The votes are in! Local people have had their say on supporting young people’s provision in Horsham District.
Horsham District Council launched its People’s Budget funding scheme in June this year, encouraging residents to vote for who they thought was the most deserving local charity group or community organisation who would deliver projects to support children and young people under 25.
Horsham District’s community really engaged with the project and in excess of 3,500 votes were cast.
The winning organisations are:
Happy Accidents – Childrens Parade
4 The Youth – regeneration of their outdoor area into an activity zone
1st Shipley Scouts – creating a camping facility and essential maintenance costs
Hillside Scouts’ campsite – for a new trailer to transport key equipment
Horsham Matters – setting up a mobile toy library District-wide
West Sussex Scouts – setting up a mobile events and operations hub
Holy Trinity School – children’s trips
Queen Elizabeth 11 School – creating a drive deck for young wheelchair users
Springboard – free play and stay sessions and wellbeing packages for young families.
Commenting on the results Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Housing, Communities and Wellbeing Cllr Sam Raby said:
We were really overwhelmed at the number of local people who voted for their favourite causes and projects to support young people. This really ensures that residents have very firmly had their say on how funds are used for priorities that are important to them. Thank you so much to all of you who voted. This will really make a big difference to young people’s lives across the whole Horsham District.
A total funding pot of £100,000 was made available to local charity groups and community organisations wanting to focus on activities and initiatives that support children and the under 25s. These funds will now be distributed in line with the results of the public vote.
As a first step, local charities and youth provision groups submitted activity proposals for the under 25s in a bid to secure funds from the new scheme.
The winning organisations have now been announced by a panel of council officers and the lead Cabinet Member.
The groups applied for grants of up to £20k for their proposed activities.