The Community Fund

The Assembly House Trust is a registered charity, which aims to develop the creative arts and support the local community. Throughout the years The Assembly House has played host to a wide range of art exhibitions, live concerts, theatre, lectures and other community activities. 

As part of its mission of public benefit, The Assembly House Trust introduced a fund to support charity and community organisations. The fund offers subsidised or free use of The Assembly House for local organisations in need of high quality facilities for events, fundraisers or community outreach.  

Anybody interested in joining any of the groups below should email info@assemblyhousetrust.org.uk for further information.

  • Assembly House Classical

    Assembly House Classical presents a series of lunchtime classical recitals, showcasing prize winning musicians in the stunning Georgian Music Room of The Assembly House in Norwich. The series is programmed by Roger Rowe and Administered by Iain Lowery.

  • Norwich In Bloom

    Norwich in Bloom is a community organisation that works to provide stunning floral displays around the city centre. During the early 1980’s local competitions were being run by Norwich City Council. In 1986 Norwich City Council encouraged the Norwich community to take ownership and run the local Norwich in Bloom competition.

  • Norwich Flower Club

    As one of the older flower groups in the country, Norwich Flower Club was originally founded in 1952 by the late Mrs. Jocelyn Steward. Membership is open to all who enjoy flowers and floral arrangements. The club guarantees a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in which to develop your interest through an annual programme of meetings, demonstrations, workshops and outings.

  • Norwich Opera Club

    A friendly and informal gathering of Opera enthusiasts and Theatre-goers who have been meeting every two weeks since 1970.

  • Norwich Philharmonic Society

    The Norwich Philharmonic Society was established in 1841 and has remained at the heart of the city’s musical life ever since. With a full-size symphony orchestra and a mixed chorus of some 120 voices, the Society performs a wide repertoire of large-scale works, joined by guest soloists of the highest calibre. ‘The Phil’ performs four concerts of choral and/or orchestral music each season, plus a very popular Family Christmas Concert.

  • The Norwich Society

    The Norwich Society helps people enjoy the history and character of Norwich, and helps to shape the future of the City. Formed in 1923, it has over 700 members and organises walks, talks, projects, audits, reports and scrutiny over whatever aspects of the life and fabric of Norwich that interests its members. The Society’s office is on the second floor of the Assembly House and its winter lectures, and bi-annual Design Awards, are staged in the Music Room and Noverre Ballroom respectively.

  • Norwich Speakers Club

    Norwich Speakers Club has been running for over 20 years – helping people become confident communicators. Norwich Speakers Club is a group of people who get together every second Thursday at 7.30pm for a couple of hours of fun to practice the art of effective communication through public speaking. This is accomplished by following a tried and tested structure developed by the Toastmasters International organisation to help develop speaking skills in a safe and friendly environment.

  • Norwich Support OCD

    The Norwich and Norfolk OCD Voluntary Support was founded in 2004 by Geraldine Scott, with the aim of providing support to those with OCD, carers and family members including those who want to gain a better understanding of this anxiety disorder. The group offers empathy, support and psychoeducation in a non-judgmental, confidential environment and an opportunity to share and communicate knowledge and personal experiences.

  • U3A Norwich

    The University of the Third Age was founded in Paris in 1979. In the UK the term ‘University’ means “coming together for the pleasure of learning”. U3A Norwich, is an opportunity for people aged 50 and over to enjoy meeting others in an informal atmosphere, frequently in members homes, to learn and enjoy various educational, creative and leisure activities.

  • Monday Longer Distance Walking Group: U3A Norwich

    The group was started 15 years ago by Esme and Paul Staniforth, initially just to walk the ‘Weavers Way’, but later developed into a group walking routes all around Norfolk.

  • East Anglia Geological Society

    The East Anglian Regional Group covers the Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire area, providing around six meetings/ lectures a year on varying geological issues.

  • Norfolk Archeological Trust

    The Norfolk Archaeological Trust is a conservation charity devoted to the care of some of the most important archaeological sites in the county.

  • Noverre Visual Arts Society

    The aim of the Noverre Visual Arts Society is to show classic films old and new in pleasant surroundings and meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 2.15pm.

  • Royal Geographical Society

    Founded in 1830, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is dedicated to the development and promotion of geographical knowledge, together with its application to the challenges facing society and the environment.

  • The Great Hall Theatre Company

    Donald Pyle started Great Hall Players in 1961 as a private theatre club that would periodically put on plays for invited friends and family, staged in his own home, the medieval Great Hall in Oak Street. The group performed in the arena style (in the round) and has continued to do so as it has evolved and moved its base to various other venues around Norwich – the Baker’s Arms, the Friends’ Meeting House, and St Peter’s Methodist Church Hall.

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The Assembly House Trust in partnership with The Assembly House sponsored this year’s Norwich Pride Art Exhibition held in the Noverre Ballroom.

Norwich Pride chose the theme Queer Activism History with the title ‘Revolting’ for its second exhibition at the Assembly House which was held from July 24 to 29.

In celebration of Norwich Pride’s 15th anniversary, the organisation wanted to honour how pride began…with a protest. 

A spokesperson said: “When the Stonewall riots erupted in 1969, Gay Prides began popping up across America and Europe.

“Although now we think of Pride as a celebration of the queer community, a time to come together and fly the flag for the LGBTQIA+ population, Pride has and always should be revered as a protest. Norwich Pride strives to continue its work in protecting the rights and lives of LGBTQIA+ people no matter their background, and to this day fights for queer revolution.”

The exhibition also showcased items from Queer Norfolk, a grassroots volunteer-led project based at Norfolk Heritage Centre which aims to hand ownership of queer collections back to communities

and empower people to access, discover, and contribute to collections that reflect their shared histories.

Items from the project that were on show include historic objects such as protest signs, AIDS crisis memorabilia, and Section 28 ephemera.

Following the exhibition, Head of Fundraising and Sponsorship for Norwich Pride, Robert George, said: “Thank you so much for your brilliant support with this year’s Pride event. The exhibition was a huge success and was really cherished and appreciated by the community.”

Artists whose work was included in the exhibition included Freya Elise Kemp, Beccy Mundy, Milliella King, Crash King, Emily Foster, Arlo Lawton, David Shenton, Tricia Mercer-David, Poppy Marriott, Rachel Collier-Wilson, Robyn Burgess, Bryony Doyle, Georgia Rowles, Nicolas Baker, Leo Lovejoy, Rowan Frewin, Lauren Graham, Binx Kingdom, Samantha Osborne, Stevie Savage, Leigh Mitchinson and Jane Hattrick in collaboration with Norwich Amnesty, Bethany Stacey, Cherryfizzwhizz, Sian Posy and Elis Welch.

 

The exhibition was curated by artist Alice Bigsby-Bye.

Apply.

If you are interested in using The Assembly House for your event or a community group that regularly meets and believe the Trust might be able to help, please fill in this form. You can see the room prices capacities listed here. The Trust is not able to support all the applications that are submitted.

For questions relating to the community fund application please use: info@assemblyhousetrust.org.uk