Re: Accrington Pals project
 

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

That's why I continually offer to groups to help them get the funding they need. I don't know how many times I've offered on here to help community groups and can I tell you how many people on here who have taken me up on the offer - a big zero! I do it for free and because I think the money should be coming to Hyndburn, it takes an hour or so of my time to get the bones of the bid written for them and I leave them to complete the details.

But just for a minute put yourself in the position of a judging panel - you get two applications in but only have enough money to decide. One of them has all the questions answered and justifies why they need the money and how they need the money, the second one simply says we live in an old folks home and we need some money. It is not enough to say 'we need the money', everyone needs the money - there has to be some way to judge it. How many people will benefit, what ages are they, is it an event or to buy them some books, have they held the event before, have they had any funding before and how did they spend it, will visitors get to enjoy it or is it just for residents, can they not raise money through holding raffles, are they a reputable old folks home or is it just a group of old friends who share a house, can they prove that?

They can not send adjudicators out for every single small award so they have to ask questions so they know whether it's a genuine needy request.

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

Can I stress that I don't get paid for this sort of stuff other than through Hyndburn Women's Forum which is a different sort of set up because I actually deliver the events as well.

But they don't pay if they don't get the money - the principle is that funder finders add 10% or so onto the bid and that pays them.

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

I don't see a problem with that in principal. It is like paying a project manager to manage your project isn't it?

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

That's how most funder finders work, yes Neil.

You have to ask the question - if you need £4,500 to run a project, build an extension to a youth club, hold an event - are you able to get that money on your own? If the answer is that you would probably be refused funding then surely it makes sense to have a professional, or even a knowlegeable amateur, apply for £5,000, pay them £500 if you get the money and have your £4,500 awarded to you.

As it happens, I don't personally charge at the moment because the odd few that I do don't really take up too much time but I did at one time consider doing it professionally. Obviously, if I was elected I'd continue to do it for free as I would consider it part of the remit of being a councillor but if I don't get elected then it's certainly an option.

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

It may alarm several webbers on here to learn that our primary age children are not taught a great deal of local history;indeed my 10 year old had been taught nothing about the Accrington Pals until she took a magazine article in about the Pals and asked why they hadn't studied the story. The following week thay had a guest speaker in school to talk about the Pals and had to do research about it as a project.I would give Gayle's project my approval if it helps to educate both adults and children about the Town's loss.

Re: Accrington Pals project
 

Oh, well, another defeat this week.

We just heard that we didn't get the funding for this project that we'd applied for. It happens sometimes and as I've said on other threads worthy projects sometimes get refused. It's a shame because I think it was an interesting project that could have been a benefit to the town but it was being judged by someone who probably has never heard of Accrington and has no idea what relevance the Pals have to this day in the area.