Cash in the CommUnity
Wednesday 4th October saw the return, after a summer break, of community cash giveaway. We had four new pitches for community cash and three people returning to update us.
First up was Sandra pitching for £200 for a community play day at St Andrews for October half term. A clearly well worked out plan, supported by Jayne and the local church community of St Andrews. Sandra was able to answer questions around numbers and food with ease having hosted a number of play days previously.
The second pitch of the evening presented by Ali was to introduce reduced price Chair Yoga to the local area. Ali talked through the benefits of Chair Yoga and even gave us all a mini taster session to get a feel for it. Asking for £250 to cover 4 months room hire over the winter months would enable Ali to charge a much lower price of £4 per session.
Unfortunately Ben was unable to attend to pitch for his £200 budget for the new group Community Toolmates but had provided us with a detailed breakdown of costs to be read out on his behalf. The group meets every other Thursday to utilise the skills of local men to benefit the community. Ben pitched for £200 to cover petty cash, buy odd tools, refreshments, snacks and small parts or fixings etc.
Our final pitch of the evening came from St Andrews Brownie and Guide groups who desperately wanted to take part in some water based activities but circumstance outside of their control had prevented it. Tracy (group leader) presented the background and the Brownies and Guides that attended answered the questions that followed. The girls were hopeful that they would be able to attend Scotsmans Flash in the near future to have some fun in the water trying some kayaking or boating. They pitched for £200 with some contribution from the organisation and parents (if required).
The votes were counted, with help from the Brownies and Guides.
It was then time for updates from previous funded ideas.
Kath updated on the £121 received by St Annes Community Gardening Group. The majority of the cash was spent on bespoke floral displays that were created in a community gardening session attended by 10 people just before the Britain in Bloom visit. The rest of the money has been spent on much appreciated hand tools such as a fork and compost sieve. Jude gave us an update on her ‘Womble Waggon’, a trolly she purchased for £63 to enable her to continue to litterpick large amounts around the community without having to carry large heavy bags around. The final update was from Brenda who hosts the after school craft club at St Annes on a Tuesday. Brenda gave some lovely feedback received from the school and children. Some of the cash has been spent on paper, paint, bottle lights etc with some left for the upcoming sessions around Halloween and Christmas.
The evening concluded with all 4 pitches receiving overwhelming support to give them their requested amounts of cash. We can’t wait to hear how this has been spent at our next Community Cash Evening on 21st November.
We shared the news with the Facebook community who were delighted. So were the people who had pitched.
Sandra said, “Thank you all so much for voting for the funding to put an half-term activity on, in St Andrew’s school hall on Thursday 26th October from 11am -3pm x
Tracy said, “Thank you all for making us feel so welcome and approving our funding bid for water sports activities. Guides & Brownies had a new experience and want to come again! XX”
Ali said, “Thank you all for the warm welcome, such a fab community driven group! Thank you for the funding for the chair yoga, I will put my all into it! Xx”
And Ben when he heard the news said, “Thanks Everyone 😃 Can’t wait to put it to use! It makes life a lot easier. 😊”
If you have an idea for the community that could do with a bit of cash to get it going contact Gill or Angela via [email protected]. In the meantime keep your eyes peeled for floating Brownies, Chair Yoga, Community Play and men at work in our Community!