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An Introduction to the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new five-year Funding Framework and Grants Programme

March 18, 2019by Libby Mahoney in Blog, News and Events, SCVO News tagged , ,

We are pleased to invite you to an event that will tell you about the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new funding framework and National Lottery Grants for Heritage.

Over the last six years, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (formally known as the Heritage Lottery Fund) has supported 50 new projects in Sandwell, totalling over £6.33 million.

If you are interested in applying or considering applying for funding for a heritage related project, this is your opportunity to find out more about what’s involved, check your eligibility to apply and find out about this new funding programme.

Jackie Lee, part of the development team at the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Birmingham office will lead the event. She will explain how the new funding framework provides a simpler and more flexible funding offer.  She will introduce the audience to the new single open grants programme, which is for all types of heritage project, and which includes new resources and digital guidance on the website to support applicants.

This event will help you recognise the range of heritage and activities National Lottery Heritage Fund supports and explain how you can access guidance and advice that will help your develop your heritage project idea.

The event will take place on Thursday 11th April 2019, 10am until 1pm in SCVO’s Board Room, 1st Floor, Landchard House, Victoria Street, West Bromwich, B70 8ER. Registration opens from 9.45am for a prompt 10am start for those booked onto the event.  This event is targeted primarily at those groups from Sandwell’s voluntary and community sector and groups whose main beneficiaries live in Sandwell.  Groups from outside the borough may attend but priority will be given to Sandwell groups as above.

There is a maximum of 25 places available for this workshop. Please book two tickets only per organisation. All places must be booked through Eventbrite by clicking here.

**PLEASE NOTE** – a cancellation policy applies to the workshop bookings – details will be provided at the time of booking.  There is NO public car parking available at Landchard House.  However, there is plenty of on street and pay-and-display parking in the immediate vicinity,  We are (more or less) opposite the Lodge Road Metro stop, and within 5 mins walk of West Bromwich central bus station.

A Conversation with the National Lottery Community Fund

March 11, 2019by Libby Mahoney in Blog, SCVO News tagged , ,

SCVO in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund are hosting a series of monthly surgery sessions for those wishing to discuss their submitted initial outline proposal in more detail. The surgery sessions will be held on the second Monday of the month, from 10am until 1pm at SCVO’s Offices, 1st Floor, Landchard House, Victoria Street, West Bromwich, B70 8ER.

The Lottery’s Grants Officer will be available for booked appointments to further discuss your initial proposal and potential next steps. Prior to booking an appointment you must have completed and emailed the National Lottery Community Fund at Midlandsteam@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk with your initial outline proposal (shaped around their 6 bullet points which can be found by clicking here and looking under the ‘What we need to know’ Section on their website).

Future dates for the surgery sessions include:

  • Monday 8th April 2019,
  • Monday 10th June 2019,
  • Monday 8th July 2019,
  • Monday 12th August 2019,
  • Monday 9th September 2019,
  • Monday 14th October 2019,
  • Monday 11th November 2019 and
  • Monday 9th December 2019.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this unique opportunity and want to book your time slot with The National Lottery Community Fund please email Donna Adams at Donna.Adams@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or call on 0121 345 7661 to avoid disappointment.

Cradley Heath Trail Drop-in Sessions

March 9, 2019by Libby Mahoney in Blog, SCVO News tagged , ,

SCVO in partnership with Cradley Heath Community Centre have commenced a trial monthly drop-in sessions  over the next three months for Sandwell Community, Voluntary  and Social Enterprise organisations at Cradley Heath Community Centre, Reddal Hill Road, Cradley Heath, B64 5JG.

Libby Mahoney, SCVO’s Small Groups Development Officer, will be available on the first Friday of every month from 10am till 12pm.

The drop-in sessions will take place on:

  • Friday 5th April 2019,
  • Friday 3rd May 2019 and
  • Friday 7th June 2019.

This is your opportunity to discuss your project ideas, business plans or funding application(s) and receive practical support, advice and tips on how to improve the success of your project/application and much more.

Please note your organisation must be based or delivering here in Sandwell to be able to access this service.

To see what other services SCVO provides please visit our website at www.scvo.info

VCS Online Directory Survey

February 4, 2019by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, SCVO News tagged ,

SCVO would love to hear about your experience of using our Voluntary and Community Sector Directory, as part of a review to improve the site and make it more useful, now and for the future.

We should be grateful for your feedback by completing a short two minute survey.

Thank you for your help.

