5,000 POUNDS FOR SHIREBROOK!!!

Good news for Shirebrook! Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster has decided to award STC with a grant of £5,000 as funding support to build our CCTV system. I will admit immodestly that I was the one who brought the paperwork and information about this grant to STC, although I must also point out that the grant was completed, sent and resent by STC Town Clerk.

So 1% credit to me for spotting the opportunity and 99% credit to the Town Clerk for writing the successful grant application. 5k is a lot of money! Good job! As I have been on a “winning streak” lately, I decided to follow the “punch”. I have 21 files of documents on my hard drive from other potential grant vendors. This time I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and fill required paperwork and submit it to STC for discussion and approval.

STC meets the requirements of only a few of these grants; unfortunately, none relate to safety, which was my main priority. The only organisation dedicated to supporting safety initiatives is currently dormant (once applications have been collected, organisations need time to review them – during this time, they do not accept new applications).

Anyway, I have found some possible grants in the area of helping the elderly, health and helping in times of increased home heating costs. I will select the most promising grants and present them at the next OpComm so STC can decide which one we should prioritise.

My goal is to bring more money for Shirebrook taxpayer and use it to improve safety around town, but if I can bring money for something else- why not? I already talked about it at the previous OpComm meeting. Although I could not get the rest of the committee members to agree to add a ‘match fund’ incentive to the grant- I found some potential opportunities for Shirebrook. (I will explain the “fund matching” incentive in a different article).

BACK TO BUSINESS
The first paragraph of this article is almost a verbatim text that I tried to post on the Shirebrook Community Facebook fan page. I don’t know if the admin has approved this text (some of the posts I tried to put there were not approved by admins of this group- I’m kinda too political for them, and I understand that they are trying to stay away from politics). Still, the moment I wanted to inform the residents about this successful grant application is also a perfect opportunity to write something positive on S247. For a change, after a whole series of articles about scandals.

It was suggested to me recently to show readers more often the other positive things I do. This suggestion is significant because, for the first time, someone I admire has told me to my face that my blog is too pessimistic and negative.

PESSIMISTIC AND NEGATIVE? I’M NOT LIKE THAT!!!
When I’m told such things by some troll on the internet or a Labour Party councillor- I always ignore it. If what I’m doing doesn’t appeal to people who are always hostile toward me, it’s a clear sign that I’m doing the right thing. Sadly- everything has some boundaries, and it looks like people are fed up with articles about the Labour Party’s incompetence. It happened through no fault of my own. When I’m told, “you shouldn’t be so confrontational”, by someone who usually supports me and is overwhelmingly more intelligent and successful than I am- it’s time to take a step back and think about what I’ve done wrong. What did I do stupidly that drove someone smart away from me?

I LIKE TO FEEL STUPID! AM I STUPID OR THE OPPOSITE?
Please don’t get me wrong, reader. It may sound like a paradox, but I like to feel stupid when I’m around people. If I feel stupid, it means that my mind, my subconscious, is giving me a signal that I’m surrounded by people smarter than me. For me, it’s an opportunity to grow as a human being and learn, listen and soak in something new. Wise people use their talents, knowledge, and time to uplift others and improve things around them- it’s a cardinal sin not to accept this gift when it’s offered to you. Everyone should look for opportunities where they feel like the dumbest person in the room- that’s one way in which you can rise above your usual level and see yourself from a different perspective.

This is exactly what happened at a meeting I attended this week. I took what I heard to heart, and when I got home, I shelved an article about another scandal (this time at BDC) and decided that even if the sky were to fall on my head- I would write a whole series of articles about the positive aspects of Shirebrook and my activities as a councillor.

END OF BEGINNING
Concluding this lengthy introduction, I invite you to the first episode of a series in which I will write about the good things I have managed to do while working as a Shirebrook South ward councillor on Shirebrook Town Council. I must also emphasise that this has not been an extraordinary week – the things I will describe in this and the next article are a normal business for me. I don’t usually mention this aspect in even a word, but I am keen to show my readers that I can be creative positively.

EMAILS, PHONES, ARTICLES, PROJECTS, GRANTS
The title of this paragraph is just some of the issues I usually deal with. We will start discussing them with the most boring one – writing grant applications. Have you ever written a grant application? If not – then you have nothing to regret. Of all the types of literary work I have dabbled in, this form of “writing” is the most tedious, boring and complicated.

In terms of fun- it is just one step above a ‘data entry job’ in hell. Nevertheless- writing GOOD applications is a unique skill that a very small number of people possess. To be clear – I do not have this skill. However, I make up for it with persistence and perseverance. If you shoot a hundred times, one of the bullets will hit something. That’s my strategy.

There are many steps before the grant application form is completed. The two most difficult steps are finding a grant vendor whose conditions you meet and writing the application itself. I will not describe the details but just show an example of the “conditions” and “text” I send to ‘grant vendors’ whose sphere of activity suggests that the application has at least a shadow of a chance of success.

To better prepare for writing, I read their requirements carefully and review all attached documents: maps, tables, and charts. In this jumble of information, I look for several elements: the so-called “buzz words”, the area of action, timetables and the organisation’s priorities. Below is one example where our township meets the “sweet spot” of the “grant vendor” criteria. However, I had to skip this vendor because one of their rules is that they provide funding only for charities- never for local authorities.

As you can see- this vendor would be my main target for a reason. We are in the area of their focus. Did you notice a star before Shirebrook North? It’s not my ward, so I should ignore that, but I didn’t. I followed to the bottom of the page, and I found this comment:

*This is a Left Behind Neighbourhood. For more information click here.

I followed the link and went into a rabbit hole of documents related to the “left behind” North Shirebrook. The South is not left behind because it has me 😉

However, sometimes the criteria are not clearly defined, and organisations require initial contact before letting you to the next phase. I came across two such organisations and sent them an email with a brief description of who I am, where I work, who I work for, and what I am looking for a grant for.

If the organisation responds positively – I ask for an application and start filling in the boxes. Currently, I also have two forms on my desk (i.e. on my hard drive) from more traditional organisations (just download the application file from a server, fill and send it back). I’m working on one application at a time. Filling in the form itself is a topic for a separate article. An incredibly dull article. Anyway- those little steps toward the next successful grant are bits of time spent which will always go unnoticed by the electorate.

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!
The original article I wrote about positive things I have done had 22,572 characters encapsulated in 4039 words over 6 pages in a text editor. It was too long, so I cut it into pieces. In next week’s episode, I will show you a couple of e-mails I sent, another grant application, preparation for an art project and maybe something extra.
Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com