This was the latest in the Big Soups organised by CompassionateLincoln. About half of those present had never been to a Big Soup before, and so Jan Kemp outlined the process:
“The formula is simple: 5 x 5 x 5 - Buy a £5 ticket - Hear pitches of no-more than 5 minutes in length - Dig a bit deeper with 5 questions from the audience. Once all the pitches have been made, lunch will be served and audience members can discuss the ideas they’ve heard - which one will make the most impact? which is the most exciting? which do we want to support the most? Then we vote! The winning pitch will receive all the ticket money from today’s event to turn their idea into a reality.”
First up was Let Them Eat Cake (https://www.facebook.com/Letthemeatcakelincoln/) who had been one of the winners at the previous Big Soup and they came along to report on how they had spent their winnings. Each weekend they go around the city centre to visit those people who are sleeping rough – they think that there could be as many as fifty altogether. They take with them supplies of what people might need and they had bought a trolley that could carry everything and withstand the cobbles of steep hill.
We then had the pitches.
The Wellness Network (https://www.facebook.com/lincwellnet/) - a group of small businesses linked to health and wellbeing, which are uniting to provide free or very low-cost treatments, therapies or activities to those who otherwise would be unable to access them. The project is aimed at people with mental health problems but who are having to wait for currently up to five months to access treatment. The aim is to provide something positive during that long waiting period. The pitch was for funding for an on-line calendar.
Winter Hotties - a project that will kick-start the addition of hot-water bottles to the Warm Rail, so that they can be picked up by those who are homeless or rough-sleeping, and then get filled by participating organisations or businesses in the city. A number of cities around the UK have set up similar schemes to offer some measure of warmth to people rough-sleeping in the cold weather. The pitch was for the cost of hot-water bottles and covers. (The Warm Rail will soon be available again, this winter from the Nomad Shop on Waterside South.)
The Carousel Circus School - free taster sessions for those interested in learning a wide variety of circus skills, run by professionals, and to be held at the Drill Hall on 24 October. (https://www.lincolndrillhall.com/shows/the-carousel-circus-school/) The pitch was for some funds to help pay for the travel expenses of the circus professionals who are coming from across the country. Lincolnshire is one of the few places that currently has no access to teaching circus skills, something that is both popular among young people but also beneficial in terms of growing their self-confidence.
We then ate delicious soup courtesy of Café Shanti, talked about the pitches, got to know each other and voted. The Wellness Network Project came first, with the other as two equal second. Thanks to sponsorship from the University of Lincoln, all of the projects went away with some funding.
The next Big Soup will be in the New Year.
https://www.facebook.com/compassionatelincoln/
