On Saturday 19th February, over 150 people from Croxteth, north Liverpool, came together for the ‘Our Croxteth’ event, which invited local people and groups to present a ‘Dragon’s Den’-style pitch for funding to run creative and innovative projects to support people in the community.
The event was part of a community-led project aimed at strengthening community resilience by supporting local clubs and groups, which in turn helps to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and support vulnerable members of the community.
Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson was in attendance as a pot of £50,000 went up for grabs, made up of funding from Liverpool City Council, Mersey Care, Cobalt Housing and Merseyside Police’s proceeds of crime.
With 27 bidders requesting up to £5000 for their project idea, applicants pitched to the audience and community working group panel, made up of people from the Croxteth community.
Performances from local groups including a community choir, dancers, boxing club and gymnasts, entertained the community audience of all ages and backgrounds.
Zoran Blackie, Mersey Care NHS, said: “We’re thrilled to have seen lots of local people brave the weather to join us at St Johns Bosco to hear from passionate residents with a range of creative ideas and projects to help the lives of local people. The Community Working Group [panel] will have tough decisions to make, but regardless of funding we want to support all our bidders to get the resources and connect with key people to help realise their ideas.”
Ideas put forward included projects to tackle key themes highlighted by local people, including:
- Helping us feel safe – Reducing/addressing crime and anti-social behaviour, or supporting victims and/or prevention.
- Healthy residents and families – Improving health and wellbeing for local residents
- Improving life chances – Supporting employability and access to jobs or training, reducing poverty
- Bringing people together – Supporting community cohesion, reducing barriers between communities and activities to reduce social isolation
The community panel will be announcing their final decisions over the coming days.
Merseyside Police Inspector, Sarah Rotherham, said: “This has been a truly community-led project. From the outset we have had input from local people, who have told us they wanted to see funding for projects that reduce crime, improve health and wellbeing, and support employability and community cohesion. We hope when they see the list of clubs and groups who have received funding, the panel have tried to fulfil these wishes.
“The successful bids will undoubtedly make a big difference to the community and the whole process has helped strengthen relationships between residents, the police and our community partners.”
She added: “With so many bids being made unfortunately some groups did not receive funding, however I’d encourage these projects to bid for up to £5000 via the Merseyside Police Community Cashback fund”.
Alan Rogers, Chief Executive of Cobalt Housing, said: “This project builds on the great work already taking place in our neighbourhoods, and the event showcased the fantastic people and groups who work tirelessly to improve lives and support others every day. We were delighted to see such a great response from the community with so many bids for new, innovative projects, and we are determined to find ways to support all projects by helping them to find alternative funding options, such as the Cobalt Community fund or Merseyside Police’s Community Cashback fund, or linking in with other partners.”
Dr. Cheryl Lowe, GP at Jubilee Medical Centre, said: “The Our Croxteth £50K Community Project Giveaway was fantastic! The bidders all did a wonderful job in their presentations and in staying to support one another throughout the afternoon – I was blown away by the courage and passion of community. The connections and friendships formed that afternoon are just the start of the bigger, better, and brighter future for Our Croxteth!”
