STEW - another serving
Updated: Aug 28
We're excited to bring you another STEW!
It will take place at the Bluebird Bakery in Acomb on the evening of Wednesday the 28th October.
Page menu:
What is STEW?
Do you want to have a fun evening and eat good food, all while raising funds for local groups trying to make a difference in York?
Join us at the Bluebird Bakery in Acomb for STEW.
This event will be held on Wednesday the 28th October from 6:15 pm - 9 pm.
You will enjoy delicious stew and a drink whilst hearing from people making a difference in their community.
How will the event work?
STEW is an 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.
Steps:
Join us from 6.15 pm, where you'll be invited to pull up a chair, settle in, get to know your neighbour and enjoy some hearty stew.
Hear from three people from across the city who will each have just four minutes (!) to pitch their community grassroots project idea in front of the audience.
Cast your vote to decide which project will benefit York the most, and who should win the majority of funding
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.
The prize pot
100% of the money you pay for your ticket will go into a prize pot and we have 60 tickets available.
We know that everyone's financial situation is different and so (to make this event accessible to as many people as possible) we're offering a 'pay what you can' ticket system.
Please contribute what feels right for you.
If we sell each at £8 each (the suggested amount) we should raise around £480.
Using our suggested pricing as a guide, we aim to split the funds at the end of the night with at least £200 to the winner and £100 each going to the runners-up.
What's cooking?
Dietary information: The stew and bread we’re providing will be vegan. Unfortunately, there are no gluten free options at the bakery.
Stew ingredients:
Butternut squash, red pepper, sweet potato, potato, aubergine, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, fennel seeds, tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley, coriander
There will also be bread, with dairy and vegan butter available on the side.
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.
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 with any questions about the event.
Please be aware that we work part-time flexible hours so it make time for us to respond.
Accessibility
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.
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
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