We would have a theme and the girls will have a choice of activities.

The Charlbury Beer Festival is run by volunteers and raises money to donate to local organisations benefitting everyone in the community. It's raised over £300k, which it distributes through grants. The beer festival has some assets (tents, a stage) which we need to run the event, but we need to refresh them as some are reaching end of life. Think money will help the event continue and adds funds for our community.

Charlbury Children’s Choir is run by Jenny Larsen and Jennie Grierson, who were both born in Charlbury, went to Charlbury Primary School, studied music and now run the choir for the children of Charlbury and the surrounding area. The choir is open to any child aged 5 to 11 and offers bursary places to any family struggling financially. Currently there are about 60 members.

We are a huge part of the local community, performing at The Street Fair, St. Mary’s Church Christmas Tree Festival, Charlbury Beer Festival and Charlbury Open Gardens. We also perform for local OAP organisations such as The Memory Cafe and The Lunch Club.

A bursary of this amount would enable us to purchase a full set of choir t-shirts that the children can wear to perform. It would make the children instantly recognisable and provide a sense of uniformity and belonging. We would ask one of the children in the choir to design the logo on the t-shirt.

Charlbury Girl Guides is a valuable asset to the Charlbury community. This bursary would enable the group to provide further enriching activities for the children of Charlbury. Michelle and Eric, who voluntarily run the group do a great job of planning creative, thoughtful, practical, fun and energetic evenings for the girls. As well as focusing the girls on badge work. They do camping and have included GoApe, trips to water parks, and the Pringle challenge, all of which require funding considering the subs of the group. The guides do all kinds of activities that increase their self-confidence that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do, and a bursary would enable this to continue.

They provide opportunities for girls to challenge themselves, learn from new experiences and foster new friendships. Their old meeting place is no longer available, and every other option will cost them three times as much to rent, so they need funds for this year.

The girls get so much out of going to this group; it gives them the chance to make new friends, have new experiences, and learn new skills. They help the wider community by assisting in litter picking and helping in clearing paths from plants and weeds. The money would help them with future activities and help families that can't afford to pay to be subsidised, so their kids don't miss out. They are keen on reducing waste and often have guests in to teach the girls self-defence, first aid and sustainability in farming, to name just a few. It is an organisation that gets no money from other sources except the money the girls or their parents raise/pay.

They have created a space for girls to connect, be a core part of their community, explore their identity in the world, explore what the world has to offer and what they have to offer it. It is a brilliant platform led by committed, imaginative and enthusiastic leaders. The bursary would help them provide enrichment activities such as camping and day trips, to explore things such as theatre, sports, environmental organisations, and the arts. It would widen the scope of exploration and opportunity for many young people, and provide access to guest instructors.

I am applying as a member of the Charlbury Patient Participation Group for funding for blister pack recycling boxes in our local pharmacy. The first two boxes have been funded by our Town Council but they are unable to continue with this funding. The cost per box is £108 and the current estimate is that we would need between 4 and 5 per year. This cost covers the supply of the box and bag, collection, and recycling by a company called Myrefactory. It is not possible to recycle blister packs through local authority collections so these normally go into general waste.

In order to provide adventurous experiences for the young people at Charlbury Scout Group, we would love to offer an overnight, educational activity, e.g. museum sleepover.

The Charlbury Riverside Festival is one of Oxfordshire’s most loved grassroots events - a free, volunteer-run, non-profit music festival that brings together thousands of people for a weekend of live music, local food, arts, and celebration. Set in a riverside meadow on the edge of the Cotswolds, the festival combines a high-quality, multi-genre music line-up with a warm, community atmosphere that embodies the spirit of accessible live culture.

Why It Deserves a Festival Republic Bursary

• Championing Grassroots Music
• Over 40 acts perform annually, many from the Oxfordshire and wider South-East music scenes.
• The festival provides a crucial live platform for emerging and unsigned artists, helping them reach new audiences and gain experience on a professional stage.
• Past performers have gone on to secure recording opportunities and regional recognition — showing that Riverside is a genuine launchpad for grassroots talent.
• Community Inclusion & Accessibility
• Free entry ensures no financial barriers to participation.
• The site is accessible by public transport (next to Charlbury station), and event design prioritises accessibility for families and people with disabilities.
• The festival is run entirely by volunteers, fostering intergenerational collaboration and community pride.

