Unique community projects face public vote for funding

A sober rave for older people, a meal to meet your neighbours and a dance event on Black Mountain are just some community events hoping to avail of up to £2,000 in funding at a special event at Belfast City Hall.

The Bank of Ideas will see members of the public cast their votes on at least 75 pitches that are designed to enhance local communities in Belfast.

From 14:00 BST to 17:00 BST on Sunday, the event will feature a market stall-style showcase of each idea where the public can vote on what projects should receive part of the prize pot.

The overall funding is £50,000, which will be divided evenly between a minimum of 25 participants between north, south, east and west Belfast, as well as the city centre.

Some 29 applicants claimed the prize last year and BBC News NI caught up with a few of them to get a flavour of how the funding benefited their ideas.

Among the winners at last year's Bank of Ideas was Deirdre McKenna, the outreach and projects officer at the Blackbox charity, which provides an arts space in Cathedral Quarter.

Within Blackbox is Black Moon, which has hosted a nightclub for adults with disabilities on a monthly basis since 2010.

"We work alongside three DJs who all specialise in different music genres," said Ms McKenna.

Blackbox used the money to help host an event at Ormeau Park with up to 300 people in attendance.

"What Belfast City Council has done is secure additional funding so we can now set up changing facilities at the event," she said.

"They are also helping us make this event bigger and bigger, year on year."

Pearse was one of those who attended Blackbox's festival.

His aunt is Antoinette Campbell who set up the Wonder Bubble project, with Pearse as the inspiration.

Antoinette is also a winner from last year's event.

She explained that Wonder Bubble "is an immersive experience for kids and adults with learning disabilities which we hope to extend beyond that".

"I set it up with my nephew Pearse, who has learning difficulties," she said

"We use giant bubble and bubble bath displays and interactions to allow those that come to us have a good time.

"The money that we got from the event last year was used to extend the programme to up to 300 people at Mater Dei in north Belfast.

"It also helped us get better equipment such as speakers for audio tools, as well as a better bubble machine."

Jess McCourt is a volunteer at Climate Craic and as one of the recipients of last year's reward, she was able to help set up a festival around climate change.

She told BBC News NI: "The message of climate change can be all doom and gloom; we look to the more positive side and see what people within NI are doing to help the climate.

"To highlight this we host events with stalls and activities with the money we received from the Bank of Ideas."

The event was a three day festival called the Autumn Equinox Festival.

"We had panels on climate change," Jess said, "as well as stalls of businesses that are environmentally sustainable.

"We also had workshops on a range of stuff from upcycling denim for aprons and bags, as well as clothes swaps and sign making for issues in your local area."