Caithness public to decide funding for local projects

7th February 2020

Your Cash Your Caithness - 29th February 2020.

Following the call by The Highland Council for local groups in Caithness to apply for a share of £10,000 to fund projects in their local area, members of the public are now being invited to take part in the Your Cash Your Caithness event on Saturday 29th February to decide how the money will be distributed.

At the participatory budgeting event, which will be held in the Main Hall of Thurso High School on Ormlie Road, representatives behind the 25 short-listed projects will have a chance to put their idea to the public vote. There is £10,000.00 on offer with applications received totalling £23,734.00

Registration will be open from 9.30 am and the presentations will start at 10.00 am and last until around about 1.30 pm.

Each applicant will be allocated a 5 minute slot to make their pitch for funding and a vote will take place at the end of the event to determine which projects have been successful. Voting will be open to anyone aged 14 or over on 29th February 2020.

Caithness Civic Leader and Wick and East Caithness Councillor Willie Mackay, who sits on the local implementation working group, said: "This is handing decision making to the community and it is the first stage in returning community empowerment to the most local level. I am very heartened by the variety of the applications that have come forward and I would encourage anyone interested in the process to come along and give their support to all the applicants and to make their votes count."

The short-listed projects are:

1 - Home-Start Caithness

2 - North Highland Cancer Information and Support Centre

3 - Friends of Newtonhill Woodland

4 - Caithness Macular Degeneration Support Group

5 - Society of Caithness Artists

6 - Caithness Street Pastors

7 - No Limits Caithness

8 - Thurso Community Development Trust

9 - Budding Engineers (CIC)

10 - The Northern Pilgrims' Way Group

11 - Northern Stars THS 2020

12 - Thurso, Come Dancing

13 - Thurso Community Cafe

14 - Caithness Community Connections

15 - Wick Players

16 - Bower Busy Bees Early Learning Centre

17 - Abilitynet

18 - Rumster Outdoor Centre Management Group

19 - Caithness Branch of the Pony Club

20 - Advocacy Highland

21 - The John O'Groats Mill Trust (SC047345)

22 - Reiss and Killimster Park Committee

23 - Caithness and Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club

24 - Connecting Carers

25 - Caithness Broch Project