New fund for young volunteers in Wales

The Welsh Assembly has opened a fund worth more than £400,000 to support youth volunteering and has promised to give young people a say on how it is spent.

The GwirVol Youth Volunteering Grants Scheme is provided by the Department for Social Justice and Local Government and administered by GwirVol, a diverse partnership of voluntary/community, public and private sector organisations that aims to promote, support and drive forward youth volunteering in Wales.

The programme is specifically designed for disadvantaged young people and is intended to encourage them to take up worthwhile volunteering posts. It is also hoped that the programme will support businesses and organisations to engage with young volunteers effectively.  A body entitled GwirForce, comprised of young volunteers from throughout Wales and supported by youth volunteer advisers from Welsh local authorities, will lead the grants programme and play a ‘hands on’ role.

The programme has two grant-making strands:

• ‘Opportunities’ project funding: grants of up to £10,000 for activities that will deliver a wide range of new and innovative volunteering experiences for young people aged 16 – 25.
• ‘Promotion’ project funding: grants of up to £5,000 to promote volunteering opportunities to and for young people aged 16 – 25, through events and workshops, websites, exhibitions or visits.

The closing date for applications is 30 June 2009.

For further information visit:

Gwirvol:  http://www.gwirvol.org/

Source: j4bCommunity, Welsh Assembly Government

Cash boost for organisations run by people with disabilities

Good news this week for organisations run by people with disabilities – as the Department of Health unveils a new £1 million fund.

 

A substantial funding pot of more than £1 million will be shared between 25 user-led organisations across England that are run at a local level by disabled people or carers.  The organisations concerned offer a range of services to their local communities, including advocacy, information and advice and the promotion of independent living for all.

 

In addition, a further £100,000 will be shared out between local authorities in the North West, South East and East of England, in order to enable better understanding of, and collaboration between, councils and organisations run by people with disabilities.

 

For further information visit:

 

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/SocialCare/Socialcarereform/Userledorganisations/index.htm

 

 

Source:  Office of the Third Sector, Department of Health

Cash injections and funding cuts in turbulent week for local councils

A cash injection announced yesterday by Local Government Minister John Healey will provide up to 360 councils with a share of £100 million, in a bid to help them tackle the economic downturn.

 

The funding, sourced from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme (LABGI), which successfully rewards councils that promote economic growth, is intended to encourage local authorities to continue to meet local needs and priorities despite the current recession.  It is felt that local councils are best placed to respond effectively to the impact the recession is having on communities at a grassroots level.

 

Despite the promise of extra cash, however, some authorities have already set about drastically slashing the funding they provide to their local voluntary and community sector, in a desperate bid to claw back losses worth millions. 

 

Warwickshire County Council announced it will reduce its voluntary sector spending by more than £600,000, whilst both the London Borough of Merton and the Forest of Dean District Council have condensed their third sector budgets by 10%.

 

Source: Communities and Local Government

Voluntary and community sector unhappy as council cuts spiral

Yet more bleak news for the voluntary and community sector this week as local authorities are accused of slashing their Third Sector funding.

 

Fears are growing as local councils work to finalise their 2009/10 budgets before the end of the month that the voluntary and community sector could be marked as an “easy target” for cost-cutting, despite an increased demand on their services.

 

Some councils have already made devastating cuts.  Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council have pulled their annual voluntary and community sector grant scheme, worth £60,000, despite some local groups already submitting applications.  Similarly, Gloucester City Council has reduced its Third Sector spending by 5%, with little explanation being given.

 

The Local Government Association has pointed to an estimated £2.5 billion shortfall thanks to the recession and “the worst financial settlement for decades” from central government as the reason for such drastic measures and suggested even more “tough decisions” may have to be made.

 

Source: Third Sector

OTS launch new handbook on effective consulting

A consortium sponsored by the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and led by Involve, an agency that promotes public participation in health and social care research, have announced the results of a recent study into innovative consultation with the third sector.

