Gathering Together for York’s Grassroots
- York Together
- Feb 20
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 24
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What is STEW?
Do you want to have a fun evening and eat good food, all while supporting local groups trying to make a difference in York?
Join us at the Bluebird Bakery in Acomb for York Together’s first community dinner, STEW. This event will be held on the 2nd April 2025 from 6:15 pm - 9 pm.
For only £6 a ticket, attendees will enjoy delicious stew and a drink whilst hearing from people making a difference in their community.
How will the event work?
STEW is a new event designed to build community whilst raising funds for grassroots groups. It’s a space where we can come together, share a warming stew (hence the name), learn about one another's ideas, and make new connections.
After we’ve eaten, three people will have just four minutes each to pitch their community grassroots project idea in front of the audience.
There will then be a vote to decide which project will benefit York the most.
100% of the money raised through ticket sales will go into a prize pot. This will be shared between the pitchers, with the majority going to the winner.
Dietary information: The stew and bread we’re providing will be vegan. Unfortunately, there are no gluten free options at the bakery.
Agenda for the evening
18:15: Doors open and time to eat
19:15 - 19.30: Introduction from York Together and a run through of the evening.
19:35 - 20:00: Hearing from pitchers
20:00 - 20:20: Time to vote!
20:30: Winner announced
20:40 - 21:00: Opportunity to chat, mingle and celebrate!
Why is gathering together important?
In a time where society feels divided, we want to gather people together over food and a shared desire to make York a more equitable city and push back against the forces that want to sow division.
As a collective, York Together believes in the importance of relationships, and so we're keen for like-minded people to meet and support one another while working towards change.
However, we're not just a talking shop. Our community dinner will also have an opportunity for us to take action. In STEW this will be by allocating the money raised from ticket sales to three grassroots groups or individuals who attend to share and pitch their ideas.
The prize pot
100% of the money you pay for your ticket will go into a prize pot.
We have 64 tickets to sell for £6 each. If we sell all available tickets at this price, the audience will collectively raise £364.
£100 of the raised cash will be split equally to fund the two 'runner-up' projects, and the remaining amount will be given to the winner.
We are splitting the cost of the prize pot in this way because we recognise that there are very limited funding opportunities for grassroots groups. This is especially true if they are run by individuals or groups that have not registered as a charity or a community interest company. We also recognise the work that it takes to put together and deliver a pitch.
Information for pitchers
The deadline to apply pitch is the 18th March.
Every person selected to pitch will get two free tickets to STEW. One for the presenter and another for someone to support them. This will give each of you a vote and a bowl of delicious stew!
We will also be asking attendees to write down what they thought was great about each of the three projects. We will collate this positive feedback and share it with the pitchers after the event.
Apply to pitch
Tell us you’re interested by getting in touch the following ways:
Send us a quick email to hello@yorktogether.org
Send us a voice note or video via Whatsapp (07851 230 619)
The deadline to apply pitch is the 18th March.
Please let us know:
Who you are
What your idea is
What you’d like to achieve with funding
Confirmation that you meet the criteria
Please note: You DO NOT have to be a registered charity or social enterprise to be eligible and we actively encourage unregistered groups and inividuals to apply.
Criteria to pitch
We want to create an environment that enables groups and individuals who are typically excluded from traditional funding schemes.
To apply, your project must meet all the following criteria (click the arrow to expand for more detail).
You must be:
Addressing an issue affecting your community
Not for profit
Based within York
Able to talk about your involvement
What inspired this idea?
At York Together we have heard from grassroots community groups that there are limited spaces in which informal community groups and individuals trying to make a change can be platformed, heard and supported.
We also know that those with ideas on how York can be a fairer, more equitable and sustainable city can struggle to find funding through existing funding schemes.
Thinking about how we can meet these needs, we were inspired by microgranting dinners such as Detroit SOUP. You can read about Detroit SOUP on their website.
The SOUP model has been replicated in multiple places in the UK. One of York Together’s Members, Abigail Darton, was involved in Camden SOUP, and we are aware that SOUP was also run in York with the last one being in 2019.
There are some key differences to our community dinner, however. The foremost difference is that the focus is on gathering and relationships. The second is that all three pitches will receive some funding, rather than only one receiving the full prize pot. The third is that we will also be encouraging attendees to write down what they thought was great about each pitch so that this can be fed back to the pitchers after the event.
Our hope is that everyone that attends STEW will leave feeling energised, hopeful that change can happen and more connected to like-minded people.
Opportunity for learning
We are committed to trying different ways of gathering learning as well as different ways to get money to projects run by individuals and grassroots groups in York. We recognise that learning happens over time and we want to learn alongside you. This is especially important in this instance as it is the first time that we have run a community dinner like STEW.
We want to hear feedback from people before, during and after the event to help us learn what worked and what could be better. We also want to understand who has been excluded from this format.
You might have some practical questions that we haven’t answered in this blog post, or you may be someone that is intrigued by our approach and would like to learn a bit more about our thinking.
You can email us at hello@yorktogether.org or send us a WhatsAapp message/voice note on 07851 230619 and we will get back to you.
Please be aware that we work part-time flexible hours so it make time for us to respond.
How accessible is the event?
We have thought about how to make sure that STEW is accessible and enjoyable.
Bluebird Bakery has step-free access and is on one level with accessible toilets.
Quiet space - there is a small staff room that can be used as a quiet room for those who need time out. Please note that Bakery staff may pop in to access lockers.
In solidarity with the recovery community, this is an alcohol-free event.
We have BSL interpreters.
Tell us if there is anything that we need to do to make it possible for you to attend and we will do our best to accommodate your requirements.
You contact York Together in a number of ways:
Email us at hello@yorktogether.org,
Call on 07851 230619
Leave a voice note or send a message via WhatsApp on 07851 230619
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