Cast your vote to share out the community cash
Shoppers and visitors to Aylesbury Market Square on Monday March 30 will find voting slips and black ballot boxes among the market stalls.
But this is no early election poll. For a fourth year running, Greater Aylesbury residents are getting the chance to vote on how local budgets are shared among their favourite community projects.
The Buckinghamshire County Council initiative, Choose 4 Greater Aylesbury, allows community projects to bid for a share of the Local Area Forum’s (LAF) £17,500 budget, and then invites residents to vote for their favourites. Last year 3,077 residents, including students from Mandeville School and young people from Fairford Leys Youth Club, voted.
This year’s six projects will be showcased at Monday morning’s launch in Market Square, from 10am, where people will be able to talk to organisation representatives, see what they do, and then vote. Voting closes on Sunday May 31 and can also be done online at www.choose4greateraylesbury.com
The three projects with the highest ranking will each receive £4,000, the project in fourth place will receive £3,000, the fifth will get £2,000 and the sixth will receive £500.
County Councillor Brian Roberts, who chairs the LAF said: ‘Choose 4 Greater Aylesbury was incredibly successful last year and we’re keen to achieve an even better response this time. Not only do local projects get the chance to secure funding, it’s a great opportunity for the community to play a key part in the decision making process.’
The six projects include: First Gear from Aylesbury Homeless Action Group; Street Angels and Chaplaincy from Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy; Youth Volunteering Programme from Aylesbury Youth Action; Aylesbury Youth Motor Project; Supporting Parent Carers Across Bucks from Carers Bucks; Culture Sounds youth music project.