Applications are being accepted NOW for £eith Chooses 2021.
Check out the details, download a form now. Send it in by 11th December 2020.
If you need further information / advice, email caroline.lamond@edinburgh.gov.uk
Category Archives: Leith
£EITH CHOOSES 2021 – how will it work?
During this Covid crisis, safety must come first. The £eith Chooses / Community Grant money allocation process will be different this year – but we want as many people and organisations in Leith as possible to have a say in how the process is carried out.
Please click on this link, https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LeithChooses2021 and complete the short survey.
Only constituted organisations that benefit the Leith community can apply for a project grant, but everybody can have a say in how they think things should be run.
Please respond by Monday 28th September 2020
If you are representing an organisation, please fill in the organisation’s contact details in the survey.
If you are responding as an individual, we won’t keep your data (Data Protection rules) so if you want to follow up and volunteer to play a part on the £eith Chooses process, please email caroline.lamond@edinburgh.gov.uk
Thank you
The £eith Chooses team
Share this:
Helping to bridge the digital divide
In these extraordinary times, the £eithChooses Steering Group has been thinking about the ‘digital divide’ that separates those who can from those who can’t benefit from modern technology. We have put together a short paper – £eithChooses Tech Guide– which provides some basic guidelines to help charities and community groups to avoid wasting valuable resources and to deliver the most useful support to their service users.
Many people in Leith are unable to access the internet and so cannot benefit from online resources due to a lack of money to buy their own computer/laptop/tablet/smartphone, or pay for internet connections. Or they are cut off by a lack of knowledge and skills, or a lack of training and support. With the schools, libraries and other public resources closed, currently, and no staff to assist, they are doubly excluded. Being on the wrong side of the ‘digital divide’ is both a result of inequality and a cause of additional inequality.
Children in this situation lose out educationally at the best of times, and especially currently while the schools are closed, with teaching and learning moving online. Even when the schools reopen in August, it is likely that a proportion of education will continue online.
Many charities and community groups in Leith are very aware of this area of need and are trying to help, in various ways.
But before buying technology for someone, it’s important to check (1) whether they could benefit from funding through one of the government or local authority schemes, and (2) that the right technology is being bought. Nobody wants to waste money or effort getting the wrong thing, or something that won’t do the job it is needed for.
If you feel it could be useful, please download and pass the paper on to any of your colleagues, staff and service users, as you feel appropriate. The paper includes easy to read information on:
- Help with funding & Funding for education
- What technology to get?
- Access to the internet
- Tablets – iPads – Cheap tablets
- Laptops
- Smartphones
Download here:
£eithChooses Introduction page for charities and community groups
Please note that the information and advice contained in the paper is offered in good faith, but may not be appropriate in all circumstances. It is obviously wise to also ask for advice from others who may be familiar with the buyer/user’s needs, and to ask the supplier to confirm that the item is suitable for the particular circumstances of the purchaser. It is also wise to get a receipt from the supplier, and ideally a warranty for the equipment. £eithChooses cannot be held liable for any consequences of equipment purchase.
Share this:
Feedback Night! Tuesday 12 March, 6:30pm. Come along – Debrief, Discuss, Evaluate, Share ideas…
£eith Chooses is holding an open discussion session to review and evaluate all aspects of the 2019 £eith Chooses process, and to share ideas for future events. Please do come along if you can – 6:30pm, Leith Community Centre cafe, Tuesday 12 March. All Leithers welcome.
Share this:
2019 Results are out!
All the votes have been counted and we can now reveal that the following projects successfully won a funding award in £eith Chooses 2019, having received the highest number of votes from members of the Leith community, at the Voting Event on 23rd February:
FOOD Projects £12,000
– Hermitage Park Primary School: Feeding Healthy Hermie futures £3,400
– YMCA: Breaking down barriers with food £5,000
– Broughton Primary PC & Partners:Growing food (partial funding) tbc
SUPPORTING VULNERABLE PEOPLE Projects £32,000
– Sikh Sanjog: for Girls and Young Women £3,000
– Dr. Bells Family Centre: Holiday Activities £4,400
– Creative Electric: Equality and Accessibility £5,000
– Multicultural Family Base: Summer Support £5,000
– Socks for the Street: Leith Cares packs £4,000
– Pilmeny Development Project: Older Peoples services £5,000
– Citadel Youth Centre: Back to the Future, old & young together £4,960
– The Junction: Self-care kits & support (partial funding) tbc
These awards add up to a total of £44,624 that will go to the community in Leith in many and varied ways, through the energy, work and commitment of all the great project teams listed above.
Sadly, projects and groups whose names do not appear above did not win funding on this occasion. This is not a reflection on the quality of their projects, which were all excellent, but of the sad fact that there is never enough money to go round…. The £eith Chooses team feels just as distressed about this as the project groups must be.
