News and information from our partners, collaborators and more on their exciting opportunities and events for each week. Be sure to check in to keep up to date with industry news.
The Go! London Fund was announced last week!
Please see details here Get info | Go! London (golondon.org.uk)
Strong applications will be from partnerships between sport and physical activity and youth led organisations especially those working with youth voice and additional needs. Go! London would be happy to support and facilitate any partnerships required between youth and sports organisations to be able to submit expressions of interest by the 28th March or 4th April depending on the bid.
Please do get in touch if you have existing projects and ideas.
Budget 2023: £100m for community organisations
On Wednesday 15th of March, the Chancellor delivered the Spring Budget 2023.
You can download a briefing from Locality on the Budget and how it affects community organisations.
This includes over £100m of support for local charities and community organisations most affected by the cost of living crisis. This comes after Locality's continued lobbying of the government to provide more support for our sector as it faces increased demand and costs.
They have been in immediate contact with the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport following the announcement. They've been encouraged that the support will be particularly targeted at the types of organisations in Locality’s membership. This recognises community organisations’ vital role on the frontline of the cost of living crisis. We'll now be working closely with the department to ensure the money gets out of the door as quickly and effectively as possible.
The briefing also includes details of other important new announcements for the community sector in England, including:
· Over £4.1bn by 2027/28 to fund 30 free hours of childcare per week for children aged nine months to three years. In addition, £204m will be provided this year to "substantially increase" the hourly funding rate paid to providers alongside an increase in staff-to-child ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds.
· Over £60m of support for public swimming pools facing immediate energy cost pressures.
· A £10m grant fund for suicide prevention VCSE organisations
· Over £400m to rollout new "Levelling Up Partnerships" for regeneration in 20 areas between now and 2025.
· A further £200m for 16 regeneration projects to begin this year for quicker delivery in targeted ‘left-behind’ places.
If you have any questions, please contact policy@locality.org.uk.
Visa Scholarships
Applications are now open for our third cohort of Visa Scholarships for students starting their first year of an undergraduate degree at any accredited university in the UK 2023-24.
The scholarship is aimed at supporting Black and Asian minoritized ethnic students who also meet the socio-economic criteria on our website
THE OFFER
· Financial - You’ll receive support for your course fees, up to a value of £9250 per year, up to four years, in tuition scholarships
· Mentorship – You’ll receive coaching, mentorship and guidance from experienced Visaemployees.
· Skills building – You’ll have the chance to grow key technical, professional and leadership skills through training and development opportunities.
· Career development – You’ll have exposure to career growth activities to help prepare for post-graduation careers.
· Work Experience – During the summer there will be options to get work experience and engage with Visa, including the opportunity to apply for a paid internship where you can learn new skills, collaborate and find a community of like minded students
HOW TO APPLY
· Carefully read the information pack here, complete the online application by 26th March at 11.59pm.
· This is a popular programme and we recommend submitting your application and financial information well in advance of the deadline as we will not be accepting any applications after the deadline.
Mind's Mental Health, Work and Standard of Living Survey
Mind know that more and more people are struggling to make ends meet, despite working. Including thousands of us with mental health problems.
So they’ve put out a survey for people who are 16+, live in England/Wales and have experience of mental health problems. You need to be in paid work and feel you’re either falling short of a decent standard of living; or can’t afford to eat, keep clean and stay warm and dry.
The more people’s experiences we gather, the more evidence we’ll have to fight for change.
The survey can be accessed using this link: bit.ly/41QBdTi. It takes 10-20 minutes to complete. Participants will be entered into a draw to win their choice of a £25 Love2Shop or Amazon voucher for their time.
Help the Oxford Vaccine Group improve vaccine communication
The Oxford Vaccine Group are looking for people who identify as Black, Asian and/or eastern European to take part in a two hour focus group to help them explore and understand the ways that vaccine-related information, hosted on a website, can be made better. They are hoping to run the focus groups online, week beginning 20th March 2023.
You will also have the opportunity to join their public and patient involvement group on an on-going basis.
To take part in a focus group you need to be aged 18 and older and be from one of these groups. As the discussion will take place online, access to a mobile, tablet, or computer, as well as an internet connection is also required. The discussions will be in English, so you also need to feel confident speaking English.
They will reimburse you for your time with a voucher. Please email charlie.firth@paediatrics.ox.ac.uk , for more information or to express interest.
Action for Race Equality Parent Forum
All parents are invited to attend the next Parent Forum session on ‘Emotional Intelligence Communication Strategies’ taking place on Wednesday 22nd March 6:30pm – 8:00pm on Zoom.
The session will be presented by guest speaker Royston John who is a mentor and NVR trainer, and who will discuss how these strategies can be employed to improve your relationship with your child.
Register your place here.
The Parent Forum sessions are facilitated jointly by Action for Race Equality (ARE) and their partners Communities Empowerment Network (CEN) as part of the Parents Empowering Parents (PEP) Programme designed to inform, upskill, and empower parents.
The Parent Forums are free to attend and provide a space for parents/carers to build supportive peer networks and learn from guest speakers and other parents with similar experience.
They will also be hosting a virtual Parent Coffee Morning on Tuesday 28th March at 10:30am on Zoom. Their relaxed coffee mornings welcome open conversation, building a core group of engaged, empowered parents.
Register your place at our coffee morning here.
Get Grants Workshops
Get Grants (a grants training and consultancy organisation) are putting on lots of free training sessions for VCS organisations this year which may be of interest to you:
FREE Introduction Workshops
Introduction to Bid Writing for Charities and Community Groups Workshop
Thursday 23rd March, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Bid Writing in Sports Workshop
Thursday 20th April, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Community Fundraising Workshop
Thursday 18th May, 11am – 12pm
Introduction to Major Donor Fundraising Workshop
Thursday 8th June, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Trusts & Foundations Workshop
Thursday 22nd June, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Individual Giving Workshop
Thursday 6th July, 11am – 12pm
Introduction to Corporate Fundraising Workshop
Tuesday 25th July, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Using Data in Fundraising Workshop
Friday 29th September, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Storytelling in Fundraising Workshop
Tuesday 10th October, 10am – 11am
Introduction to Fundraising Strategy Workshop
Friday 10th November, 10am – 11am
If you have any questions, please contact Sue Corbett at sue@getgrants.org.uk
