Funding windfall
Cash boost from community budget event
A number of groups and organisations in east Perthshire were awarded funding of up to £1200 for a range of projects as part of the latest round of ‘participatory budgeting’ in the area.
Local residents were able to vote for the three projects they wanted to see funded at a community event at Coupar Angus Primary School on Saturday. There was also an opportunity to vote online during the week before the event.
The successful applicants were announced at the close of the community event.
In the Blairgowrie and the Glens ward the projects that were awarded funding were the One Voice Volunteer Group Association for its community transport scheme, Wisecraft, BOOKMARK, Blairgowrie Lipreading and the Rattray and District BMX Club.
In the Strathmore ward, the successful projects were the Coupar Angus Cycling Hub, the Coupar Angus Youth Activities Group (CAYAG), Coupar Angus Food Focus and Forward Coupar Angus’ community woodland.
The Strathmore Centre for Youth Development (SCYD) and the Eastern Perthshire Community Sports Hub were both awarded some funding across both wards.
Greg Morgan from the Rattray and District BMX Club thanked everyone who had voted for them, commenting: “On behalf of RAD BMX I just want to say thank you to the community for voting for us and to the council for organising this funding opportunity.
“We’re happy that we got the votes and secured the full funding of £1200 and appreciate everyone’s continued support.
“We’re still working hard on fund-raising for the track.”
BOOKMARK chair Janey Lambie also welcomed the funding, saying: “We’re delighted to have had so much support and to have received part-funding for our project to enable a small number of children to engage with a children’s author, reading and then creating and writing their own story.
“We’ll continue to seek the rest of the funding needed to allow us to go ahead with the project.
“Literacy for children, particularly for those who are in danger of falling behind, is a cause we feel is worth pursuing.”
The Eastern Perthshire Community Sports Hub received funding for a project that aims to encourage mums to get active, offering an opportunity to try new sports and recreational activities in a fun and supportive environment.
Chair of the sports hub, Bob Ellis, said: “This was a terrific event and the amount of networking that was done was phenomenal.
“Every single penny helps for all the organisations that were at the event.
“On behalf of the sports hub, I would like to say thank you to the organisers and everyone who voted for our project.
“We are really pleased that the work that went into this application has paid off and we look forward to putting in place all the ideas that we have. They will hopefully be very beneficial to lots of young families in the area.”
Iain Bentley from Forward Coupar Angus was delighted with the funding that the development trust received for its community woodland project at Butterybank on the outskirts of the town.
He said: “It is very pleasing. The money will go towards developing an information panel for the site which will explain a bit about the geology there and its cultural history.
“We will also have another information panel about the trees at the woodland and the tree trail that we are hoping to set up for children.”
Eligible projects had to aim to develop activities that address issues such as social isolation, deprivation, community transport, supporting young people or the environment.
The projects should work towards tackling local inequalities, benefit as many people as possible from across the community, meet a need that is not currently being met and take place before the end of March next year.
The Eastern Perthshire Decides project is organised by the Eastern Perthshire Action Partnership, one of five that have been set up in the region with the aim of tackling inequalities facing residents in the area and helping services and communities work better together.
Perth and Kinross Council and the Scottish Government have both contributed funding so that the Action Partnerships can support community projects which reduce local inequalities.
John Corrigan, community capacity worker for Perth and Kinross Council, was pleased with the success of the event.
He told the Blairie: “There were some really interesting projects put forward for funding and there was a good turnout of people from across the areas.
“Lots of people spoke about how much they valued the opportunity to speak about their projects and also to speak to people working on similar projects in other areas nearby.”
Nearly 1000 votes were cast on the day by over 100 voters, and 1151 votes were cast online before the event in what organisers say is one of the highest number of online votes amongst the five action partnerships in the area.
Organisers also stressed that any projects whose applications had not been successful should contact the community capacity workers in their area to look at other options.