Belfast 2024’s ‘Bank of Ideas’ Now Open for Submissions

Residents are being invited to put forward their own ideas for creative projects in their communities, as part of Belfast City Council’s Belfast 2024 programme.

The ‘Bank of Ideas’ is offering up to £2,000 to individuals, schools and community groups keen to do something special in their neighbourhoods during the city’s biggest ever creative and cultural celebration.

All ideas are welcome – from recycling and baking to skateboarding and gardening!

To submit an idea visit belfast2024.co.uk and fill in the short online form by the deadline of 5pm on Friday 17th May. Alternatively, you can download an application form and submit it by post or email.

‘Idea generating’ workshops will take place over the next few weeks to support individuals and groups to develop ideas and submit their applications. Sessions will take place on:

• Tuesday 30th April, 6pm-8pm – Black Box, Hill Street
• Wednesday 1st April, 6pm-8pm – Boundary Brewing Tap Room at Portview Trade Centre
• Thursday 2nd May, 3pm-5pm – 2 Royal Avenue
• Friday 3rd May, 3pm-5pm – Sandy Row Community Centre
• Monday 13th May, 12.30pm-1.30pm – online
• Monday 13th May, 7pm-8pm – online

Book your place at belfast2024.org.uk.

All participants who submit a suggestion to the ‘Bank of Ideas’ will be invited to chat about their ideas at a special voting day in City Hall on Sunday 2nd June.

Members of the public will vote for their favourite ideas and a minimum of 25 projects will receive support of up to £2,000 each to make their ideas a reality between June and October.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy, said: “The ‘Bank of Ideas’ is at the heart of our Belfast 2024 programme – inviting everyone to get involved in bringing creativity into their own community during this very special year for our city.

“Whatever your idea for getting your neighbours together, we want to hear it – it could be a movie night for teenagers, a storytelling session about the history of your street over the years, a community swap shop if you’re having a summer clear-out or even an old-fashioned sports day for local kids!

“Everyone will get the chance to come into City Hall on Sunday 2nd June and vote for the projects they want to see delivered, giving communities a direct say in how the £50,000 of funding available through the ‘Bank of Ideas’ should be spent. Getting involved is really easy and I’d urge as many people as possible to put forward an idea – let’s see what creative ideas you can come up with for your community and help make them happen this year.”

The ‘Bank of Ideas’ is among a wide range of events and initiatives now underway through the Belfast 2024 programme.

‘Here’s One I Made Earlier‘ is now open at CastleCourt Shopping Centre, where arts organisation PS² are inviting shoppers to swap their bags for boats in their new first-floor unit. Everyone can call in on Tuesdays, 11am-1pm, to try their hand at making a paper boat, colouring in a sail or sharing a message in a bottle, with the results used to create a huge flotilla of 10,000 boats on the River Lagan in early August.

Submissions for The Hearth – a film-making project co-created with the people of Belfast – are also open until Friday 31st May.

Wild Belfast has a number of events coming up where you can explore the city’s biodiversity and wildlife, including two BioBlitz sessions taking place on Saturday 27th April and Sunday 28th April at Lagan Meadows and Black Mountain. There is also an ‘Alley Safari‘ with 9ft in Common on Saturday 27th April, leaving from the front gates of Ormeau Park at 11am.

From Thursday 16th May to Sunday 19th May, Little Amal will be in Belfast for four days of free family events with The Walk Productions and ArtsEkta, with tickets available at artsekta.org.uk.

By the end of 2024, Belfast City Council estimates that almost 200 events and activities will have been delivered through the Belfast 2024 programme, in addition to what is already planned by festival organisers and arts organisations across the city, with over 400,000 people visiting Belfast to explore and enjoy arts and culture here.