On Friday 24 March 2017 between 1. 30 and 4.00pm young people in Edinburgh are invited to the inaugural Big Vote Party at the Festival Theatre.
The vote in question asks young people which youth projects should receive part of the £60,000 City of Edinburgh Council Funds.
The choice will be made between 16 projects which now face a public vote in Choose Youth Work – the latest participatory budgeting project in the Capital. Voters can cast their vote online or at the inaugural Big Vote Party.
The Communities and Families Youth Work Grant Programme, in its first year of a three-year programme, allowed groups to apply for grants of up to £10,000 each, to be spent on projects that will benefit young people aged from 11 up to 21 in Edinburgh.
Submitted applications were assessed by a team of young people and Council officers, and those that met the required criteria are now being voted on by young people. The combination of these two processes will determine who is awarded funding.
Councillor Maureen Child, Convener of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee, said : “By adopting a Participatory Budgeting approach young people can have a direct say in how £60k of funding can be used to benefit them and their communities.
“This fun event marks the last chance for the projects to show what they are about and for voters to make their choices. I would encourage all those who are eligible to vote to make sure they do. It is now up to you to decide which of these projects you would like to see delivered.”
The Big Vote Party
A special Big Vote Party marketplace event will take place on Friday 24 March in the Festival Theatre where voters will get the chance to learn about applicants and their projects. The event has live music from Totally Sound and Totally Sound and DJ Callum Gallacher (Forth One), an interactive demonstration from Edinburgh Leisure, free food and a selfie social media competition to win tickets for a Festival Theatre show.
Voting
Young people aged 11-21 years who live in Edinburgh can vote for 3 favourite projects. They must use all 3 votes or their votes will be deemed invalid. They can only give each project one vote.
Voting opened on Friday 10 March 2017 and will close at 5pm on Monday 27 March 2017. During this time, voting will be available online by clicking here and in selected community and education centres in Edinburgh.
