The Rural Community Energy Fund is a £10 million programme which supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects, which provide economic and social benefits to the community.
The Government is encouraging new community projects across England to apply for feasibility grants of up to £40,000 for green initiatives, including solar battery storage and wind, hydro and geothermal heat projects. Viable proposals will also be considered for further grants of up to £100,000 for business development and planning applications. The grants are aimed at organisations such as rural sports clubs, rural schools and churches. More information can be found here RCEF Leaflet NEYH

TEES VALLEY EAFRD CALLS – LAUNCH EVENTS
SIGN UP NOW

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Growth Programme is open for applications from Monday 4 November to Sunday 16 February 2020.
The programme provides grants for rural start-ups and businesses to purchase state of the art equipment and machinery to grow their business or open up opportunities for tourism.
The minimum grant size has reduced from £35,000 to £20,000 meaning that more small or micro businesses could be eligible for a grant for their projects.
There are 3 calls open further details are below. The Handbooks and Expression of Interest (EOI) Form can be found here . EOIs should be submitted directly to growthapps@rpa.gov.uk
Launch Events

Two Tees Valley Launch Events have been arranged as follows:

Monday 25th November – 1pm – 5pm Loftus Town Hall, High Street, Loftus, TS13 4HG. To register for this event CLICK HERE
Wednesday 4th December – 1pm – 5pm Blackwell Grange Hotel, Grange Road, Darlington, DL3 8QH. To register for this event CLICK HERE
Places will be limited so please register asap. Both events will be the same so you need only attend one.

If you have a potential project idea there will be an opportunity to have a one to one session with an officer from the Rural Payments Agency.

If you would like to arrange a one to one session please contact Sue Donnelly after registering.
Download full details here EAFRD Launch Events

Tees Valley Rural Action, (TVRA) is seeking to appoint an Audit/Accountancy service for a 3 year period commencing 1st April 2020 on a rolling annual renewal.

The scope of this brief is in two parts and are as follows:

Part 1 – Accountancy/Book-keeping
• Provide accountancy advice throughout each of the 3 years
• Bank reconciliation 1 day per month
• Support the Chief Executive with preparing bi-monthly management account and cashflow reports for the Board of Trustees

Part 2 – Audit
• Planning meetings in preparation for Audit
• Financial statements for the 3 years beginning with the year ended 31st March 2020
• Presentation of draft and final financial statements to the Board of Trustees
• Availability for accountancy/audit advice throughout each of the 3 years
• Support with the timely preparation and filing of appropriate returns to Companies House, Charity Commission and HMRC

If you intend to submit a proposal and/or require any clarification, please contact Rita Lawson, Chief Executive on (01642) 213852 or rlawson@teesvalleyruralaction.co.uk

A full tender specification is here for you to download: Tender Specification for Audit and Accountancy Services

Police Appeal for Information about Vehicle which could assist Naheed Khan Investigation

Detectives investigating the suspected murder of Naheed Khan, 43, have today released images of a vehicle that they are appealing for further information about.

It is believed that Naheed may have travelled in the vehicle at the end of April/early May 2018, shortly before her disappearance on the early May bank holiday weekend last year (Monday 6th May).

The vehicle is a distinctive light blue Ford Focus (registration MX02 CVU) which was recovered by officers in January 2019 in Middlesbrough. It has a distinctive white sticker of a vehicle on the rear boot panel which says ‘Paul Walker one last ride’.

Officers believe the vehicle may have been up for sale in June 2018 at the junction of Sedgemoor Road and Holmefields Road in Middlesbrough and it was possibly sold to someone on Falmouth Street, also in Middlesbrough.

Senior Investigating Officer, T/ Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dimelow, said: “We have carried out extensive enquiries since we recovered the vehicle and there a still a few gaps we need answers to regarding the vehicles movements between May 2018 and January 2019.
“Do you recognise the vehicle? Do you know someone who has owned it or have you ever seen Naheed inside of the vehicle?

