Loot for Lerwick
A Community Council PB Pilot Project based in Lerwick to distribute £10,000, undertaken in May 2016.
The aims of the project were to:
- Build and maintain momentum in PB activity already being supported by PB Partners
- Increase the impact PB has to support community engagement
- Build on participatory democracy
- Help tackle inequality
Lerwick Community Council together worked in partnership with Shetland Islands Council to deliver this pilot project. Due to short timescales it was not possible to undertake a widespread community consultation, however existing evidence and the Community Council knowledge of the area and its needs contributed to the setting of the priorities.
Lerwick Community Council invited applications from local groups through the local press, by email, using their website and via facebook. They also invited pupils from the local primary schools to design a logo for the event, which resulted in raised awareness of the process.
The PB event took place in the morning of Saturday 21st May and had good attendance with approximately 200 people coming along to take part with 188 votes cast. Entertainment was provided by local groups and refreshments were available while votes were counted. Just less than 3% of the Lerwick CC population attended the event. The attendance was probably lower than expected although the groups participating had a good turn out from their members and families. We are tackling inequalities by supporting community groups who will consider how to ensure everyone can access the group or activities offered and We would like to see more of this done.
A total of 22 voluntary groups and organisations took part, delivering a 2 minutes presentation of their proposed project, with seven of those being awarded all or part funding for their projects. Monitoring is ongoing with 3 of the groups having completed their projects, 2 have partly completed and the remaining 2 have not yet completed but are on track to do so.