The People’s Fund – A way for the community to democratically allocate resources
Key contacts: Angela Campbell and Andy McKay
Address: West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership, 147 High Street, Dumbarton, G82 5BN
Telephone: 01389 742544
Email: Angela@westdp.co.uk or Andy@westdp.co.uk
In a nutshell
We involve local people and community groups in making decisions about how funds should be spent. To do this, we have set aside money to allow local people to vote for community projects they would like to see receive funding. This has resulted in a more democratic resource allocation process.
The issues
The community felt that they were not involved in the decisions about the money being spent in their area. And there was a feeling that some investments being made were not meaningful.
The community therefore asked for more control over resources. We decided that a fixed amount of the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) would be made available to projects that the community thought were worthwhile.
How we got started
The West Dunbartonshire Partnership had previously involved community representatives in a decision making panel for allocating a small grants fund.
Community representatives and the Community Support Team from West Dunbartonshire Partnership went to visit the People’s Fund in Sunderland – a democratic resource allocation project in England. They came back and presented the idea behind the project to the Community Planning Partnership – suggesting that they could together develop a similar project.
Together with other agencies, we – the West Dunbartonshire Partnership and the Community Planning Partnership - adapted the Sunderland model to suit our local circumstances.
A Participatory Budgeting Planning Group made up of residents and agencies was set up to develop and oversee the process.
We developed simple rules for the grant funding. We focused on deprived areas - making sure that the money would benefit local neighbourhoods. We then advertised widely – inviting community groups to apply for a grant of up to £2,000 and individual people to become part of the voting audience.
We piloted the process in 2006 - allocating £20,000 of CRF money. Seventeen projects applied and thirty people came to vote.
How it works
We invite community groups to apply for funding through the local media. Projects can apply for funding of between £650 and £2,000. All we ask is that the money benefits deprived communities. Funding can be used to build on existing projects or to set up new ones.
At the same time, we invite people to become part of the voting audience that decides which projects should be given grants. To make sure that people can attend, we cover all crèche, carer and transport costs.
We then hold an event where the groups present their project and funding proposal to the audience. To prepare presenters for this, we hold support sessions before the event. This is to help people develop their presentation and practice it. After each group has presented, the audience rates them – using hand held technology – with a score of between 1 and 5.
The winners are then announced at the end of the event. This means that people can see the result of their involvement straight away.
It is our intention that this process should be carried out every year. Our second event was held in November 2007 where 21 local groups set out why they would like to receive funding. Nineteen of these received full funding for their projects. Forty-nine people took part in the voting audience. We allocated £30,000.
Our outcomes
Our democratic resource allocation has had positive impacts for the community groups and the community.
The community groups have benefited from:
• Receiving funding – We have set out very few rules. This means that funding can be sought for a wide range of activities, including refurbishing facilities, study visits and training. We see applications from all age groups. Effectively, we have created a new source of funding.
• Getting support in making presentations – For many this is the first time they have had to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation. We help people gain the confidence to do this by actively supporting them in the process.
• Meeting other community groups - We have been told that it has been very useful for community groups to meet each other and network. At our event, they share experiences and learn from each other.
We also did some follow up research asking the community groups to identify the benefits that the funds had given them. For example, the funds have allowed projects to:
• Use technology to market their project more widely so that they could reach more people.
• Fund social excursions – for example, helping to increase social interaction between arthritis sufferers.
• Provide learning and training.
• Buy outdoor play area equipment – to encourage small children to be outside and play.
• Refurbish sports facilities – enabling more young people to participate in local exercise and sporting programmes.
‘Without the people’s fund award it would never have happened’.
‘Giving a presentation in front of the crowd was a bit nerve racking, but the interactive voting system was fair’.
One great thing – having a say and seeing the results
Our approach is successful in allowing local people to make some decisions about what happens in their communities. It brings them closer to the decision-making process making it more transparent.
The technology that is used means that votes can be counted very quickly and that the results can be revealed within a short space of time. This makes involvement more meaningful for people – seeing the direct results of their views. We hope that this encourages people to take part again.
Lessons learnt
• Trust people to make the right decisions about where funding should be allocated. Ultimately, it is their community and they are better able to prioritise these funds.
• Advertise widely before an event. The more people that turn up, the more democratic the process becomes. We have mostly used the local press. We noticed that there was a higher turnout for our second event – and believe that this was because of community development workers had actively tried to get local people to come along.
• Make sure you that you have considered the resources necessary to organise events. It can be very time-consuming to set these up and you need to be prepared to put the effort in.
• Giving people support throughout the process can have long-lasting effects. Helping people to fill in application forms and gain the confidence to hold presentations can lead to other changes in their personal life and develop professional skills.
• Although the funds may seem small, don’t underestimate how much of a difference they can make. We have received feedback that has told us how important these can be and the changes that have resulted.
• Continue to support those who are unsuccessful in getting funds. They have made themselves known to you and it is appropriate to signpost projects to other funding that can be applied for. We are thinking about inviting other funders to the events to link projects to more funding opportunities.
• We made sure that there was little agency presence. It was useful to have a community representative chairing the event. This reinforced the perception of community ownership of the funds.
• A practical tip is to make sure that several members of staff know how to use the technology that you use. We depended on one person knowing how to use the hand held technology. This can become an issue if they are suddenly unable to attend events.
What next?
We are going to carry out an evaluation at the end of the financial year to record the outcomes of our process.
