The nomination period is open between now and the deadline of 5pm on Monday 15 September for North Ayrshire Council’s latest round of participatory budgeting.
Open to local community groups and organisations, the total fund this year is an incredible £204,159 – with up to £1,000 per project up for grabs.
North Ayrshire’s Connected Communities team are inviting individuals and community organisations to make their nominations via the Shaping North Ayrshire website (going live from 10am!)
The website also has full details on how to:
- Find out about participatory budgeting
- Learn about how it works here in North Ayrshire
- Find out about previous groups and organisations who have benefitted locally
- Get details of the eligibility criteria
Participatory Budgeting is a key funding stream delivered by our Locality teams – part of the North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership – to identify priorities and empower communities, increase capacity and the improve facilities to achieve local community ambitions.
Over 190 community groups and projects were successful in the last round and it is hoped that even more put themselves forward this time around.
Of the £204,159 funding available, the significant funding also includes – for the first time ever – a Community Wealth Building Fund element of £30,000.
Allocation of the funds will be distributed between three key elements:
- Locality PB: Health and Wellbeing, Building Community Spirit, Cost of Living, Green Projects
- Youth PB: Green Projects, Health and Wellbeing, Young People’s Voice and Rights, Equality and Diversity and Cost of Living
- Community Wealth Building Fund: Community Ownership, Enterprising Communities and Local Innovation
Council officer Laura Taylor, Community Economic Development Officer (CWB) is coordinating the launch alongside the council’s Community Empowerment team. She is calling on colleagues to spread the word in our communities and is encouraging local community groups to apply now before the deadline of 5pm on Monday 15 September.
Laura shares: “We know that our residents know better than anyone else which projects will be the most beneficial to them in their local communities, so it is only fair that they have a direct say on how money is spent.
“Participatory Budgeting does just this, however we are very aware that there will be local community groups and organisations out there who haven’t had the chance to benefit just yet and it is so important to us that we make sure that no one is left behind.
“We are really keen to hear from projects and groups who have never been involved in participatory budgeting before so that we can spread our reach even further.
“Following the application deadline, applications will be reviewed and checked that they meet the eligibility criteria before going to the public vote – stay tuned for more information.”
Participatory Budgeting is based on an ethos of ‘it’s your money, you decide’. It is a type of citizen participation where local people are involved in the process of deciding how public money – in this case the council’s PB budget – is best spent.
For more information, email: participatorybudgeting@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
To find out more projects that have been successful in previous funding cycles, check out the Shaping North Ayrshire website #ShapingNorthAyrshire