Written by our Energy Adviser and Project Co-ordinator Helen Dean.
We all know how hard it is for low-income families at the moment with winter approaching, dealing with benefit cuts, the rise in food and fuel prices, and gas and electricity costs having gone up from October this year.
If you would like a short training session for your team on discounts that families can claim for their electricity and water, and details of the telephone advice Helen can give to families to reduce their utility bills, please contact Helen at helen.dean@ccberks.org.uk, or call 0773 8887612. This update has been given to Social Services teams in West Berkshire, and has been very well received.
In November, Village Hall Advisors from 38 Counties across England came together in-person and online to attend a training event in Leicestershire.
The event expanded Village Hall Advisors knowledge on subjects including;
Making changes to Trust Deeds
New Charitable Incorporated Organisation Model Deeds
Disclosure Barring Service
Electric Car Charing Points
Parish Councils running Village Hall Charities as Sole Trustee
Dementia Friendly Village Halls
Centre for Sustainability – Energy Efficiency for Village Halls
Village Halls advisers from across England gather to share knowledge, training and hopes for the future
Our very own Community Buildings Advisor Kate Meads presented a session to delegates on how to run Hallmark Quality Standard and Certification courses online.
Kate said ‘the conference was just what we needed, and it is was great to get together in person to share learning and ideas. I feel very motivated and plan to share much of the learning with Trustees through our training programme during the next few months.’
Check out CCB’s President The Rt Honourable Lord Benyon, acting in his capacity as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, opening the event. Lord Benyon is also a Trustee of Englefield Village Hall. Here he talks eloquently about a ‘renaissance in village halls’ and the fantastic, useful advice and support that advisors like our Kate Meads and her counterparts provide.
Many of England’s 10,000+ village halls date back to the 1920s. To celebrate the contribution they make to rural communities, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) has created this virtual ‘Domesday Book’ for village halls to record the work they are doing in 2021. The record will help make the case for sustained funding and support for village halls which will be especially important as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble, Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity)
“Village halls have been a crucial part of rural life for the past century. They provide a space for activities and events that bring people together, create a sense of community, reduce loneliness and support local businesses.
At a time when many village halls are closed because of coronavirus, it is especially important to recognise and celebrate the work they do. As such, I wholeheartedly encourage anyone involved with a village hall to sign this ‘Domesday Book’ and help create a record demonstrating how important these buildings are, and what is needed to make sure they survive in the future” (January 2021)
Please register your Village Hall in the Domesday book if you have not already done this.
With big thanks to Berkshire’s CVS organisations for the information contained in this article; Reading Voluntary Action, West Berkshire Volunteer Centre, Wokingham & Bracknell Involve and Slough CVS.
Ireland Funds Great Britain
This gives grants up to £10,000 to charities across Great Britain and Ireland to support their work. It will fund organisations with projects supporting community development, culture, peace and reconciliation and education.
The fund is offering grants of up to £10,000 to charities, charitable companies, and local authorities to support skills and education development and promote sustainability in communities across the UK.
The fund aims to support ‘the many not the few’ and to help develop a sustainable strategy for the future based on the Foundation’s three pillars of corporate responsibility:
The Foundation for Social Investment (Access) and Social Investment Business (SIB) have put a further £10million into this grant programme supporting charities and social enterprises to increase their resilience by taking on social investment.
Through the fund, social investors work with charities and social enterprises, using small grants to provide support around issues such as business planning, financial modelling and forecasting. The fund is designed to give the charities and social enterprises control, allowing them to either engage support providers directly and/or use the money to free up their own capacity. Average grant is around £13,000.
The Hedley Foundation This is an endowed grant giving charitable foundation which supportssmall to medium sized UK registered charities operating across the spectrum of social need. The Trustees seek to help and improve the quality of life of people in the UK, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is achieved by making grants, within budget, to registered charities for the benefit of young people, disabled people, elderly people, the terminally ill and otherwise disadvantaged people and their carers. We award grants to those charities that are able to demonstrate quantifiable outcomes to beneficiaries. Typically, grants of up to £5,000 are regularly made and occasional larger sums are given to charities where high impact can be achieved. Similarly, smaller charities often benefit from smaller grants of £250 upwards. Next Deadline is 26th January 2022. Click here for further details.
