Bursaries for Young Creatives

Bursaries for Young Creatives

To date, we have awarded sixteen £2,500 Bursaries to Young Creatives. The bursaries support recipients to develop and deliver projects around the region to enrich the creative journeys of other young people. Each bursary recipient is supported by the Festival and a local organisation to deliver their projects.

Applications for 2027 bursaries will open in September 2026

2026 Bursary cohort

Recipient: Freya Oakes
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
Partner organisation: Norwich Puppet Theatre

“Spirit and Motion” explores the evolution of animation through the anthropomorphism of the spirit of Norfolk. Participants will develop their own ‘spirit’ utilising over 200 years of Stop Motion techniques; from Georgian thaumatropes to modern armature animation. These techniques are explored across six workshops, working across all key stages. Participants will learn storytelling, character design, and basic animation skills. The program culminates in a premiere at Norwich Puppet Theatre in May with a Q&A profession industry panel. This project aims to make Stop Motion accessible and collaborative for all and safeguards this heritage craft for future generations.

Recipient: Oliver Mansell
Location:West Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire
Partner organisation: Pearson Gape Farming Partnership

I will be collaborating with artist Abigail Tinnion to produce a series of workshops with young people to re-imagine the Caxton Gibbet. Participants will explore contemporary archaeology, reimagine folklore and create models from the surrounding clay soils. These sessions will be guided by oral history and objects from neighbouring cultural institutions, encouraging an exploration of our collective connections to these landscapes—past, present, and future—and our untamed creativity.

Recipient: Olivia Rodgers
Location: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Partner organisation: PrimeYarc  (in partnership with Creative Collisions and the National Saturday Club)

Liv Rodgers is a Norwich-based mixed-media artist blending Posca illustration, projection mapping, and AI to explore transhumanist, botanical, and futuristic themes. A Fine Arts graduate commissioned by the V&A Dundee, Rodgers creates vibrant, hybrid ecosystems where colour, pattern, and technology merge into evolving speculative worlds.

Recipient: Poppy Price-Downhan
Locations: Suffolk
Partner organisation: Accessible Ceilidh Project

Poppy is a Ceilidh Caller and Musician based in Suffolk. She’s passionate about making the world of folk accessible. The folk community is a wonderful thing to be a part of, however, it can be very inaccessible, especially in terms of dance. One of the main goals is to help break down barriers and give youth a chance to experience the joy of folk dancing. Workshops will be held at different locations in Suffolk, providing a chance for individuals to give ceilidh dancing a try in an open space. The project concludes with a free, traditional ceilidh where people can put what they’ve learnt into practice.

Recipient: Suzanne Chung
Locations: Ipswich, Suffolk
Partner organisation: Future Female Society

This project encourages participants to explore their cultural heritage, share their migration stories, and celebrate Ipswich’s multiculturalism through multidisciplinary art forms, welcoming young people – who aren’t already part of Ipswich’s thriving arts community – to get involved. The workshops will allow participants to express their stories creatively through writing, painting, and collaging. I’ll also be working closely alongside Future Female Society’s Girls, Where You At? programme to develop a podcast about honouring their personal stories and Ipswich’s diverse community.

Recipient: Ruby Bellamy
Location: Wisbech, Cambridge
Partner organisation: Blackfield Creatives

Working in partnership with Blackfield Creatives and Leverington Primary Academy, I will be creating a Class Portrait Quilt with LPA’s Year 6 Class.

This project aims to celebrate the unique educational journey of this class, whose early years were impacted by COVID-19. The Quilt will feature hand-sewn portraits of the pupils, created through a series of workshops focused on drawing, collage, and sewing techniques. We will also explore the pupils’ feelings and strengths regarding their upcoming move to secondary school; these strengths will be incorporated into the final Quilt layout.

Recipient: Ruby Cheng
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
Partner organisation:  Studio Do

“Mudding about” is an initiative to make heritage crafts like ceramics more accessible and approachable to young creatives, by lowering barriers. Supported by the NNF Young Creative Bursary and Studio DO, we will offer two rounds of free, 4-week pottery courses for 16–19-year-olds in spring 2026. Focused on curiosity, well-being, and empowerment, participants will explore the full ceramics lifecycle in four 3-hour sessions. They’ll learn to communicate through 3D art, receive mentoring and build a mini portfolio, all within a supportive network-building environment. Travel bursaries are available to participants coming from outside Norwich.

Recipient: Sofija Tarasevic
Location: Peterborough, Peterborough
Partner organisation: Nene Park Trust

Beetle-borough is a community-led art project inviting young people across Peterborough to design, paint and build bughouses inspired by the city’s iconic architecture. Through hands-on workshops, participants will create designs reflecting meaningful local buildings, which will be transformed into durable corten-steel panels by a collaborating artist. Using reclaimed and natural materials, the completed bug houses will form a public outdoor exhibition within the Thorpe Meadows Sculpture Collection—a miniature city celebrating place, creativity and ecology. Beetle-borough aims to empower diverse groups to explore design, heritage and sustainable making, fostering wellbeing, pride and lasting connections with Peterborough’s environment and public art.

Previous Recipients

To date, we have awarded sixteen £2,500 Bursaries to Young Creatives. The bursaries support them to develop and deliver projects around the region to support the creative journeys of other young people. Each bursary recipient is supported by the Festival and a local organisation to deliver their projects.

Find out more about previous bursary projects here

Bursaries for Artist

Alongside the Bursaries for Young Creative we also award eight Bursaries for Artist. These are for Artist of any age who have projects which improve the cultural lives of children, young people in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Find out more about Bursaries for Artist here