Women's day event cancelled after funding rejected because no men were invited

[Dominoodles]

https://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/25902255.womens-day-event-cancelled-councillors-reject-funding/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcAQVCyBjbGNrBBUK1WV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHlIRerzkj_pj36SMxj57JRsmrtdGdzJ15R8ycwh3fYm4lApDH21Hu6Xawa2P_aem_K0Pv7dxI1F2F-T-Minrk5w

That is ridiculous!

https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/your-community/community-funding/apply-for-funding

The council administers Common Good funds for:
Ardrossan
Irvine
Largs
Millport
Saltcoats
Stevenston
The criteria for the Common Good Fund is that the application must benefit all, or a significant group, of the residents of the area to which the Common Good relates.

I guess women are not considered a significant group in North Ayrshire.

"In this case, elected members did not reach a decision to award the grant for a number of reasons, including that only a small number of people in the community – up to 80 – would have benefitted.”

How many people does it need to benefit? Or does it depend on what sex these people are?

I thought the whole point of community funds was to fund small events, the sort of events that wouldn't have the resources to fund something big themselves.

Shame on the council, gatekeeping what the electorate considers important.

If you do a bit of googling, it seems this 'common good' fund has a long history of controversial decisions. North Ayrshire, eh?

Dear me, are they tone deaf and brain dead, or simply fucking spiteful? Asking for 3 years of accounts, knowing fine well they've only been running for a year looks like a retrofit excuse to make their bullying seem legit.

Hi, all. I live in Largs and would like to offer a different perspective on what was a very poorly-researched and somewhat biased article. I would have loved to attend an event such as this and I believe this was echoed by every person who had a vote on whether or not to allocate the funding. However, the event was organised and, I believe, advertised BEFORE funding had been applied for. It is simply good practice to make sure funds are secured before organising or advertising an event. Many funding bodies have strict criteria which must be met in order for funds to be granted. One of the stipulations of the Common Good fund is that organisations applying for funding must be able to show three years’ worth of accounts. Had the Trust done its due diligence before applying for funding, they would have known that this particular funding stream was not an option. There were other issues with the application that were conveniently missing from what was a very one-sided and biased article. I will not discuss them here for reasons of privacy and confidentiality but please do not be misled by what you have read from one source: a poor source at that. There was a huge amount of support for the event but the Trust may have had more success if they had met the criteria for this particular funding stream - and applied for funding before going ahead with their plans to run the event. There are a number of funding opportunities for a hugely worthwhile event such as this one. As a resident of Largs with a teenage daughter, I would absolutely love events like these to happen regularly - and I hope they do. Those organising such events would have a lot of community support. It simply comes down to meeting the criteria of funders and securing funding BEFORE advertising an event. I hope this is helpful and fingers crossed we have many events like these up and down the country. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

The concern here Boswellsmammy is, was this refused because it was women only? I appreciate what you say about the application (and yes it isn’t sparkling to submit post hoc), but the women on this board have long experience of captured councils refusing to fund women’s single sex services. Could you reassure us by pointing to women’s single sex services that this council does fund?

Always good to get a different perspective thank you BoswellsMammy.

So are you saying that if the event had been organised properly in advance as per all the requirements, the fact that it was women only wouldn't have been an issue?

Hi, Igmum. Thank you for your reply to my comment. Yes, it is correct that the application was not refused on grounds of it being for women only. I am a strong advocate for women’s rights - particularly our basic right to safety - and the planned event aimed to support that. However, the Common Good Fund to which the organisation applied for funds has very strict criteria. This is the case for all funding bodies. One of the criteria that must be met by the Common Good Fund is that whatever it funds must benefit a significant proportion of the community. This is the case for all Common Good Funds. The event was planned to cater for 80 women. While I agree that this is admirable and it is great that 80 women benefit, 80 people (regardless of gender) represents less than 1% of the population of Largs. This is not a significant proportion. I believe this was one of the factors that affected the final decision. If Common Good Funds are not allocated within the allowed criteria, it undermines the whole purpose of the fund. Other funding streams are available that would have been able to fund this event. Had the Trust applied for funding from a different source, and applied prior to organising and advertising the event, I believe - and sincerely hope - that there would have been a more positive outcome. I hope this is helpful.

Hi, MarieDeGournay

Thank you very much for replying to my comment. Yes, I believe this would have been the case. One of the underpinning criteria of the Common Good Fund is that it supports a significant proportion of the community. This does not mean that women are not significant in our community. It means that, had the event simply been open to MORE women, there may have been a greater chance of the application being successful. It was aimed to cater for 80 women, which I personally think is brilliant, but 80 people represents less than 1% of the population of Largs. The Common Good Fund must be used within agreed parameters and an event that is aimed at less than 1% of the local population does not fall within those parameters. I actually hate that I am defending a decision not to provide funding for what I personally believe is a brilliant event! It just comes down to not meeting the criteria for that particular funding stream. There are other funding sources that would support this - and I sincerely hope they do. I would love to attend such an event with my daughter. It simply comes down to applying to an appropriate funding stream. The decision not to award funding was not based on the fact that this was a women-only event. It was just felt that the relatively high cost of the one-day event did not fall within the criteria for the Common Good Fund. Had the Trust secured funding before organising and advertising the event, it would not have to have been ‘cancelled’ as that sensationalist, click bait article suggests. I would really love to see an event like this in Largs - and up and down the country - and I will help to secure funding if that is helpful. I fully support it. It’s just unfortunate that the application simply did not meet the criteria in terms of numbers and cost. Not because it was aimed at women. I hope this is helpful. Thanks a lot x

Hi again, Igmum

I realise that I did not address a very important question you raised: single sex services that the council does fund. I honestly don’t have the answer to that but I will make a point of finding out for you and I will reply when I have the answer. I only came on here to reply to the comments on the newspaper article but you have me genuinely interested in finding out which single sex services the council funds! I thank you for that and I will find out. Thank you x

Thanks for providing a fuller explanation, lets hope the Trust will apply for funding from the right stream, it would be nice to know that the event went ahead eventually. 👍

Positive news on this other thread
IwD event cancelled after North Ayrshire Council refuses funding | Mumsnet:

Justme56 · Today 17:08
https://x.com/irvinetimes/status/2029537863553925216?s=46&t=ZX_bLozRqm8etdGICMcAvA
It appears that a business woman, Dr Marie Macklin has stepped in to fund the event.

It's only women, innit. Breeding cattle that can be worn as a costume.

Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Dr M, I'm glad the event is going to go ahead.

Thank you to the poster up thread for the thoughtful and informed posts. Definitely changes the narrative!

Thank you Boswellsmammy, that is very good of you. I will watch with interest. And very pleased that the event got funded.

Well done that woman! Great news.