LitterHeros Ambassadors

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Keep Britain Tidy is seeking new #LitterHeroes Ambassadors to join their volunteer programme and they need your help!

During your work you may meet members of the public who want to volunteer and have a real passion for community engagement and keeping public spaces clean. We’d love you to encourage them to apply to join our enthusiastic #LitterHeroes Ambassadors in becoming community activators across the UK.

The #LitterHeroes Ambassador programme is supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery and aims to support community cohesion, improve public spaces and help benefit mental and physical wellbeing.

All people need to do is; apply directly online via https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LHAapply2019

Applications close on Monday 6th May 2019.
Successful applicants will be notified of next steps during the week commencing 6th May.

Tribute to former Patron of CCB Mary Bayliss

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TRIBUTES have been paid to former Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire Mary Bayliss, who died last week.

Mrs Bayliss was involved with many local charities and was Connecting Communities in Berkshire’s Patron from 2008-2015.

Chief Officer of CCB, Tim Parry, said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of The Honourable Mrs Mary Bayliss. During her time as our Patron she supported many of our community focused events. We are very grateful for the kindness and support she showed CCB through her patronage. Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with her family at this sad time.”

Save money on heating your home with oil this year, join our club

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For those that are off the gas grid and heat your homes with oil CCB promotes the use of oil clubs to come together with your community and use your bulk purchasing power to reduce the cost of ordering oil, as well as the amount of tankers that are on our roads delivering it.

For those homes that don’t have a local oil club we launched the CCB Oil Club in partnership with Oil Fuel Poverty Scheme (OFPS) in 2012 so that all homes in Berkshire can benefit from group buying. In the last financial year (April 2018 – March 2019) we saved our members over £8660 in total on their orders, compared to average pence per litre prices.

All you need to do to take advantage of the scheme is to pay an annual membership fee, from as little as £24, which will cover as many orders as you need during the year. The membership charge goes towards covering the administrative costs of running the project. Any surplus from the CCB Oil Club will go directly towards supporting CCB’s charitable work.

For further details, including recent prices obtained please click here.

Coverage of Rural Issues for Young People

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Recently our national network Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) worked with the BBC and gained powerful coverage of issues for young people in rural areas.

Transport and Digital connectivity issues were discussed on a BBC 5 Live programme which Flick Humphrey, ACRE Public Affairs and Communications Manager co-hosted with presenter Nihal Arthanayake.

Also on the show was Rural Services Network CEO Graham Biggs and Wheels to Work user from Shropshire RCC Jamie Yale. The show was a result of a film Flick put together which you can watch below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-47787888/rural-transport-how-long

Robert Jenerick and Lord Gardiner of Kimble Launch a £3m grant for village halls.

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On Friday 5 April Nottinghamshire MP Robert Jenrick and Defra Minister for Rural Affairs Lord Gardiner launched a £3m grant for the improvement of village halls.

There are 10,000 Village Halls in England and many are key for rural communities; they provide a space for shops, pubs, cafes, fitness, social, healthcare and even education.


Speaking from the launch event in Oxton Village Hall, Mr Jenrick acknowledged the importance of village halls saying, “Village halls are at the heart of rural communities; places where people come together.” He also shared his understanding that “it’s challenging for communities to raise funds.”


Lord Gardiner said, “This launch is to see how we can enhance and improve the facilities, and this will make a big difference for a large number of communities with village halls.”


The scheme will fund up to 20% of eligible costs, with a minimum grant of £10,000 and a maximum grant of £75,000 payable. This means overall scheme costs would be between £50,000 and £375,000.


ACRE Chair, David Emerson CBE said, “We are hugely appreciative for the ongoing recognition from government of village halls.”
The grant is now open for applications and will be managed by CCB’s national network Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on behalf of Defra.

All eligibility, criteria and information and the application process is online, please visit http://acre.org.uk/our-work/village-hall-improvement-grant%20fund