Category: News

Village Halls Week 2026 – Connecting to Health & Well Being

Posted on by Julie

🌿 Village Halls Week Starts Today!

Celebrating Wellbeing with the NHS 5 Steps to Wellbeing

Village Halls Week 2026 is officially underway, and we’re celebrating each day with one of the NHS 5 Steps to Wellbeing—a perfect reflection of the vital role village halls play in strengthening our communities.

We’re thrilled that our CEO, Rita Lawson, kicked off Village Halls Week by chatting to Gary Philipson on BBC Radio Tees at 10:20am
👉 Listen here to Rita’s interview

As part of this year’s celebrations, we’re launching our Connecting to Health Roadshow, happening across East Cleveland from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th March.

💚 What’s Happening?

We’re bringing free health checks, friendly advice, community support, and local services right into village halls near you.
Expect relaxed sessions with treats, activities, and plenty of opportunities to talk directly with organisations who are here to support your health and wellbeing.

✨ How to Get Involved

Just drop in — no booking required.
If there’s an organisation you’d love to see in your area, tell us and we’ll invite them along.

Let’s make Village Halls Week 2026 a celebration of community, connection, and wellbeing across East Cleveland.
We look forward to welcoming you! 💚🏡

#VillageHallsWeek #HealthAndWellbeing #StrongerCommunities
In partnership with Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)

Tees Valley Rural Action Supports the Launch of ACRE’s New Strategy for Rural Communities

Posted on by Julie

Tees Valley Rural Action Supports the Launch of ACRE’s New Strategy for Rural Communities

Tees Valley Rural Action is proud to support the launch of the new strategy from Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) — a bold and ambitious roadmap for improving the quality of life in rural areas by 2030.

The strategy sets out a clear ambition: to help improve the quality of life for rural communities and support those in greatest need. It outlines three key areas of focus:

  • Campaigning – Raising awareness of rural issues and advocating for public policies that enable thriving rural communities.
  • Enabling – Empowering communities to make their voices heard and shape their own futures.
  • Unlocking – Ensuring fair access to investment, essential services, and opportunities for growth.

These goals are underpinned by four strategic pillars: building a resilient organisation, strengthening the national network, increasing visibility, and working in partnership.

As a member of the ACRE network, Tees Valley Rural Action is committed to supporting this vision and playing an active role in delivering real change for rural communities across East Cleveland and beyond.

We look forward to working collaboratively to campaign, enable, and unlock the potential of our rural areas — ensuring no one is left behind.

You can view the full strategy here: Rural Ambition: enabling communities to thrive – ACRE’s Strategy for 2025-30 – ACRE

Statement on ongoing violence and riots

Posted on by Julie

This statement is shared by VONNE as a coordinated response from the VCSE sector across the whole North East region to the current social unrest and violence.

Statement

The recent violence and hate in parts of our region have deeply shocked us. We represent and support thousands of voluntary and community sector groups in the North East, dedicated to building communities, addressing disadvantage, and creating positive futures.

Their work is driven by compassion, which starkly contrasts with the recent events.
Many of the affected and traumatised communities are where these groups are most active.

Our work is rooted in a love for the North East, making it heartbreaking to see such division and hate in our towns and cities.

We stand in solidarity with the affected communities and support the individuals and families who have been victims of hate. We also offer our full support to the community groups and charities that will continue their crucial work and begin the process of rebuilding lives and communities.

Supported by:

Catalyst Stockton
Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland
Community and Voluntary Action Blyth Valley
Community Action Northumberland
Connected Voice
Durham Community Action
East Durham Trust
Hartlepower Community Trust
Inspire South Tyneside
Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency (MVDA)
NAVCA
North Tyneside Voluntary Organisations Development Agency (VODA)
Northumberland CVA
Point North, formerly County Durham Community Foundation
RCVDA
Tees Valley Rural Action
Tees Foundation
Voluntary and Community Action Sunderland
VONNE

Did you know that Tees Valley Rural Action serves as the rural infrastructure organisation for East Cleveland?

Posted on by Julie

Did you know that Tees Valley Rural Action serves as the rural infrastructure organisation for East Cleveland? We need your support!

As the regional Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) representative, we have steadfastly worked with limited funding across the Tees Valley, focusing on East Cleveland, for many years, influencing policy and change for rural communities. If you’ve ever received support or advice from us within East Cleveland, we kindly request that you complete the survey. Your input will ensure that the new funding partnerships are aware of the valuable support we’ve provided.  This includes assistance with Village Halls, Community Buildings, Accounts, Funding Applications, Governance and setting up as a CIC, CIO, Community Group support through Big Local, East Cleveland Good Neighbours Food Bank, Volunteer Support, Trustee/charity support, Network events, community transport, or our new and fabulous East Cleveland Development Officer Sam!  The list is truly endless!

Six Strategic and Funding partners seek VCSE support needs in Redcar and Cleveland

The Woodsmith Foundation is co-ordinating a VCSE sector consultation on behalf of Lloyds Bank Foundation, Rank Foundation, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Tees Foundation, The National Lottery Community Fund and Woodsmith Foundation.

