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Bursaries and grants for third sector organisations working with communities impacted by the recession - delivered locally by Derbyshire Rural Community Council and South Derbyshire CVS.

Is the programme right for you?

The funding is targeted at third sector organisations with an annual income of between £150k and £750k, which are wholly or primarily engaged in recession-related services under the themes of:
• well being and health
• advice, information and guidance
• loss of income, training and skills.

To help decide if Capacitybuilders grants programme is right for your organisation, you should consider the following questions:
• Does your organisation benefit people affected by the recession?
• Could you work more closely with other organisations to:
- increase your impact?
- extend your reach?
- generate more income?
- reduce your overhead costs?
• Would you benefit from free advice to help you explore how your organisation can respond to the recession including whether collaboration or merger is right for your organisation?

Phase One - Know your needs: From June 1st (close end June), eligible organisations can apply for £1000 bursaries to pay for at least two days support from an adviser. Organisations will explore how they can increase their impact and become more resilient and will be encouraged to consider working together more closely with others including looking at whether collaboration or merger might be right for them.

Phase Two - Grow together: From October 2009, grants of up to £10,000 will be available to help organisations who have been through Phase One to buy the professional and specialist support and advice they need to make collaboration or merger happen, such as audit / accountancy fees to carry out due diligence work or legal fees associated with drawing up contracts, or other support critical to success.

As a separate part of the Modernisation Fund, Futurebuilders are offering loans of £30,000 and above to organisations with existing plans for collaboration and merger or who wish to take forward other activity to help prepare their business for difficult times.

Find out more about the grants and loans available under the Modernisation Fund, at: www.modernisationfund.org.uk

Recession Resources

NCVO has put together a guide for voluntary and community organisations on surviving the recession, it looks at topics such as future sustainability, strengthening key relationships and tightening up financial systems. For more information or to contribute go to www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

Government Expenditure on Voluntary and Community Sector

The Cabinet Officer has published a report on its expenditure on the VCS during 2004-05 and 2005-06. www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

Planning for an Influenza Pandemic

The Department of Health have provided supplementary information for third sector organisations to assist with planning for pandemic flu, accompanied by a letter from Prof Lindsey Davies, National Director of Pandemic Influenza Preparedness.

The aim is to bring together the UK's planning assumptions and the Government's response strategy for the various aspects of an influenza pandemic that will be particularly relevant to the third sector - see www.oneeastmidlands.org.uk/

Women in the Criminal Justice System: Addressing Their Needs

Wed 1 July 9:30 - 16:00
at New Bath Hotel, Matlock Bath

Derbyshire Probation will be hosting a one-day working conference to assess the needs of women in the criminal justice system in Derbyshire,and to develop ways forward to jointly address those needs.

The day will be structured around workshops looking at crucial issues which impact on women in the criminal justice system followed by an action planning session.

To register a place, please email mark.self@derbyshire.probation.gsi.gov.uk

Need for Trustees to Report Serious Incidents

The Charity Commission has revised its guidance for trustees on the need for charities (in England and Wales) to report serious incidents. "An incident that has taken place in a charity is considered as serious if it has resulted or could result in a significant loss of funds or a significant risk to the charity's property, work, beneficiaries or reputation.” The revised guidance clarifies their approach to issues of serious concern, what they consider to be serious or significant, the actions trustees should take and the legal requirements placed upon them, and what the Commission's response may be. www.charitycommission.gov.uk/investigations/rsi.asp

Health and Safety Site Keeps up the Updates

The Health and Safety Executive has been busy revamping sections of its website recently. They are going to be carrying on this trend until March 2010, every week launching at least one new micro-site for a specific industry or health and safety topic. A new home page is due on 3 June, along with a facility to request further features. www.hse.gov.uk/news/2009/newwebsite.htm

Gift Aid Reclaim Delays Should Reduce Soon

HM Revenue and Customs is hoping that long delays to reclaim Gift Aid, due to more incorrect claims following the change to the basic rate of tax announced in the 2008 Budget, will soon be resolved. Charity Finance news alert reports that delays should soon be minimised thanks to extra training and technology upgrades, www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2838

Offering Placements to Graduates

Voluntary sector employers are being encouraged to offer placements to graduates from September 2009, as part of the Government's Graduate Talent Pool initiative. Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, says "we need to offer new graduates the chance to experience working in this sector, help them to develop their employability skills and encourage them to forge careers with us in the longer term.” Internships, both paid and unpaid, would vary in length but typically last around three months. Workforce Hub news item or go direct to www.dius.gov.uk/graduatetalentpool to register.

Engaging with Assessing Local Public Services and Outcomes

The Office of the Third Sector has published a short briefing on the key elements of the Comprehensive Area Assessment and its relevance to the third sector. The CAA is a framework for independent assessment of how well people are served by the public bodies in their area, which came in from April 2009. "The CAA can act as a lever for the third sector to hold local government to account. It is important for the third sector to have a coordinated approach to engaging with the CAA locally, in order to effectively have their voices heard and to be able to maximise the contribution of the wider sector to the assessment process.”

