‘More public involvement in decision making in Moray!’

TSI Moray give us an tell us about the PB journey happening in Moray.

So say the people who have taken part in Our Communities Drugs and Alcohol Initiative, #You Choose and #You Choose 2, where tsiMORAY and friends brought together new and existing projects that addressed the themes of Drugs and Alcohol, Mental Health Innovation and Older People.

Reproduced by kind permission of the Northern Scot

Between 1st and 7th December 2017 community groups promoted their projects through the marketplace event, The Big Vote 2, and online, to win votes, funds and receive vital support for their communities. Find out more about the winning projects here.

We’ve come a long way since tsiMORAY first delivered a PB programme back in 2015…

Reproduced by kind permission of the Northern Scot

Since then we’ve celebrated success and shared in the learning…

Something must be working as tsiMORAY’s #You Choose brand of PB has now gained positive recognition more widely, recently recognised at Influencing Change in the North for its characteristic blending of themes, coin system and funky marketplace format. (workshop evaluation, North Alliance Conference, 2017)

‘Brilliant Idea/model to involve and engage local community’

The PB programmes we deliver tackle themes that empower people to participate in democracy who may have found themselves otherwise excluded or socially isolated. We will continue to provide participatory budgeting opportunities for as many people and groups in Moray as we can, as groups have really enjoyed the chance to connect with one another, and to challenge and overturn misconceptions and stigma.

There’s also been a big rise in voters due to digital voting option!

'Easily accessible’
(online voting evaluation)

695 people took part by voting from 1st to 7th December 2017, up from 173 votes cast on 7th December 2016 at The Big Vote, thanks to the introduction of the D21 digital platform, enabling votes to be cast online as well as in-person at The Big Vote 2, Elgin Youth Café & Inkwell. The grants distributed remain small, but the impact has been huge for those taking part.

Stakeholders go from strength to strength through project deliberation process!

‘Confidence building’
(stakeholder event evaluation)

#You Choose 2 stakeholders taking part in project deliberation included Moray Wellbeing Hub Champions, the Moray Alcohol Drug and Partnership Manager, and a friendly mix of folk who provide and use services from enterprising groups and organisations, such as Quarriers Arrows, Elemental Arts, Fochabers Men’s Shed, Living Golf, Outfit Moray, Sacro, Varis Players and more.

‘Interaction, engagement, decisions taken constructively’
(stakeholder event evaluation)

tsiMORAY invited Moray Wellbeing Hub to co-facilitate the stakeholder event, where project proposals were considered for eligibility and fit. The Hub kindly provided two facilitators, one for each group, assisted by two members of the tsiMORAY team who scribed, kept time and stepped in to facilitate where the Hub’s proposals were up for discussion to ensure the process was fair.

Stakeholders formed two groups of 7 to 8 participants, each making the decisions on which projects could progress to the public vote. Participants provided positive and constructive suggestions on strengths and areas to be strengthened. Champion facilitators kept the conversation on track.

Word cloud from #You Choose 2 Launch, The Gallery, Elgin Library, September 2017

‘Opportunity to meet other groups and find opportunities to work together’
(stakeholder)

All applicants received written feedback on their proposals following the event, and everyone taking part on the day shared experiences and/or expertise, and learned by listening to a range of perspectives in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

New connections between people, groups and services were formed, whilst those pre-existing were strengthened. Further opportunities where folk could work together were identified, suggested and in some cases agreed on the spot. One such example was Arrows offer to support Fochabers Men’s Shed to make the shed friendly to men in recovery.

The Big Vote 2

The Big Vote 2 saw the return of the popular market place format for the in-person voting event which took place on 7th December 2017. Voters and stallholders had fun eating cake, swinging a golf club, playing musical instruments and even exploring some weird and wonderful natural objects at Earth for Life’s stall. The word cloud below brings together some of the great groups and organisations to receive a small grant of up to £3000 as part of #YOU Choose in the Drugs and Alcohol Theme. Working together we really rock!