Community Diary

The Community Diary will help and inform Gainsborough residents when looking for voluntary and community organisations within the town.

The on-line facility has will comprise of:

• An Events Diary - users will be able to search by day, date, and month for events that are taking place in the Gainsborough area. Community and voluntary groups can ensure that their events will not clash and also find out if there are any planned events that they can join in with.
• Organisations - a list of local community and voluntary organisations. A brief outline of what each group offers, contact details and links to websites.
• Gainsborough Stakeholder Network news and information.

Anne Cater, Community Development Worker for the Gainsborough Stakeholder Network said; "The voluntary and community sector within the Gainsborough area is growing steadily. The Community Diary will enable groups to network and work together. It will be a useful tool for the public too, as they will be able to see at a glance what organisations and events are being held locally. We would like to thank Lincolnshire Co-op for their support of this initiative.

If you have any organisation, group or event that you would like to be included in the Diary - please contact Anne Cater on anne.lcdp@hotmail.co.uk or phone 07900 838880.

John Barker Trophy

For many years, Village Halls and Community Centres across Lincolnshire have been able to

call upon the technical expertise of Mr John Barker MBE. Mr Barker is able to give advice on

building related matters both in the context of property maintenance and also in regard to

schemes for the erection of new buildings, extensions and refurbishment of existing premises.

The Directors of the Community Lincs have acknowledged John's invaluable contribution by

establishing ‘The John Barker Trophy' which recognises the work of those volunteers who

willingly and freely give their time and effort to manage and maintain Lincolnshire Village Halls

and Community Centres.

It is be open to all volunteers who currently serve or have recently retired from the

Management Committee. Nominations for this award will need two sponsors and a written

presentation of no more than 300 words as supporting evidence and may be made either with

or without the knowledge of the person concerned.

I look forward to receiving your nominations, as there are very many volunteers who deserve

recognition for their years of service to the community in which they live through their

involvement with community buildings.

Please complete the application form your committee received earlier this year, or contact

Samantha at Community Lincs for another form.

£900,000 for Small Community Groups in Lincolnshire

Subject:      £900,000 for Small Community Groups in Lincolnshire

The Foundation is pleased to announce it will manage the new Grassroots Grants Programme for Lincolnshire from 2008 to 20011.  It is a scheme sponsored by Government to provide financial support (grants) to small voluntary community groups.

Eligibility: Groups should be not for profit; have been active for not less than 12 months prior to 31 December 2007; provide evidence of income of less than £20,000 per year (averaged over the past 3 years); be volunteer led; have a governing document, bank account and relevant policies and procedures.  .  Foundation staff can give advice about these matters where necessary.

Amount: £250 to £5,000 over the lifetime of the Scheme, in a single bid or multiple ones.

What can be funded?  Core costs to continue an existing service, equipment (computer, furniture etc), volunteer training, child care and travel costs, event and workshop costs and activities that meet an identified need that must benefit the local community.

Aims and objectives: To increase grant funding and capacity building support to small voluntary community groups to help build stronger, more active communities.

1^st June, 1^st September 2009.  Applicants to be notified of a decision within 12 weeks.

To obtain an Application Form or to check eligibility, please contact Sue Fortune on 01529 305825.  Foundation Staff will be available to help at every step of the process.

Gordon Hunter, the Foundation Director said:-

"This is a fantastic opportunity for small groups to access funds for running costs to give them time to concentrate their efforts on delivery and sustainability"

Vetting and Barring Scheme

Vetting and Barring Scheme

"From Autumn 2008 when you recruit someone new to work with children or vulnerable people you will need to check their ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) status. This will determine whether or not you can employ them (or take them on as volunteers), and may affect what activities they can undertake."

The new process will run similarly to that of CRB checks, whereby applicants fill in a form which is sent off for checking the main difference being that checks can be made against information other than actual criminal convictions  such as, "cautions, police intelligence and other appropriate sources."