 

The programme has resulted in the publication of a handbook, ‘Better together: improving consultation with the third sector’, for wider government organisations that wish to consult more effectively with voluntary and community groups, charities, local authorities and social enterprises.  It is also intended as a template of best practice for future OTS consultations.

 

Download a copy today at:

 

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/99612/better%20together.pdf

 

 

Source: OTS

New reports from Sport England

Public body and National Lottery distributor, Sport England, has produced a range of guidance notes offering advice to local councils on how sport can be utilised more effectively in order to help with the delivery of local priorities.

The publishing of the guides comes in response to Sport England’s ambitious new targets, which include the creation of sporting opportunities in every community in the country.

The guides, part of the Shaping Places through Sport series, are intended to show how local authorities and their partners can not only develop more sporting opportunities for local residents but also use sport to build stronger, healthier and more sustainable communities. According to Sport England, sport, now more than ever, has an important role to play in developing priorities such as economic development and community cohesion.

The five report themes are:

Building communities
Healthier communities
Transforming lives
Creating safer communities
Increased prosperity

To read and download the reports visit:
www.sportengland.org/shapingplaces

Source: Sport England

Third sector representatives present survey findings

This week will see a number of third sector representatives present survey findings to the third sector minister, Kevin Brennan and the Treasury minister, Paul Myners.

 

Leaders from the NCVO, Acevo, the Charity Finance Director’s Group and the Charities Aid Foundation will present figures outlining how much charities have lost, and still stand to loose, in the Icelandic bank collapse.

 

It is hoped the results, gathered from an anonymous survey carried out throughout October to assess the scale of the sector’s losses, will ensure that charities are afforded the same protection as local authorities and individuals and won’t lose out as a result of the struggling economy.

 

Source: Acevo

Local authorities warned not to shut down voluntary sector spending

In the uncertain wake of the Icelandic bank collapse, chief executive body Acevo and community sector partnership Community Alliance, are urging all local authorities to resist the temptation to ‘squeeze’ their spending on the voluntary sector.

 

Fearful of a knee-jerk reaction to the current economic crisis which could see local authorities cut back on their grants to the voluntary sector and slash their contracts with third sector organisations, Acevo chief executive, Stephen Bubb, has warned any cuts now could spell disaster.

 

He went on to suggest that instead of making small charities and voluntary and community groups the next victims of the economic crisis, local authorities need to recognise that it is now that the services of third sector organisations are needed the most.

 

Source: Acevo

20.10.08 (1)

Blears announces ‘One-Stop Shop on Cohesion’ site

 

This week will see the launch of phase one of a new interactive, searchable internet site intended to provide expert advice and useful resources for those involved in establishing more resilient and cohesive communities.

 

The website, developed by the Institute of Community Cohesion (ICoCo) and supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government, is aimed at policy-makers, practitioners and organisations that work closely with communities throughout the country.

 

The portal will be continually updated and will include good practice information, case studies, guidance notes, toolkits and policy documents.  The site is also intended to be a forum for discussion and is keen to provide opportunities for useful information exchange and problem solving on topics such as managing migration and overcoming community tensions.

 

The portal was created in response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion report, Our Shared Future, which sets out to advise the government, local authorities and the public, private and voluntary sectors, on how best to build united, healthy communities. 

 

For further information visit:

 

http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk

 

Source: Department for Communities and Local Government

 

16.10.08 (2)

Blears calls for ideas from local communities…

 

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has called upon local authorities to talk to central government about how best to serve local communities.

 

This week, Blears, as part of the Sustainable Communities Act, has invited local authorities to submit proposals on how central government can help improve local areas – economically, socially and environmentally.

 

According to Blears, the call is intended to encourage local authorities and local communities to start talking and thinking about how to make their local area a better place to live.  Ideally, the ideas and proposals that are submitted will provide local solutions to a wide range of important issues including climate change, the economy and social exclusion – and allow local communities to have an all-important say in their future.

 

Source: Communities and Local Government