News / More Loot for Lerwick up for grabs in October
THE THIRD Loot for Lerwick event, where the public can vote on which projects should receive grant funding, is to be held on 6 October.
Lerwick Community Council is running the £5,000 scheme which follows last year’s event where over 260 people attended Islesburgh Community Centre, the home of this year’s vote.
This year’s theme, ‘Bringing Lerwick Together’, is to encourage local community and voluntary organisations to come up with new and interesting ways to bring together the Lerwick community together. Ideas could be for a one-off event such as a Christmas party for senior citizens or a long-term project such as a community garden.
According to the community council, the more imaginative the idea the better, as each project will be voted on by the public and the most popular projects will win grants of anything from £100 to £1,000 which can be used to buy equipment or materials or to pay for something like room hire and catering.
Applicants will be invited to come along to the event at Islesburgh to present their idea to the public.
Lerwick Community Council chairman Jim Anderson said the presentation process was not as scary as it sounded.
He added: “Each group will be given a table and some space to set up a stall with information about their project, and the public can wander around the stalls and ask questions about the projects. It could also be a great way of publicising the work your group or club and maybe attract new members at the same time.”
Last year’s successes were Disability Shetland, Bell’s Brae Pupil Council, Islesburgh Drama Group, Shetland Amateur Athletics Club and Lerwick Boating Club, which were all awarded the full grants they had applied for. A sum of £283 left over from the £5,000 was awarded to the Year of Young People Ambassadors 2018.
The event is part-funded by a £3,000 grant from the Scottish Government’s Community Choices fund, with the remainder from the Lerwick Community Council’s annual grant. The Community Choices Fund was first launched in 2016 and supports participatory budgeting (PB) in Scotland. PB is intended to be a way for local people to have a direct say in how public funds can be used to address local needs.
Anyone who is interested in applying for funding for a project is invited to contact Frances Valente on 07769750497 or email clerk@lerwickcc.org.uk for an application form.
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