Any project applicants who wish private feedback on their application, or on the exact number of votes received, and where their vote totals rank alongside those of other projects, are most welcome to email in for this information, or to request a private discussion. Email: caroline.lamond@edinburgh.gov.uk
There will be an open Discussion session next Tuesday, 12 March at 6:30pm in the Community Centre cafe, to review and evaluate all aspects of the 2019 £eith Chooses process. All welcome, and all views and contributions will be listened to and taken on board for future events. Do come!
Share this:
Results Night! 6th March 6:30pm
Please come along to the Leith Community Centre 6:30 pm, Wednesday 6th March, to learn the results of last week’s voting event, and which projects will receive funding this year.
Share this:
£eith Chooses 2019 is a Record Breaker!
What a day! And Well done, Leith! A record-breaking 1,267 people (not including volunteers and some project applicants, so probably c100 more) came along on Saturday, showing a commitment in our wonderful community, and supporting all the brilliant community groups putting forward their project ideas for making Leith even better!
The sun shone, and the people came! We served delicious food from local suppliers, and many people stayed around to network and chat, after voting. It’s everything you’d hope for and expect in lovely Leith. We know that the project groups are all winners in their own ways, in who they are and what they do. The only sadness is that there is not enough money to fund all of them.
The ‘themes’ for this year’s £eith Chooses were tight, so that the only projects eligible for funding were ones that met the criteria of addressing inequalities and aiming to benefit disadvantaged people. Local community groups rose to the challenge and all put forward imaginative, creative ideas! There was also a requirement to actively include members of ethnic minority communities in project designs, and groups did this too!
This year we introduced the new idea of a ‘Boost Vote’ for a few projects that go ‘over and above’ in involving and benefiting minority ethnic communities, as some of these groups have been ‘left behind’ in previous years, due to ‘minority’ status and the fact that Participatory Budgeting is essentially a ‘first past the post’ model. We’ll have to wait for the count, to see the results of this innovation…. But it was heartwarming to see how generously the people of Leith accepted/welcomed this experiment, to make sure our community is ‘fair’ to all.
Share this:
Projects Revealed!
Wow! There are 30 applicants to £eith Chooses – 8 for the ‘Food’ theme, and 22 for the ‘Supporting Vulnerable People’ theme. Lots of really great project ideas! View them all here in the ‘£eith Chooses Gallery’.
Checking out the projects online gives you a bit of background to each project, and a chance to reflect, before you come to the Community Centre on 23rd February, to vote. Please take a look and think about questions you might like to discuss with project groups, when you come, and which you might vote for.
The Gallery is just for ‘viewing’. There is no online voting this year.
When you come to vote on 23rd February, you will get up to 3 votes in each room (Food, and Vulnerable People). 2 votes for your 2 favourite projects, and 1 Boost Vote (optional) for your favourite from certain projects which go ‘above and beyond’ in involving members of ethnic minority communities. More voting information.
The following 8 (out of 30) project groups qualify for Boost Votes, according to the criteria laid down by the £eith Chooses Steering Group:
- Broughton Primary School Parent Council, Saheliya & partners
- Building Bridges
- Creative Electric
- Dr. Bells Family Centre
- Hermitage Park Primary School Association
- Multi Cultural Family Base
- Sikh Sanjog
- YMCA
Share this:
Please Come and Vote!
Before the 23rd February –
- If you would like to come and vote, but cannot get to the Community Centre under your own steam, please let us know asap and we’ll try and arrange help for you to attend.
- If you are bringing younger children, you may wish to book them in to the free creche (for both applicants and voters). Please get in touch to book them in, in advance (places limited – first come, first served).
Email Caroline.Lamond@edinburgh.gov.uk for either / both of the above
On the Day –
We suggest that you come early, if you can – doors open at 12 – don’t leave it to the last minute, because –
- it may get busy at Registration, and at the ballot boxes
- you will want plenty time to chat to project groups on their ‘stalls’
- there will be lovely free food on offer, but it may start to run out….
- your kids may want to get glitter tattoos or face-painting done
- under 8s may need help with the new ‘Kids Vote’ (for the ‘Best Stall’)…
Share this:
Voting in 2019, and Booster Vote
This short video explains a bit more about how voting will work at this year’s £eith Chooses, and about the new ‘booster vote’.
In the past, small and new, or not widely known groups have very often missed out, at £eith Decides / £eith Chooses. In particular, sadly, this has affected groups whose projects mainly involve ethnic minorities. The key is in the word ‘minority’ – such groups just don’t manage to get the vote numbers. It’s not just a problem in Leith, it’s a weakness of Participatory Budgeting in general. This year, any group that has made special efforts to engage with minority ethnic communities (including language minorities) – as applicants, partners, project workers, participants, beneficiaries etc.could qualify for a ‘booster vote’.
Contact the £eith Chooses team, to find out if / how your project might qualify.
Email – Caroline.Lamond@edinburgh.gov.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment.