Are you a community group or voluntary organisation looking for funding in 2018?

CCB is facilitating a FREE Funding Workshop providing information, useful tips and advice on available funding streams in West Berkshire. The training is aimed at community groups who are looking for a range of funding streams to improve their community buildings, village, neighbourhood or parish.

Date: Wednesday 7th February. Time: 11.00 – 13.00 Venue: Padworth Village Hall

We have three excellent speakers currently lined up they are:

Julian May from the Good Exchange. Julian will be explaining the criteria for the Good Exchange, a fundraising platform which allows you to access multiple funders, donors and fundraisers with a single application, how groups can register and guiding you through the process of how to get the most out of your application. He will also be able to provide further information on funding available through Greenham Trust.

Teri Kearsley from Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF). Teri will be giving an overview of current funding streams available through BCF and  tips on how to improve your chances of success.

Alex Lyons, Groundworks. Tesco Bags of Help is an exciting local community grants scheme where money raised from the sale of carrier bags is used to fund thousands of local projects in communities across the UK. Alex is from Groundworks – the community charity with a green heart – who administers the funding and will be taking you through the funding opportunities available through the scheme.

This workshop is free to attend but places are limited and booked on a first come, first served basis. This training is supported by West Berkshire Council Adult Community Learning. To book your place  please click here: https://ccberks.wufoo.eu/forms/funding-workshop/

The Community Council for Berkshire (CCB) is recruiting for a Community Buildings Advisor

• Flexible working: a part-time role of 12 hours per week
• A pro rata salary of between £20k and £24k, depending on skills and experience
• The opportunity to steer the development of the role

CCB is an independent charity that has been focused on developing strong communities in Berkshire for 44 years. Our team is committed to achieving our vision of strong and sustainable rural communities able to take control of their own futures. We are looking for the next member of our highly committed team.

Community buildings are the hub of the community they serve, providing a wide range of services to all. In rural areas, they are often the only publicly accessible venue for people to get together, making them an essential part of the fabric of a community. If they are to fulfil their full potential, they need to be safe, well run and comply with a wide range of rules and regulations.

CCB’s Community Buildings Advisor is the expert that over 60 village halls and other community buildings in Berkshire turn to for advice and guidance. The Advisor provides proactive and reactive support to those responsible for these buildings and is committed to helping them to develop their skills and knowledge.Our ideal candidate is passionate about improving the quality of life in Berkshire’s rural communities. They are confident, patient and interested in developing strong and mutually supportive relationships. They will provide a first-rate service, continually developing their skills and being enthusiastic ambassadors of village halls and other community buildings.

The job description and person specification for this role are available here, or e-mail admin@ccberks.org.uk or call 0118 961 2000. If you are interested in this opportunity, please send a CV with full covering letter explaining why this is the role for you. Address: CCB, Wyvols Court, Old Basingstoke Road, Swallowfield, Berkshire, RG7 3TS.

Deadline for Applications: 5pm on Friday 12th January 2018

Interviews will take place in the week commencing 22nd January 2018

Housing Minister Alok Sharma has announced that the Government is launching a multi-million pound funding programme to help build more communities build homes across England.

Addressing the first-ever Community-Led Housing Conference in London this week, Housing Minister Alok Sharma said:

“Worth £60 million in the first year alone, it [the new fund] will provide both capital and revenue funding, with flexibility to meet demand.

“A significant element of the funding will also go towards developing an advisory network that supports community groups to bring forward projects.”

Community groups, registered providers and other appropriate organisations will be able to apply for funding from January 2018 with the first allocations of funding being awarded around Easter. It is expected that the prospectus will be published ‘shortly’. Applications will be assessed by experts at Homes England, the new national housing agency.

The Housing Minister said that he will be setting up an advisory group to steer the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on the delivery of the funding programme.

The full transcript of the Housing Minister’s speech can be found on GOV.UK website

Source: Department for Communities and Local Government, 27/11/2017

The Plunkett Foundation know that rural life in the UK isn’t always easy, with the decline of vital services, the limited availability of jobs, affordable housing, public transport, adequate broadband and the rising cost of utilities, can mean for many people, living in a rural area presents a daily challenge.

This conference is free of charge and open to anyone that lives in, or supports, a rural community in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland and wants to save or start a community co-operative – from shops, pubs, woodlands, renewable energy schemes, transport services or anything else, or are simply looking for inspiration and advice.

It is taking place in London on the 6th December 2017. For further details please click here: https://www.plunkett.co.uk/Event/inspiring-rural-communities-together-conference-2017

1 in 5 people face isolation if rural post offices close

Citizens Advice research shows they’re at the heart of rural communities — and vital for innovative rural businesses.

There are few day-to-day tasks you can’t now do online. You can monitor your home’s energy use and open the door for parcel deliveries when you’re out. At the same time, fewer and fewer people live in rural areas. It would probably be no surprise to hear that post offices and bank branches, which provide physical access to essential services, are closing in rural areas.

But this is only half right.

Bank branches are closing
Over 1,500 have shut since 2015. In fact, the total number has more than halved over the past 30 years. Bank branches usually close when they have fewer customers (like in rural areas) or where they handle relatively low value transactions (like in deprived areas).
More and more of us are banking online. The share of people using internet banking regularly has risen from 30% of the population in in 2007 to 63% in 2017. But vulnerable people — such as older or disabled people — are particularly reliant on accessing banking and bank accounts in branches.

Post offices are not closing
You may be surprised to hear that in contrast to bank branches, the total number of post offices has remained flat since 2010 at around 11,600. There has been no closure programme. Instead, the government invested £2 billion in post offices to make them more sustainable. This has included support for 3,000 ‘community’ branches that are the last shop in a village. Thanks in part to this investment, there are more post offices in the UK than branches of all the high street banks combined.

To read more on this article from Citizens Advice please click here.