Pots of Possibility

Drop-in sessions
We are holding two drop-in sessions where anyone who has a question about the fund (including eligibility and how to apply) or wants to tell us about their idea can come along to find out more and receive in-person guidance. There’s no need to book for these sessions, just turn up at any time during the hours below:

9 September, 1:30pm – 3:30pm – Room 2 at The Cornerstone, Sulyard Street, Lancaster LA1 1PX

17 September, 1pm – 3pm – Morecambe Library, Central Drive, Morecambe LA4 4DL

Questions via email
Contact LDCVS by email at [email protected] for support on questions about the online application process, eligibility, documentation, and timescales. LDCVS will also provide advice to grant holders about their grant agreement, payments, and the monitoring and evaluation process.

Contact Jo Stocking, Closing Loops REconomy Coordinator, by email at [email protected] to get advice about Closing Loops themes, discuss project ideas, and find out more about the fund’s approach to zero-waste and regenerative enterprises.

If you have questions about ‘participatory budgeting’ generally, you can contact Jez Hall, of Shared Future CIC, who is advising on how this process will run. Jez has supported many similar PB initiatives over many years. Contact Jez at [email protected]

Support around getting ready to apply and how to write applications
If you would like information and guidance around how to get ready to apply to this round or to future rounds, contact LDCVS by email at [email protected]. LDCVS can provide advice around setting up the correct legal structure and governance processes to become eligible to apply, about budgeting and financial reporting, how to develop and implement relevant policies and procedures, and how to write funding applications.

Pitch your idea and receive feedback
If you’d like to test out your idea and receive feedback by pitching it to someone else, you can book an informal online session with Jez Hall of Shared Future CIC.

Jez has worked with LESS and Lancaster District CVS to develop the ‘participative grant-making’ at the heart of Your Pots, which gives local people the chance to vote on which projects they think should receive a grant.

In your 20 minute session you will pitch your idea to Jez and receive some suggestions for improving your project outline. Jez doesn’t take part in the decision-making process and will be able to provide independent and impartial advice.

Sessions are being held at various times on 18, 24 & 25 September. You can choose your slot during the booking process.

Your booking confirmation email will include the Zoom link for your timeslot. Although only one ticket is available for each slot, you are welcome to share the link with any colleagues that you would like to join you on the call.

Applications to Community Pots for grants up to £5,000 are reviewed by a funding panel who will confirm the applicant’s eligibility and assess the project against the Community Pot criteria. The panel, which operates using a method designed to create consensus among the members, makes recommendations to LDCVS about which projects should be funded.

Applications to Your Pots for grants up to £10,000 are reviewed to confirm eligibility. We’ll work with applicants to resolve any questions that arise. Eligible applicants are then invited to take part in a community voting event which will use a participatory budgeting process to make recommendations to LDCVS about which projects should be funded. 

‘Your Pots’ uses an innovative ‘participatory budgeting’ approach where everyone who lives, works or plays in Lancaster District can, if they choose, be involved in deciding who receives funding. This process is sometimes called participatory budgeting, or sometimes it is called participatory grant making.

It has been used extensively across the UK to give out grants like these.

If you would like to find out more about the participatory approach used for ‘Your Pots’ you can watch a five-minute online presentation about ‘participatory budgeting’ on the Shared Future’s YouTube channel.

You can also find out more about this democratic model of grant making in the Summer 2023 issue of Thrive, North Lancashire’s community food magazine. The article, You could be a community dragon too!, is available on the FoodFutures website.

Feedback from our first round of Your Pots showed it worked as we hoped. Overall people felt it fairer than other approaches, more democratic, and more likely to get local organisations working together. We have made small changes in the second round to build on that positive experience. 

We know we are learning as we go. As there will be 4 years of ‘Your Pots’ funding we intend to continue learning and improving the process. Every year we will hold another co-design to keep improving the model.

The Closing Loops project aims to create a regenerative economy in North Lancashire. A regenerative economy is one where people, organisations and businesses live and work in a way that protects and restores the environment, builds healthier communities and improves people’s wellbeing.

A whole range of different regenerative enterprises might contribute to a regenerative economy from businesses to community groups.

Some examples might include:

• A market garden that grows and distributes seasonal, organic veg locally and trains new growers who want to produce local food
• A village stall for swapping surplus veg, plants and seeds
• A community enterprise that makes use of a material currently going to waste (food, textiles, plastic, etc)
• A community group running workshops to learn about refurbishing, fixing and repairing
• A shared community building that is affordable for startups, community groups and regenerative enterprises to use.

These ideas are explored in the Spring 2023 edition of THRIVE. For inspiration, have a look at some of the ideas shared by local residents at the Closing Loops World Cafes.