Village Halls Week 2022: Innovating for the future

Monday 24 January – Sunday 30th January 2022

Village Halls Week is a national campaign, shining a spotlight on the contribution England’s 10,000+ village halls make to rural communities. It is an opportunity for hall management committees to celebrate their work and get inspiration from others.

ACRE – Action with Communities in Rural England fifth annual campaign will challenge halls to do something different and innovate for the future.

Halls do much to improve life for local residents, often providing the only local space where people gather, combating loneliness, and delivering a wide range of activities and services.

But in these precarious times, community buildings can play a leading role in shaping a better future. During the week, we will be encouraging halls to pledge to do something different – whether that be extending their offer to their community, reducing their impact on the environment or becoming more financially sustainable.

To find out how you can get involved and support the campaign, please click on the following links and all your resources and downloads are here:

How to get involved in Village Halls Week 2022

Campaign Pack – Download

This event is kindly sponsored by

Zurich, Norris & Fisher, Ansvar

Programme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas From Tees Valley Rural Action

Wishing you a wonderful Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

For the last 18 months or so we have all been living and operating in circumstances which, to say the least, have been extremely challenging.  Sadly as we head into the festive season and spending time with our family and loved ones we are still very much uncertain as to what further challenges we will have to contend with in the New Year.

Throughout this time we have worked with a lot of communities and we are humbled by what resilience really means in the rural communities of the Tees Valley.  We could never be more proud of how our rural communities have stepped up to reach out to others when times are difficult.

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers who have come forward in these challenging times who have provided their time free of charge to support, look after their neighbours and those who are alone.  We salute each and everyone of you and thank you.

In the words of a familiar saying, “we’re not out of the woods yet” and Covid is here for longer than anyone would want it to be.  It will continue to be tough for volunteers in working to keep their community venues open and running so that communities can still benefit from much needed social activities at this special time of year.  Despite these difficulties and because our rural communities are resilient, we know that they will keep on going and giving whenever and wherever they possibly can.

The pandemic has been a long haul for everyone involved, but sympathy, support and solidarity between volunteers, our small team here at TVRA and the organisations to which we’re all connected to has been given in abundance.  Thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough!

Our busy team at TVRA will be closing our ‘virtual’ offices from Friday 17th December and will reopen on 10th January 2022 refreshed and ready to begin another busy year.

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas.  Do stay safe and here’s to looking forward to a much better year in 2022 where we can build on all the brilliant work which volunteers and communities have done through these unprecedented and challenging times.

SEARCH IS ON FOR SOCIALLY ENTERPRISING BUSINESS IDEAS AS £4M INVESTMENT POT GOES LIVE FOR REDCAR & CLEVELAND AND HARTLEPOOL

SEARCH IS ON FOR SOCIALLY ENTERPRISING BUSINESS IDEAS AS £4M INVESTMENT POT GOES LIVE FOR REDCAR & CLEVELAND AND HARTLEPOOL

A new £4m programme aimed at reducing poverty and inequality through the growth of social economies has launched with a call-out to social entrepreneurs and organisations to get in touch with their business ideas. 

LARCH, which stands for Local Access Redcar & Cleveland and Hartlepool, is part of a £33m enterprise development and blended social investment programme being jointly funded across the UK by Big Society Capital and Access – The Foundation for Social Investment.

It’s one of six areas to be chosen to receive a mix of support, grant funding and repayable investment to grow its local social enterprise and voluntary and community sector as part of efforts to increase prosperity, boost the local economy and ultimately, reduce inequality.

Local partners are now calling for anyone with a socially enterprising business idea – or an existing organisation that has potential to do more – within these two areas to register with LARCH to see how the funding and support can help.

Carol Botten, who is CEO of Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) and the independent chair of the LARCH Partnership Board, said the opportunity is unique because it’s designed to shift the social sector culture to one of self-sustainability: “The LARCH programme will support individuals and organisations at different stages of their enterprise journey, to develop ideas and business models through events, workshops, professional support and mentoring from other successful social entrepreneurs and organisations.