They would like to find out more about the support and development needs of organisations in the local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Redcar and Cleveland. They are keen to hear about what support services you need and how you would like those services to be provided.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and will be anonymously collated. The summary findings will be shared with the six organisations above and a report will also be produced for the VCSE sector. It will be used to explore how they might fund support that will meet the needs of, and advocate for, VCSE organisations in Redcar and Cleveland.  You may receive information about this survey from more than one contact, but please only complete it once. The survey partners are happy if more than one person from each organisation completes the survey as they appreciate the support needs of volunteers, paid staff, and trustees might be different.

Click here to Take the survey

If you would like to find out more about the role of VCSE local infrastructure organisations this NAVCA webpage describes the 4 core functions https://www.navca.org.uk/what-our-members-do

The survey is open until Friday 6th September 2024.

 

 

SLAY YOUR FUNDING DRAGON THIS ST. GEORGE’S DAY

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In celebration of our national saint’s day, Tees Valley Rural Action and Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency are delighted to announce the return of GrantFinder for voluntary sector organisations based and operating in Redcar and Cleveland.

Following the unexpected discontinuation of the previous GrantFinder portal, funded by the local authority, we have worked together since February this year with IDOX to find a route by which we could bring back this service to benefit the communities that we all support and serve.

The Redcar Fund Seekers portal, powered by IDOX GrantFinder, is an open, self-service grant portal that gives you access to the thousands of grant opportunities from national, regional and local funders from the public sector to private charitable foundations and corporate sponsors.

The portal is highly customisable to your needs and can be setup to find and send you funding opportunities that are just right for you, allowing you to slay the proverbial funding dragon and make sure that you’re only putting effort into those funding applications where you are most likely to be successful.

This is a free service, brought to you by a unique partnership of local infrastructure organisations, with the sole request that in order for us to continue to advocate for this free provision you share with us tales of your successful funding bids, as well as those that miss the mark, so we can advocate to funders as to how valuable this service is.

Sign up for your free account today by visiting www.redcarfundseekers.org.uk and access additional support by visiting either www.rcvda.org.uk/support/ or teesvalleyruralaction.co.uk/services/.

Best Wishes,

Peter Neal, CEO, RCVDA and Rita Lawson, CEO, TVRA

Get involved in Village Halls Week 2024

Posted on by Julie

This year’s Village Halls Week (18-24 March) is going green with a focus on promoting sustainability, energy efficiency and the environment. Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) is encouraging community venues to sign up for resources (including recyclable/reusable posters, bunting and badges) for the week. Campaign packs are limited so register your interest now.

We’d love to hear what village halls across Tees Valley, are doing to make your space more energy efficient or encourage your community to go greener. If you want to get involved with the campaign by sharing your story or submitting a blog, do get in touch

We’ll be sharing resources, tips and inspiring stories throughout the week. #VillageHallsWeek

Register Now

 

Applications now open for Tees Esk and Wear Valley (TEWV) NHS Trust Resilience Funding – Round 2 – Staying Well

Posted on by Julie

Following the success of the first round of funding from Tees Esk and Wear Valley (TEWV) NHS Trust, which focussed on the mental health challenges faced as a consequence of the Covid pandemic, we are delighted to announce a new round of one year funding for Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise, (VCSE) organisations in Stockton and Darlington to deliver projects which look to redesign and realign community mental health.

NHS England Community Mental Health Framework sets out its ambition and challenge to local providers to redesign and realign community mental health teams alongside primary care and voluntary sector services.

Funding for round 2 is centred around the core community mental health framework principles of which we would welcome bids in line with the following ethos to support our local communities to stay well.  Funding applications will need to address one or more of the following:

  • Support local communities to stay well. This may include supporting individuals with conditions impacting their mental wellbeing or those who are currently in recovery.
  • Enable individuals to contribute to their local communities and be active participants.
  • Support transitions between services to reduce waiting times and allow for “warm transfers”. By this we mean actively supporting individuals to make initial links with, and access, other services where this would best meet their needs.  Collaborative working across partners and organisations would be strongly welcomed.
  • Promote individuals supporting their physical and mental wellbeing
  • Improve quality of life especially in underrepresented groups or those with health inequalities.
  • Recognise the health inequalities of local populations and underrepresented groups to either access services or stay well within their local communities.
  • Projects and or services that are people led and demonstrate they have spoken to and involved local communities within the design of the activities the applicant is proposing.
  • Applicants can demonstrate they have drawn upon the infrastructure and strengths of the area it is working within and how it can add value.
  • Reduction in social isolation.
  • Provide a proactive outreach offer as well as in reach.

Deadline for applications is 5pm Thursday 29th September 2022 and applicants will be notified within 10 days of the closing date.

Download the application and guidance notes for Darlington here TEWV Application Form Darlington

For VCSE organisations in Stockton on Tees please visit HERE or email enquiries@catalyststockton.org using the title Resilience Funding – Round 2 – Staying Well.

