News

This is where we’ll post third sector news and important updates that are useful for your organisation.

Community Investment Fund: Seeking Funding Proposals up to £10,000 per Year

The Community Investment Fund is managed and delivered by the Community Investment Board, made up of local residents volunteering their time to make investments enabling Southend residents to improve their lives. The fund is hosted by Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS). The board are keen to hear from not-for-profit groups or individuals with ideas that will achieve our vision and mission from Jan 2022 onwards. The board are seeking proposals looking for up to £10,000 per year in early 2022. The funding is targeted at organisations with a lower income (approx. £100,000 or less). This initial funding is being offered as a trial to establish the best way for the Community Investment Fund to operate in the future. The board then planning for larger investments from spring 2022 onwards, all from a total pot of £1.5m from Southend Borough Council.

The Community Investment Board’s vision is of a sustainable Southend where residents engage in their wider communities, are empowered to realise and reach their full potential. In a city they are proud of, feel safe in and can enjoy healthy and fulfilling lives.

Their mission is to utilise the strengths and assets of Southend locally by motivating residents to create sustainable and resilient communities that will;

  • Improve health and wellbeing; mental health; and the perception and attitudes towards Southend.
  • Reduce isolation and loneliness, homelessness; poverty; addiction; antisocial behaviour and violent crime.
  • Enable community-led action to improve and allow community ownership of physical spaces & local events.
  • Enhance a thriving economy, by raising aspirations and building skills.
  • Influence positive change within organisations to improve and develop their activities.
  • Invest for future sustainability in the work of the Community Investment Board.

 

The board are interested in ideas seeking up to £10,000, per year (i.e. 2022, 2023 and 2024), for use until September 2024 from those based and/or working in Southend that;

  • Will deliver their vision and mission and Southend Borough Council’s 2050 themes and outcomes.
  • That deliver direct benefits to the most marginalised communities in Southend facing the challenges within our vision and mission and tailored to them.
  • Ideas that minimise the need to access statutory services and dependency on them.
  • Activities that provide support outside of usual working hours and are more accessible.
  • Are from small organisations, most likely with an income of around or less than £100k per year seeking core or project costs from Jan 2022 to Sept 2024 over weeks, months or years. If you apply for funding for a short time you are welcome to request more if you need it in the future.
  • Proposals where those who will benefit from the activities are directly involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of the plans.

Board member Paula Morgan said, ‘Our board of 9 members only came together in September this year formally for the first time. Since then we have been exploring the various strengths and opportunities in our city – we are all local residents and excited to have this chance to invest in and inspire change across our own communities using our lived experiences.’

Throughout 2022 it is envisaged that the board will meet monthly, to consider proposals. If you have feedback or questions, want to find out more or talk through your idea and how to approach this, please contact our Community Investment Fund Coordinator, Gemma Cartwright using cib@savs-southend.co.uk, 01702 356008 . To apply and find out more visit the guidance here.

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News

Essex Youthbuild Open Day | The New Faces of Construction

Construction is forever evolving. It is important that we too evolve as people. Let’s start by engaging with the new faces of construction.

About this event

Calling all contractors, employers, schools and parents! This is your chance to discover Essex Youthbuild and to find out about the work we do with young people in the community; filling the skill gaps in construction. Take this opportunity to find out how you can be a part of improving our young people’s development, and building the future generation of construction workers. You will discover the different ways that we work to ensure that our young people are work ready; being conscientious, focused and skilled. If we don’t start investing in our young people today, we will be the generation who failed to pass on the necessary knowledge and skills to those who follow.

Join us at our centre on the 31st January 2022 to find out more. Refreshments will be available. No charge, just come along!

ESSEX YOUTHBUILD IS A CHELMSFORD-BASED CHARITY OFFERING CONSTRUCTION AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS TRAINING TO YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 11-19 FROM ALL OVER ESSEX.

Register to the event here.

Author: Alliance Admin
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A project to increase connection for vulnerable people and minority groups in West Essex – Digital Inclusion Project

This exciting new two year project is intended to support individuals and families impacted by the COVID-10 pandemic across West Essex, through loss of income, illness, need to self-isolate and who have limited or no access to digital devices/data in order to be able to access services such as employment support, skills for life, online shopping, banking, socialising and health interventions and appointments.

The project intends to address four key elements of digital exclusion:

  • Lack of recognition of being “in need” or digital inclusion support;
  • Lack of access to digital services;
  • Lack of access to affordable digital connectivity, mobile and fixed broadband;
  • Lack of access to the digital skills needed for life and for work;

The project will be working in close partnership with key statutory and VCS agencies across West Essex who support marginalised and vulnerable groups, to ensure there is widespread knowledge of its existence and easy referral routes in.

The project will also be playing a particular emphasis on providing tailored support to access digital for people experiencing poor mental health and those from minority ethnic communities.

We have commissioned the development of a purpose built digital platform that will enable people to donate and receive donations of equipment and data and that will enable us to provide training and skills development resources, as well as a volunteer management and coordination system.

For further information on this exciting new project please contact Ali Firth – Digital Inclusion Project Lead on 07578 665659 or by emailing ali.firth@westessexcan.org

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News

Funding Opportunity: Provide Foundation

Provide is an Essex based social enterprise owned by its staff members and delivers a broad range of community health services in the County and beyond.  The Provide Foundation is managed by Essex Community Foundation (ECF), with the aim to improve and increase access to community health projects and services by supporting voluntary and community organisations working in Essex, Southend, and Thurrock.