EPIC Funding is Go! Grant application window now open…

January 28, 2019by Stuart Ashmore in Funding, SCVO News tagged

 SCVO is working in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to help build long-term resilience within Sandwell Communities.

 

The purpose of the EPIC Grant Programme (Empowering People In Communities) is to enable local voluntary and community organisations to access funding that supports the following broad outcomes:

  • Increased resilience within communities
  • Increased self reliance
  • Improved and stronger relationships within the community
  • Residents are involved in the design and delivery of activities that make a positive change in their communities
  • Asset and strengths based – building on what exists in communities

Extensive community conversations have helped to shape the elements of this programme.  EPIC is a three year grant programme aimed at improving the wellbeing of communities, and tackling isolation and loneliness. It does this by developing stronger relationships and building on what exists within communities. This could include making the most of community spaces, improving access to transport and using people’s skills, talents and experience.

Grants up to £80,000 will be available for projects that are aimed at people (of all ages) who feel lonely or isolated, and projects that aim to improve the wellbeing of communities.

There are three tiers of funding available:

  • under £10,000
  • £10,001 to £40,000
  • £40,001 to £80,000 (working in collaboration)

Applications for Round 1 open on Monday 28th January 2019 and will close on Monday, 18th March 2019 at 12 noon.

Application paperwork (in Word format) and guidance notes (in pdf format) are available for download as follows:

For applications under £10,000:

 

For applications over £10,000 (incl. collaboration):

 

If you would like to discuss any proposals before submitting an application, or you have any general queries, please contact Manisha Patel, Community Partnerships Coach, T: 0121 525 1127 / E: manisha@scvo.info

 

Breakfast Networking Opportunity – For Early Birds!

January 18, 2019by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, News and Events, SCVO News tagged ,

Are you a Voluntary Sector or Public Sector organisation working and delivering services in Sandwell?

Would you like the chance to promote your services to others and help spread the word about the work you are undertaking?

Then please join us for an informal networking session being held on Thursday 14th March at RSPB Sandwell Valley, 20 Tanhouse Avenue, Great Barr, B43 5AG

The session starts at 7.30am and finishes  at 9.00am.  Light refreshments will be provided.  Please do bring along with you any leaflets or flyers you may have (no pull up banners due to limited space).

Refreshments will be provided.  Set you alarm and come and join us!

To book your place please e-mail mazeline@scvo.info or leona@scvo.info or call the office on 0121 525 1127

EPIC funding lands in Sandwell

January 14, 2019by Stuart Ashmore in Funding, SCVO News tagged

SCVO is working in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to help build long-term resilience within Sandwell Communities.

As mentioned in last week’s e-bulletin, SCVO will be launching EPIC funding in early February.

The purpose of the EPIC (Empowering People in Communities) Grant Programme is to enable local voluntary and community organisations to access funding that supports the following broad outcomes:

  • Increased resilience within communities
  • Increased self reliance
  • Improved and stronger relationships within the community
  • Residents are involved in the design and delivery of activities that make a positive change in their communities
  • Asset and strengths based – building on what exists in communities

Extensive community conversations have helped to shape the elements of this programme.  EPIC is a three year grant programme aimed at improving the wellbeing of communities, and tackling isolation and loneliness. It does this by developing stronger relationships and building on what exists within communities. This could include making the most of community spaces, improving access to transport and using people’s skills, talents and experience.

Grants up to £80,000 will be available for projects that are aimed at people (of all ages) who feel lonely or isolated, and projects that aim to improve the wellbeing of communities.

There are three tiers of funding available:

  • under £10,000
  • £10,001 to £40,000
  • £40,001 to £80,000 (working in collaboration)

Applications for Round 1 open on Monday 28th January 2019 and will close on Friday 15th March 2019.

To help organisations with potential submissions, we have organised five sessions, where you can hear more about the detail of the funding opportunity and what we are looking for in applications.

Please use the relevant Eventbrite link to book a place at your chosen/preferred session – attendance is on a first come, first served basis and is limited to 1 ticket per organisation (so that we can make the sessions available to as many groups as possible):

Application forms and guidance notes will be available on our website from 28th January 2019.

For more information contact: Manisha Patel, Community Partnerships Coach – T: 0121 5251127 / E: manisha@scvo.info

Early Help Partnership Event Invitation

January 14, 2019by Leona in Blog, SCVO News tagged

Don’t miss out on our Early Help Partnership Event – taking place on Wednesday 23rd January from 1pm – 3pm at the Yemeni Community Association.