Download 'Comprehensive Area Assessment: Briefing for the third sector' (pdf, 80KB) from www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/090522_caa.aspx

Developing Aspiring Sector Leaders

The Clore Social Leadership Programme aims to equip aspiring leaders in the third sector with competence and confidence to deliver for the future. Applications for the fellowships starting January 2010 have just opened, with a deadline of 30 June.

See programme director Mary Marsh's Society Guardian article at www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/27/mary-marsh-public-eye or go direct to www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk (if you have navigation problems, use the site map www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk/sitemap.php).

Support for Bidding for Future Jobs Fund

Futurebuilders England has put together a web page on how it can help third sector organisations bid for Future Jobs Fund contracts with the Department for Work and Pensions. They can: help you find like-minded groups to work in partnership with; provide investment to help with costs associated with merging, collaborating or establishing consortia; and provide investment to help support you to prepare and submit your bid for the Future Jobs Fund.
www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk/what-we-offer/products/future-jobs-fund/

Focus on Effective and Proportionate Governance

The May edition of the bulletin from Arvac, which gives information on research in the voluntary and community sector, has a strong focus on governance. There is a summary of a draft report into 'proportionate governance' (does one size fit all?) commissioned by NCVO from Compass Partnership, looking at previous work and current thinking on the subject, with particular regard to smaller organisations. Plus specialist lawyer James Sinclair Taylor looks at the implications of Companies Act 2006 and a piece on the future of trustee support. Download (pdf, 97KB) from www.arvac.org.uk/docs/info_bulletin.html

Allen Lane Foundation

The Allen Lane Foundation is a grant-making trust set up in 1966 by the late Sir Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books, to support general charitable causes. The Foundation no longer has closing dates. Applications will be processed continually.

The Foundation is interested in funding work which benefits people in the following groups, or generalist work which includes significant numbers from more than one such group:

asylum-seekers and refugees;
gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender people;
gypsies and travellers;
offenders and ex-offenders;
older people;
people from black and minority ethnic communities and migrant workers; and
people experiencing mental health problems; people experiencing violence or abuse.

If the beneficiaries of your work do not include a significant proportion of people from one or more of these groups it is very unlikely that your application will be successful.

While recognising (and being willing to support) ongoing, tried and tested projects, the Foundation is particularly interested in unusual, imaginative or pioneering projects which have perhaps not yet caught the public imagination. The grants are relatively modest. Single, one-off grants range from as little as £500 up to £15,000. Grants repeated for more than one year vary from about £500 per annum up to £5,000 per annum, for a maximum of three years. To make sure that grants of this size have an impact the Foundation will not fund larger organisations. The Foundation will make single grants, or grants for two or three years. It is unlikely to make a second grant immediately after one has finished and if an application is refused, they ask applicants to wait a year before applying again.

Allen Lane Foundation, 90 The Mount, York YO24 1AR
Telephone: 01904 613223
Fax: 01904 613133
Email: info@allenlane.org.uk
Website: www.allenlane.org.uk

Ecominds: Part of the BIG Changing Spaces Funding

Ecominds is an open grant programme run by Mind as an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund. The programme has £7.5 million to distribute to around 125 new and existing projects focusing on mental health and the environment around England over the next five years. Ecominds aims to help people with direct experience of mental distress become involved in environmental projects that improve mental and physical health and local communities. Ecominds will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental distress and help create a society that treats people with experience of mental distress fairly, positively, and with respect. There is growing evidence demonstrating that green exercise provides substantial benefits for health and wellbeing.

Projects must:

have both a mental health and environmental perspective;
be submitted by an England-based group and applied for in England;
be thoroughly planned and relevant to the environment; Involve people with direct experience of mental distress;
encourage community access and collaboration, and improve the environment and environmental sustainability;
have a budget falling within one of our four levels: Small - under £20,000; Medium – between £20,001 and £60,000; Large – between £60,001 and Flagship – £150,000; or under £250,000; and
be delivered by December 2012.

Download Guidelines and application forms from website below. Upon completion, post your application form to: Grants Officers, Ecominds, 15-19 Broadway, Stratford, London E15 4BQ

There are no longer any set funding rounds. They will now assess applications on a rolling method. They post notifications of how many grants have been awarded and when on the website as they occur. They would particularly like to encourage small and medium sized applications.

Applications will close in late 2011.

Changing Spaces advice line: 08453 671 671
Website: www.mind.org.uk/ecominds/

Cycle Champions Events

Fun Free Cycle Tryout - 7 June
Provided by CTC Cycle Champions Project, for all ages and all abilities at Chaddesden Carnival. All kinds of bikes for all kinds of people. www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5216

Sustrans Annual Biking BBQ and Swim - 14 June
Supported by CTC Cycle Champions Project. Free led ride and swim with BBQ available. www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5216

Heels on Wheels - 16 June
Summer Cycle Chic Bonanza. Fashion, networking and beautiful cycles to try. www.cycledivas.co.uk

Sponsored Five Parks Cycle Ride in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support - 12 July
Sign up now for this fun family six mile ride which takes you to five of Derby’s parks. Free to take part but raise as much sponsorship as you can. www.ctc.org.uk/derby

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