Community Facilities Programme – a grant scheme for community led capital improvement projects

The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty and the Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty launched the Community Facilities Programme on 9 January 2014. The scheme will open for business on Monday 3 February 2014 and application forms will be available from this date.

Aims

The Community Facilities Programme is a capital grant fund which aims to develop and improve community facilities which in turn provide services that communities need in order to tackle poverty and its effects.

The Programme will be open to projects throughout Wales. Applications will need to demonstrate that the facility to be improved is:

•              Needed and used by the community and offering services not duplicated in the surrounding area;

•              Providing services which prevent or mitigate poverty and its effects;

•              Reintroducing or preventing the loss of community services;

•              Supported by and developed along with the local community;

•              Strategic and can demonstrate this by evidencing it has the support of the local authority, local County Voluntary Council, Local Health Board or similar partner; and

•              Sustainable over the medium to long term.

Eligibility

The Programme is community based, and will be open to community and voluntary sector organisations, including social enterprises. The focus of the programme will be on increasing opportunity and tackling poverty. The Welsh Government recognises that in order to do this we need to improve the health and wellbeing; opportunities for lifelong learning; and economic prospects of the individual members of our most vulnerable communities.

We want to see applications that are community led and developed in partnership with community, public and private sector partners. The co-location of organisations providing services such as credit union access, local health services, post office services, youth services, sports facilities, library services, etc. is encouraged.

The funding criteria

Capital grants will typically be available to a maximum of £500,000. For exceptional projects that can also demonstrate difficulties in attracting funding from other sources, this maximum could be exceeded.

Grants will be available for capital works to provide or improve community facilities which are preventing or tackling poverty by offering one or more of the following services:

•              Providing, safeguarding or re-introducing a valuable community service such as access to a credit union, post office, library, last shop/retail outlet in the area;

•              Hosting skills based or other accredited training to improve the job prospects of individual beneficiaries;

•              Hosting local health services, exercise or healthy living activities;

•              Providing community IT access, broadband access and/or IT training to aid digital inclusion;

•              Hosting a foodbank, food co-operative, access to advice services or other activity which prevents or seeks to mitigate the effects of poverty;

•              Hosting activities delivered through a Welsh Government tackling poverty programme such as Communities First or Families First;

•              Encouraging the co-location of local groups and service providers to improve the overall sustainability of the facility;

•              Making the most of available funding by avoiding the duplication of services and working with other local partners in the community, public and private sectors to improve the life chances of local people.

Applications

Applications will be invited from community led projects fitting the published criteria. The Community Facilities Programme will be a rolling grant programme which means that applications can be submitted at any time; there will be no formal funding rounds.

Applications must be able to demonstrate that the facility is sustainable and so must be accompanied by a business plan and supported by annual accounts where available.

The application process will be in two stages. Stage one will be a short application which will be used to assess eligibility and fit to the scheme criteria, i.e. the tackling poverty agenda. Applicants will get a response to stage one in 20 working days. Stage two will require the submission of a business plan. The two stage process will help to ensure that projects that are not a good fit for the funding criteria do not waste resources developing an application which has little chance of succeeding.

Potential applicants will be expected to work with their local authorities and CVCs as well as the local community in order to develop their applications.

Further information

You can get information and register for an application pack by contacting the

Community Grants team as follows:

            South East Wales:              Mike O’Shea on 0300 062 8612

North and Mid Wales:         Nesta Doughty on 0300 062 5627

West Wales:                        Helen Brown on 0300 062 8265

If above are unavailable:    Lisa Clarridge on 0300 062 8307

PAVO WINTER WARMER EVENTS

We’d love to have the opportunity catch up with you in the New Year at our forthcoming ‘Winter Warmer’ events.

• Tuesday 14^th January–Plas Dolerw, Milford Road, Newtown  4.00pm -7.00pm
• Wednesday 15^th January - Brecon (venue tbc)  4.00pm-7.00pm
• Thursday 16^th January – PAVO Offices, Unit 30, Ddole Road Industrial Estate, Llandrindod Wells 4.00pm 7.00pm

The ‘Winter Warmers’ will be a chance for you to have a glass of mulled wine (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and a slice of cakes, as well as to:

• Come along with your queries about funding, governance and all the other practical issues involved with running a voluntary or community group
• Get your volunteer vacancies advertised through Powys Volunteer Centre
• Find out more about and give your views on the new version of the One Powys Plan
• Find out more about and give your views on Powys County Council’s consultation about their budget cuts for 2014-17.
• Find out about all the different training and support services that PAVO can provide for your group

 At the Newtown event there will also be the opportunity for you to find out more about the new pilot of ‘Neighbourhood Management’ in the Newtown area and the ways in which your organisation can influence and become involved in this new approach to planning and delivering public services.