The Joseph Rank Foundation: Pebble Grants Our mission is to improve the lives of people and their communities, across the UK, and we look to do this by encouraging and developing leadership, promoting enterprise and innovation, caring for the disadvantaged and the marginalised, and promoting the understanding of the values, traditions and practices of the Christian faith, from a perspective that respects those of all faiths and those of none. Pebbles is our small funding stream for UK registered charities and recognised churches (income of less than £500,000) which are raising money for projects where the total cost is less than £150,000. This money can be spent on short breaks (such as an annual respite break or holiday for disadvantaged young people), equipment (such as white goods), or capital costs (refurbishment or minor building work). Pebble grant applications are processed on a rolling basis. It can take up to 3 months for a decision and payment to be made. Grants are awarded on a discretionary basis; the Rank Foundation’s contribution ranges from £250 up to and including £4,000, depending on the total cost of the project. Click here for details.
Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust The Trust operates a three-year rotation system, with different fields of interest being funded each year. In 2022, the focus is on the Arts. There will be a specific focus in the first two rounds on people in the early stages of their career, specifically performers and creatives. The third and fourth rounds will focus on projects that seek to address the under-representation of BAME people in all sections of the arts. Click here for details.
Recovery Loan Fund Deadline: 21 November 2021 Loans are available to support UK charities and social enterprises who have been impacted by coronavirus/COVID-19 and need funds to help them to survive, recover and grow.
Centre for Cultural Value – Collaborate Fund Deadline: 24 November 2021 Grants are available to support the development of collaborative research projects between UK cultural sector organisations and academic researchers.
Better Community Business Network Grant Initiative Deadline: 26 November 2021 A small number of grants are available each year to small not-for-profit groups which can demonstrate a positive impact on the communities they serve across the UK.
Didymus Fund Deadline: 31 December 2021 Grants are available for small to medium UK based registered charities to support disadvantaged people in the UK, Africa or Central and South America.
Ocado Foundation Grants Programme Deadline: 31 December 2021 Grants programme for UK charities and community groups, with BizGive offering grants of up to £1,000 to successful applicants, with in-kind goods also available on request and applications for digital volunteering also accepted.
National Allotment Gardens Trust Deadline: 1 January 2022 Grants are available for registered allotment associations and committees for the improvement and development of facilities on registered and permitted sites.
Asda Foundation – Investing in Spaces and Places Grant Deadline: 9 January 2022 Grants are available to grassroots organisations in the UK for the improvement of spaces for local communities, leading to a positive difference for those living in the area.
The Marketors’ Charity Marketing Grant Programme Deadline: 10 January 2022 Offering an opportunity to smaller charities to apply for grants for marketing campaigns that will have a real impact in support of their cause. These grants are for the purpose of funding marketing campaigns and are not available for staff costs, capital investment, hardware or infrastructure work or SEO/PPC activity.
CLA Charitable Trust Deadline: 15 March 2022 The CLA Charitable Trust is dedicated to helping those who are disabled or disadvantaged to visit and participate in learning experiences about the countryside
Garfield Weston Foundation Deadline: N/A The Garfield Weston Foundation is one of the largest grant-making trusts in the UK. They provide grants to UK Registered Charities and Schools for Capital Costs, Revenue/Core Costs and Project Costs. Eligible organisations are invited to apply for projects in the following areas: Welfare, Youth, Community, Arts, Faith, Environment, Education, Health, Museums Heritage.
The BlueSpark Foundation Deadline: N/A Grants to schools, community groups, clubs, societies and not-for-project organisations which support the education and development of children and young people. The majority of grants awarded will be up to £2,000 but a handful of grants up to £5,000 may be considered.
Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) Deadline: N/A Public, private and third sector organisations in England can access capital funding to help new and existing heat networks move to low and zero carbon technologies, such as heat pumps, solar and geothermal energy.
Morgan Charitable Foundation Deadline: N/A Grants for charitable organisations in England for general charitable purposes, but including health, disability, young and older people, and overseas aid. Spend £170k pa. Thanks Nichola Brown.
Peter Cruddas Foundation Deadline: N/A The charity helps disadvantaged and disengaged young people in the age range of 16 to 30, to pursue pathways to Education, Training and Employment. Those we cannot help financially, we hope to help in other ways, through mentoring, business planning and networking.
Shanly Foundation COVID Deadline: N/A Registered charities, sports and social clubs and community organisations that help individuals and benefit the local community, including support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the homeless, those with mental health issues and people with physical disabilities, injury or life limiting illness in Bucks, Herts, Surrey and Berks.
The Syder Foundation – Large and Small Grants Deadline: N/A The Foundation aims to award around eight grants per year, with a focus on regional charities located in Berkshire and the surrounding counties. Total large grants awarded annually will be between £300,000-400,000 with each grant at around the £50,000 level. Capital projects are preferred. Programmes and other projects may be considered in exceptional cases. The Foundation sets aside around £100k per year from which small awards may be made, with a focus on regional charities located in Berkshire and some surrounding counties.
