Companion Grants to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Guild's founding, in 2021.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FIVE GRANTS HAVE NOW BEEN AWARDED, AND YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT THEM HERE.

To celebrate the forthcoming 150th anniversary of the founding of the St George’s Company in 1871 (which became the Guild of St George in 1878) the Guild is offering all Companions the opportunity to apply for a set of new Companion Grants.

We invite proposals that make lives better, according to one or more of Ruskin’s ideas as upheld by the Guild in its current formulation as a registered education charity:

• No wealth but life - fair and equal enjoyment of the world around us
• The rural economy - craft, good livelihoods & care of land
• Not for present use alone – create and conserve for future generations
• Go to nature - nature as a primary source of beauty, inspiration, education and artistic practice

The Guild’s active education and cultural programmes have focused in recent years on revitalising the social legacies of its key assets, the Ruskin Collection in Sheffield, and Ruskin Land in the Wyre Forest.  The Companion Grants are an invitation to respond to local needs and opportunities to make lives better where they work or live.

There are many pressing issues facing individuals and communities, many exacerbated or exposed by the current COVID-19 crisis; the unsustainable division of wealth, our planet’s damaged climate, a lack of rewarding, sustainable work, poor physical and mental health, disconnection from nature and our own creativity.

Inspired by Ruskin’s concerns for these and related matters, and to celebrate the wide range of skills and interests among Companions, the Board intends to award £5000 worth of Companion Grants to support new work or activity that responds to these issues; these will either be five to the value of £1000 each, or - depending on the nature of the applications (and at the discretion of the Board), three of £1000 and four Research & Development grants of £500 each.

In response to one or more of the ideas above, applications should indicate how the Companions Grant would enable you to do at least two of the following:

• Respond to a social need.
• Benefit the people you engage with.
• Engage new audiences for the subject matter, skill or area of activity.
• Empower and develop your practice and creativity, through a Ruskinian lens.
• Deepen our understanding of the resources and resilience needed in the face of the challenges facing people and planet..

The Board will also be looking for proposals that:

• Foster stronger engagement with the Guild and its activities.
• Generate creative documentation and reflection for future dissemination to Companions and beyond.
• Develop connections for potential future collaborations.

The deadline for applications, via email to Simon Seligman (communications@guildofstgeorge.org.uk) is Friday 19^th June 2020, and the successful applicants will be informed by the end of July.

We will invite (and support financially where needed) successful applicants to attend (in person or virtually) the 21st November 2020 Guild AGM to talk briefly about what they intend to do over the following 12 months. Support and advice for each successful applicant, where and when needed, will also be available from another nominated member of the Guild throughout the year. Activity funded by the Companion Grant would be expected to be completed before November 2021.

To read and download the full Grant information pack and application form, please see here. Please note that these Grants are only available to current Companions of the Guild.