Riverside is the largest free music event in Oxfordshire, attracting 8,000+ visitors across the weekend. It has been an asset to the community since its inception in 1998. It boosts the local economy, supporting small businesses, food producers, and artisans. It celebrates local identity and creativity, turning Charlbury into a living example of how music festivals can unite rural communities through shared joy. The festival exists solely on donations and punters purchasing beer at the event. It is run by a team of volunteers; any help through grants would help the amazing team that put this event on. Steve Lamaq describes it as one of the UK’s finest festivals.

This festival is great for all the family. My son volunteers there every year, and he finds it a welcoming and inclusive festival (he is profoundly deaf and has several health issues as a result of a brain tumour and cancer when he was younger). It is a highlight for him, and he really looks forward to going each year. My other son attends with his wife and 2 small children, and we all have the best time. They raise a lot for charity each year, and funding would help to keep this wonderful festival going.

Charlbury Tennis Club is a friendly, community-focused club at the heart of local sport. We’re passionate about making tennis enjoyable and accessible for everyone, from first-time players to lifelong enthusiasts. Our growing youth and adult programmes are designed to inspire more people to pick up a racket, stay active, and be part of a supportive local community. Whether you’re looking to learn, compete, or enjoy a social hit, there’s something for every age and ability.

The club is evolving to become even more inclusive and accessible, with new initiatives, facilities, and coaching opportunities aimed at breaking down barriers and welcoming a wider range of players. As part of this evolution, we are revamping the club equipment, which this grant would be used to support.

Charlbury Town Youth Football Club is an FA Charter Standard Club, a non-profit organisation, providing local children a fantastic, safe and

enjoyable environment to enhance their sporting skills. The club is run by coaches on a volunteer basis. For the current season, we have football for age groups up to and including Under 18s. We currently have over 150 local children in 12 age groups. The money we have received from the Wilderness Festival Bursary in the past has helped the club purchase equipment and kit, meaning that our club fees can be kept as low as possible, maximising participation - especially in the youngest year groups, including a number of girls' teams. Due to this generosity, the number of players and teams at the club has increased over the last few years.

Charlbury Youth Ambassador is running a worthwhile programme of regular events and activities including Youth Club, Philosophy Club, Badminton Club, Art Club in conjunction with community organisations in Charlbury for the young people of Charlbury and surrounding area. This is an opportunity for young people to socialise in a safe fun environment, be active and enjoy using Charlbury Community Centre's facilities.

Charlbury Youth Club provides local youth with opportunities for personal development, social interaction, and career prospects. Our Friday night drop-in sessions are a cornerstone of our offerings, providing a safe and structured environment for young people to gather.

We aim to create a space for youth to meet new friends and strengthen existing friendships, offer various activities that promote teamwork, leadership, and personal growth and ensure a secure and supervised space for youth to engage in recreational activities.

Activities include team sports, individual sports, a gaming area, and art & crafts.

Two dedicated youth ambassadors oversee the sessions. Their responsibilities include running the activities, ensuring the safety and well-being of participants and acting as role models for attendees.

To continue our Friday night drop-in sessions, we are seeking funding for:

• Facility Maintenance: Ensuring the sports hall and gaming area are safe and well-equipped.
• Activity Supplies: Purchasing sports and gaming equipment.
• Youth Ambassador Training: Providing training for youth ambassadors in leadership and safeguarding.

With your support, Charlbury Youth Club can continue to provide valuable opportunities for our local youth, fostering friendships and personal growth in a safe environment.

Cornerstone works with the residents of Charlbury and surrounding villages, enabling them to access surplus food and providing food parcels to households in crisis. We open 6 mornings week providing a space in the community where all are welcome for a chat and signposting to support services. A bursary will help us to continue to support new families that come to us asking for help.

Drone Football, also known as Drone Soccer, is a fast-paced, team-based sport where players fly protective spherical drones inside a netted arena with the aim of scoring goals - similar to traditional football but with high-tech flight. It combines the thrill of competition with hands-on STEM learning, offering young people the chance to build, program, and pilot drones in a safe, structured environment. Played in teams of five, Drone Football emphasises strategy, teamwork, and technical skill, making it both an exciting sport and an innovative pathway into careers in engineering, coding, and aviation.