Helen Robertson Charitable Trust Deadline: N/A General Charitable Purposes.The charity helps: Children/young People, Elderly/old People, People With Disabilities,Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire, West Berkshire, Wiltshire, Windsor And Maidenhead.
Betsy Foundation Deadline: N/A Grants of up to £30,000 to UK registered charities, with income under £0.75m pa, that operate in London and the South-East, to help them overcome poverty, abuse and homelessness for the younger members of our society.
Community Housing Fund Revenue Programme 2021/22 Deadline: N/A Grants are available for community organisations to help cover the revenue costs of project-specific activities that will support the development of community led housing proposals across England (excluding London) up to March 2022.
RHS Flourish Fund Deadline: N/A Grants for voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations across the UK that are helping people acquire horticultural skills, with particular focus on promoting diversity and inclusion in horticulture.
Nationwide Building Society Mutual Respect Grant Fund Deadline: N/A Grants are available to grassroot football clubs in the UK whose activities have increased mutual respect on or off the pitch, to support costs including replacing equipment or completing repair work.
Football Foundation – Return to Disability Football Fund Deadline: N/A Grants are available to enable football clubs and organisations in England to restart or deliver new disability football activities following the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
ESFA Community Training Grants – Thames Valley Berkshire
Community Training grants between £5,000 and £20,000 are available for projects supporting people who are unemployed or economically inactive, move closer towards employment.
We fund a range of innovative projects which help prepare participants for work by providing opportunities to learn and upskill in anything from industry-specific training to developing soft-skills. Participants must be over 16 years or age and eligible to work in the UK.
Applicants must be either third sector organisations or small organisations (less than 49 employees).
Your organisation must have an annual turnover of less than €10 million Euros, please see currency convertor.
Participants must be over 16 years of age and eligible to work in the UK.
We want to support projects in Thames Valley Berkshire as the area is home to some of the many deprived local authorities such as Slough and Reading, resulting in higher levels of unemployment and economically inactive individuals. Through the ESFA Community Training Grants we hope that localised solutions can be implemented in the Thames Valley Berkshire area to address these issues and to ensure that residents can access the employment opportunities being created in the local economy.
This winter taking up invitations for vaccination appointments for Covid booster and flu are also important ways of maintaining your own health.
The Covid-19 Booster programme is being rolled out to the same priority groups as previously for the first dose COVID vaccination. This means priority will be given in the first instance to:-
Care home residents, health and social care workers
People aged over 50
Those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19
Adult carers, and adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals
A booster jab can be received 6 months after the 2nd dose. When it is your turn, you may receive a text message from your GP, the national booking system, or you can simply walk into a Covid-19 vaccination site. Details of local walk in sites in East Berkshire can be found here.
As demand for NHS services increases, knowing where to go when you’re feeling unwell and understanding how best to use local health services – particularly when services are under considerable pressure – is important so that you can get to the appropriate service as quickly as possible.
A free flu vaccination will still be available for all previously eligible groups:
a. Primary school children.
b. 65 year olds and over.
c. Vulnerable groups.
d. Pregnant women.
The Government has also extended eligibility for a free flu vaccination this year to include:
a. Secondary school children.
b. 50-64 year olds.
As with the COVID-19 vaccine, flu vaccines are available from a range of different providers, including GPs, community pharmacies, and health centres.
Simple steps to better health Regular activity, healthy eating, sleep and relaxation are four pillars which can support longer, healthier lives. That’s the message to people across this Self Care Week 2021 (Nov 15 – 21).
The theme of Self Care Week this year is to ‘Practise Self Care for Life’, so we’re raising awareness that making small and achievable changes to our everyday lives can help us to stay well and improve our health and wellbeing.
These changes include healthy tweaks to our diets, taking regular exercise, getting enough sleep and knowing what to do about symptoms of common everyday illnesses. It’s also about understanding and having the ability and confidence to manage long-term conditions.
Small steps we can all take include;
Move more – You don’t even have to join a gym. Walk the dog; leave the car at home; ignore the bus (or get off the bus one stop earlier than usual); take the stairs instead of the lift; dance around the kitchen table; just go for a walk.
Sleep – It’s when our body recharges, so a good night’s sleep is essential for sound physical and mental health.
Eat well – It is vitally important that we get the nutrients we need and avoid excessive amounts of salt, fat and sugar. Food gives you energy, which helps to keep you warm. So, try to have regular hot meals and drinks throughout the day.
Relax – We have such busy lives that we sometimes forget to take time out to relax, but it is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. Taking a couple of seconds to do something out of the ordinary can make the world of difference.
Connecting Communities in Berkshire 