A one-off capital fund of £4 million, will be used to support community and voluntary organisations to increase their resilience, sustainability and enable them to continue the vital work they do. Funding will be invested in community organisations and groups based in and working with the top 30 per cent most deprived areas of the city, and in city-wide self-organised equality groups, for example Disabled people, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and LGBT communities. Grants for community-based organisations will be a minimum of £50,000, with some smaller grants of a minimum of £10,000 available for equalities community groups. This funding can be used to pay for a variety of projects, to help support our city’s community-led organisations during a fina ncially challenging time for our city and our country.
Community-led decision making is central to the fund. Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations in all the eligible areas of the city, and across different equalities communities, will lead conversations with community organisations during summer 2022 to identify potential projects. When all potential projects have been gathered, a group of VCSE organisations, local councillors and residents in each community will be recruited to review them and make a decision about what to invest in. This is a new and innovative approach for us and puts communities at the heart of the decision-making, ensuring the money will be invested in projects that can meet the challenges being faced by that specific community. We are providing an opportunity for communities and their residents to help shape decisions for the future, decisions that will ultimately benefit them and their neighbourhood.
The project must be something physical not a service or activity. For example: The new fund builds on Bristol’s Citizens’ Assembly which worked with a group of • Improving access for Disabled people diverse residents to make recommendations about key decisions which effect citizens. It • Adding an extension to a community also takes learning from the Port Community building or creating new spaces within Resilience Fund (PCRF), which invested £1 them – this can benefit residents today million in communities connected to Bristol but also future generations too Port in 2018, with £314,000 invested specifically in community facilities. Decisions were • Upgrading IT systems or buying equipmade through a combination of council staff ment assessment, resident panel interviews with applicants and a community vote. • Upgrading a community centre’s heating system to make it more environmentally sustainable and save on costs 28
