£10,000 into community projects following public vote

A total of 31 community and voluntary sector organisations operating in Greater Cumbernauld have been awarded small grant funding following an innovative exercise in which local citizens decided which community proposals were funded.

Children’s clothing and baby bank Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care have been awarded £500 funding following receiving the most votes in an innovative Community Voting Survey.

Just over £10,000 of Scottish Government funding is being distributed this week through Cornerstone House Centre’s Small Grants PB Fund Round 3. This enterprise was launched in May with a view to funding a myriad of community activities and projects which seek to support, strengthen and improve the Greater Cumbernauld area and its people.

The activity forms part of the wider Cumbernauld CAN (Community Anchor Network) project, which has now dispersed a total of £43,912 across 55 community organisations in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and the Northern Corridor over the past 15 months through Participatory Budgeting (PB) initiatives.

Over 1,000 people cast votes in an online Community Voting Survey during June to select which voluntary sector groups working in Greater Cumbernauld would receive up to £500 to deliver specified community proposals to benefit the local area. The decision to award funding to 31 groups means that every organisation that submitted a proposal receives at least partial funding following the vote.

It was recognised that there were multiple ways in which the total funding pot could be distributed amongst the 31 applicant organisations. Key areas for consideration in this respect were fairness of distribution, rewarding organisations according to their result in the Community Voting Survey and a responsibility to ensure optimum outcomes are accomplished as a result of the dispersal of funds.

The team at Cumbernauld Poverty Action will pilot a new evening advice service for local citizens thanks to funding awarded.

An independent Cumbernauld CAN Steering Group decided to award 100% funding to the top ten ranked organisations in the Community Voting Survey. This subsequently enabled the remaining 21 proposals to receive a proportion of their funding request on a sliding scale, with the 31st ranked organisation still receiving a generous 32% award.

Frankfield Loch is one of the sites at which Cardowan Community Meadow will facilitate nature-based wellbeing activities for local citizens as a result of funding received.

The desire to ensure that all applicant organisations benefited in some way from the funding pot was evident as Steering Group members, consisting of local community experts from across the public, private and voluntary sectors, considered the quality of proposals submitted to be extremely high. Mary McNeil, Development Manager at Cornerstone House Centre, commented:

 “We are delighted to announce the results of the Community Voting Survey for Small Grants PB Fund Round 3 (see below for full result) and thank the hundreds of people who took time to participate by casting votes.

 “Funding has been awarded to 31 worthy proposals, with grants provided to the most-voted-for organisations relative to the total funding pot available.

 “Congratulations goes to Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care, the top ranked organisation following collation of the Community Voting Survey results, as well as FAMS (Families Affected by Murder and Suicide), Cumbernauld Resilience and Cumbernauld Poverty Action who each accumulated more than 200 votes.

Funding provided will enable Wee Cycle Cumbernauld to recycle and gift bicycles to local children this Christmas through a unique ‘Santa Bikes’ initiative.

 “The other organisations polling in the top ten and receiving at least £400 were Balloch Eastfield FC, 2496 Cumbernauld Squadron Royal Air Force Air Cadets, 2nd Clyde Moodiesburn Scout Group, Cumbernauld Junior Netball Club, PALS (Play and Learning Support) and Wee Cycle Cumbernauld.

 “The organisations funded included 28 groups solely focussed on providing services within Greater Cumbernauld and a further three delivering services to a wider area but using the money specifically for the benefit of people living in our area. Awardees consisted of 11 registered charities, 18 unincorporated associations and two Community Interest Companies (CICs).”

Organisations that were unaware of or did not submit proposals through Small Grants PB Fund Round 3 will have an opportunity to apply again later this year through Small Grants PB Fund Round 4. Allocation of this funding stream will once again be decided by local citizens through a Participating Budgeting process.

 For further information about the Cumbernauld CAN project, please contact Cornerstone House Centre on 01236 739220 or email events@cornerstone-house.org.uk