BOSCOMBE Soup are to host their first outdoor community crowdfunding event in Churchill Gardens to help raise money for creative community projects in Boscombe.

The event, which is the third to be held in Boscombe specifically, will feature four-minute pitches from four different community projects. At the end of the evening, the votes will be counted, and the winner will be awarded the money raised at the door. Previous winner will also be in attendance to report on their project’s progress.

Michael Hancock, co-founder of Boscombe Soup, said: “We are doing something a bit different this year.

“The event will be held in the play park area in Churchill Gardens, adjacent to the Joy Café. We’ve got a PA system and we hope to set up a small marquee, depending on the weather.

“What we’re really looking to do is to get people to come along, bring blankets and towels to sit on and hopefully enjoy the lovely weather and help support these local businesses.”

Inspired by a crowdfunding event in Detroit, the Boscombe Soup is a micro granting dinner that encourages social entrepreneurs to pitch their idea and potentially win a grant to help fund their concept.

Previous winners include the Boscombe community fridge, located in the Boscombe Library, which helps people to cut down on food waste by donating and taking good but unwanted food items.

Spud Buddies, a café focused on the wellbeing of the community based in West Howe, was also a recipient of the funding. The crowdfunding event hosted in November 2017 assisted the team to buy a potato oven to help them provide healthy lunches to the people of West Howe.

The summer event will take place on Thursday August 1st at 6pm. At a suggested donation of £5, attendees will receive a portion of homemade soup courtesy of The Social Grill in Boscombe and vote for whichever idea they think is best. The winner receives a grant of around £400 to go towards their business idea.