06.10.08 (2)

Grassroots Update!

 

Still waiting for information on the government’s £130 million Grassroots Grants programme?  Well, fear not – here’s the latest!

 

It has been announced that the local funder for North Yorkshire is the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.  The Trust will administer the Grassroots Grants scheme throughout North Yorkshire on behalf of the government. As of yet, no information about scheme criteria, application forms or guidance notes have been released.

 

Keep checking the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust website for the latest updates:

 

http://www.ydmt.org/

.

 

Currently, three regions involved in the Grassroots Grants programme are still to name their local funders.  They are:

 

• Bradford

• Haringey (London Borough of)

• Hillingdon (London Borough of)

 

As promised, we’ll keep checking on these and let you know as soon as they are announced!

 

For more information visit the Community Development Foundation website:

http://www.cdf.org.uk/bfora/systems/xmlviewer/default.asp?arg=DS_CDF_TECHART_23/_page.xsl/27&xsl_argx=3

 

Source: j4bCommunity

06.10.08 (1)

Kick start for Communitybuilders!

 

The £70 million Communitybuilders fund officially got under way last week – with a call to organisations who wish to deliver the programme on behalf of the government to come forward.

 

Originally announced earlier this year in the government white paper Communities in Control, the fund is intended to create more active and empowered communities through supporting projects that encourage democracy and locally-based decision making.  It is anticipated that the programme will offer a combination of loans and grants to local voluntary organisations and will be open to applications by Spring 2009.

 

Currently, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Office of the Third Sector are running a procurement process to find the programme’s national delivery partner.  The closing date for applications is 30 October.

 

To read the Communities in Control white paper visit:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol6

 

Or for further information, try:

 

Office of the Third Sector: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx

Communities and Local Government: http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/

 

Source: Communities and Local Government

 

 

 

03.10.08 (1)

Survey given added value

 

Yet to fill in your NAVCA member’s survey about the local third sector? [See post 17.09.08 (3)]

 

Well, perhaps the announcement of a NAVCA conference involving the Department for Communities and Local Government and its partners the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Urban Forum, Bassac, REIP, IDeA and the Local Government Association, will be the incentive you need.  The meeting will be used to discuss the survey’s initial findings – which means your opinions will be presented directly to the CLG and its partners and will directly inform a high level debate.

 

The deadline for submitting a survey is 17 October.

 

Complete yours online at:

 

 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=QxIBww28z5BzZ8Deg2AuiA_3d_3d

 

Source: NAVCA

02.10.08 (2)

Future of volunteering firmly on the agenda

 

Organisations from the voluntary sector, government and business are set to begin putting their heads together to discuss the future of volunteering.

 

A wide range of organisations, including the RSPB, Time Banking UK, the Office of the Third Sector and the National Trust, will work together in order to put into practice some of the suggestions made by the Commission on the Future of Volunteering, which began in March 2006.

 

Volunteering England will set the ball rolling by investing up to £100,000 in six action teams throughout the country.

 

It is hoped this initiative will take great strides towards making volunteering a cornerstone of British society – a recent political hot topic which can only be beneficial to the voluntary and community sector.

 

Source: Third Sector

02.10.08 (1)

More affordable homes for communities

 

A new £2 million fund unveiled this week should guarantee a brighter future for Community Land Trusts (CLTs) across the country.

 

The fund, financed by a number of social investment organisations including the Tudor Trust and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, will see CLTs pocket cash in order to buy available land.  This land will be owned by the local community and will be used to provide affordable homes in order to ensure local families are not priced out of living in their local area.

 

Managed by Venturesome, the social lending division of the high profile Charities Aid Foundation, it is hoped the fund will support the creation of up to 30 new CLTs over the next four years and promote new opportunities for financing rural housing.

 

Find out more about Venturesome at:

 

http://www.cafonline.org/default.aspx?Page=6903

 

Source: Venturesome

1.10.08 (2)

Campaigning left out in the cold…

 

Charities and voluntary organisations that have a commitment to campaigning are missing out on a large number of funding opportunities and a whole load of cash, according to a new report published by the Directory of Social Change and the NCVO.

