After welcoming applications from local not-for-profit groups, Frome Town Council is now asking local residents to vote on how they would like to see a £25,000 fund for events spent.
There are seven unique Frome-based projects requesting support and now people are able to go online to view a summary of each event idea, the budget and a short video.
Voters are also be able to ask questions and then at the end, score each project between 1-6, with 6 being the top you can award. Each project is stand alone and not ranked against the others, so you can give a score to them all and each project is asking for a different amount of money, which may impact your scores.
The deadline for voting is 10pm on Sunday 17th March. Anyone who doesn’t have the facility to vote online or would like help, can pop into the Town Hall or call 01373 465757.
The People’s Budget for Events is your chance to have your say on the events you think would be best for Frome. So watch the videos and make sure you make your vote counts at www.frometowncouncil. gov.uk/peoples-budget-events/ Here are this year’s projects:
• Active and In Touch Thanksgiving Lunch 2019 – To create a community (thanksgiving) lunch that people have contributed to by either growing the vegetables that are being eaten, or cooking them in various classes leading up to the main event, which would be a weekend of cookery and ending in a lunch on a Sunday afternoon that everyone of all ages can enjoy.
Classes will include; jam /chutney making (fruit from the allotment) taught by the W.I. We will include people from all cultural backgrounds who live locally who can share their national dishes. Surplus produce and preserves will be sold and used to fund seeds/equipment for the following growing season. Cookery leaflets will be made with the recipes used on the weekend – suggested titles from Improve With Food – Food Bank Box Meals and Windowsill meals – cooking with easily grown herbs. All recipes to be taught at the classes.
• Frome Children’s Festival Summer Project 2019
Frome Children’s Festival is a free event offering a huge range of activities and entertainment for families and children of all ages. Our focus this year is on the arts and on including activities which children and young people have specifically asked for, giving them exactly what they want. Activities will include street art workshops, theatre performances, face painting, clay modelling, aerial dance, animal encounters, young bands, a zip wire across the river, gaming workshops and a sensory tent. We’ll also run workshops during May half-term, making decorations for the festival, which can remain on site to be enjoyed afterwards. We’re already working with local schools, running after-school sessions to support young people to volunteer at the Festival, giving them the skills they need for their area of interest.
• Frome Choral Festival 2019
The aim of the festival is to highlight the many excellent choirs in the area with the objective of encouraging more people to get involved in and support local choral activities and attend concerts. A People’s Budget grant will be sought to cover promotional costs, a visiting professional group and venue hire for the concerts, which will be free of charge to the public. 14 groups have already expressed interest in the project.
There will be three major concerts, one every night, and a host of workshops and events during the day. One concert will feature a performance by a major “professional choir” from the region – such as Wells Cathedral (who have agreed in principle), another will feature two contrasting smaller groups – perhaps a barber-shop quartet and a chamber group.
• Frome Fireworks 2019
Last year, Frome Rotary set out to provide a spectacular, professional, free firework display where local people of all ages could come together to celebrate and raise money for local causes. The three local Rotary Clubs have extensive experience of event organisation and management. We will collect voluntary donations through a bucket collection at the event. All money raised will be distributed through the Rotary Clubs to deserving causes in Frome.
Frome Fireworks will be a great opportunity for people from all parts of our community to come together socially, have a fun evening and feel good about their town.
• The Big Red Housing Bus
The Big Red Housing Bus will be a high profile, eye-catching and fun way of engaging with the people of Frome to promote awareness of and explore solutions to the housing crisis in the town. Visitors to the bus will be able to access a range of information related to housing issues and opportunities, to chat and share ideas with professional advisors and trained volunteers, and to participate in a housing survey designed to help Fair Housing for Frome and its partners plan future services. Children’s activities, refreshments and entertainment will also be on offer.
• Window Wanderland 2020
Window Wanderland is a fun community event that everyone can join in. It is completely free to attend and there are no fees to participate. People are invited to create a display in their windows, and then light it up between 5.30pm and 9.00pm for three evenings over a weekend at the end of February.
You can make a display in the windows of your flat, house, business, school, nursery, car, campervan, shop – or in your front garden! There is no competition, and no rules, your display could be as simple as a candle, book or fairy-lights in a window. Or you could go all out and stage a performance in your front room! Anything goes… as long as it’s family friendly! Window-makers register for free on our website, and we produce a free map with road listings to show where every display can be found.
• Working Memories Sound Walk
Imagine walking around Frome and hearing the past bought to life in words, sound and music. The Working Memories Sound Walk will be a free smartphone app which will take you on a wonderful walking, aural journey. At various sites in Frome, you will hear stories told by real people, sharing real memories in the places where they happened. You might hear the excitement of the Cheese and Grain market, as thousands of cattle arrive and the hawkers and auctioneers call out to sell produce. Or from the old industries at Saxonvale, the girls at Beswick Fuses listening to records played through the factory loud speakers, chatting about nights out and dances as they work. You may hear sounds of Paniccia’s van delivering delicious strawberry and vanilla ice-cream. All this, layered with voices from the present ,describing their lives, hopes and aspirations.
