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The next Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) elections take place Tuesday 9th November – Sunday 21st November, and young people across Scotland are encouraged to get involved. Young people aged 14 – 25 years old can stand as candidates and become elected Members of the SYP (MSYP), helping create positive change in their communities. The deadline for expressions of interest in standing as a MSYP is Wednesday 30th June.

We’re heartened to see many of our local third sector groups and organisations returning to their valued services and activities, and many local halls and community centres reopening to the public. CVS Falkirk can offer support with all aspects of your volunteering programme, including (but not limited to) helping with recruitment of new volunteers, and promoting your volunteer opportunities, or creating new volunteer opportunities.

We are THRILLED to announce that The Cotton House in Longcroft has also sponsored one of this year’s Volunteer Awards prizes! Along with Sanam and Mango, these local businesses have provided fantastic prizes for local volunteers to have a special treat, as part of our Volunteers’ Week 2021 celebrations. All nominations and certificate requests must be received by 11:59pm THIS SUNDAY 9th May.

The next meeting of the COVID-19 Third Sector Response Forum will take place on Wednesday 28th April, 3pm – 5pm, via Zoom. Please note that this particular meeting is for third sector groups and organisations only. This includes charities, social enterprises, and community and voluntary groups. While we appreciate and value the input from our public sector and private partners during these forum meetings, this particular meeting is designed to give space to third sector groups and organisations operating in Falkirk.

Easter 2021 represented hope and the promise of better times to come – the sun came out, COVID-19 restrictions eased enough to allow for some outdoor fun and many Falkirk third sector organisations and community groups showed that they are weathering the storm of COVID-19 and are ready to inject some fun and positivity into their own local areas! Groups and organisations working together was the magic ingredient that brought Easter fun to our local communities, and we would like to say a huge thank you to all the groups who helped make this as lovely an Easter as possible.

People aged 16 – 64 years old in the Forth Valley area, who provide face to face care and support for others (and have not already had their first vaccine dose or appointment letter), are being invited to register for their COVID-19 vaccination. A new self-registration service has been launched to help people check if they are eligible as an unpaid carer.

Falkirk Community Planning Partnership (Falkirk CPP) will soon create the “Falkirk Plan”, a 10 year plan that will detail the priorities of our local communities. The views of local people are a crucial part in identifying what these priorities are and shaping the Plan. From mid-April, Falkirk CPP will hold online video meetings for people and community groups from different areas across Falkirk. Our local third sector organisations have a crucial part to play in this. Paul Anderson, the Community Planning Coordinator, will attend the COVID-19 Third Sector Response Forum on Wednesday 31st March, 3pm – 5pm, to provide information about how they can help to gather feedback from the people who use their services.