On the 4th February 2024 we officially launched GRoW by inviting connected groups and individuals to come together to meet each other and take part in pitching and making collective decisions to share a pot of £1500.
We were amazed to have 11 pitches, along with some extra supporters who came along solely to contribute to decision making. Some people like Ali and Kath had experience of pitching for community cash in Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow CommUnity and came to share their experience with the new pitchers.
Before the pitching started we shared food lovingly made by Claire, one of the founding members. We were in Wigan so of course pie was on the menu, with a traditional hotpot and a scrummy vegan leek and mushroom pie.
Pitchers were invited to speak for 5 minutes about their idea. Talking about what they wanted to do and why; where they’d do it and who with; how much they required (up to a maximum of £200) and what they’d spend the money on. The floor was then open for clarification questions until group members felt they had enough information to make an informed vote.
We knew there wasn’t enough in the pot to fully invest in everyone’s ideas and so we had our eye on that too as a group. There were 4 ways to vote - either invest fully or partially or to say that the idea wasn’t ready or was something you didn’t want to support.
It was amazing to see pitchers offer to reduce their request in order to make sure everyone received a slice of the pie. After each vote Ava and Grace collected the voting cards and handed out new cards ready for the next vote. They then busied themselves tallying the votes.
It was beautiful to see the offers that naturally occurred as people pitched, ‘I’ve some beads you can have’, ‘Have you thought about connecting with the other knit and natter groups’, ‘will you host a session in the garden’. You could feel the mutual support and community spirit in the air with everyone rooting for each others ideas. As is to be expected everyone felt a little nervous pitching and the mutuality and solidarity in the room certainly helped the natural nerves.
When it came to collective decision making we decided together to provide 100% grants to the two pitches that had requested £50 and £60 respectively. We reduced the two pitches that had requested £140 and £100 by £10 each and then split the savings we still needed to make across the remaining 6 pitches who all walked away with £167 to grow their local delights.
‘Let’s do this again!’ was the cry from the room. And we will. The launch was very much an invitation based event. To invite in people we know spend money wisely, and in solidarity. Each pitcher was recommended or invited in by one of the four founding members. And we will continue to grow in this way, extending the invitation and cultivating a collaborative community one invitation at a time.
If what we describe sounds right up your street and you live and breathe grass roots community then do get in touch.
At the launch event we were able to share the monies across the following 11 groups and new members of Grass Roots of Wigan.
Family Activities Group hosted by Beech Hill women.
A contribution to a Breast Cancer awareness session.
A Dry Harbour for men in Aspull supported by Epic Hope.
Art materials for Lets Shape our Community CiC to keep art accessible.
Consumables to help get Wigan Repair Cafe off the ground.
Books for sharing for a Dementia Carers group that Linda hosts.
Crochet resources to enable Gina to grow a crochet community at CommUnity Corner.
Beads to help Ola kick start some jewellery making workshops.
Cash for pots to enable The Happy Place to grow their paint a pot offer and keep it accessible.
Website costs for the Cherries Community Garden.
Planters contribution for Friends of Stockley Park.
This work was started with some monies offered to Wigan and Leigh Community Charity by Power to Change for participatory budgeting. They passed the money on to Northern Heart and Soul who invited a community to come together. The four founding members of GRoW are the women who met monthly and worked together over the duration of the work. You can read more about it here in the Vocal Eyes report https://northernheartandsoul.co.uk/insights-lessons-from-the-journey/.
If you came along, share your views. How did you find it? Shall we do it again and longer to allow for networking and collaborating, or, have a monthly brew catch up for networking and host these 3 or 4 times a year. What are your ideas?
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