“In addition, organisations will be able to access small enterprise development grants and repayable finance to help them realise their idea or sustain or grow their existing earned income streams.”

“The programme will support organisations to become more enterprising, diversify and grow their income sources and in doing so enable them to deliver more impact for local people and communities in Redcar & Cleveland and Hartlepool.  With the funding landscape growing ever more competitive, enabling organisations to be self-sustaining and resilient through earned income and the delivery of contracts and services, is key to building a diverse, vibrant and resilient community and social enterprise sector.”

A social enterprise is a business established to create positive social change – it must have a focus on economic success; however, it differs from other businesses in that the money generated is used to tackle its social aims rather than to reward the business owners or shareholders.

Peter Gowland, who is a director of Hartlepower and is one of the voluntary sector organisations helping represent LARCH in Hartlepool, said “We urge anyone with a social enterprise idea to take up the LARCH offer, which is not just about providing funding for your project – welcome though that is – but good quality, continuing support throughout your enterprise journey. Hartlepool has a very rich tradition of people coming together to meet local needs -LARCH could be just the tool people need to realise their ambitions.”

Peter Gowland - supporting partner on LARCH at Church St Hartlepool
Peter Gowland – supporting partner on LARCH at Church St Hartlepool

Mike Milen, who is CEO of Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency (RCVDA) is representing LARCH for Redcar and Cleveland, said: “Although we see a lot of positive economic news linked to Tees Works and the Redcar and Loftus Town Plans, this still remains a challenging time for many. We intend for LARCH to encourage and support the development of a complimentary social enterprise approach to regenerating Redcar & Cleveland.

Mike Milen -Supporting partner on LARCH at Redcar
Mike Milen -Supporting partner on LARCH at Redcar

“I would encourage anyone with ideas and a passion for the area to make contact. This is an opportunity for local people to lead on the development of services and products that can create employment and improve the local area.”

Ideas from organisations that qualify will be driven by social aims or goals, derive at least part of the income from trading, rather than from grant funding or donations, and will reinvest profits in the enterprise and its social aims.

Most often, social enterprises are set up to operate by directly addressing the social issue they aim to improve, for example a specialist cardiac rehabilitation service set up in response to the barriers faced by the local community in accessing the available NHS services.

However, they can also be profitable businesses which raise money to be used to tackle social issues, for example an accommodation letting agency purely to generate funds for a local charity.

Ms Botton said: “This is an opportunity to register at the earliest possible stages of LARCH; The process of recruiting a programme manager is currently in progress and we hope to announce that early in the New Year, followed by the launch of the LARCH website and development of the brand, to make it as accessible as possible to people.”

Interest is expected to be high – follow the link to register

https://form.jotform.com/LARCHorg/registerwithlarch

East Cleveland Villages – We need to find some good listeners, is this you?

Lloyds Bank Foundation is  involved in long-term People and Communities work in Redcar and Cleveland (and five other communities across England and Wales). The Great Listeners approach in Redcar and Cleveland will be an essential part of the work, enabling residents to take the lead in researching local needs and views.

Supported by an independent community worker, Nick Beddow (Shared Places), the Great Listeners will be creating  a community-led research approach in Redcar and Cleveland, to find out what 600 local residents feel strongly about in their neighbourhoods: what do they currently like and wish to see continue? What do they dislike and want to see change? And what are their own ideas for making life better for all?

What difference will it make?

Consultation has become a dirty word in the past because communities can feel that they are being used by big organisations in a paper-exercise which leads to nothing changing and no further communication about what’s been discovered in the research.

The Great Listeners approach is tackling this head-on:  it is led by communities listening to each other, connecting and and learning about their different views, needs and priorities, and then using these conversations to create a long-term community voice on local issues. The Great Listeners conversations will be gathered into a report which will be available to communities and used at action-planning and decision-making events to guide everyone towards collaborating better on community priorities. The Great Listeners will be bringing together many voices from many backgrounds and perspectives.