You can call in at any time during the event and stay for just  5 minutes or the full 3 hours, however there will be short presentations being run at 4.45pm and 6.00pm at each event. It would be greatly appreciated if you were able to confirm your attendance in advance by contacting PAVO on 01597 822191 or info@pavo.org.uk

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BBC Cymru Wales - Have You Got News for Us? Workshop Aberystwyth / Gweithdy 'Have You Got News for Us?' Aberystwyth

"Have You Got News for Us?" Do you want to get your third sector organisations stories heard but don't quite know how? BBC Cymru Wales invites you to a workshop to improve your knowledge with some stories being broadcast on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru as a part of our 'Charity Broadcasts' project.

This is a fantastic free opportunity to meet with programme makers where they will outline what makes a good broadcast story and will help you shape your message. The half-day workshop will be held on the morning of the 8th of January at the Theatre, Film & Television Department, Parry Williams Building, Aberystwyth University, where producers from BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru will discuss the way they find stories and which elements will put your stories ahead of the rest.

It will be an interactive workshop with participants asked to describe their experiences with the media, bring forward interesting ideas that might make good stories which BBC staff will then help take to the next level. These real life examples will be used to highlight good and bad practice with some of the stories being picked up by the programme teams to be broadcast.

As some of the stories developed will be broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru, organisations must have representatives who are confident Welsh speakers and are happy to be interviewed in Welsh on the radio.

Please note: Although the person/people attending the workshop do not need to speak Welsh, you must have a senior member of the organisation (i.e. trustee, senior staff member, long term volunteer) and a case study (someone the organisation is working with now or has helped in the past) who would be capable and confident of speaking on behalf of the charity. They do not need to come to the workshop but must be willing to speak in Welsh on the radio on behalf of the charity if Radio Cymru would like to broadcast an item at a future date.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis, and a waiting list kept if necessary with 2 places available to each charity.

If you would like to attend, please email cerys.rees@bbc.co.uk including the details below. If you have any questions, please contact Aled Rowlands on 02920 322373.

Name:

Organisation Name

Contact telephone number:

Welsh speakers available to be interviewed if necessary? Yes/No

Oes gennych chi newyddion i ni? Hoffech chi gael storïau eich sefydliadau trydydd sector ar yr awyr ond does gennych chi ddim syniad sut? Mae BBC Cymru Wales yn eich gwahodd chi i wella eich gwybodaeth mewn gweithdy arbennig gyda'r bwriad o rai o'r straeon gael eu darlledu ar BBC Radio Wales a BBC Radio Cymru fel rhan o'n prosiect 'Darllediadau Elusennol'.

Mae'r cyfle gwych hwn yn rhad ac am ddim. Byddwch yn cwrddâ chynhyrchwyr rhaglenni a fydd yn amlinellu beth sy'n gwneud stori dda a helpu i ddatblygu a llunio'ch negeseuon. Bydd y gweithdy hanner-diwrnod yn cael ei gynnal ar fore yr 8fed o Ionawr yn Adran Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu, Adeilad Parry Williams, Prifysgol Aberystwyth, lle fydd cynhyrchwyr o BBC Radio Cymru a BBC Radio Wales yn trafod sut maen nhw'n dod o hyd i storïau a pha elfennau all wneud eich straeon fwy amlwg.

Yn y gweithdy rhyngweithiol bydd gofyn i chi ddisgrifio eich profiadau o weithio gyda'r cyfryngau a chyflwyno syniadau diddorol i staff y BBC all wneud straeon da yn eich tŷb chi. Wedyn gall staff y BBC eich helpu chi i'w datblygu i'r lefel nesaf. Bydd yr enghreifftiau yma'n cael eu defnyddio er mwyn dangos arferion da a drwg. Bydd rhai o'r straeon yn cael eu dewis gan y timoedd rhaglenni i'w darlledu.