 

 

Big Local Big Changes

Posted on by Julie

We are super excited to announce that East Cleveland Villages Big Local has reviewed their development plan and are about to launch under a new name and new title.  This means a rebrand to something everyone will come to know and recognise.

East Cleveland Villages Big Local is being renamed and will become East Cleveland Good Neighbours – Connecting Communities.  Together with a new development plan for the area and new direction of travel for East Cleveland Good Neighbours – this is an exciting time for East Cleveland.

We believe that the change will be much easier for the community to connect with and relate to.  The partnership team has worked with a consultant and engaged with the community to develop an easy-to-understand development plan with clear themes that will benefit the communities of East Cleveland.  Following a period where COVID halted the progress of implementing the plan – now is the time to move forward.

To launch their new name, they would like to invite you to an event with a difference.

They are inviting community groups to come along and find out more and take part in a Chicken Soup event! At the event community groups will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the room audience who will then vote on their chosen cause.  The winners of the vote will be awarded a grant of £500.

All we are asking is that community groups are working on the themes of our development plan and the delivery is in our allocated area of East Cleveland.  On the launch evening we will be taking pitches from those working on our themes 2, 3, 4 and 5, see below for information.

The date of the event is 1st October at Loftus Community Hub CIC – Home of the East Cleveland Good Neighbours Food bank (The old Loftus Social Club, West Road, Loftus, TS13 4RG)

Groups will discover more about the themes over the next few weeks via their social media pages but for now the themes are:

Theme 1.  Developing the skills and confidence of local people and organisations

Theme 2. Young People

Theme 3. Health and Well Being

Theme 4. Being neighbourly – Connecting Our Communities

Theme 5. Campaigning and Strong Local Voices

Also, on the evening there will be a market stall event to find out more about the themes and how community groups can get involved either as a delivery partner or to access funding.

What’s not to get involved with? …. This is your chance too network with other organisations in the local area, a chance to find out more about the plans for East Cleveland Good Neighbours – Connecting Communities moving forward and an opportunity for funding.  We may even treat you all to some cake!!

Please follow social media groups and pages or contact info@teesvalleyruralaction.co.uk for more information.

 

Going Green Together Launch Events

Posted on by Julie

Going Green Together is very excited to announce the launch of our new project, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund and County Durham Community Foundation. As well as expanding the resources we’re currently offering through the Going Green Together website, we’re inviting VCSE organisations in the North East and Cumbria to join a special cohort to access training and courses in order to reduce their carbon footprint and learn how to make their working practises more environmentally conscious.

To celebrate the launch of this programme, and to let you know how to get involved, we’re hosting a range of online and in-person events in mid-July. These events will include a presentation of what we’ve done so far, the aims of Going Green Together, what’s coming up and what we’re looking for in applicants for our training cohort. The events will also involve break-out sessions to provide a taster of future activities, and to let us know more about your environmental needs. They will also include an opportunity to meet other organisations in your region, to begin building a climate support network of your peers.

This is a fantastic opportunity for those who are looking to make their first steps towards environmental reform within their organisation, those who want to discover more, and for those who are already embedding environmental practise in their organisation but who are looking to collaborate with and help other organisations do the same.

The first event will be an in-person launch and networking event on Tuesday 12th July, 2-4.30pm, at VODA’s new Spirit of North Tyneside venue in Wallsend Customer First Centre. You can sign up to this free event here: https://www.vonne.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=472

This will be followed by three online launch events. While each of these will have a regional focus, anyone from the North East or Cumbria is invited to attend whichever event they prefer based on their availability. These are as follows:

 

There will be a limit on spaces for each event, so be sure to reserve your ticket soon!

Nuts and Bolts of Funding Applications

Posted on by Julie

The development of a grant application can be a tricky and overwhelming task. We have teamed up with Woodsmith Foundation to provide the background work that is required to start writing quality grant applications.

Our fun and interactive sessions will include a speaker from the Woodsmith Foundation (formerly Sirius Minerals Foundation) to ensure Redcar & Cleveland groups can produce quality applications to meet their funding guidelines.

This is your opportunity to meet the funder and develop your funding application skills. We will be detailing, tips and trips and do’s and don’ts. Giving you an opportunity to use case studies and develop your own applications on the day.

Over three separate dates and East Cleveland Venues.  Each day is the same time. Registration from 9:30am, session is 10am-2pm. Lunch is provided.

26th July 2022  – Charltons Community Centre, TS12 3DA

18th August 2022 – Loftus Town Hall, Ts13 4HG – DATE CHANGED FROM 17th AUGUST

13th September 2022 – Liverton Village Hall, Ts13 4TB

Sometimes 1 day just isn’t enough we will be offering 1 to 1 tailored sessions to support your future funding applications.  Once the face to face training sessions are completed an online highlight video will be available on our website.

To register your place please click here to secure your spot numbers depend on venue so please don’t miss out.

Poster with dates for training course