These 600 conversations will be a starting point for learning what’s important to communities; we will be listening to people who often aren’t being heard.

In March 2022 the findings will be shared with communities, service providers and funders, to help them consider future actions to meet local people’s needs. We are ‘learning as we go’ and trying to evolve an approach to community engagement which will continue and be built on further. We hope that the learning from the Great Listeners work will inspire new approaches to how we involve communities in helping to shape local services and influence decision-making.

How it will work:

These conversations will be happening in three areas of Redcar & Cleveland: Grangetown, Redcar and neighbourhoods in the East Cleveland area. These sites were chosen because they offer different environments and we want to see if that creates different priorities for people who live there.

The research will be undertaken by ten residents who will be chatting to others in their neighbourhood from January to March 2022. We will be recruiting the residents from the three areas during November and December, and paying them in shopping vouchers for a couple of hours work each week, over three months. This ensures that people who are receiving benefit payments can be involved, as we will be keeping to a maximum of £20 payment each week in the form of vouchers. Anyone over 16 can be considered. The only qualifications required are that they are good listeners and care deeply about their communities.

How Can Residents Apply?

We will be sending our recruitment poster to communities throughout November and early December to invite people to express their interest in becoming our “Great Listeners” or “Community Explorers” (we’ll ask the recruited residents to decide on their own name).

The first step is for interested residents to contact Nick Beddow by phone or text (07985 570168) or email (nicksharedplaces@gmail.com).

Nick will contact each person to explain the project in more detail, and ask about their interests and social background – where they live, age, involvement in their community, etc.

As we have only ten places available, in mid December we will choose ten people who give us a good mix of backgrounds (where they live, and a mix of all social factors such as ages, gender, ethnicity, mobility, etc).

Everyone who applied will be contacted by Nick before Xmas: those chosen for the ten places will be asked if they still wish to go ahead, and everyone else will be asked if they are willing to be kept on a list of reserve places if any of the ten Great Listeners can’t continue.

In mid-January the ten Great Listeners will meet Nick in a local venue to train together as a team; a three hour meeting will look at their views on the issues locally and begin to use the chatting tools on each other. We will be deciding together the best ways to begin the local chats. Each Great Listener can decide when to use their own time each week (usually two hours to complete ten chats each week), and will be paid by Nick fortnightly at update meetings (usually one hour).  They will also be paid for the training and meetings.

Going Green Together Launch

Going Green Together Launch!
The VCAA (VONNE Climate Action Alliance) have launched the Going Green Together campaign!

After 10 intensive weeks working with SIDE Labs and di:ga Communications on Catalyst’s Development programme, the VCAA have developed a web-tool to help organisations take their first climate action steps and share their action with others.

The website also provides more information about the VCAA, learning resources and the opportunity to read their news, subscribe to their newsletter and join their MeetUp group for future events and meetings.

It would be great if you could visit the Going Green Together website and share any feedback by emailing hello@goinggreentogether.org.

Could your community group/building access funding and take some simple steps towards climate change? Redcar & Cleveland

If the answer is yes, or even if you want to think big please read on. Sirius Minerals Foundation has easily accessible funding for your community group or building to make this happen.

Sirius Minerals Foundation Open Grant Round – Climate Change

We are currently accepting applications for climate change action projects.

Sirius Minerals Foundation was established to provide a lasting legacy for the community, and this grant round is designed to address our objective to advance environmental protection and improvement including the enhancing of the local landscape.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist

This grant round is specifically designed to enable local communities, schools and voluntary organisations in our area of benefit to undertake action on climate change. We are particularly interested in grassroots projects that galvanise community action and projects that increase the number of people taking action on climate change. This could be something that has been proven to work elsewhere, or it could be an innovative idea that you would like to test in your community. It could be a research or feasibility study to understand how your community buildings or activities could be more environmentally friendly. All we ask is that you tell us why you believe that your project will make a positive contribution to the achievement of our objectives, and what demonstrable outputs you expect.