This year, the Provide Foundation would like to support organisations or projects that have a clear link to health and social care, and meet one of the following:

  • Continue to adapt well to help the community during the pandemic
  • Support those who are socially isolated, particularly those most vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic

Links to health and social care ought to include one of the following:

  • To help keep people out of hospital
  • To help people leave hospital more quickly
  • To help people stay healthy in their community
  • To improve health and wellbeing in the community

 

Grants of up to £20,000 for one year are available

 

The Panel is interested in:

  • How your project compliments their own work or whether you have contact with Provide’s services. For example, if you receive referrals from their staff. Please do include this in your application. For more information about Provide and their services click here.
  • How your work compliments statutory provision and where your organisation is addressing gaps in the community.

 

Please complete your application here and submit your supporting documents by Friday 4 February. The Provide Foundation will award grants in early April.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your organisation’s funding needs, then please contact us. You can reach us on 01245 356018 or grants@essexcf.org.uk. You can also set up a time to speak with a member of the grants team here using the General Catch Up option.

 

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News

Arts and Cultural Fund

Supporting the arts, culture and creative industries in Essex.

Now open for applications. The Essex County Council Arts and Cultural fund has been designed to help organisations and practitioners to deliver a broad and exciting range of work and activity to engage with and bring communities together.

The arts, cultural and creative projects, such as festivals and exhibitions, all contribute to helping communities recover from the pandemic and play an integral part in enabling the objectives of Essex County Council’s wider objectives as set out in Everyone’s Essex.

Creative and cultural sectors are at the forefront of economic and social regeneration in our region. One of the aims of the fund is to provide a boost for the creative and cultural sector which will enable organisations and practioners to develop long term and sustainable future for arts and culture in the county.

Now open for applications, the ECC Arts and Cultural Fund will offer artists and cultural organisations grants from £2,500 to £30,000 to deliver projects to help support and rejuvenate the Essex arts and culture sector, as well as the county’s towns and city high streets.

The fund will support projects, which will contribute to ECC’s Everyone’s Essex: The Plan for Essex 2021-2025 within the music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, combined arts, including festivals and carnivals, museums and the wider creative sectors.


The Arts and Cultural Fund will support revenue programmes only, not capital. A full list of what the Fund cannot support can be found in the guidance.

Examples of eligible organisations include:

• Individual artists or artistic cooperatives

• Community groups

• Charities or trusts

• Community interest companies

• Social enterprises

• Public sector organisations (not local authorities)

• Private sector organisations

• Organisations that are part of a local authority’s direct provision will be considered on a case-by-case basis

Read the full guidance document here.

Read the Fund FAQs here.

Apply now here.

Apply now

Online applications are open now.

Click here for the application form as a PDF.

Click here for the application form in word.

You must fill in the application form and apply via email.

Read the full guidance before you apply.

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News

A quick guide to charity videos

 

Read the full article here. 

Author: Alliance Admin
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Webinar: Social media for charities 101 – Charity Digital

Social media marketing sounds like it should be easy. But it rarely ends up being that way. For charities, it can often feel like it isn’t worth investing your time and money, but with more than half the world’s population using social media daily, it’s almost impossible to ignore.

 

In our upcoming webinar, we aim to make things easier. Nick Wyatt, Charity Digital Growth Marketing Executive, aims to help your charity start their social media marketing journey, examining how social media can improve fundraising, service delivery, and so much more.

 

The webinar will cover, among many other things, the different platforms you should be using, the various advantages and disadvantages of each platform, how to pick the platform that best meets your audience’s needs, and how to make the right content or the right platform.

 

Register here. 

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News

Helping communities celebrate Platinum Jubilee through culture and creativity

Essex Community Foundation, along with the community foundations network across the UK, will be distributing the ‘Arts Council England Let’s Create Jubilee Fund’.

This is a £5 million programme that will support community and voluntary organisations in England to develop creative and cultural activities as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.

The programme is made possible with funding from the National Lottery, whose players raise £30 million for good causes every week. The Fund’s distribution will be managed by UK Community Foundations on behalf of their community foundation members across England.

Applicants will be able to apply for grants of up to £10,000, and are encouraged to partner with established artists, creatives and cultural organisations to develop their activities, ensuring that The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations give people throughout England the chance to experience the best of the country’s culture while also celebrating an important milestone in our national history. You can find a list of established artists here on the Arts Council website.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England said “We’re giving people across the country the chance to come together to experience the joy of culture and creativity in celebration of this historic milestone. With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee taking place alongside the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival and the Unboxed festival of UK creativity, next year is set to be a magnificent celebration of our nation’s artistic achievements.”

Rosemary Macdonald, CEO at UK Community Foundations said “UK Community Foundations is proud to partner with Arts Council England to deliver the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund. Our members look forward to working with local groups and artists who will create imaginative and innovative celebrations to mark this historic occasion, and strengthen cultural involvement and opportunities in their communities.”

How to apply

The application guidelines for the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund can be found on the UK Community Foundations website here. Large print and easy read options available on there too.

Complete the online application form here. The deadline to submit your application is 28 February.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to a grants officer at ECF in advance of applying, please call us on 01245 356018 or book a time slot here.

Author: Alliance Admin
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Categories: News