News

Fife Voluntary Action (FVA) will be running their next Volunteer Managers’ Form on Tuesday 1st September, 10:30am – 12pm, in an update to previous announcements. The meeting will take place via Zoom and focus on “Returning to Volunteering – Safely and Wellbeing Matters”, exploring guidance available, the main issues facing Volunteer managers right now, and how best to deal with them.

The deadline for applications to the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF) has been extended to Wednesday 30th September. The fund (delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with other organisations, including Social Investment Scotland) is open to social enterprises and charities working to improve people’s lives across the UK, who are experiencing disruption to their normal business model as a result of COVID-19. Loans are available from £100,000 to £1.5 million.

Connecting Scotland’s Stage Two is now open to applications. The programme provides iPads, Chromebooks and support to develop digital skills for people who are all of the following: digitally excluded – no device and/or internet connection; cannot afford to buy a device or pay for internet access; and are either households with children or where a child is normally resident, or care leavers up to the age of 26 years old. The deadline for applications to Stage Two is 11am on Monday 5th October.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has created a new Community Engagement website, designed to support people and communities in shaping health and care services in Scotland. The website includes pages on supporting communities, equipping professionals and sharing practice, and “Engaging Differently”. Through Engaging Differently, HIS is looking for groups and organisations to share their experiences of health and social care of engagement activity happening at a distance, via an online form.

Job Start Payment is a new payment of £250 for young people aged 16 –24 years old, who have been out of paid work and receiving certain benefits. To be eligible, young people need to have been offered a job with an offer date on or after Monday 17th August 2020. Social Security Scotland has released a stakeholder resources kit on the payment, including a factsheet, and a social media toolkit.

Scotland’s Climate Week 2020 takes place Monday 14th September – Sunday 20th September, and Falkirk Council is keen to promote events and activities taking place locally. It is anticipated that most of these will be online due to COVID-19 restrictions, therefore providing more opportunities to signpost to materials, resources and inspiration delivered online from around the world. Falkirk Council has produced a drafted calendar of online events covering a broad range of climate-related topics; they are also looking to organise events with a more local focus.

PETAL provides free counselling and bereavement support to those affected by murder and suicide in Scotland. They have recently received funding to extend their services to those affected by COVID-19 deaths. They are continuing to offer these services via telephone and online appointments, and now that lockdown restrictions are easing, with face to face meetings in Glasgow, Hamilton, Edinburgh and Dundee. Their support is available to anyone aged over 12 years old in Scotland.

Persimmon Homes, in partnership with Team GB, has announced the finalists of its 2020 Building Futures scheme. The scheme aims to help projects for young people under 18 years old, offering 3 major funding prizes across different categories. PLUS Forth Valley is the only local organisation on the shortlist, with all other finalists based outwith the Forth Valley area. People can vote for their preferred finalist daily; the voting deadline is Friday 18th September.