Jury for Joy

Jury for Joy is our long-term citizens’ jury for West Cumbria about art and creativity.

Registration is now open for local people who are interested in getting involved and being selected as jury members. If selected, new jurors will join the current jury members to make decisions on how money is spent on creative activity in the region. 

What is a citizens’ jury?

A citizens’ jury is a way of involving members of the public in helping make decisions about a certain subject. A jury is made up of a group of people randomly selected by lottery, who broadly represent the demographic make-up of an entire place. They learn about issues and discuss them with one another, and make decisions about what should happen and how things should change.

Why are we using a citizens’ jury model?

We want to help and grow the number of different people and processes delivering, deciding upon and attending creative events in the local area. Our jury provides a safe, supportive space where people of all walks of life can come together to learn, talk, review and imagine what a more creative future could look like here in West Cumbria. 

We believe local people know what’s best for their place and their voices should be heard. A citizens’ jury gives people the time and sources of information to develop well-informed decisions about where they live. 

Why is creativity important?

We believe that creativity is a powerful tool that can add value to people’s lives and inspire change. Creativity can be explored, expressed and enjoyed in many ways. From podcasting to pottery, tap dance to TikTok, stitching to singing, and everything in between, creativity can bring smiles to faces and make life feel brighter and more fun.

How does selection work?

Everyone who is registered by Monday 7 April will be entered into the Jury for Joy Spring 2025 lottery. 

This lottery will select participants at random taking into consideration the demographic make-up of West Cumbria. So it will look at things like age, gender and postcode and randomly select those who have the criteria that make our jury as representative as possible. From this process Jury for Joy aims to recruit 10 new members to join the 20 current jury members this Spring. All members will then attend the next Jury for Joy taking place on Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June.

So who can register to take part?

Anyone aged 18 and over who lives at an address in West Cumbria. And when we refer to West Cumbria we mean the old boroughs of Allerdale and Copeland. 

People do not need to have any prior knowledge to take part, they’ll just need to bring themselves, their life experience and a willingness to listen and take part. 

There are a small number of people who cannot register to take part. These are elected representatives from any level of government, paid employees of any political party, council employees working in any politically restricted post and people working in management, leadership or governance of cultural organisations.

The reason these individuals are not eligible is because they already have a platform or voice in the decisions about creativity in West Cumbria. 

What’s it like being on the jury?

If you’re selected to take part you’ll be well looked after at each jury and everyone will have their voice heard. Here’s a peek behind the scenes of our first jury in May 2024…

The jury meets in person twice a year at different venues across the region to learn, listen and make decisions on how money is spent on creative activity in our area. You’ll hear different ideas, perspectives and proposals and have time with your fellow jury members to make decisions on how to shape creative activity in West Cumbria.

Each jury will be held at an accessible venue with disabled parking available.

Lunch and snacks will be provided and transport support is available to help you travel to and from the venue if needed.

If jury members require any form of additional support, for example childcare, access support, or other caring responsibilities, then every attempt will be made to provide this.

If jury members are selected and take part they will receive £200 in shopping vouchers per jury as a thank you gift.

We aim for the whole experience to be both interesting and entertaining for our jury members. Watch more reflections from our second jury at The Oval Centre in November 2024…

How long is the Jury for Joy running for?

This is a long-term project. We will continue to hold the Jury for Joy twice a year for many years to come so that it can continue to make decisions about the creative activity taking place here in West Cumbria. We’d like members to join us for as long as they can and look to grow the jury year on year by recruiting new members.

I’m interested? How do I register?

There are a few different ways you can register depending on your access needs.

You can register your interest online and complete a our jury registration form.

You can email us at juryforjoy@everyonehere.org and one of our team will get back to you to either help you sign up over the phone or online.

You can call us on 07522 849071 and one of our team will have a quick chat with you and sign you up over the phone.

You can speak to one of our team at an Everyone Here Spark Bus event and they will take you through the registration form in person and sign you up at the event.

The next Jury for Joy lottery is taking place on Monday 7 April 2025. Everyone registered by 10am on this day will go into the Spring 2025 Jury for Joy lottery.

What happens if I’m selected?

If you are selected to be a jury member via our lottery on Mon 7 April you will be contacted by one of the Everyone Here team by phone and email by Fri 11 April to let you know. We’ll confirm that you still want to take part, can attend our jury on Sat 31 May & Sun 1 June and any requirements you may have. 

Before the jury takes place at the end of May one of the Everyone Here team will meet you either in person or online for a one to one session to talk through everything you need to know before attending your first jury.

What happens if I’m not selected?

On registering you’ll be asked if you want to be included in our future lotteries in Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026. If you opt in this will give you a second and third chance of being selected to be part of our ongoing Jury for Joy. 

In the meantime, we recommend you sign up to our Everyone Here newsletter which will keep you in the loop about what our jury have been doing and how their decisions are already shaping what we do here in West Cumbria.

Thanks

We’d like to thank the following people from West Cumbria for helping us co-design the Jury for Joy. We spent time together at the end of 2023 and the start of 2024 to shape the project:

• Marc Goodwin from Whitehaven
• Emma Heys from Greysouthen
• John Leyland from Maryport
• Sonny Smith from Harrington
• Janette Tear & Libby Wynne-Tear from Egremont

We’d also like to thank Citizens in Power for leading us through this process. The not-for-profit organisation co-designs ways for citizens to lead decision-making and shape the future. Co-Director David Jubb has been integral in facilitating the design of this project & helped us facilitate our first two Jury for Joys in 2024.