Common Soup 140411
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COMMON SOUP
Transcript of Common Soup 140411
C O M M O N S O U P
W H AT I S C O M M O N S O U P ?Common Soup will combine communal meals with
crowd-funding for members projects – as well as
creating a great opportunity to bring members together.
Common Soup is based on Sunday Soup (www.sundaysoup.org),
and would be part of the international network of Soup Grant
Programs*.
It is a grassroots model for funding small to medium sized creative
projects through community meals. The basic formula is that a
group of people come together to share a meal and that meal is sold
for an affordable price. All the income from that meal is given as a
grant to support a creative project. Everyone who purchases the
meal gets one vote to determine who receives the grant.
*The conception was started in Chicago by inCUBATE.
W H Y AT T H E C O M M O N R O O M ?After the great success of Common Room members starting Trade School Norwich, we have been thinking
what other projects could kickstart more projects and activities for members of the Common Room.
One that seems perfect is Sunday Soup.
CommunityBuild connections
and community.
£Open Funding
Provides access
to micro-funding.
Promotes ways of
working, that may
not be eligible for
formal funding.
CollaborationCreate an
infrastructure
for people to
collaborate.
PromotePromote people’s
project ideas &
build a network of
support.
Low ThresholdSimple & un-
bureaucratic to
encourage broad
participation.
DialogueSparks dialogie
about alternative
funding, working and
sharing models.
+ + + + +
w h at P R O J E C T s C O U L D B E k i c k - s ta rt e d ?
FIXING Repair Cafe
GROWINGFARM:Shop
SHARINGFallen Fruit
WORKINGHackermoms
LEARNINGTrade School
TRADINGFEAST
The exciting part about being an organiser of a Soup Granting Program is the opportunity it provides
for meeting new people, as well as being a key part of catalysing new creative projects.
C O U L D YO U B E A C O - F O U N D E R ?
H O W T O O R G A N I S E . . .
1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .
5 . 6 . 7 . 8 .
Find a space. Build a co-founding
team.
Source supplies. Promote event &
call for proposals.
Charge a modest
amount for a meal &
vote.
Service food, engage
people, proposals
presentation.
People vote for their
favourite project and
proceeding distributed
accordingly.
Document, refl ect,
share your experience
with others.
Based on a poster by Nerissa Cooney and Alex Hage of FEAST Mass (http://sundaysoup.org/international-day-soup).
Design project.
H O W W I L L C O M M O N S O U P N O RW I C H W O R K ?Granting projects affi liated with Sunday Soup in different cities operate based on
their own needs and context.
How many people needed to co-found the project?At other Sunday Soups lots of people come together to organise and
prepare the meals, including the grant applicants; however, a core team is
generally needed to lead the project.
Attracting co-founders?Tell people about the Soup Granting Program and invite them to
participate. Point people to the Sunday Soup website for reference to the
project to help illustrate your intentions.
When and how often will Common Soups be held?The Soup Granting Program benefi ts from repetition, establishing a
consistent time and place makes it easier to build an engaged and
committed community.
What equipment is required?How will the food be cooked or reheated in the church - slow cooker,
electric hob? What cutlery will be supplied or will people bring there own?
S O M E D E C I S I O N S T O M A K E . . .What to cook?The meals are more or less elaborate in different places. They have varied
from soup to ice-cream sundaes.
Where will you get supplies from?For example, could they be sourced from Norwich FarmShare?
How many people aiming to attract?Based on the space and facilities capacity, and making enough profi t for
the micro-grants.
How to promote?Could be as simple as calling or emailing other members and friends or
using social networking sites. As St Lawrence’s has capacity, the general
public could be invited.
How will you record the events?Document your Soup Granting Program meetings through video,
photographs or any other means. Share your experiences with others
through a group web log or newsletter. Use your email list to reach a large
group quickly and effi ciently.
P O S S I B L E M O D E LS . . .
Organising
Co-founding
Group
VoteCollaboratively cook
and share meal
ProjectProceeds
Local restaurant/
cafe caters
Share meal Vote ProjectProceeds
Pay
Traditional Model
Catered Model
ProjectTest Trading
Restauranteur
Vote
Cook & serve meal
Rent
ProceedsPop-up Restaurant Model
S U N D AY S O U P I N S P I R AT I O N . . .
