THERE was plenty of cash at stake for community groups who made their way to the inaugural Bucks4Buckie event.
Buckie Community High School’s Highfield Hall played host to the event, organised by Buckie Area Forum’s Economic Regeneration Group, where a pot of £20,000 was up for grabs.
A total of 13 diverse organisations – ranging from playpark groups through to the Friends of the Fishermen’s Hall Association – turned up to give a presentation as to why they believed they deserved a share of the money. Questions from the floor were invited after each presentation, with a public vote in the hall determining the final destination of the cash.
Grants of up to £2000 were handed out.
On hand to open Bucks4Buckie as well as hand out the awards at the end of the day was Banffshire and Buchan SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson.
One of those delighted with the day was Regeneration Group chairman Gordon McDonald.
“I felt the day went brilliantly and the group’s presentations were excellent,” he told the Advertiser.
“Clearly a lot of work and thought went into them and it showed.
“Most groups got the sum they wanted, which is great to see. The feedback we’ve had so far has all been positive with high levels of satisfaction from participants. There was also a positive reaction to the sign language translator we had available during the event.
“We were delighted to welcome Stewart Stevenson MSP along to open Bucks4Buckie and he stayed for the whole event before presenting the awards. The Regeneration group would also like to thank Money for Moray for the great deal of help and advice they offered.”
While the future of Bucks4Buckie has not yet been discussed by the Regeneration group, Mr McDonald said he had been left impressed with the success of the format.
He continued: “Bucks4Buckie, like Money for Moray, is based around the Scottish Government’s participatory budgeting scheme, and I thought it worked really well.
“Groups who gained an award felt they had really earned it.
“Personally speaking, I’d like to see this continue in some form. The funding for this year’s Bucks4Buckie came from moray Council’s Moray Towns Partnership, which has since been discontinued, but we’re looking at other sources of finance.”
The format was also to prove a winner for mr Stevenson.
“I was delighted to be asked along to contribute to what was an absolutely fascinating day,” he commented. “
In a lot of ways, there’s no better way of deciding which projects should get public funding than by asking an informed public.
“The groups involved all had very worthwhile projects they were promoting and had clearly put a lot of thought into their presentations to the ‘electorate’ gathered at Buckie High School.
“Great credit is due to the members of the Buckie Area Forum Regeneration Group for hosting the event and also to all the community groups and members of the public who took part.”