NOW is the time for you to have your say on what community groups in your area deserve to receive a funding boost from the Council’s Participatory Budgeting Fund (PB).

Some 300 nominations were received last month as community groups and organisations in North Ayrshire applied for their chance to be shortlisted to go to the next round of the public vote.

Voting is now open via the Shaping North Ayrshire website at https://northayrshire.communitychoices.scot/.

The council’s Connected Communities team alongside their group of independent community reviewers have identified 186 locality and 114 youth projects that meet the eligibility criteria.

Now it’s over to the public. Vote online now for who you want to see funded in your area.

There’s a total of £171,377 funding up for grabs for the community groups in need of a helping hand. Voting ends at midnight on Friday, November 8. 

The funding this year will be part of two funding cycles:

  • Locality PB: Health and Wellbeing, Building Community Spirit, Cost of Living, Green Projects
  • Youth PB: Youth Voice and Rights, Health and Wellbeing, Cost of Living, Green Projects

Pupils across North Ayrshire secondary schools will also have the chance to vote online if they hold a Young Scot card or National Entitlement Card.

Further support will be provided in schools for young people to vote with their Young Scot card or temporary voting passes can be provided.

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.

To find out more projects that have been successful in previous funding cycles, check out: https://northayrshire.communitychoices.scot/pbarchive.