Celebrating Equalities Community Choices
This participatory budgeting project, focusing on the protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act, is a pilot as part of the wider development of Community Choices in West Lothian.
A budget of £25,000 has been allocated to this project. This way of allocating money gives groups and organisations an opportunity to show how their project can make a difference, and allows members of the community to make the decision on how the money is spent. Community Choices therefore provides a real opportunity for local people to have a direct input into how public funding is spent to address local issues or improve their communities.
The aim of this Community Choices project is to enhance relationships between different groups and celebrate the diversity in West Lothian's communities. Projects must therefore demonstrate that they relate to one or more of the nine protected characteristics of Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and Maternity; Race; Religion and Belief; Sex; and Sexual Orientation and meets one or more of the criteria detailed below (we would encourage projects to address as many of the criteria as possible):
- Bring communities together (physically, spiritually, culturally - at in-person or online events, or via joint projects)
- Raise awareness and celebrate differences to promote and improve community cohesion
- Encourage and promote positive relations between people from different backgrounds within neighbourhoods
- Encourage collaboration and joint working between local groups and organisations
- Consider and help tackle the unique prejudice and discrimination experienced by people with multiple protected characteristics
- Raise awareness and increase involvement of under-represented groups
To find out more about this project, and how to apply, please look at the Guidance Document [258KB]
The application process is now closed. Information on the projects will be posted soon.
Public voting will take place throughout October and will include a variety of methods. This will include an in-person event where projects can showcase their ideas, online voting, and local voting boxes in a number of key locations.
Results will be announced in November 2023.
