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A crowdfunding initiative with a twist
Bristol Soup organises fundraising events that take the hearty goodness of soup to a new level.
The premise is simple: attendees pay £4 for soup and bread; listen to four-minute pitches from a representative of four local charities; ask four questions to each charity; then vote for the one that should take home all the money raised.
It was the success of a Detroit Soup project that inspired founder Jenny Briggs to start a Bristol version, which returns on Wednesday for its fourth event.
is needed now More than ever
“You can think of it as Dragons’ Den with a community development twist,” Jenny explains.
“Bristol Soup is about placing the power and initiative back in the hands of communities. At a Soup, you can hear directly from the projects you are supporting.”
Always diverse, this week’s Bristol Soup charities are no different:
– Safe Space is a free, independent sexual violence support group
– Bristol Jam Plan turns excess fruit into preserves sold to raise money for shelters
– Berry Maze hopes to constructs a maze with the help of children from Parson Street Primary school
– Old people’s cafe project at the Southville Centre
Crowdfunding is no new idea, but Bristol Soup does have a distinct advantage over social media-powered plans.
“The project is supportive as all the charities help each with their pitches, plus many of our charities don’t have experience of social media or the internet,” Jenny says, recalling that Positive Minds, a mental health charity, and the second winner of Soup’s fundraising, had no experience of online crowdfunding.
“I think it’s good to create a community around the events too. To be more proactive and involved than you can be online.
“We can raise funds, but we can also bring attention to all the other ways people can help local causes.”
The first winner of a Bristol Soup event was Bristol West Indian Phoenix Cricket Club, a small inner-city team which with the money was able to buy new kit, attract new young people to the sport and be a bigger part of the local community.
Another winner was Legs 4 Africa which ships second-hand prosthetic limbs out to Africa.
Plans are already underway for a fifth Soup, but for now Jenny is focused on helping the charities perfect their pitches.
The next Bristol Soup takes place at 6.30pm on Wednesday, February 22 at OVO Energy in Temple Quay. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.bristolsoup.wixsite.com/home
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