WemsFest organisers hope it is third time lucky for pot of funding

The second application aims to help commemorate Emsworth’s rich maritime history and develop it as a heritage destination.

WemsFest artistic director Mark Ringwood said: ‘We spent more than a year in developing the first submission, but received helpful advice from HLF when it was turned down.

‘Based on the new information, a second submission was made and with a certain degree of irony that too was rejected on the grounds that it contained two particular mini-projects which HLF said were ‘‘strong’’ in the first proposal and should remain in the second submission.

‘It may be a question of third time lucky so we’re busy working towards this.

‘One saving grace is that if we are successful we’ll know in September and that will give us the whole of next winter to finely tune it for launch in the summer of 2017.

‘Of course any rejection is disappointing and we don’t have any given right to be successful but if we are, it will really help the visitor attractiveness of the village without changing the character which makes it so special.

‘We’ve had such massive support from a impressively wide range of 
people and organisations within Emsworth not to give up.’

Meanwhile the fifth annual WemsFest arts festival will run from September 30 to October 23.