“If you do recognise the Ford Focus, or if you have been offered it for sale, particularly during the period of May 2018 to January 2019, please contact us with further information.

“Prior to the vehicle being recovered it is believed it had spotlights and further stickers on the front of it. We have also received information to suggest the car was up for sale in the Grove Hill area.”

Naheed, also known as Nad, had links in Stockton, Middlesbrough and Thornaby. She is described as Asian, of slim build and around 5ft 6” tall, with long, dark hair.

A 39-year-old man was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Naheed and released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cleveland Police on the non-emergency number 101. Alternatively, people can visit https://mipp.police.uk/ and provide information direct to the investigation team.

Independent charity Crimestoppers are offering up to £10,000 for information they receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the suspected murder of Naheed Khan. Contact Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

Durham University now have over 2,000 responses to the study across the North. But to get good information for Tees Valley, we still need you to take part.

Whether your organisation or group is big or small, flourishing or struggling financially – or just carrying on more or less as normal – we need to hear from you.

It takes just 15-20 minutes to do. You shouldn’t need to check up any facts and you can do it on your PC, laptop, tablet or phone by clicking here.

Using the findings, Durham University will build a picture of how organisations and groups work, how they get their resources and how they are planning to work in future.

The research helps to inform national and local government, health organisations and charitable foundations so that they make good decisions on how to invest in the activity of the third sector.

The research also helps the third sector itself to show the extent and value of the work it does. 

The project has generously been supported by Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, Garfield Weston Foundation and Power to Change.

And tell your friends and colleagues to do the same: by sending them an email with the link to the survey or by drawing attention to the study via twitter using #ThirdSectorTrends

Headline findings will be published in December 2019 and the full results will be freely available from spring 2020.

Click here to start: https://durham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/third-sector-trends-in-the-north-of-england-2019-live-s-2

Recent reports from the study so far can be found here

If you have any questions about the research and/or the questionnaire, please contact Professor Tony Chapman, St Chad’s College, Durham University, 18 North Bailey, DURHAM DH1 3RH, or by email: tony.chapman@durham.ac.uk.

Today we celebrate with @TNLUK and want to thank all the players, who allow charities like ours to receive vital funding from @TNLComFund #NationalLottery25
The 25th birthday is a moment to celebrate the extraordinary impact The National Lottery has had on the UK, and to say thank you to National Lottery players for contributing around £30 million to good causes every week.

Post your crossed fingers selfie to join in the celebrations, we struggled not been in the office today so thought lets go with what we know and join in with our lovely the mascots the sheep.

#raisingtheruralvoice

Cleveland Police Appeal to Rural/Farming Community for Assistance with Naheed Khan Murder Investigation

Cleveland Police are reaching out to the farming and rural communities for their assistance with the Naheed Khan murder investigation.

Naheed, 43 has been missing since May 2018 and a designated team of officers launched a murder investigation in January last year. Officers are appealing to people in the farming community to come forward if they noticed any suspicious activity on their land May and June 2018.   In addition to this, police are asking people to check their outbuildings and land of unusual activity.

Senior Investigating Officer, T/Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dimelow, said: “Naheed has been missing nearly 18 months now and our team are continuing to work to try and find her.  Unfortunately, we do believe that Naheed has been murdered and we are appealing to the hard to reach farming communities for their assistance with our search as they may be able to help us with our enquiries.  If you do own a plot of land, and have noticed any unusual signs of activity we would urge you to contact us, as your information could help us find Naheen.”

Naheed had links in Stockton, Middlesbrough and Thornaby.  She is described as Asian, of slim build and around 5ft 6″ tall, with long dark hair.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cleveland Police on the non-emergency number 101.  Alternatively, people can visit https://mipp.police.uk/ and provide information direct to the investigation team.

Independent charity Crimestoppers is now offering up to £10,000 for information they receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the suspected murder of Naheed Khan.  Contact Crimestoppers 1000% anonymously on 0800555111 or visit Crimestoppers