We can fund projects for climate change awareness raising and education, mitigation of the effects of climate change, adaptation to the consequences of climate change, and feasibility studies. This grant round gives people who have an idea the resources to put it into action. We know not everything will work, but we are keen to support you to give something a go because we all need to take action on climate change. We can all play a part in looking after the world we love.

This grant round will see the Foundation spend up to £80,000 across Scarborough Borough, the North York Moors National Park and Redcar and Cleveland. Organisations can apply for grants of between £500 and £5,000. The grants can be used to buy something or to do something locally that will ultimately have positive climate benefits.

This grant round will close at 12pm on Monday 6th December 2021. Groups will be notified of the outcome by the end of February 2021. Funds must be spent by end of March 2023.

Please read the detailed eligibility criteria and application guidance if you are inspired to take local climate action at this time, available here

Application forms for this round can be found here

If you would like to have a look at the monitoring form that you will be asked to complete at the end of your project please click here. This is for information only at the application stage and should not be sent back with your application form.

Groups are encouraged to contact the Foundation to have an informal chat to discuss their application if they are not sure it fits the criteria for this funding round.

Call Leah Swain on 07724 832982 or email grants@siriusmineralsfoundation.co.uk

If you need support to develop your project idea or write an application then please get in touch with your local support organisations below.

For organisations in Scarborough Borough and the North York Moors National ParkCommunity Support North Yorkshire – Community First Yorkshire

01904 704177 or communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk

For organisations in Redcar and ClevelandSupport – RCVDA01642 440571 or enquiries@rcvda.org.uk

Sirius Minerals Foundation Open Grant Round – Children and Young People Time Together

Redcar & Cleveland  – Sirius Minerals Foundation

Open Grant Round – Children and Young People Time Together

Sirius Minerals Foundation are currently accepting applications for activities that build relationships between children and young people and give them time together. We would love communities and organisations to talk to their children and young people and find out how they would chose to spend time together having fun or doing something uplifting with their friends or peers – and then apply for funding from the Foundation to make it happen.

This grant round will see the Foundation spend up to £200,000 across Scarborough Borough, the North York Moors National Park and Redcar and Cleveland. Organisations can apply for grants of between £500 and £4,000. If you are a charity that is an umbrella organisation for multiple groups you can apply for a potentially larger grant to allow for each group at a separate location to benefit. Please contact us for a discussion before you start your application.

This grant round will close at 12pm on Sunday 31st October 2021. Groups will be notified of the outcome by 10th December 2021. Funds must be spent by end of December 2022.

Example of activity that could be funded:

  • Activities that give children and young people the opportunity to learn a new skills or have a new experience.
  • Informal learning opportunities provided through socialising with their friends or peers which might include one off events or a series of activities.
  • Events or activities that you cannot normally offer your children and young people because you do not have funding available.
  • Opportunities for children and young people who cannot travel to have something fun come to them.
  • Support costs for a child or young person to be able to access the opportunity you wish us to fund.

We would prefer to see programmes of activities rather than one off events, especially when they are structured to build longer term connections between children and young people. However, we are not ruling out one off events or activities – the priority is to build relationships between children and young people and give them time together.

Before applying please read the application criteria, available here 

Application forms for this round can be found here 

Groups are encouraged to contact the Foundation to have an informal chat to discuss their application if they are not sure it fits the criteria for this funding round.

Call Leah Swain on 07724 832982 or email grants@siriusmineralsfoundation.co.uk

If you need support to develop your project idea or write an application then please get in touch with your local support organisations below.

For organisations in Scarborough Borough and the North York Moors National Park

 

Community Support North Yorkshire – Community First Yorkshire

01904 704177 or communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk

For organisations in Redcar and ClevelandSupport – RCVDA

01642 440571 or enquiries@rcvda.org.uk

Invitation to participate in DCMS survey about rural network coverage (mobile)

Invitation to participate in DCMS survey about rural network coverage (mobile)

“ Would you like to contribute to government policy? We, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), are currently researching the impact of mobile coverage in rural areas. This is part of our Shared Rural Network programme which aims to increase mobile network coverage across the UK to 95%. Now, we want to find out how this programme can help you in your daily life.

