Community decides which project to fund

St Luke’s Church was packed last  Saturday (24 November 2018) as local people came along to find out about new local projects and vote on which ones should get a grant.

The U Choose event was organised by local mental health charity Touchstone’s Migrant Access Project Plus (MAP+).

160 people attend, of which 106 were given five votes (stickers) to award to the projects they liked. The people behind each project were on hand to explain their plans and answer questions.

Projects ranged enormously from cooking and craft groups for children, to trips to Parliament to promote civic responsibility, or to Scarborough to promote social cohesion over fish & chips on the beach.

One of the winning projects will see Kevin Phillips, a local writer being mentored by Leeds Playhouse, living and working with different communities within Beeston to create new work.

After the votes were counted, the winners were:

  • The School of Language and Happiness
  • Rawson Terrace Street Life Gardening Group
  • Happy Life Care Home Support
  • Space Christmas Celebration
  • Beeston Youth Music
  • Theatre of the People
  • Kingdom Light Group
  • Yanks Trip to Houses of Parliament

Nick Lalvani from MAP+ said:

“We were really pleased to get 17 applications, many from people new to the country who want to help make their community a better place. It was great to see so many people turning up to vote today.”