The group was awarded £2,500 from a Participatory Budgeting (PB) exercise, which gives local people a direct say in how public money is spent. 482 local people took part in the PB exercise, generating 1,446 votes for 11 projects.

The programme included adult learning activities, family-based trips and youth activities. The projects will continue to be delivered until March of this year.

The Whitehill community had the opportunity to vote online, in person through doorstep dialogue or via community pop up stalls that travelled around community facilities in June 2023.

The votes were then counted and the three projects with the most votes were fully funded, and eight others were part funded. The part funded projects were offered support to find other sources of funding to fully realise their project or make changes to help get the project up and running.

The council’s community engagement team coordinates the Participatory Budgeting process in conjunction with local stakeholders, with the funding coming from the council and the National Lottery.

Lynn Ruddock from Youth, Family and Community Learning said: “Using the information from our consultation with the community, we were able to use the funds to add value to our current work by building a programme based on the needs of local people.”

Council Leader and Chair of the Community Planning Partnership, Councillor Joe Fagan, said: “It’s great to see the people of Whitehill engaging with the PB process, and I am sure the projects delivered by Whitehill Universal Connections will have, and continue to be, enjoyed by the whole community.”