We particularly want to hear from you if you live or work in rural UK!

You can participate via this link: https://dcms.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7QWTy9OUU4PNnmK 

The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.

Or email Laura.Hensel@dcms.gov.uk to request to complete the survey over the telephone.

Information about the Shared Rural Network can be found here

Tees Valley Rural Action supporting village halls bouncing back.

TVRA wraps a supportive arm around our village hall communities, with support and expert advice.

What a sad and surreal day it was in spring 2020, when hundreds of village halls across the country had to close their doors, literally turning off a life-line for many who relied on the facilities as their safe haven and for social interaction.  Buildings that were a hive of activity providing coffee mornings, library and health and wellbeing activities etc – suddenly became silent.  Volunteer management committees now had to consider their new role, that of managing an empty building, they could not just lock the door, walk away, and wait for the government to tell them what to do.

At the start of lockdown, Tees Valley Rural Action’s (TVRA) staff and Village Hall Advisor were inundated with enquiries as to what was happening and what they should do.  Tees Valley has over 70 village halls who grabbed opportunities to come together virtually with expert partners/agencies such as Martyn Ingram from Norris and Fisher Insurance Brokers Ltd who was able to give guidance on behalf of insurers for village halls.

Throughout the pandemic, TVRA has provided advice, guidance and support to village halls and community buildings across the Tees Valley.  This has included funding advice and encouraging the management committees to apply for the government business support grant, regular interpretation of the guidelines coming out of central government and helping them to understand what they could and couldn’t do.

Fast forward some 15 months and there is an excited buzz in the air!  Why?  Because village halls are planning their re-opening and diligently working to ensure their users and visitors feel confident that they are entering a safe environment.  Returning once again to providing a facility for communities to meet and services that are paramount in small villages and go a long way to reduce loneliness and social isolation.

Rita Lawson CEO, “Throughout the pandemic, TVRA has never been so busy.  The team has been at the end of a phone providing advice and guidance on following the government guidelines.  Also, as TVRA is your regional network member of Action with Communities in Rural England, (ACRE) we have had access to simplified updates which again we have been able to share with our village hall and community building management committees.  One of our village hall members did say that without TVRA’s help and support they were fearful of doing things wrong and putting people and themselves at risk.  We’re coming to, what will hopefully be the end of this current lockdown and applaud everyone involved in our communities for diligently following the 4 step road map.   We do need to be continually mindful not to become complacent and undo all the good that has been done in keeping our communities and each other safe.  As we emerge back into the new normal of life, TVRA will be there every step of the way as ‘together we are stronger’.”

Village halls in England are being encouraged to sign the online record to mark 100 years of rural community action. Has your hall signed the national record yet? There is still time to get involved.

Many of England’s Village Halls date back to the 1920s. There are over 10,000 village and community halls to be found across England. Many were established in the 1920s when there was a national drive to improve social and educational provision in rural areas. In a survey undertaken by ACRE last year, it was found that 60% of village halls provide the only meeting space in the local community. An estimated 50,000 individuals too are reliant on the use of village halls to make a living.

The online record has been set up by national charity, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). The Domesday Book is a colourful, and arguably historical record, so far featuring 700+ village halls whose volunteer custodians have taken time to explain their charity’s history, their response to the pandemic, and hopes for reopening and supporting their community in the future.

 

Notes to editor 

TVRA work to ensure all village halls and community centres are well run by professional management committees working for the betterment of their communities.  TVRA encourage and support hall redevelopment projects, provide grant funding advice, give regular information and advice on running a hall in your local community and provide advice and guidance on all aspects of village hall and community building management.

  • There are 10,000+ village halls in England
  • 1,000 village halls host a community enterprise such as shop, café, post office.

Please feel free to contact Janice McColm at Tees Valley Rural Action on 01642 213852 info@teesvalleyruralaction.co.uk

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Tees Valley Village Halls