Remakery: Frome needs you! Local project in the running to win lottery funding – and needs your vote

A LOCAL community initiative is in the running to win £38,000 of National Lottery funding – but they need your help to win!

The Remakery: Frome by Edventure: Frome has been selected by the Big Lottery Fund and ITV to go head to head in The People’s Projects with  four other groups in the ‘West Country East’.  The projects will compete in a public vote to win money raised by National Lottery players. Three of the five projects will be awarded funding after the vote closes.

The Remakery: Frome is a shared workshop at the Welsh Mill Hub, equipped with tools to enable making, fixing and up-cycling. If successful, the project will partner with Edventure: Frome, Frome’s Men’s Shed, Fair Frome’s Furniture Bank, SHARE – a Library of Things and Coder Dojo Frome to use the money to host 113 days of community activities in the workshop.

Lisa Hawes, a co-ordinator of The Remakery Frome project said, “This is a great opportunity for us to build on the wonderful work that is already happening in our community.

“Frome is an extraordinary town and we hope that local people will get behind us. With their help, we can secure funding to build deeper connections between some of our most-loved community groups and do more of what makes this town so special.

“If the project wins, the Frome Men’s Shed, which is currently bursting at the seams will be able to double its capacity. Edventure: Frome will be able to run three more of its MAKE courses to support young, unemployed adults. We will also be able to work with Fair Frome Furniture Bank who sometimes get offered donations of furniture that needs repair which they currently cannot accept. We will repair those so that Fair Frome can give them to local families in need.

“The SHARE Shop will run monthly repair and upcycle events – we will be able to take our broken items (bikes, toys, electricals, clothing etc) and be shown how to repair them free of charge. And Frome Coder Dojo will run free computer programming courses for kids.”

Voting closes at midday next Monday, 30th April. Anyone with an email address can vote by visiting: www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/view/the-remakery-frome.

Patrick Abrahams, of Frome Shed said, “Please vote for this project – it could benefit a huge range of people in Frome and the surrounding area.

“The Frome Shedders are delighted to work with the five other groups on this project, in a way typical of the community of Frome.  We hope the project gets enough votes to help more men and women from Frome to lead healthier, more active lives, build a stronger community, and help Frome people progress.”

Helen Johnstone, of SHARE said, “If we care for our stuff, fix things when they break and think about giving them a new purpose when they can’t be fixed, then we can have a real impact on the environment. And while we are making better use of the earth’s resources, we are also helping to share the skills involved in repair. Through regular monthly repair cafes, we can bring together people with many years of experience with those new to fixing, showing them how easy and satisfying it is to fix the things they treasure, and maybe building friendships at the same time.”

Victoria of Fair Frome Furniture Bank said, “I so hope the Peoples Projects’ application for funding is successful.  As the co-ordinator for Fair Frome Furniture, I collect furniture that has been donated and pass it on to people in need.  Sometimes I am offered  items that, for want of a small repair, could be reused.  At the moment I have no way of carrying out these repairs.  The Peoples Project would be the perfect way of ensuring that these items can have another life with someone in need and encourage new skills for the people mending them – a double winner.”

Nicola Tanner, facilitator of the Edventure MAKE course said, “Many young adults are naturally ‘hands on’ and enjoy making and fixing things, but are not ‘academic’. Far too often, they leave formal education without qualifications or confidence in their skills, and a lack of clarity about their future potential in the world of work. Edventure created MAKE in 2016 to offer young adults from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to experience designing and making ethical products in three weeks as a team, then selling them at a stall at the Frome Independent market. Courses so far have involved developing products from textiles, food and wood and many of our past students have found sustainable employment.”

Felipe Ieder of Frome Coder Dojo said, “At Coder Dojo sessions, we provide a safe and friendly environment to inspire kids to be creative and learn about technology. We get together to share our knowledge about programming languages with hands-on challenges so kids boost their problem-solving and coding skills in general. This initiative has been driven by the tenacious attitude of only two volunteers, so we really hope to get your vote to help us expand and reach more kids in the community.”

To vote visit: www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/view/the-remakery-frome, voting closes at midday next Monday, 30th April.