READ THIS! IT'S GOOD!
Pioneering Participatory Funding
May 2019 sees the start of our seventh year of Participatory Funding. The Richmond Fellowship Scotland leads, commits, invests and innovates in Participatory Funding.
We commit £100,000 each year, so the People We Support can come up with their own ideas, events, activities and projects showing us that “Outcomes are Fun”! We walk and talk our commitment to People We Support having “fun in their lives”.
Our first “bidding” event of the new financial year took place on a sunny afternoon on 10th May in a Church Hall in Rutherglen. Our Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire services had an allocated “bid fund” of £12,000.
Over 200 People We Support attended. It was fantastic to see so many people coming along to take part from a whole range of services including several individuals who would have previously found this a challenging experience. Evidence indeed that this funding is for everyone to have fun.
People We Support, with the support of staff, get the opportunity to:
- Come up with ideas on what activities they would like to take part in to have fun
- Figure out how much money would be required for that activity to run
- Prepare a presentation about this activity that would get other supported people to vote for their idea. Presentations can be posters, talks, songs, chats, letters, power point or anything else that gets the idea across.
- Attend an event where lots of fun ideas are shared and presented, including their own
- Vote for the idea or ideas that they prefer. The activities that get the most votes will get the funding
- Have help to organise the activities that do get funding.
The presentations were fantastic and showcased the abilities of the People We Support to participate, get involved, achieve things and come up with ideas.
The feel good factor from the event was “electric”. You really have to see this to understand what happens. The day’s entertainment and food were brill and people had a hoot.
The range of funded bids (nobody went unfunded) were:
1) A Tea Dance for 25 people
2) A Strictly Come Dancing class for 20 people over 8 weeks
3) A Boat trip outing for 16 people
4) A Barbecue for 40 to 60 people
5) An inclusive Olympic Games event for some 300 people
6) An Autism friendly social event
7) Boccia Bowling sessions for 20 people
8) Purchase of a Karaoke, bingo, table top games for a social group
9) An Burns support event
10) 4 Games shows events
11) A Christmas Disco
12) A trip for 30 people on the Waverly Sea-Going Paddle Steamer
13) A trip to the World Pipe Bands for 30 people
14) A Halloween Disco
15) A Talent competition event
16) A boat trip on Loch Lomond for 40 people
17) Quarterly film shows
18) An outside pizza oven for a cooking group
More of this? Yes Please!