Drone Football Ltd is launching a pilot initiative in 2025 to establish Charlbury’s first Drone Football League, using the internationally recognised sport of Drone Soccer to engage underrepresented youth in STEM through competitive team play. The project will begin with community-based teams in Charlbury, co-developed with local partners to ensure accessibility and inclusion.

In order to meet the costs of running our village hall, to keep our prices affordable to our users and to meet sustainability goals, we are seeking to install solar panels on the roof of the hall. Our roof has a suitable orientation to do this, and we have received assessments and quotes from installers. We are seeking funding from Sustainable Charlbury, Westmill Solar, Low Carbon Hub and are also ready to raise funds from the local community.

I am writing on behalf of the village hall committee to request financial assistance for one of our annual community events. We provide a free Christmas lunch for pensioners in the village every December in the hall. As many of the pensioners live alone, this not only lets them enjoy a full Christmas lunch but also the companionship of friends and acquaintances. Costs have risen year by year, and this event can be quite a drain on the hall's resources. We are a non-profit charity with most of our income coming from hall hire costs, but a great percentage of this is needed for maintenance and the wages of our caretaker and cleaner. All other roles within the hall are voluntary and unpaid. It would be wonderful to be able to guarantee that this year’s event went ahead smoothly and enjoyably for all involved. The cost last year was £15 per head, and we had 58 attendees.

I have nominated this organisation as it help to maintain the Village play area. Which is in need of a few repairs and some updating. To ensure its safety for the children who use it.

The school is at the heart of our village and is a vital part of the community. Friends of Leafield School is a parent-led charity whose sole purpose is to raise money to enrich the children’s experience at school. Money raised is used to fund whole school pantomime and science trips, and various workshops, improvement works to the school building and much-needed classroom supplies.

Currently, the school are looking to improve the variety of games and activities that are inclusive and accessible to all children so funding is needed for that, and we are also still fundraising to replace the surface of the playground.

Friends of Stonesfield School(FoSS) are a dedicated PTA raising funds to enhance and support the experience for our children attending Stonesfield Primary. We are working hard through our fundraising to fund a play tower for the playground. The play tower will vastly improve the playground and encourage physical exercise, team building and boost confidence through play. Many of our children come from Stonesfield and the surrounding villages and will benefit from being able to play throughout the year on the play tower.

This group passionately cares about traffic safety and protecting the villagers, especially the children, in Leafield. This group are the only ones representing our village in regard to vehicle speed issues; we have a "20" mph limit in Leafield, with a primary school on the main road, a church at a road junction, and a hedgehog population under constant threat. Any help to them would be of a "Major" benefit to the community!

We are a community football club in Leafield. If we have these facilities, which we are raising money for, we can start youth and ladies' football and have a safe place for all children in the village to play, and it will be good for the community all round.

Leafield Pop-Up Choir is run by volunteers for local residents who love to sing. It is a totally inclusive choir with no requirement to read music, audition or even sing in tune! It’s purely about the love of music and bringing people together to enjoy the many benefits that music and singing can bring to our social and mental wellbeing. the choir currently has about 30 members. The choir is accessible to all, and therefore there is only a very small attendance fee to cover some of the cost of the rehearsal space. This means there is no additional cash for things such as sheet music, music stands or musicians and the choir is entirely dependent on donations and bursaries (as well as just making do). A highlight of the choir’s year is the Christmas Carol service which is attended by many of the local community, and it would be great if we could provide the choir with carol books that could be used each year, rather than having to learn things from memory. It really is an event that everyone looks forward to, and rehearsals would be that extra bit easier with more proper carol books for everyone.

A brilliant nursery in central Charlbury and close to the festival. The funds would help immensely to give the kids aged 6 months to 4 years a great start in life before they move on to school.

We are currently fundraising to replace the hard surface on the back courts with an AstroTurf surface. Replacing the surface would give more courts for our local tennis teams and would allow our youth football teams to have a local outdoor training option when the grass pitches cannot be used. Our youth teams currently travel to Chipping Norton to hire out pitches. The improved facilities will also assist our tennis club to attract new members, along with more events focused on bringing people back into tennis, and work with our local schools to provide tennis to the youth of Charlbury.

Founded in 2025 and based in Leafield, the One Wish Dog Foundation is a small (but mighty!) registered animal charity. We rescue, rehabilitate and rehome unwanted and abandoned dogs in the local area, with the help of our network of amazing foster carers.

