After a heart-warming launch in February GRoW hosted its second event on Sunday 19th May, thanks to the generosity of Fur Clemt who opened their doors and offered us a warm welcome.
Based on experience last time and peoples desire to spend longer networking and getting to know each other we extended the time from 11.30 - 3pm. And Clares pies for lunch were back by popular demand. The first part of the day we spent listening to what had happened with the monies that we gave last time.
After lunch we spent time listening to a further 8 pitches and agreed to invest £1420 in great community ideas.
Before we delve into those let’s have a look at what happened with the investment we shared at the launch event in February.
In February we had 11 pitches with a total pitch value of more than we had in the pot. We had to work out together how to share the money between ourselves and we all went home feeling like we’d made some good decisions.
One of the key missions of GRoW is to see what happens when we trust people to say they will do what they say they’ll do with small pots of cash. We aim to grow accountability between ourselves and so a condition of resource is that you come back to tell us how you went on.
The Family Activity Club - a club that is run by parents in the Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow CommUnity went home with £90 to spend on promotion, food, and craft materials as part of their relaunch
Lisa told us that she still had the money in the pot. Subs had been covering food costs and they had had lots of crafting donations. They proposed that they use the money instead for sports equipment as they were planning outdoor games on the local field. This was agreed by consensus, and no one had any doubts about the decision.
Gill had pitched for £50 towards the cost of packs for a breast awareness day held in Shevington. We had already seen lots of photographs shared on Facebook. Gill brought a display and some no longer needed jewellery to share with crafters who she met at the launch.
Ellie of Epic Hope had pitched for a Harbour specifically for men at Aspull. She had received £167. She was unable to attend on the day. The group had yet to get going as the venue wasn’t ready. She offered to return the money. It was agreed by consensus that Ellie keep hold of the money for now.
Emma of Let's Shape Our Creativity also received £167 to enable her to make her Sip and Paint classes accessible. She brought photographs and told us all about the number of places that the money had been able to support. Emma had spent all the money. It had been well used.
Clair of Repair Cafe Wigan had received £167 of investment to help get the Repair Cafe going. Clair couldn’t make it on the day and sent a brilliant update for all to read. So far, they had spent £99.02. £22.09 on consumables (adhesives, thread, solder, etc) £2.19 on marketing and £74.74 on tools and equipment. The rest of the funds are 'earmarked' for consumables and marketing. They had hosted two events by the time we met and at the first event they saw 24 items including a hoverboard, a virtual reality headset, knives, a kitchen drawer, a window blind, ski trousers, a vacuum cleaner, a laptop, a trolley, more trousers, and a headset! Of those 24 items, we were able to fix a fantastic 83%! We agreed by consensus that Clair was looking after the money and should keep hold of it.
Repair Cafe is held at Fur Clemt on the 2nd Saturday of the month between 1-3 and anyone who is interested in offering their time and skills or has something to be fixed can contact repaircafewigan@gmail.com.
Elaine hosted a carers group for people caring for those living with dementia. She had pitched for 4 books that could be loaned and shared out around the network. She sent a message to say they had been bought and were being well used.
Gina was offered £140 to buy crochet resources to be used at crochet groups at CommUnity Corner. CommUnity Corner were offering free rent and paying for Gina’s time to offer 6 sessions, three in the daytime and three in the evening. Gina couldn’t make it on the day and sent an email with an update. “With the £140 funded by the last event I spent £40 on Crochet Needles, £60 on wool, £20 on crochet accessories and £20 on storage boxes. I was also donated a lot of wool to add to my collection. To prepare for these sessions I spent 4 weeks constantly crocheting to create examples to put on my table. Offering these sessions gave many people the opportunity to learn a new skill or refine previous knowledge. The people who attended the sessions ranged from retired adults to young children all wanting a community crochet group. From feedback I was told my sessions were very helpful, informative and fun.”
Sammi pitched as a Director of the Happy Place CiC. As a new organisation taking over the work of Umbrella Arts, Sammi was keen to fundraise to keep the sessions going. She pitched for £167 to buy pots for paint a pot session. In return for the donation of her time and free rent from CommUnity Corner Sammi was hoping to raise enough cash to subsidise the Leigh sessions.
Sammi couldn’t make it on the day and provided the following feedback.
“Thank you again for the gift of allowing us to run our fundraising sessions. The money was used to buy ceramic pots, paints, and paintbrushes.
We offered this session to bring creativity to the community whilst also fundraising for our company. From feedback the sessions were enjoyed by many different families.
Across the month, we had four-four-hour sessions. Each session brought in new and old members from across the borough. We had adults of retirement age, to children as young as 3 attending, where they painted their own ceramic and enjoyed some time together.
Thank you to CommUnity Corner for hosting us as this would not have been possible without you guys. And to GRoW for giving us the opportunity to bring arts to the local people of Wigan.”
Olajumoke Bankole was offered £167 to buy beading equipment to run 6 sessions at CommUnity Corner. CommUnity Corner offered free rent and paid for her time. Ola came along to talk about the skills people had learned and the difference the sessions had made to her own life. She brought some examples with her. She wants to continue offering her skills at CommUnity Corner and made some useful links on the day with Alice of ReMade. Keep your eyes out for future collaborations!
Clare of Friends of Cherries Community Garden and Cat pitched at the last event and secured £167 to grow the website and membership scheme. Clare returned to tell us all about this, along with a photographic display, which she also used for her pitch on the day.
Friends of Stockley Park secured £167 at the launch event for garden improvements and accessible flower beds. Laura and Sarah told us about the delay to some plans which meant the money was yet to be spent. It was agreed by consensus that they should keep hold of the monies and let us know where they are up to at the next gathering
With all the updates finished we stopped for some lunch. The weather was glorious, yet we still managed to eat lovely warm pie together!
After lunch we got ourselves ready to listen to 8 pitches, with Ava, aged 7, overseeing the process. Each pitcher had 5 minutes to pitch with a further 5 minutes allocated to
questions.
Then it was time to vote, with four possible options and results declared at the end.
Nic from Rebuild with Hope pitched for £70 promotional materials to set up Community Vinted. Angela from CommUnity Corner asked if she would trial it with them if successful, given that they already have a community vinted offer.
Imelda of Mindful by Nature pitched to pay for a mindfulness course that she could offer for free to enable outcome collection for future funding bids / commissions. Given the location of the course, there were some questions around accessibility in terms of transport. Lisa from Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow CommUnity was interested in bringing this offer to Beech Hill so let’s see what offers there. Sitting round a fire felt like an attractive offer to many. Finding safe spaces for this was more of a challenge.
Gill pitched for £150 for squirrel proof bird feeders at Wigan and Leigh Hospice and some bird seed. She brought some examples of the type of bird feeder she had been looking at.
Emma of Let's Shape our Creativity pitched for £200 to subsidise some more sip and paint events. In terms of longer term sustainability there were suggestions made around charging those who are willing and able to pay the full price. Emma thought this was a good idea.
Clare from the Friends of Cherries Community Garden pitched for £200 for a new sign and some tools and plants. The other gardeners in the room, Brighter Orrell and Stockley Park shared some good ideas and contacts. Clare had received a quote from a local CiC Wigan
Workshop to make the sign and was exploring possibilities for sponsorship.
Vicky who hosts Sewing with Vicky at CommUnity Corner pitched for £200 for scissors and some yarn for her sessions. She had decided to pitch after watching someone use her beloved scissors to cut cardboard at her last community offering! Vicky brought a selection of items that she had supported people to make and sold a good few on the day. The shop that is beginning to grow at CommUnity Corner may just help Vicky buy more new scissors when needed.
Tony and Elaine of Brighter Orrell pitched for £200 to spread their work to what they described as the unforgotten part of Orrell, at its boundaries with Pemberton. They brought lots of stories and examples of the brilliant work they had been doing so far.
Friends of Stockley Park, Sarah and Laura pitched for dog poo dispensers and a supply of poo bags. Members of the Springfield, Beech Hill and Gidlow CommUnity shared their experience and offered a tip, suggesting the boxes were wrapped so that local people knew they were provided by the community. We also talked about asking for forgiveness rather than permission!
Once all the pitches had been made Ava got ready to announce the votes. Two of the pitches were unanimously agreed with all members voting to fully fund them.
They were Vicky’s Sewing sessions and Emmas Sip and Paint sessions. The rest of the pitches had some votes for part funding. All had more votes for full funding. As there was enough in the pot, we agreed to fully fund all the pitches.
Our next gathering is on Sunday 1st September. We are hoping to be able to offer some activities for children and would like to make it a family affair. Children are welcome to join in with the decision making and will also have the choice to make or grow something too.
So, if you have an idea brewing, remember to register it so we can share it. This might help it grow and help you find collaborators too.
Remember all pitches at GRoW gatherings are by invitation. Anyone is welcome to come and experience them though.
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