Manny Sehmbi - Walsall NDC and Participatory Budgeting

Email: info@walsallsnewdeal.org.uk
Organisation: Walsall NDC
Website: www.walsallsnewdeal.org.uk

Video Clip: Manny and Jo talk about their experience of developing Participatory Budgeting with Young People in Walsall. They talk about the lessons they learnt and what this means for community empowerment.

NDC and Project Background

Walsall New Deal for Communities is working to regenerate the Blakenall, Bloxwich and Leamore areas of Walsall as part of the Governments New Deal for Communities initiative. The area received £52 million funds in 2001 and is half way through its ten year programme. The initiative is managed by residents who work with a range of partners to regenerate the area.
Walsall NDC worked with 8 local Primary schools to collectively decide how to spend £15,000. The money was linked to the Every Child Matters outcomes, and the children were supported to develop ideas around what kind of activities should be provided for young people in the area. Although intensive help and support was provided by development workers to help think through their ideas, the children themselves made all of the decisions.
Participatory Budgeting

The Walsall Project was part of a wider national pilot of Participatory Budgeting, being supported by the department of communities and local government. Participatory budgeting (PB) is about the direct involvement of local people in deciding priorities for spending public money. The process was first developed widely in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989, and is now being used all over the world.

The Project

The Walsall project aimed to test whether PB was a useful tool in engaging young people, and bringing about wider community benefits.
The process involved:
• 2 community development officers working with 8 local schools through their school councils
• A series of workshops including; teamwork, communication, your community, what is PB, developing decision making skills, budgeting and allocating money, what Every Child Matters means for children
• Generating hundreds of ideas for activities
• Bringing all 8 schools together to present ideas, and to make final decisions by voting.
A result, the project funded:
• Street Dancing - 180 children
• Swimming - 120 Children (120 Adults)
• Snow Dome - 90 (6-7 year olds) and 144 (8-11 year olds)
What has been achieved
• The PB pilot in Walsall was successful, with many added benefits. These included:
• Building relationships between children, and encouraging their development as active citizens
• Increasing confidence and decision making abilities of the children involved
• Local schools being able to learn about the use of more informal education techniques
• The development of ongoing positive relationships between the NDC and local schools in the area
For further information about the project, please contact Manny Sehmbi at the NDC.

Further Links and information:

Participatory Budgeting Forum www.participatorybudgeting.org

Participatory Budgeting Unit www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk