WASP seeks funding to expand our work – how you can help

Here at the Winfarthing Anglo-Saxon Project (WASP) we do our best to run a few events each year for the local community to enjoy, and to stay in touch with the ongoing research into the archaeological finds made in the village in recent years.

We are, however, a small group of volunteers. To expand on what we have done over the last few years we are seeking funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If our bid is successful, the funding would allow us to employ some freelance project staff. With their help we could run more activities and create more benefits for our local communities.

A visitor trying tablet weaving at our 2025 Heritage Open Day

Our plan includes:

• A series of talks about the Winfarthing finds and their wider historical/archaeological context

• Creative workshops in partnership with Designer Makers 21 in Diss – activities would all be inspired by the Winfarthing finds

• Creating learning resources for schools which can be used for many years to come

• Creative sessions for older people run with professional artists in a local care home, and for young adults with learning disabilities in a local supported living environment

• Filmmaking workshops for teenagers, resulting in short films which can go on our website

• A digital kiosk to go into St Mary’s Church with a display about the local Anglo-Saxon archaeology which has been discovered

• A Heritage Open Day event in September 2026 which showcases everything created by the project’s creative activities, and provides further insights into local Anglo-Saxon history

These activities would provide opportunities for local people to learn more about their local heritage, meet their neighbours, develop new skills, and just to enjoy themselves.

If this bid and project are successful, it will give us a good foundation to move onto further projects in the future.

How you can help

For our bid to succeed we need evidence of support from the local community for the project. We would really appreciate your support with this!

If you would like to support our bid, please email us by 27th January 2026 on wasp650ad@gmail.com with your thoughts on it. This could include:

• Why you would like to see this project happen

• Any way in which you or people you know would benefit from it

• What it would mean for the village for the project to go ahead

If you have any questions about or suggestions for the project, do please also contact us on wasp650ad@gmail.com