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Unfortunately, over the weekend of Friday 2nd October – Monday 5th October, Stenhousemuir Primary School’s nursery garden was vandalised for the third time. Damage included broken equipment and the “wrecked” Gazebo, along with litter left. The area has now been thoroughly cleaned and children allowed to play there. The Parent Council is now fundraising to replace the damaged equipment and toys, and provide additional security measures; donations can be made through the GoFundMe page.

The Social Work Education Partnership is working to ensure that all final placement social work students across Scotland are able to access high quality placement opportunities. Along with Iona Colvin (the Chief Social Work Adviser to Scottish Government), the Partnership is reaching out to third sector organisations to create new and innovative placement opportunities for future social workers.

The free app from NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect is now available to download through the Test and Protect website, and via the App Store and Google Play. The app has been designed to help keep Scotland safe from COVID-19.  The app is the next step in stopping the spread of COVID-19, and complements existing contact tracing measures, helping Scottish Government and NHS Scotland to determine contacts that may have otherwise been missed, and allows them to alert people at risk far more quickly, so they can steps to reduce the risk of infecting others. As we see the rate of infection increase, it’s important that we all download and use the Protect Scotland app. The more of us using the app, the better it will be.

Unfortunately, on Saturday night a fire was deliberately set at the Camelon Junior Football Club grounds, destroying one of the new containers. The container was to provide an expansion of the foodbank based at club’s grounds, as well as additional changing rooms, which would allow the club to restart games. The club is now fundraising to replace the container and its contents; donations can be made through the GoFundMe page.

Following on from our recent article highlighting the DWP Barriers to Employment Initiative and their invitation to receive partnership proposals, we have heard from some organisations who would be keen to meet and discuss further. We have arranged a Zoom meeting on Monday 10th August at 2pm – 4pm, with speakers from DWP and Partnership for Procurement (P4P), and time for you to discuss various aspects of the initiative with potential partnership organisations.

Westfield Park Community Centre here in Falkirk has created a short video about their activities to support local people during COVID-19, available to view here.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is looking for new, creative, unique and innovative proposals which will be delivered by organisations working together in partnership. Proposals should be aimed at improving the life and job prospects for people facing barriers to employment. The proposed programme should state how the partnership would address and overcome the specific needs, barriers and issues, include “soft skills” to employment, and focus on one of the claimant groups. The partnership must include at least 2 (preferably more) delivery partners. The deadline for applications to Round One is Friday 21st August.

Scottish Government is keen to develop understanding of how national measures and local effort are supporting those at risk due to COVID-19, to inform consideration of future support options, and have launched an online research survey. They are reaching out to the third sector as partners in this work, for information on the kind of groups you have been supporting and the types of support you have been providing during the crisis. The deadline for responses is Friday 7th August.

The Organised Outdoor Community Play Fund closes for applications at 11:59pm on Monday 20th July. Managed by Inspiring Scotland, the fund has been set up to support children’s health and wellbeing through outdoor play. Grants of up to £25,000 is available for eligible Scottish registered charities delivering organised outdoor play-based opportunities for children.