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Futurebuilders Fund and the Department of Health's Social Enterprise Investment FundThrough Futurebuilders, loan financing, often combined with grants and professional support, to third sector organisations in England that need investment to help them bid for, win and deliver public service contracts. See http://www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk/ for further details. The DoH's Social Enterprise Investment Fund (SEIF) provides investment to help new social enterprises start up and existing social enterprises grow and improve their services. Specifically social enterprises involved in the delivery of innovative health and social care services are supported. For further information see www.dh.gov.uk/seif
£2m boost for local resource centresVoluntary organisations are set to benefit from improved facilities at local resource centres, thanks to an additional £2m of capital investment from the Office of the Third Sector. Strand A 2010 aims to respond to the increased demand on services, shared facilities and opportunities offered by local voluntary sector resource centres. Online applications are welcome from existing local resource centres, including those which have previously had an application to the programme declined. The closing deadline for applications is midday on 24 December 2009. To find out more about Strand A 2010 and apply online, please visit the Capacitybuilders website by following the link here.
Grants helping organisations to enable more disabled people to volunteer are now availableOrganisations can apply for grants between £250 and £5,000, which can be used to help overcome barriers that stop disabled people volunteering, such as specific equipment, a lack of suitable access and understanding of disability issues. These grants are part of the £2 million ‘Access to Volunteering Fund’, which was developed by the Office of the Third Sector as a pilot scheme in Greater London, the West Midlands and the North West. The fund operates between Autumn 2009 and Spring 2011 over five grant rounds. The first deadline for applications is 1 December 2009. However, organisations unable to submit an application by this date will have their applications considered in future grant rounds.
UnLtd – Social EntrepreneursSocial Entrepreneurs that wish to apply for funding through the UnLtd Millennium Awards (Level 2) Awards will have from the 26th February 2010 until the 22nd March 2010 to register their expression of interest. See www.unltd.org.uk/template.php?ID=1&PageName=whatareunltdawards
Computers for Rural People SchemeIndividuals clubs and organisations, etc, in rural areas that need access to information and services, are able to purchase fully functioning ex-government computers for as little as £99. The computers are being made available through the Arthur Rank Centre. This is a collaborative unit supported by the National Churches, the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Rank Foundation. For organisations that need more than one computer; e.g. for a Drop-in centre, School etc. the prices are even lower..
Cracking the CodeCracking the Code is a bursary Scheme from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) to improve governance within Third Sector infrastructure organisations . The scheme offers up to £500 to improve to improve the way that community and voluntary organisation are led and governed. The type of activities that could be funded include; organising a Board Away day; attend training on the latest legal updates or the roles and responsibilities of board members; improving an organisation's recruitment and induction systems; holding a stakeholder forum to improve strategic planning; and or carrying out a governance review. In return for the bursary the NCVO will ask organisations to write a case study and develop a method to share the knowledge and experiences with other in the local area. The deadline for applications is the 31st December 2009.. Work and Wellbeing Challenge
If you are a disabled person in work then make sure your employer knows about a new scheme to develop improved health and welfare initiatives. Between £1,000 and £50,000 could be available annually for small and medium-sized enterprises in the West Midlands. This funding The DWP's Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund will enable employers to create project that aid and promote: Reducing stress and improving other mental health conditions Providing healthy activities Ensuring work-life balance Supportive management Further details are available here www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/ChallengeFund HARDSHIP FUND
More details can be found on this website www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/hardship-fund
Contact your local Council for Voluntary Service or Voluntary Action who can give you more information on this. If you don’t know your local one then ring Sue Heppell at CDP on 02476 716217 who can give you a local contact. Regional CapacityBuilding by the Department of Health User-led Organisation ProjectFor 2009/10 a key priority for the Department of Health (DH) User-led Organisation Project is to support capacity building for user-led organisations across the 9 English regions. DH has made £675,000 available to Deputy Regional Directors (DRDs) from April 2009 (£75,000 per region) and plan to allocate a further £225,000 in October to support this work. The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) has also provided additional funding of up to £100,000 per region for capacity building work in recognition of the important role that user-led organisations will play in the implementation of the Independent Living Strategy and the right to control trailblazers.
Further information about the activities of the government regional offices can be found at
http://www.gos.gov.uk/national/.
Are you a community or charitable organisation that is looking to extend your work with a laptop and a year's free broadband?
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