Agenda item

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

The following budget application has been received:

Carols in the Park 2011 – Submitted by the Spirit of Aylestone Community Group

Amount Requested: £926.74

Details of the funding application as submitted by the applicant:

Proposal: To hold an event for the whole community to join in carol singing and drama led by a brass band at Aylestone Hall Gardens followed by refreshments.

ü  The event will be held on Sunday 11 December 2011, and will be the fifth year that the event has been organised in association with Leicester City Council and Aylestone Bowling Club.

ü  The event provides opportunity for children to be involved in a small drama performance. In previous years, singers from the two local primary schools have led the carol singing and we will encourage continual involvement from young people.

ü  In 2010 there was an estimated attendance of 400 people. We encourage verbal feedback and have improved the event over time to meet the wider expectations of all the community.

ü  The event has attracted a wide range of people of all ages and backgrounds for 4 consecutive years. The event has brought together different faiths who celebrate Christmas as well as their own cultural feast times. The event also brings people together from different social backgrounds which the Aylestone Ward is made up of. One of the successes of this event is bringing different communities together to achieve freedom from tension and come together at a celebrated season in the year.

ü  The event is held in the late afternoon to provide the greatest opportunity for the whole community to attend, which will especially benefit young families and older people.

ü  The event is advertised via leaflet distribution to the following areas: Old Aylestone, Aylestone Park, Gilmorton Estate, Banks Estate, and Wigston Lane. We have already made in-roads in to meeting with the developers representatives at Otters Bank, Canal Street and aim to include the new community and encourage them to belong as they make their home in the Aylestone community. 

ü  The event is an occasion for all the community to come together in a space provided for the community. Young and older people can actively celebrate together sharing their experiences and meeting afterwards for refreshments and discussion. The diversity of attendance is a measure of its success in building up relationships between young people and adults in the Ward.

ü  Some of the cost will be spent on publicity to inform new and existing residents of the event that also introduces them to the Aylestone Hall Gardens facility, the Aylestone Hall Bowling Club, the Aylestone Churches of differing denominations, and the wider city of Leicester through the City Council. We hope that people will benefit through making links to other organisations in the community to encourage them to build self-help.

ü  Traditionally the music has been provided by Southfields Concert Brass who makes a charge of £80.00. The band is made up of people of different ages and backgrounds.

ü  As a further focus for children we provide glow-sticks at a cost of 0.30p each; these also provide a source of light by which to see the carol sheet.

ü  It is important for us to be able to hire a sound system to enable the majority of participants to feel fully engaged with the activity. This facility was improved year on year, following local feedback.

ü  The Spirit of Aylestone Community Group finds volunteers from within the community to act as stewards. St John Ambulance will also be invited to standby at the event and they present a charge from their organisation for services provided.

ü  The main event area is erected by local volunteers from the community. The refreshments are also sourced locally and served by volunteers from the Aylestone Hall Bowling Club.

ü  The Spirit of Aylestone is a voluntary organisation which continues to exist because of the success of this and other events news of which can be viewed on our website. Its existence is a measurable benefit to the community.

ü  The event has a proven formula, which is open to revision through the regular meetings of the Spirit of Aylestone Steering Group.

Details of expenditure

The Chair explained that there was a balance of £9700 remaining in the Community Meeting budget and one funding bid was to be considered at the meeting as follows:

Carols in the Park 2011

Submitted by the Spirit of Aylestone Community Group

Amount requested £927

The Reverend Tim Fergusson, from Aylestone Baptist Church introduced the funding application and explained that it was a successful event which was increasingly well supported. The amount requested had increased from the previous year and although it would be possible to reduce the expenditure, the Spirit of Aylestone Community Group was working to improve the event even further.

Councillors and members of the public indicated their approval for the funding application to be supported in full.

RESOLVED:

that the funding application be fully supported to the value of £927.