Residents to decide how £100,000 is spent in their community

Auchenback, Barrhead, Neilston and Thornliebank will each receive £25,000 for residents to decide which projects should be funded in their area.

Community groups, volunteer groups and non-profit organisations can bid for funding. Once all bids have been submitted the groups will then have to present their ideas at a series of ‘marketplace’ events where residents will then vote on which projects will receive funding.

This method of community decision making is known as Participatory Budgeting (PB) and is a key part of the council’s commitment to the Community Empowerment Act.

A range of groups across Barrhead have previously benefitted from PB following events in early 2018.

Barrhead Memory Lane, an organisation that aids those who are in the early stages of dementia, successfully gained funding to help provide a bus twice a month for residents from across East Renfrewshire. Barrhead High School’s Young Men’s Group also bid for and received funding to help participate in their Snow Camp experience that combined snow sports with life skills to increase employability prospects.

One of the key aims of the 2019 events is to fund new and existing projects that will benefit the communities in one or more of the six key priorities that were highlighted by local residents: Community safety/feeling safe, employability/financial inclusion, community activity/health and wellbeing, older people, younger people, and environment.

Councillor Colm Merrick, Convener for Community Services and Community Safety, said: “These events are a terrific opportunity for residents to take control and decide on how money gets spent in their locality. Residents are at the heart of their communities so are best-placed to decide what their areas are most in need of and this process empowers them to control how this budget is allocated.

“I strongly encourage all community groups to apply for funding, because every successful project will be of real value to their local area. We are more than happy to offer help and advice to any group who wants to apply for funding. Please simply get in touch.”

Applications for funding are now open and can be found at East Renfrewshire Council under ‘linking communities funding applications’.

If you would like a paper application you can contact Elaine Grogan on 0141 577 3657 or email [email protected].

Applications for Auchenback and Barrhead close on February 1, with Neilston applications closing on February 7 and Thornliebank on February 8.

A series of support events have also been set up to provide guidance and assistance to groups seeking to apply for funding.

Full details can be found online at East Renfrewshire Council.