Grant will help project keep bowling forward

THERE was the perfect start to 2019 for a Portgordon sports project when it landed a four-figure cash boost. Plans by the Lampie Hoose in the village to create a petanque court netted a £1679 grant, one of 21 projects across Moray to earn a slice of a £33,000 funding pot. Recipients gathered at the Inkwell in Elgin to celebrate the awards, made via tsiMoray’s participatory budgeting programme entitled YouChoose3 and centred on two themes – Connecting Our Communities and Be Healthy. Everyone was a winner at the event, with each one of the 21 groups receiving money towards their projects. It came after a public poll which attracted more than 850 votes, with the projects with the most backing receiving the full amount they requested. However, the remaining 50 per cent of the funding pot was shared between the rest. The awards were announced by the chairwoman of Moray Council’s communities committee Councillor Louise Laing and Laura Sutherland, who is the acting lead for health and wellbeing at Health and Social Care Moray. Councillor Laing said: “I was absolutely thrilled to present the winners at the YouChoose event. “Well done to all the groups and tsiMoray for a fabulous project.” YouChoose3 was funded by the Moray Alcohol and Drugs Partnership and Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership and run with support from the Moray Wellbeing Hub (MWH) and the Scottish Recovery Network. The celebratory gathering was brought to an end by MWH champion Heidi Tweedie, who launched the Moray Mental Health Pathway – found online at moraywellbeinghub.co.uk – which signposts people to mental health and wellbeing services across the area. Winners in the Connecting our Communities category were: Moray Foodbank, £1925 for 1:1 cooking support sessions; Elgin & District Men’s Shed, £2000 for furnishing their social area; Moray Wellbeing Hub, £2000 for a young champions project; Police Scotland Youth Volunteers, £1100 for sports clothing and equipment as well as a netbook and projector; Arrows Children and Families Team, £2000 to fund activities and outings for family members and children affected by another’s substance use; Elgin Street Pastors, £2000 to produce a promotional video to recruit new volunteers; Sacro Activities Fund, £1679 to help services users to access everyday activities and events; The Lampie Hoose, Portgordon, £1679 to create a petanque court; Moray: Arts Development Engagement (M:ADE), £1580 to run a programme of spinning and printing sessions; Living Golf International Ltd, £1679 to run outdoor and indoor living golf sessions; Art for Wellbeing, £1679 to use the arts to promote mental stability and wellbeing; Arrows – Creative Art Group, £1679 to run outreach art and craft sessions for people in recovery. Taking the cash in the Be Healthy section were:
Moray Foodbank, £1995 to deliver group cooking sessions to Moray Rape Crisis clients; Elgin & District Men’s Shed, £1000 to run cookery classes for the men; REAP, £2000 to create growing gardens in six to eight schools; Arrows Children and Families Team, £1300
to provide a holiday scheme for young people affected by another’s alcohol and drug use; Hopeman Primary School, A Healthier Hopeman, £1369 to host cooking sessions on preparing affordable, healthy meals during family learning times; Hopeman Community Association Gala Youth Committee, £400 to organise a family fitness session, a 5k colour run, and a village walkabout quiz; Health and Social Care Moray, £1200 to launch a ready steady soup competition for any community group or school in Moray; Living Golf International Ltd, £1369 to run golfing
and healthy eating sessions for local pupils at Covesea Golf Course; Art for Wellbeing, £1369 to run ‘Food for Mood’ cooking classes designed to help participants to make healthy food choices.