More than £200k available for community projects in North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire Council’s inviting individuals and community organisations to an upcoming series of information drop-in sessions
More than £200,000 in funding is now up for grabs to community groups across North Ayrshire and special sessions are being organised to help explain the scheme.
North Ayrshire Council’s Connected Communities team are inviting individuals and community organisations to an upcoming series of information drop-in sessions ahead of the next cycle of the council’s Participatory Budgeting Fund (PB).
This is also an opportunity to meet with other groups who are already working alongside the council’s Locality teams – part of the North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership – to identify priorities and empower communities, increase capacity and improve facilities to achieve local community ambitions.
More than 190 community groups and projects have been successful in receiving their share of North Ayrshire’s £171,377 PB funding since November 2024.
With applications opening in August – stay tuned for more details – the next round of Participatory Budgeting (PB) is just around the corner.
In this cycle, a total sum of £204,159 funding will be made available and for the first time, the funding also includes a Community Wealth Building Fund element of £30,000.
The funding this year will be part of three funding pots:
Locality PB: Health and Wellbeing, Building Community Spirit, Cost of Living, Green Projects
Youth PB: Green Projects, Health and Wellbeing, Young People’s Voice and Rights, Equality and Diversity and Cost of Living
Community Wealth Building Fund: Community Ownership, Enterprising Communities and Local Innovation
Participatory Budgeting is based on an ethos of ‘it’s your money, you decide’.
It is a type of citizen participation where local people are involved in the process of deciding how public money – in this case the council’s PB budget – is best spent.
The drop-in sessions and locations are as follows:
Millport DA Hall, Thursday, August 7, 5-7pm
Skelmorlie Community Centre, Monday, August 11, 6-8pm
West Kilbride Community Centre, Tuesday, August 12, 6-8pm
Largs Library, Wednesday, August 13, 6-8pm
Kilwinning Library, Thursday, August 14, 6-8pm
Towerlands Community Centre, Wednesday, August 20, 11am-1pm
Ardrossan Civic Centre, Wednesday, August 20, 7-9pm
Bridgend Community Centre, Kilbirnie, Thursday, August 21, 10:30am-12:30pm
Beith Community Centre, Thursday, August 21, 2-4pm
Dalry Community Centre, Thursday, August 21, 7-9pm
Marymass Family Zone, Irvine Moor, Saturday. August 23, noon – 3pm
An event for Arran will be announced in due course and you can also find the dates on the Shaping North Ayrshire website.
There’s no need to book: just pop along to the session that’s best for you. For more information, contact us at: [email protected]
Whether you have been involved in PB before or want to learn more, the team are keen to hear from you.
Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member of Communities, Housing and Islands has hailed the scheme.
He said: “Our residents know better than anyone else which projects will be the most beneficial to them in their local communities, so it is only fair that they have a direct say on how money is spent.
“Participatory Budgeting does just this, however we are very aware that there will be local community groups and organisations out there who haven’t had the chance to benefit just yet and it is so important to us that we make sure that no one is left behind.
“Everyone is welcome – we particularly encourage people who have never been involved in participatory budgeting before to come along and find out more.
“The aim of the upcoming sessions are to engage with as many local people as we can from across our localities so that they too can get involved in the next participatory budgeting cycle, as we work together with residents and the groups supporting our communities to build a thriving North Ayrshire for all.”
Meanwhile, a local football club are keeping warm on the pitch thanks to a funding boost from North Ayrshire Council’s Participatory Budgeting Fund (PB).
Approved in the last round of Participatory Budgeting (PB) funding – a type of community empowerment funding where funds are allocated to groups via a public vote – Largs Colts 2013s were the recipients of almost £1,000 in the November 2024 funding cycle.
David Riley, coach and secretary said: “We are delighted to have been successful with our recent PB application, as voted for by residents in the North Coast. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time out to vote for us.”
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