Birmingham Soup – Deadline 2nd June

Amy Martin got in touch with us to tell us about Birmingham Soup:

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What is SOUP?

SOUP is a democratic experiment in micro-funding.

Each month we hold a Birmingham SOUP event at Impact Hub Birmingham, you bring a dish to share (if you want) and pay a suggested donation of £5 or more on the door.

Audiences hear pitches from four pre-selected proposals working on projects that benefit communities in Birmingham. Over a potluck/picnic-style SOUP dinner, attendees cast their vote for the project they want to help fund.

The project with the most votes goes home with all of the money raised from the door. Winners come back to a future SOUP to tell the audience how their project went, how they used the money and what impact the project had on the community.

SOUP is a powerful tool to start conversations, practise democracy and fund new projects/people/ideas in our city. There are many models on how to do it but we follow the Detroit SOUP method which means that all the events are run by a team of volunteers.

I started Birmingham SOUP as an antidote to austerity. Birmingham has been hugely affected by the cuts to local services.  This is a small but powerful way for a community to directly support one and other and a super accessible way for people to access money for projects with social impact.

So far we’ve raised £2200 for 7 creative projects in Birmingham, previous winners have included Elliot Lord who engineered and constructed special cardboard beds for the homeless that raises them from the floor to give them a better night’s sleep. Artist Mohammed Ali who was fundraising for a new arts centre in Sparkbrook. Second Pedals who re-commission second hand cycles, a creative project in response to the refugee crisis called Beyond Borders. The Danny Campaign who helps homeless people keep in touch with their loved ones and Tasty Waste a campaign and workshops about unnecessary food waste and healthy eating.

We are really excited about the potential of Birmingham SOUP and would like to expand our reach to more people, we are currently seeking pitch proposals for our event on June 9th: https://birminghamsoup.co.uk/

Deadline for pitch proposals is 2nd June. The application process is really simple – just 5 questions on an online form here: https://birminghamsoup.co.uk/submit-a-proposal/

Thank you for taking the time to read this email, please check out the website for more information: https://birminghamsoup.co.uk