The third annual ‘Your Pots – Your Say’ community voting day was held at The Storey in Lancaster on 15th November, and it was an energising event full of enthusiasm, great connections and hope.
Twelve local charities and community organisations were there bidding for a Pots of Possibility ‘Your Pots’ grant of £5,000 to £10,000. The grants will help them deliver projects to regenerate North Lancashire’s environment and support our communities.
After taking their seats, the audience watched a collection of short films that each organisation had made to explain what they wanted to do and how their project would help local communities and the environment. If you missed the voting day, you can still watch the short video clips on the Lancaster District CVS website.
Once all the films were shown, the ‘Your Pots – Your Say’ marketplace opened. Each organisation had a marketplace stall to pitch their project and persuade people to vote to award them a grant. Voters could also go round and ask questions before deciding how to cast their vote.
Apart from a chance to get funding, the organisations said what a great networking opportunity it was, plus a chance to explore possible collaborations and ways to support each other. People were also impressed with how much hard work and dedication was already happening and enjoyed finding out about organisations they hadn’t heard of before.
In addition to the voting day, online voting was offered this year for the first time. Online voting was open from 8 November to 13 November, which meant that people who couldn’t attend the voting day in person could still support their favourite projects.
Find out more about the participatory budgeting model and how the voting day went, and listen to a podcast produced by Jez Hall of Shared Future interviewing the participants bidding for money on the Shared Future website.
Once all the votes were counted, six of the twelve projects were recommended for grants. The results are provisional until full application checks of the winning projects have been completed. However, here are the six projects selected through the public vote for the 2025 Your Pots grants:
The Hygiene Bank Lancaster & the Bay: (£5,000)
The Hygiene Bank provides free products to people in need, tackling hygiene poverty and promoting dignity, health and wellbeing.
Global Link: Friday Global Cafe (£7,985)
Asylum seekers and refugees will use locally grown and/or surplus food to cook lunches Fridays at Stanley’s Community Centre.
The Adullam Programme: Treasured (£9,978)
Pilot a social enterprise offering supported work experience and purpose for people facing complex barriers to employment and inclusion.
Lancaster Men’s Hub: A Quantum Leap in Expanding our Capacity for Recycling, Refurbishing & Repurposing (£9,994)
Creating, repairing/refurbishing wooden and crafted items and sharing our facilities, tools and expertise with other members of our local community.
More Music: Three Degrees Festival (£10,000)
Youth led, climate action, community music festival and workshops. Three Degrees will engage the West End community in climate action.
Whinney Hill Farm: Growing the Community (£8,250)
Expand Whinney Hill Farm Garden for growing space, volunteer training, food production, and community sharing to support skills and wellbeing.
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