Rhaid i sefydliadau gael cynrychiolwyr sy'n siarad Cymraeg yn hyderus, sy'n hapus i gael eu cyfweld trwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg ar y radio gan y bydd rhai o'r straeon yn cael eu darlledu ar BBC Radio Cymru.

Nodwch os gwelwch yn dda: Er nad oes rhaid i'r person/bobl sy'n dod i'r gweithdy siarad Cymraeg, mae'n rhaid bod uwch aelod o'r sefydliad (e.e. ymddiriedolwr, uwch aelod staff, gwirfoddolwr hir dymor) allu siarad yn hyderus yn y Gymraeg ar ran yr elusen. Hefyd, bydd angen enghraifft o'ch gwaith (rhywun yr ydych yn gweithio gyda ar hyn o bryd neu wedi helpu yn y gorffennol). Nid oes angen iddynt ddod i'r gweithdy ond rhaid eu bod nhw'n fodlon siarad yn y Gymraeg ar y radio ar ran yr elusen yn y dyfodol os bydd Radio Cymru eisiau darlledu eitem.

Byddwn yn creu rhestr wrth gefn os bydd angen ond cyntaf i'r felin...!

Os hoffech chi fynychu, plis ebostiwch cerys.rees@bbc.co.uk gyda'r manylion isod. Os oes gennych chi unrhyw gwestiynau, yna plis cysylltwch ag Aled Rowlands ar 02920 322373.

Enw:

Enw'r Sefydliad:

Rhif cyswllt:

Siaradwyr Cymraeg ar gael i'w cyfweld? Oes / Nac oes

WALES ECONOMIC GROWTH FUND

The Welsh Government has opened the second 2013 phase of its Wales Economic Growth Fund – a £30 million economic stimulus designed to help private and social enterprises through the prevailing economic downturn.

The initiative is a short-term, fast-track fund for Welsh businesses and social enterprises, providing immediate access to non-repayable capital funding for investments that will create and retain employment opportunities, growth and wealth.

Funding allocations for 2013 are delivered two phases. Phase 1, which has now completed, provided grants of between £50,000 and £100,000 for smaller enterprises. The current phase, Phase 2, is providing grants of £100,000 and over for those enterprises requiring larger investments.

Eligible expenditure can include new investment in capital assets (machinery, computer equipment, buildings etc). Intellectual property bought from a third party, professional fees and other one off costs related to the investment may also be eligible. Additionally, revenue costs associated with the capital investment can be funded.

Wales-based organisations operating within the private and non-profit social enterprise sectors that have projects planned to improve productivity and create and maintain jobs may be eligible for support.

Expressions of Interest for Phase Two are now being invited with a deadline for submissions of 16 December 2013.

(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)

http://business.wales.gov.uk/

PAVO Tackling Poverty Conference Report availalbe

The Annual Conference of Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations was held on Tuesday November 5th 2013 in Llanelwedd.

Its purpose was to highlight the issue of increasing poverty in Wales’ most rural county and the ways in which third sector organisations are helping to support the growing number of individuals and households who find it difficult and sometimes impossible, to make ends meet.

The conference included two addresses given by Professor David Egan, chair of the Welsh Government’s advisory panel on tackling poverty and County Councillor Melanie Davies, Powys County Council’s tackling poverty champion.

The PAVO Annual Conference Report, Tackling Poverty in Powys. A Third Sector Perspective can be viewed here.

MID WALES SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ALLIANCE

The quarterly meeting of the Mid Wales Social Enterprise Alliance was interesting yesterday.  The need to feed into the One Powys Plan consultation was identified as a priority, and we will be posting on here how you can contribute, so keep coming back to check what's happening.  We are also keen to make a response as an Alliance, so if you want to get involved, please do get in touch.

The Alliance exists to:

1. Provide a voice / lobbying function
2. Demonstrate the worth of Social Enterprise in Powys
3. Provide networking, information sharing / exchange
4. Promote trading opportunities for and between social enterprises 
5. Provide Signposting
6. Promote and support business sustainability

Meetings are held quarterly around the County.  We are very keen to expand the Alliance so if you are interested in attending, please contact Claire Sterry at PAVO:  claire.sterry@pavo.org.uk