Agenda item

Copies attached.

JETHART CALLANTS

Locality Development Co-ordinator sought approval to re-purpose the assessment of the BBBB 2019/2020 Community Fund Grant application from Jethart Callants received previously.  The Jethart Callants applied to the 2019/20 Cheviot Community Fund for a grant to purchase bunting and banners with the aim of raising the profile of community events in the town. The assessment and grant award was subsequently delayed due to the pandemic.

Unfortunately costs had risen significantly since the application was submitted and this had resulted in the original request no longer being enough to cover all elements of the project. This included the unbudgeted cost of structural testing of the lampposts (required before banner fixings can be attached).  It was proposed that the original award, agreed by Elected Members while Area Partnerships were not taking place, be repurposed to cover the increased costs of lamppost testing. Repurposing had been done by a number of groups who have seen project costs rise following Covid.  Cheviot Area Partnership was being asked to approve the repurposing of the 2019/20 Community Fund Grant.

An application to the Build Back a Better Borders Recovery Fund was being made for the cost of the lamp post banners, which had increased following Covid. The Jethart Callants’ Festival was inaugurated in 1947 with ceremonial rides to places of historic interest. It was an important event in the Scottish Borders calendar of local festivals and common ridings and brought many visitors to the town each year. Although the festival days for 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to Covid, as restrictions were eased Jedburgh saw a large number of tourists both as the first town in Scotland and the importance of historical buildings in the town.  In order to help people celebrate summer 2022 and the first Callants’ Festival since 2019 Jethart Callants was applying for £4,787 to provide banners which would be attached to 12 lamp posts along Abbey Place and the High Street.   The lamp post banners would have a generic design and would be made available to other groups in the town to help ‘dress’ the town during times of celebration. It was anticipated that these would:

·       bring a greater sense of belonging to the town

·       Increase awareness of our events which will engender a feeling of wellbeing within residents. This in turn will increase participation and through that increase spending power within the town.

·       Promote community spirit and feelings of being proud of the town which may in turn make local residents more likely to get involved in what is going on, engage with others, increase general wellbeing and reduce social isolation.

·       Show the town off to visitors/invited guests and making it somewhere people want to stop and explore.

Rather than targeting specific groups or individuals the proposal, to display banners in the town centre, was aimed at helping the town as a whole continue to recover from Covid by helping to increase the general feeling of wellbeing of locals and visitors alike.  The application scored medium as the project sought to enhance and improve the general wellbeing of both local residents and visitors to the town.

DECISION

AGREED to award the sum of £4,787, subject to the following conditions:

(i)      The applicant must follow all Scottish Government COVID-19 guidance.

(ii)    Necessary insurances must be in place.

(iii)  Grant payment would be dependent on relevant lampposts passing structural  

  tests