Falkirk Council: Community Choices funding again available for groups to spend in their communities

Community Choices is Falkirk Council’s participatory budgeting initiative that provides groups with a way to apply for funding and the local community a chance to vote and decide how public money is spent.

Applications are now open for: Small grants (up to £5000), for small projects that will make a difference in a community; and Place-based capital grants (over £5000). perfect for big projects that need a capital investment to build something new, improve an asset or purchase equipment.

Closing date for applications is midnight on December 1.

Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, leader of Falkirk Council, said: “We launched the Community Choices funding stream in 2021 and since then nearly £2.5 million has been awarded to 123 local projects across the council area.

“No matter how big or small a project, we have no doubt that each and every one has made a real difference to local people and communities.

"We are now in our fourth round of funding, and we are hopeful that many more groups will be inspired to apply, putting forward ideas that local communities can get behind and vote for. This is the beauty of participatory budgeting. It helps empower communities by shifting decision-making over how public funds are spent from the council to the people.”

A series of community information sessions will take place across the area from October 23 to November 9.

The in-person and online sessions will provide groups with all the information they need to know about applying for a Small grant or Place-based capital grant, with the Council’s Community Choices team on hand to answer

any questions people may have.

More information on dates, times, locations and to register for an online session can be found here.

Bailliefields Community Hub has secured two place-based capital grants and a small grant totalling £100,500 since the first phase of Community Choices launched two years ago.

With the help of the funding, volunteers have started to transform its facilities in Brightons. The charity has added a modular building and resurfaced its car park. Next it will convert a disused cow shed into a new community hall.

Stephen Sutton, Bailliefields Community Hub chair and trustee, said: “Our aim is to create ‘a place for all.’ Securing funding through Community Choices has been pivotal in helping us realise our vision. Without the grants it would have been much harder, and taken much longer, to bring our plans to life.”