Sponsorship and Community Events
Maximising our impact on local community needs
Sponsoring events helps us to connect with new audiences and generate brand awareness of the work of The Harpur Trust and how we help to improve people’s lives.
We sponsor big, regular, Bedford events which celebrate the borough and its diversity, such as the Community Stage at The Bedford River Festival and the Everyday Hero Awards, which celebrate the unsung heroes of the borough, from volunteers to fundraisers, and carers to educators.
We also sponsor much smaller events, such as Africa Community Day and St Patrick’s Day, for maximum impact so we can interact with members of the community who might not necessarily engage with the bigger events we sponsor.
Last year we sponsored 12 events and reached tens of thousands of members of the community. We also ran our bi-annual Harpur Trust Art Competition for children aged 4 to 18.
Here is a snapshot of impact from two events:
OUR ART COMPETITION
Over the past year, the Harpur Trust has delivered a programme of art workshops to 1,080 pupils from schools across the borough, supporting children and young people aged 4 to 16 to prepare for the biennial Harpur Trust Art Competition.
This will result in an exhibition of works from all the 38 schools entered during the summer of 2026 at The Higgins Bedford.
The workshops were designed to support pupils in responding to the competition’s theme, Aspire: Nurturing Your Potential, which encourages young people to reflect on their ambitions, hopes and future aspirations.
Around 30 teachers also took part in CPD art workshops run by The Trust, to provide fresh techniques and creative inspiration to use in the classroom and help prepare for the competition.
Find out more at www.harpur-art-competition.org.uk
BOOKTASTIC CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL
We have sponsored BookTastic for the last five years, an inspirational literary festival co-created with children from disadvantaged areas.
Pupils attend sessions at the University of Bedfordshire Theatre, where well‑known children’s authors and illustrators deliver fun, engaging, and interactive workshops to a significant number of pupils from lower‑income families, giving many children access to books and authors they might not otherwise experience.
1,250 pupils from 9 primary schools across the borough took part in the festival last year.
All 1,250 children received a free book.
Key impact:
- Children’s knowledge of books and authors was significantly broadened through attending the BookTastic Festival.
- Children reported choosing to read more books in general as a result of their experience at the festival.
- Children were inspired to seek out additional works by the authors they encountered at the event.
- “It’s ignited reading for the children, and ownership and the importance of ownership makes a huge difference. The free book just makes them want to read because of the book.” (Teacher)
More Impact
Our mission is to nurture potential and improve people’s lives. Our strategy, Together for Bedford, commits us to enabling more children and young people facing disadvantage to achieve their potential, to provide high quality education with an impactful bursary programme, and to maximise our impact on the community in Bedford. Find out more below about how we have achieved these aims in 2024-25.
Find out in more depth in the links below about how we impact the community in a variety of ways helping to unlock potential, provide high quality education and improve people’s lives through our Grants Programme.
More children and young people facing disadvantage achieve their potential
Our Accelerator Programme aims to enable more children aged 0-11 eligible for Free School Meals to reach the expected standard. We also host Bedford Giving, a collaboration to bring together the whole community to support children and young people in Bedford.
High quality education with impactful bursaries
For more than 400 years, we’ve helped generations of young people in Bedford to unlock their promise and embrace their moment to shine.
Maximum impact on community needs
Each year, we award £1m+ in grants, giving a diverse range of community groups the resources they need to tackle issues and seize opportunities.