.png)
Winners of the prize fund, FourBeatWalk. Photo: Ashley Bird
On a lovely sunny Sunday in Nottingham, the last thing you would expect to find is a group of people sitting down inside, chowing down on some soup.
However, the draw of Spoon Fed, Show and Tell’s new collaboration with Bristol-based The Collect, was enough to lure a hearty number of Nottingham’s most creative down to Broadway cinema to take part in this new micro-funding experience.
The premise is simple. Social enterprises, small businesses and artists – or anyone with a great idea that needs a little financial help - are asked to submit presentations highlighting why they need money to get a project off the ground, whether it be for tools to help tame an allotment or bowls for a new community kitchen. On the day, everyone who attends the event sticks a fiver in a pot, and in return they are able to fill their bellies with a bowl of delicious soup and cast a vote for their most favoured idea.
Thankfully, last Sunday's Spoon Fed featured a whole host of great ideas, including funding for a flea market; a proposal to create large canvasses of dancer’s footprints; one to launch an all female DJ extravaganza and a project which needed money for a virtual exhibition. Each entrant was given a short amount of time to woo the audience with their awesome ideas and display anything that they brought with them to complement the presentation.
After the pitches had been given, it was time to sup on our soup and cast our votes. The soup of choice was a Caribbean inspired coconut and lime affair. It is safe to say that the soup tasted amazing and I was glad to hear that all of the ingredients were donated by Spoon Fed’s sponsor, Ecoworks, a Sneinton based community organisation, who deliver yummy, organically grown vegboxes to people around the city. The kindly sponsors also donated a vegbag to each pitcher, so no one went home empty-handed.
And then the big moment – the winners were announced. This time around the successful team were designers FourBeatWalk, who will use the money to buy a screenprinting kit for their studio, which will enable them to print their designs on to t-shirts and the like, as well as being able to offer the an area and equipment to other ventures who want to be able to print their own work. The grand winnings amounted to one hundred and forty pounds, which the delighted team picked up before posing for photos.
For such a simple idea, Spoon Fed can really make an impact to a project. On top of that, the fact that it seemed to be a collection of like-minded people meant that the opportunities to chat and possibly collaborate on future ventures was high. And for anyone that doesn’t fancy shouting about their ideas to a room full of people, well, there’s always soup, which is definitely worth a fiver.
Keep an eye on the Broadway website for the next Show and Tell event, coming soon.
Read comments and make your own
Comments