News

From September, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre will be running weekly “What Carers Need to Know” online information sessions, with the first taking place on Tuesday 1st September, 10:30am – 12pm via Zoom. These sessions are aimed at those who are relatively new to caring, or carers who would like to know more about the help and support available, and how to deal with some of the challenges caring can bring.

The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) has been commissioned by Sustrans to research how and why communities engage (or don’t engage) with “active travel” projects. They have created a short online survey as part of this research. All community, voluntary and third sector groups and organisations across the country are being asked to give their views. The survey should only take 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for responses is 11:59pm on Friday 28th August.

Challenge Poverty Week (CPW) 2020 takes place Monday 5th October – Sunday 11th October. To help organisations get involved, the Poverty Alliance has created a series of resources which can be used when planning and promoting activities. This includes a “Get Involved” meeting via Zoom, taking place on Thursday 27th August from 10am; everyone is welcome to attend. The Poverty Alliance can also promote activities and events to the media on behalf of organisations; the deadline for submissions is Monday 24th August.

Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has launched its new Ambitions for Recovery programme. Developed with feedback from social enterprises across the country, and in partnership with the People’s Postcode Lottery and corporate sponsors Baillie Gifford, the programme combines a number of elements to support a cohort of up to 20 organisations through renewal and recovery.

Volunteering Matters Action Earth is now open for 2020 applications. The fund supports local volunteers and environmental groups in carrying out work in local green spaces to rebuild slowly, steadily and safely while carrying out environmental work to benefit communities across Scotland. Any group of 15 or more volunteers can apply for awards of £250 to help make a difference outdoors through planting and habitat building projects. There is also a very limited number of £500 grants for projects which primarily involve people with defined health conditions and disabilities.

The CVS Falkirk Funding Portal is free and can be used to search for funding available in your area, during COVID-19 recovery and renewal, and beyond. Once registered, users will be able to search for a range of different funding opportunities, across local and national organisations. Registered users will also have early access to the regular Funding Insight bulletin.

Scottish Government has announced that there will be additional assistance to move into work, or retrain, for people looking for work or those at risk of redundancy. Measures include a job guarantee for young people, a new national retraining scheme, and more funding to provide immediate assistance and advice if people are made redundant. In addition, Fair Start Scotland (FSS), Scottish Government’s employment support service, has been extended by a further two years to March 2023.

The Community Health Exchange (CHEX) is running a participative online workshop on the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act for community-led health organisations. “Getting in on the Act” takes place on Wednesday 9th September via Zoom, 10am – 12pm. The workshop offers the opportunity to learn more about what the Act contains and how to make use of it.

Voting for the Scottish Charity Awards 2020 opens this Friday 14th August. Finalists will also be announced on Friday. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, the awards ceremony will take place online at the end of September, and the voting process for the People’s Choice Award has changed: postal votes will not be issued, and instead there will be an extra week to vote online. Voting closes Friday 4th September.

The new Care with Confidence programme for Falkirk is now available, with the next free session taking place Tuesday 11th August, 10:30am – 12:30pm. “Falkirk Council’s Mobile Emergency Care Services – MECS” will be hosted by Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre. The MECS team can provide and install appropriate equipment; the session will also cover how to link into this service and how this team is working during the lockdown period. Due to the current lockdown, all sessions will take place on Zoom.  All carers are welcome.