LONG-RUNNING Cornish circus charity CirkHes has been awarded over £34,000 from Cornwall Council’s Community Levelling Up Programme to invest in new equipment, activities and opportunities.

This is primarily for their project of two halves - Circo Neuro 2.0 and Quirky Circus 2.0, developing and expanding their work with disabled children and adults.

The project has already seen a huge investment in equipment, staff time and new activities offering unique social circus experiences that have huge benefits. As well as the physical and social benefits, it also works wonders as a playful way to develop fine and gross motor skills.

Most importantly it offers a unique way for people with different abilities to join in circus clubs and activities in their own unique ways. It brings people who often feel like outsiders into a group, to celebrate their differences and be a part of a creative community.

Most of the project is focused on regular clubs, one-off workshops and events at the CirkHes circus space, which opened this year at Helston Business Park. It includes ‘Sensory Sundays’ for neurodivergent children and their families. There has also been an outreach element bringing circus to different groups, and venues including the Curnow School for children with different needs.

Project leader Ross Wheeler said: “We’ve been running these incredible projects with small groups of disabled people for over two years already and it’s been really hard both to finance and develop what we do. Now it’s amazing to have the funding to be able to develop our work not just with people we’ve worked with for years, but also run new activities and reach a load of new people across Cornwall.”

The funding has been allocated from Cornwall Council’s Community Levelling Up Programme which is part of the Good Growth Programme delivering the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund into Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

These projects are about to reach a spectacular finale with CirkHes Winter Programme. It includes the first Quirky Circus Showcase and other exciting activities which are now in full swing. The charity will also be running another Winter student showcase, sensory circus sessions and their Time2Move school holiday programme.

Naomi Lewis the charity manager said: “It’s really encouraging to have the support of the local council and different local funders for creative community projects in Cornwall. We have a fantastic team of local artists who train and teach at our space and they get really involved in the community work we do here, which is both needed and appreciated. We’ve had a great first year in our new space in Helston, which is brilliant because we are here to stay.”

Further funding and support has been provided by Creative Kernow, FEAST, Helston Town Council, Helston Downsland Chairty and Cornwall Council’s Time2Move school holiday activities program.

To find out all about the Winter Programme, visit: www.cirkhes.co.uk