 

According to the report, Funding for Sustainable Change, a whole range of grant-making bodies have available funds to support campaign activities and advocacy projects, but most don’t make this clear enough in their scheme criteria.  In addition, the report also noted that a number of organisations were unsure of the legalities behind funding campaigning and so tended to steer clear because of this. 

 

And the result of all this confusion? The voluntary sector is being consistently locked out of accessing relevant and available funding for campaign projects.

 

In an attempt to counteract such developments and open up a debate about the core role campaigning could play for charities and voluntary organisations, the DSC and the NCVO are working together on a campaigning effectiveness team.  It is hoped the team will encourage more funders to support campaigning projects and work towards the creation of a model policy for grant givers.

 

For further information visit:

 

NCVO: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

DSC: http://www.dsc.org.uk/Home

 

And download a copy of the report here:

 

http://www.dsc.org.uk/filearchive/Conferences/Funding_for_Sustainable_Change.pdf

 

Source: Directory of Social Change

30.09.08 (2)

Crippled by council contracts?

 

Community enterprises and trust groups that get most of their funding through the provision of services for their local authority could be losing their way, according to Roger Matland, ex-director of the Westway Development Trust.

 

Commenting last week in a letter to leading regeneration magazine, Regeneration and Renewal, Matland noted a worrying trend which can see organisations and enterprises intended to benefit the community become increasingly restricted by “arm-locking deals” with public bodies.  Forced to bolster their income by undertaking public service contracts, whether beneficial to their members and their communities or not, such groups are in danger of becoming nothing more than local council puppets or “agents of the state”.

 

Ideally, claims Matland and current Development Trusts Association (DTA) director Steve Wyler, community enterprises should carry out focussed and constructive work for the community and build up their own assets through independent initiatives.  Realistically, however, many rely too heavily on money from service contracts and so are often forced to undertake work that isn’t always in line with their aims and objectives.

 

With 44% of member trusts of the DTA sourcing at least part of their income from contracts this year – a figure up 29% since 2006 – things could get worse before they get better…

 

For further information visit:

 

 http://www.dta.org.uk/

 

Source: Regeneration and Renewal

30.09.08 (1)

Graduates grab sector jobs!

 

Looking for proof that the voluntary and community sector has become an increasingly credible, prominent and significant force in recent years?  Well, new research, released this week and designed especially for graduates wishing to pursue a career in the sector, should do the trick!

 

The guide, entitled Career pathways for graduates into the voluntary/community sector, provides useful information for career advisers, students and Higher Education institutions about the types of jobs the sector has to offer and how to grab them!

 

Download yours for free at:

 

http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/hecsu.rd/research_reports_273.htm

 

Source: Higher Education Careers Services Unit

29.09.08 (2)

Social Investment Bank gives sector hope…

 

Third Sector Minister Phil Hope, speaking last week at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, gave hope to the voluntary and community sector by confirming that the Social Investment Bank initiative will go ahead.

 

The Bank, intended to channel dormant bank account funds into voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises, has been long awaited and much talked-about. It had been feared that other government priorities, such as financial inclusion programmes, would take precedent over the bank and secure the funding instead.

 

According to Hope, tendering will begin as soon as the relevant legislation has been passed.

 

Source: Regeneration and Renewal

29.09.08 (1)

Birmingham to take charge of European funds…

 

Birmingham City Council will soon be busying themselves after being awarded a weighty contract from the European Social Fund (ESF), worth approximately £590,000.

 

The Council will now host the Innovation, Mainstreaming and Transnationality Unit – a centre designed to advise potential applicants looking ESF funding – on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.  In addition, the Council will also be responsible for the co-ordination of up to £30 million of European economic development funding across England from 2008 – 2011.

 

The ESF grants themselves will fund projects and activities that tackle themes such as active inclusion, climate change, social enterprise, older workers and migration and the digital divide.  It is hoped that the programme will target some of the most disadvantaged groups in the country, including lone parents and the homeless.

 

Applications for funding will be invited before the end of the year and it is estimated that up to three projects will be supported in each of the English regions.

 

For further information visit:

 

 http://www.esf.gov.uk/innovation_transnationality/

 

Source: European Social Fund