This is where we’ll post third sector news and important updates that are useful for your organisation.
Please see the attached job description here
Closing date of advertisement is Wednesday 5th July 2023, Interview date TBA.
To apply for this position please click on the application form button on the vacancies page and submit your completed application by the closing date advertised. For any questions please contact HR – email [email protected]
Each year Community 360 produce a report looking in detail at what they have achieved throughout the past year with the local voluntary sector. They get the chance to show precisely what their volunteers and staff team have been able to do, who they have been able to work with and what more they might want to do in the future.
Click here to download here.
KIDS Inspire, the specialist trauma recovery and mental health charity, is now welcoming referrals into their new trauma service. With a community of around 2000 Ukrainian guests in Essex, this specialist service will support families impacted by the war in Ukraine to recover from their experiences and rebuild their lives.
Those seeking safety in the UK are often deeply traumatised. Many of them have lived through dreadful experiences. All have lost their homes, their careers, and their communities and many will have made long and difficult journeys before they finally arrived here.
Over the next year the service will build on the support already given to local host families and professionals by the charity, which had highlighted a significant gap in mental health support for the Ukrainian guests, and indeed all survivors of war and conflict.
Referral is easy, and open to Ukrainian families, professionals working with them, and the 1,460 sponsors currently hosting a Ukrainian family in their Essex homes. Following assessment of need the service includes both individual and group therapy sessions, and where language may be a barrier, Kids Inspire’s creative therapists can work non-verbally and with translators.
Sue Bell OBE, Kids Inspire’s Clinical Director and CEO, commented: “Our focus is on helping the Ukrainian guests in Essex to heal from the impact of the trauma they have experienced. Our specialist team can provide tools to help individuals stabilise and move from responding with survival strategies of fight, flight, freeze, fawn, which will be having a negative impact on their lives. Those families engaging in support will feel better able to support their children’s emotional needs and the children will increase their capacity to manage adversity.”
This project is funded by Essex County Council specifically for Ukrainian guests in Essex on the ‘Homes for Ukraine Scheme’.
Services are available for referral now. Families, professionals and sponsors can call 01245 348707 or email [email protected] More information can be found on the Kids Inspire website, including a contact us form.
Every three months, we’ll share £15,000 between 5 shortlisted projects that have a positive impact on communities, people or the environment.
Since 2011, the Matthew Good Foundation has empowered employees of the John Good Group to support many good causes in the UK and around the world by nominating good causes for funding. However, in 2021, our tenth year, we wanted to extend our impact and allow small charities, community projects and social entrepreneurs to come straight to us.
To stay true to our ethos of donating funds to causes close to the hearts of our members, every three months, five shortlisted projects will be voted for by John Good Group employees. These five charities will all receive a share of £15,000 – the more votes a cause receives, the bigger the donation. Following the vote, the project that receives the most votes will receive a grant of £5,000, second place £3,500, third place £2,500 and fourth and fifth place will both receive £2,000.
Charities and projects are welcome to apply all year round, and your application will be considered in the next funding round. Funding will be awarded every three months, in April, July, October and January, with an application deadline of the 15th of the month before. Eg. for the April round, applications will close on the 15th March, for the October round, applications will close on 15th September.
Your application must be on behalf of a local community group, charity, voluntary group or social enterprise that has a positive impact on communities, people or the environment and has an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months.
We want to make it easy for very small charities or new community interest companies to apply, so organisations/groups do not need to be a registered charity, however, you will need to have a bank account in your organisation’s/project’s name such as a community bank account. We are not able to provide funding to personal bank accounts.
We don’t want small charities to be intimidated by lengthy forms to complete – so we’ve kept the online application form straightforward. We’ll need your contact details, a brief outline of the organisation’s work, and how you’ll use the funds. We’ll also need a reference from someone not involved in the project, but with enough knowledge of what you do to support your application.
If you have any problems applying using the online form, please email [email protected].
The Strengthening Communities grant programme aims to support small, grass roots organisations who are embedded in the community, working within the most deprived areas of the UK. Through this grant programme we want to make sure that our funding reaches organisations that provide services which are widely accessible to the whole community and respond to, and address the needs of the people living in it.
We fund established organisations with a track record of delivering services directly to beneficiaries and want to fund work that enables:
| Grant size: | £20k – £70k per year (see FAQs for how much to apply for) |
| Length: | 1-3 years (most grants are for 3 years) |
| Decision timescale: | Within 6 months |
| Deadlines: | none |
Please only apply for this grant if you meet the following criteria:
| Organisation size: | £20k – £500k |
| Location of work: | UK only, both physically based and working within or immediately next to an area within the 10% most deprived areas in England and Scotland and within or immediately next to an area within the 15% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland and Wales |
| Funding covers: | Running costs |
| Organisation type: | Community-led charities and not for profit organisations |
Essex County Council have published a Prior information notice regarding the long-anticipated forthcoming tender process for Voluntary Sector Infrastructure services. The notice can be seen here.
Essex County Council are holding an online Market Engagement event on the 18th of July, 2023 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. They advise that the Council will finalise the scope of this forthcoming procurement opportunity following the conclusion of the market engagement stage.
To book (a maximum of two places per organisation is allowed), interested parties are invited to email strengthening.
Maldon & District CVS are holding a Funding Fair on Tuesday 4th July 1-3.30pm at Maldon Town Hall. This is for voluntary and community groups working in the Maldon District. To book a place visit https://lnkd.in/eCURbPuJ
A project supporting those on low incomes with the transition to net zero is moving forward. Net zero is the target to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity to zero.
The Smart Heat and Intelligent Energy in Low-Income Districts (SHIELD) project is looking at new approaches for installing energy efficient technologies. These technologies include solar panels, wind generation storage and electric vehicles.
Currently, decarbonising heat and energy in homes is expensive and not inclusive. The project will design, develop, and test new business models, so vulnerable customers can afford to decarbonise their heating and energy. The project is a partnership involving us, UK Power Networks, Power Circle, Citizen’s Advice Essex, Eastlight Community Homes, UK Community Works, Kensa Contracting and Thermify. SHIELD is also supported by Ofgem and Innovate UK.
This stage of the multi-phase project has secured £82,163 in funding from Ofgem. This is via its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). The fund supports finding new ways to help disadvantaged, fuel poor or off the gas grid residents reduce their carbon emissions.
SHIELD partners are developing a bid for further funding to run technology trials. Find out more about the SHIELD project.
We’re inviting organisations in Essex to bid for funding to help create resilient and vibrant communities.
The Essex Community Initiatives Fund (CIF) 2023 to 2024 is now open for applications. Essex Association of Local Councils will administer the fund on our behalf.
There are two levels of grant. The main CIF with an allocation of £300,000 and grants up to £10,000 towards projects that benefit the wider community. The Micro Grant Community Chest Fund with an allocation of £50,000 and grants of up to £1,000 to help communities connect.
Town and parish councils, community groups, social enterprises and individuals in the Essex County Council area are invited to apply.
Projects should have community backing and show that they meet a real community need.
Projects could be to:
Examples of projects the CIF has funded since 2019 include:
The deadline for applications to the main CIF is 18 August 2023.