We welcome all who are working with and supporting children, young people and families in West Bromwich, to come together to share, learn and develop new partnerships.

To book your place please e-mail Amelia – earlyhelp@scvo.info

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

January 4, 2019by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, Funding, SCVO News tagged ,

We are pleased to announce that The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation have awarded SCVO a five year grant (June 2018 to May 2023) of £1.4m. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for people and communities throughout the UK both now and in the future. It does this by funding the charitable work of organisations who are building an inclusive, creative and sustainable society. The Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK.

The funding has been awarded to help build greater long-term resilience within Sandwell’s communities and support residents to use their strengths, skills and assets to co-design activities and deliver them in their local communities. Such “resilience” may be seen as the (community’s) ability to respond to crises/stress through the involvement and participation of people in ways that strengthen community bonds, resources, and its capacity to cope (‘bounce back’) and move forward.

Before the money was awarded there were two consultation events and a number of conversations with strategic partners which brought together a huge wave of ideas, visions and aspirations. These consultations have helped to shape the planned programme. The changes we would like to see as a result of the investment are stronger relationships between community hubs/anchors, residents and leaders, increased resilience and self-reliance and communities using strengths based approaches to tackle challenges and design and own local activities.

There are three strands to the programme:

• BOUNCE (Building Ownership, Unlocking Networks, Creating Empowerment): working in partnership with existing ‘community anchor/hubs’ organisations to use a strengths/asset based approach to support local communities to design, deliver and own activities for positive change. We are excited to be working with the first four organisations as part of the BOUNCE strand, these organisations are; Brasshouse (North Smethwick Development Trust), Smethwick CAN, Bangladeshi Women’s Association and Bearwood Community Hub CIC. Over the lifetime of the programme, we will support additional organisations, ensuring there is a good spread across Sandwell.

• Large Grants: EPIC grant funding will launch early February 2019. Extensive community conversations have helped to influence the EPIC grant programme. Look out for more information in the ebulletin of Monday, 14 January 2019.

• Leadership Development Support: for key people engaged through the programme, focusing on emerging community leaders.

For more information contact Manisha Patel on 0121 5251127 or manisha@scvo.info

Discovering New Partnerships and Possibilities – Learning Outcomes

December 3, 2018by Leona in Blog, SCVO News tagged

Sandwell Early Help Partnership held an event on 21st November 2018.  The aim was for everyone to leave with a better understanding of the issues and challenges that our children, young people and families face, increased knowledge of the services available and lastly a roster of new contacts enabling the building of new partnerships.

The event was really well attended with over 70 people all from different sectors including the voluntary and community sector, education, Children’s Trust and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

Attendees were asked what the most important opportunity they wanted to gain from the event, networking came out on top with knowing what support can be better provided by working together to achieve more.

Delegates were asked what their biggest concern or worry about the issues and challenges facing children and young people – mental health came out as the highest concern.  They were also asked a similar question around issues and challenges facing parents and carers – parental skills came out top closely followed by poverty and personal circumstances.

Questions were then ask around what could be improved

What one thing would improve the way you work with other support organiastions?  35% felt better communication between agencies would improve the way we work together.

What local resources and assets could we make more use of in supporting children and young people? 44% felt our collective knowledge and skills are the biggest assets that we could make more use of.

Sandwell Family Life was promoted and demonstrated. – www.sandwellfamilylife.info is an online portal outlining a range of universal services available for children, young people and families from different Sectors.

What next?

If your organisation’s services are not already registered on the portal then we would urge you to do so.

The Early Help Partnership Team will use the information from the event to inform how it organises, structures and runs events in the future.  They will look to host more town based, borough wide and thematic events, responding to the issues and challenges identified by the Partnership’s Members.

What is the Early Help Partnership?

The Sandwell Early Help Partnership brings together schools, voluntary agencies, community organisations, faith groups, Sandwell Council, health providers, police and fire services and others, to work more closely supporting children and families in Sandwell.  The Partnership believes that all children and young people growing up in Sandwell deserve the best possible start in life and should have access to a wide range of opportunities to grow and develop into healthy, happy individuals and active citizens within our community.  Partnership activities encourage stronger networking between agencies to enable a more helpful, joined up support offer to be available for Sandwell families.

If you are not yet a member of the Early Help Partnership or are not listed on Sandwell Family Life then please get in touch with Amelia at SCVO – earlyhelp@scvo.info or telephone 0121 525 1127

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