People in Boston are being urged to ‘Let’s Talk Boston’ and help to shape multi-million pound government funding that is coming to the town.
Through the government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, Boston will receive up to £2M a year over the next 10 years, starting from April 2026.
Now, the community is being asked to share their thoughts and help to decide how this funding should be invested to bring improvements that benefit everyone who lives, works, studies, visits, and cares about Boston.
And there are a number of ways to get involved:
- People can have their say in an online survey which offers the chance to win £100 in shopping vouchers in a prize draw: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/letstalkboston
- There are translated copies of the survey available in Bulgarian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian: Let’s Talk Boston – Welcome to Boston Town Deal Website
- Leaflets will also be available in town centre locations shortly. These provide the opportunity for people to share their thoughts on two questions, return the form freepost, and also enter a prize draw for another chance to win £100 in shopping vouchers;
- There’s a survey just for under 25s – again with the chance to win £100 in shopping vouchers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/youngpeopleboston
- Community interviewers will be out and about in the town over the summer, seeking people’s feedback;
- Community groups and organisations are leading their own activities to get people involved and have their say. This includes the Boston Lithuanian Community which is delivering a programme of engagement, and Boston Youth Hub which will host two graffiti wall sessions to capture young people’s feedback;
- And, there is a call for community groups, charities, and organisations to join in the conversation with funding available to support engagement activities. More details can be found in the engagement toolkit here
Jo Brigham is Chair of Boston Town Board which is leading the process to pull the investment plan together for Boston. Jo said: “The Plan for Neighbourhoods offers us a huge opportunity to make a positive difference and unlock the potential of Boston and the people who live and work here. This is not our plan – this is your plan.
“Deciding how this funding should be spent over the next ten years is a collaborative effort – this will not be the same as the previous projects funded by government, the emphasis will be on people, communities and place -– shaped by the people and communities of Boston.
“This investment does not have to be on large scale projects but can fund those little changes that can make a big difference to lives and livelihoods and – where possible – we want to fund local people, local business, community groups, and stakeholders to help deliver the projects and initiatives.
“Please do have your say. Some may feel that their voice has not been heard in the past but please do not let that stop you from having your say now. We need to hear from you. We need to make sure that the priorities for this funding reflect the community’s needs and aspirations.”
The Plan for Neighbourhoods programme supersedes the Long Term Plan for Neighbourhoods, announced by the previous government in 2022. Consultation and engagement took place around this programme in summer 2023 but plans were put on hold following the change of government.
Now, the programme has been reformed into the Plan for Neighbourhoods with a wider remit than before to include themes such as education and opportunity, health and wellbeing, skills, and more. And, the programme places community involvement at its very heart.
Jo Brigham added: “The engagement we are carrying out now is just one aspect of the work we will be doing with the community over the next ten years.
“Consultation, engagement, and community empowerment are key to the development of the plans and the subsequent delivery of the projects that will be funded.
“So if you live, work, study, visit, and care about Boston, please do get involved today and help to shape its future.
“And crucially too, we want to hear from community groups, charities, and organisations who can help us by delivering engagement activities. There’s funding available to support these.”
Michael Morris, CEO and Founder of Tonic Health which runs the Boston Youth Hub, and a Boston Town Board member said: “It is important the young people of Boston have their say in this survey. Decisions made now will have an impact over the next 10 years and beyond, so I would really encourage as many young people to complete this survey as they can, so we can truly understand what is important for the young people in the town.”