To keep uptodate with developments around the new Vetting and Barring Scheme visit http://www.isa-gov.org.uk/ and click the link to receive e-mail updates.

Encouraging Older People to keep Fit and Active

Encouraging older people to keep fit and active

Community groups are being invited to join forces with the council to encourage older people to keep fit and active.

If you work with, or engage with a community group and want to get involved, you can register for free information packs at www.Lincolnshire.gov.uk/everybodybenefits Each group can apply for grants up to £250 towards staging an event. (source: David Stacey, financial assessments project manager, tel: 01522 554053)

Giving local communities a say on improving local services

Giving local communities a say on improving local services

Around six in ten people do not feel they are given an adequate say on how local council services are run.
Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears has announced that a new White Paper is expected to be published this summer to address this. The aim is to put more communities in control by working with local councils and community organisations. The White Paper launch document Unlocking the Talent of our Communities can be viewed at www.communities.gov.uk (source: ParliamentToday.com)

GRANTnet

To assist local groups in their search for funding, Lincolnshire County Council has joined

forces with GRANTnet.

Organisations such as community and voluntary groups, schools, social enterprises, small

businesses, sports and other clubs are now able to search across a huge range of funding

sources thanks to the launch of the free scheme.

Wendy Annibal from the County Council's Economic Regeneration Programmes and

Funding team, said:

"This is an excellent service and provides a wide and varied range of funding bodies. It can

be time-consuming finding the right source of funding for your project and the benefit of the

GRANTnet service is that it provides information on the full range of UK and European

Union support provision in a single searchable database, suitable for all types of

organisations.

"If you need help and advice in applying for funding, Lincolnshire County Council funds

several community and voluntary organisations across Lincolnshire who can provide you

and your organisation with this support."

The searchable database of funding opportunities ranges from European funds through to

lottery awards and charitable trusts.

Visitors to the site at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/grantnet simply register their details and

obtain a password in order to search the system for funds appropriate to their project.

Why not try our FREE online funding search tool GRANTnet? Go to

www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/grantnet

Coffee Time Challenge

Coffee Time Challenge

                                                ‘Take action for local change'

For the third year running RACoL are inviting you to get together to talk about issues that you care about, engage with other community members and take action to develop solutions to local problems.

Coffee Time Challenge (formerly Coffeehouse Challenge) is running from now until the end of September.

To register your interest and to receive a CTC pack including invitations for you to send out and details of  how you can claim expenses towards the hire of a venue and refreshments.

Please contact Anne Mumby on anne.mumby@lincolnshire.gov.uk

                    or Tracey Allen on  tracey.allen@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

Thirty challenges were held across the county in 2007, some of the topics covered included  Farming or Conservationist ?

                             Over 60' s Unite !!

                             Caring for your Community

With some of the following feedback from the Challenges:

"I don't usually go to these sorts of events, but I've really enjoyed it"

"I have really learned something from coming here today"

An interesting quote to finish with:

"Creating a positive future begins in human conversation.  The simplest and most powerful investment any member of a community or an organisation may make in renewal is to begin talking with other people as though the answers mattered"

(William Grieder, adapted from Who Will Tell the People)

Local Group Scoops Award

EAST AND WEST LINDSEY GROUPS

FLYING HIGH WITH LOTTERY AWARDS

Gainsborough will use an Awards for All grant to fly up the pecking order of tourist attractions by commissioning a series of unique bird sculptures. The project is one of five across East Lindsey and West Lindsey, and 44 in the East Midlands sharing grants worth £323,830 in the latest awards announced today.

Gainsborough Heritage and Tourism Development Group in West Lindsey receives an award of £8,500 to create sculptures that will be positioned along the length of Riverside Walk, used by over 250,000 locals each year. The project is inspired by the untimely passing of Neil Rogers, former Arts Officer for West Lindsey District Council, who was passionate about bringing arts initiatives to the area. The group hope to complete the sculptures in time for the annual Riverside Festival in May 2009.