In just 13 weeks, One Wish has found happy ever afters for 13 dogs. We aim to have rescued and rehomed at least 50 dogs in the next 12 months. As well as taking in dogs who are being surrendered directly from their current owners, we also take in stray dogs directly from local wardens. We are often these dogs' last chance. There are 67,000 stray dogs in the UK at any one time, and 21 are euthanised every single day because there is a lack of rescue space. We are responding to the crisis by providing love and sanctuary to strays who need us the most.

To be able to help even more dogs, whilst we execute our 2-year business plan to open the One Wish sanctuary, we are fundraising to rent a space in a local boarding kennels. Having a kennel available to us 24/7 on a permanent basis will allow us to offer a safe emergency service to dogs in critical need of help, for example, welfare cases and cases where owners need urgent support (for example, a local resident fleeing domestic violence or someone who has lost their home). We're a fiercely passionate charity with big ambitions, and we invite you to join us in transforming lives, one dog at a time.

Sustainable Leafield brings together a small group of residents who are passionate about promoting sustainable living for the benefit of the community and local environment. All members are volunteers who give up their time to benefit the community. Recent projects that the group have run include hedge laying in the local community, a clothes swap and a repair café. The group is reliant on donations and bursaries to run, and so is very grateful for any additional monies available to help them run events.

The rescue of The Old Bakehouse is an amazing story!

The house, in the centre of Chadlington, was gifted to Chipping Norton and District Abbeyfield Society in the early 1980s by local retired farmer Tom Pitt. It was transferred to the Abbeyfield Living Society (ALS) in 2003.

For over 40 years, The Old Bakehouse ran as a supported living facility for those 55 and older with a good level of independence, but needing the reassurance of support and companionship if needed. Supported Living allows people their independence while reducing loneliness and associated poor health outcomes associated with solitary living in older age. The facility became an important community asset, providing support for up to 13 people either from or related to others in the local community, including Charlbury and the Wychwoods. Over 115 people have found their home at the Old Bakehouse in the last 40+ years.

In May 2023 ALS announced their intention to consult on the closure of 43 Supported Living Facilities across the UK. The consultation included The Old Bakehouse. ALS’ decision to consult on closure was based on estimated costs to ‘bring the building up to environmental standards and to meet modern standards and expectations’. A group of people local to Chadlington formed The Friends of The Old Bakehouse (The Friends) and entered into negotiations with ALS in July 2023. The Friends aimed to acquire and operate The Old Bakehouse as a Supported Living facility, without a break in service to the current tenants, and engaged in lengthy negotiations with ALS to achieve this. The Friends established a not-for-profit, The Old Bakehouse, Chadlington. Registered in England and Wales, Charity number 1211853, to finalise the acquisition.

After 2 years and 4 months of negotiation, and huge funding and volunteer support from our community, we made it. Completing the purchase on Tuesday 9th September 2025. Day-to-day operations are being managed by Abbeyfield Wessex Society, a trusted partner who bring all the expertise and experience we, and our residents, require from a Registered Provider of Social Housing.

We are now working to refurbish the house and attract new residents (we currently have just 4 people with us after a long embargo on letting rooms by ALS) It is an exciting time for the house, its residents and the wider community - and our fundraising effort continues, to carry on the story of The Old Bakehouse for the next generations of older folks (filling a room at The Old Bakehouse also helps free up local housing stock for younger folks too)! A wilderness bursary would make a big difference to our refurbishment pot - and help us attract more lovely wild at heart residents!

The Shed has been a cornerstone of the Charlbury community, providing a space for everything from gigs to children’s parties. It has been used by youth theatres, local bands, touring bands, comedy nights, you name it… Unfortunately, since COVID, it has fallen into a state of disrepair and is desperately in need of updating. Work has started, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, but much, much more is needed to bring it back to its former glory

u3a is coming to Charlbury via Chipping Norton! u3a coordinates groups for those who want to learn. U3a was founded in 1950 to provide education, intellectual stimulus, and fun for retirees. Now branded as u3a “University of The Third Age” it has grown to over 400,000 UK members in 1,000 locations including Witney (800 members with 70+ interest groups) and Chipping Norton. There are 50 Charlburians in u3a Witney and they would enjoy a reduced fee on joining Chipping Norton and District u3a which currently is £15 annually. Topics range from Art & Art History all the way to Astronomy & Space Flight.