December Open Day News

View the Open Day Presentation here... open_day_12122015_09122015

Thanks to all of those who attended our 12th December Toothill Big Local Open day where the key message was how the money works. For those who were unable to attend, we've attached the material on display which we hope will be of interest .

So, what’s the current status?

In 2012 £1,002,000 was made available to Toothill and to date we have spent < £70,000 on 3 years of grants, bursaries, administration, office rental, part time administration, community engagement, a new web site and online grant application system. These costs are low because of 1000s of voluntary hours by the committee to streamline the Big Local process. Toothill now has one of the simplest Big Local processes in the country. It’s easy to submit a grant application and we can help you with this. Toothillbiglocal.co.uk gives the community control over which grant applications are supported. All you need is an initial registration on the web site and then you can vote for any of the grant applications you wish to support.

However, volunteers and part time administration cannot work magic. If the community wants Toothill Big Local to do more this will have to be funded. But, community engagement can only work if the community engage. Over 15 groups have expressed an interest in submitting grant applications - it’s unclear why they haven’t yet progressed.

The million + interest has to cover ALL of Toothill Big Local’s running costs and the longer it takes to spend the money the more it will cost to administer . Our national governing body, the Local Trust, say that the million can be spent as quickly as the community wants but ideally by 2024 or 2026 at the latest as this is when the Local Trust shuts up the Big Local shop. By then whatever Toothill Big Local money is left will have to be returned.

At the end of 2015 Toothill has over £930,000 in the pot. Small grants alone are unlikely to consume this amount. Although there are some things we can’t do – there is a huge opportunity out there!
On the 12th December we heard lots of great ideas to promote awareness and improve the local area and community facilities. And we’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions at any time. For more information please visit our Blog on www.Toothillbiglocal.co.uk or email us on info@toothillbiglocal.co.uk or visit our Facebook Page or visit our office on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 10.30 – 3 at the Toothill Community Centre or drop us a letter and we’ll be in touch.

We have lots to do in 2016 following up on these ideas and suggestions. This is where the community can help by getting involved. Interested in becoming a committee member? Find out more at our AGM on Saturday 9th January 2016 10am-12noon at the Toothill Community Centre – all are welcome.

The Toothill Big Local Team would like to leave you with this thought … If the community does not use this money it will lose it. Simples! The Toothill Big Local Office will close on December 18th and re-open on Thursday January 7th 2016. In the meantime if you have any questions or ideas please feel free to email us on info@toothillbiglocal.co.uk and we'll get back to you in the new year.

Have a merry Christmas and our very best wishes for 2016.