Tim Harris, Project Manager, said: "Neil was a passionate arts activist who passed away unexpectedly. The Riverside Walk area running along the Trent was part of his work and we wanted to use that as a starting point for this project. The bird motif was an interest of his, and symbolises regeneration in an area undergoing change, as well as the coming together of the urban landscape on one side of the river and the natural environment on the other.

"The sculptures will be at intervals down the path and made of pre-fabricated steel, which is light and malleable as well as being resistant to vandalism. The exact details of the pieces are yet to be hammered out, but each one will be different and they will give local people a chance to stop, think and be inspired as they go along their way. It will be an opportunity for them to see something different and innovative and something that really stands out."

Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders, Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass-roots community groups and voluntary organisations.

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region in the East Midlands, said on behalf of the Awards for All funders: "Gainsborough is a town that has seen much regeneration recently and the Gainsborough Heritage and Tourism Development Group are very much part of that drive, making it possible for the whole community to share in public arts schemes such as this one.  I'm delighted it is one of 44 projects to benefit in this round of awards."

Following a review of the Awards for All England programme, changes will be made to the existing format of the small grants scheme in March 2009. From 1 April 2009 each of the lottery good cause distributors supporting the scheme will run their own individual small grants programmes. Applications can still be made under the current Awards For All scheme arrangements until 31 March 2009.

For a full list of award recipients visit:

http://www.awardsforall.org.uk/england/news.html

Further Information:

For more information on the project, please contact Jeremy Waterfield on 07920 001674, or on jwaterfield@paratuscommunications.com

For more information on Awards for All grants in the East Midlands region, please contact:

Awards for All Press Office: 020 7211 1888    

Out of Hours Contact: 07867 500 572

Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030                           Textphone:  0845 6021 659

Full details of the Awards for All grant awards are available at:

www.awardsforall.org.uk

Volunteers Wanted

Are you able to help a local community group help local residents?

Gainsborough Furniture and Resource Centre (GFRC) is a neighbourhood community group where local residents donate their clean, quality furniture from homes within a 12 mile radius of Gainsborough. This provides much needed furniture for people on lower incomes in the local area, who would be unable to obtain new furniture when moving or setting up home. Such people are referred through registered agencies and can choose from a selection of good quality furniture in return for a small contribution. 

The scheme is situated on Heapham Road industrial estate and is currently assisted by several unpaid volunteers in various roles.

Due to an increased demand for the service, Gainsborough Furniture and Resource Centre now invite dedicated local people to become volunteers in a variety of ways, providing their time for perhaps one or two mornings a week.   

The scheme has also recently been awarded a grant from the PIP Fund from Lincolnshire County Council Healthy Communities sector, which will enable the service to purchase uniforms and safety items for volunteers.

An additional van driver/helper is currently required to help with increased demand. (A clean driving licence is required).  Helpers are also needed to assist with collecting and moving donated furniture from the homes of local residents.  Volunteers for both of these roles must be generally fit as these are often physically demanding roles.

The centre also requires some assistance with its administration work.  This is a busy role and as such it would be beneficial if the volunteer had customer service experience, a good knowledge of databases/Access and Excel programmes and could work unsupervised.   This person may work closely with other volunteers and also local people choosing furniture items.

Support is also required to set up a professional website for the centre. Someone working in a local IT company or attending a website design course may wish to give a little of their time to initially set up such a website to help the centre.

The scheme would also like to hear from local people who have some experience of carpentry, furniture restoration or of cleaning upholstery, who could spare a few hours a week. This could allow the centre to receive additional donations of furniture previously not accepted, and then pass these to others in an improved condition.  

Should you be interested in volunteering for any of these positions, please contact the Project Manager, Sheilagh Walters on 01427 616111 between the hours of 9am to 1pm to discuss this further. An answer machine is available out of hours or during busy times. The centre can also be contacted by email on gfrcfurniture@hotmail.co.uk.

All volunteers will be subject to a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.