Tag: communities

COP26 Green Power List: Scottish Power seeks green champions and innovators across Edinburgh

ScottishPower is calling on communities across the nation to nominate their top green champions ahead of this year’s United Nations COP26 Climate Change Conference.

The firm, which generates 100% green electricity, is looking for stories of inspiring green champions across Edinburgh, from volunteers helping communities to go greener and innovators creating environmentally friendly technology, to policymakers pushing their community to tackle climate change and passionate people campaigning for an environmental cause close to their heart.

ScottishPower is a principal partner of the United Nations COP26 Climate Change Conference, which will be hosted by the UK in Glasgow this November. The top 26 nominees from across the country will become a part of the Green Power List, with a platform to continue their important work.

The energy supplier is also searching for inspiring young people who have taken on the climate challenge in their own community and have made a real difference in the move towards a cleaner, greener future. Young people nominated will be considered for the Youth Green Power List featuring 26 young people under the age of 30.

Find further information on how to nominate an inspiring green champion in your community here – https://www.scottishpower.com/pages/green_power_list.aspx

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower, said: “Everyone has a part to play in tackling the climate emergency and with the UK hosting COP26, this is a chance to celebrate the green champions and innovators in our communities right across the country who are taking on the climate crisis in their own unique way.

“If you know someone in your community or workplace who is making a difference, we urge you to nominate them so their story can inspire others.

“We are passionate about showcasing people of all ages and backgrounds who are doing their bit to create a better planet and future for the next generation.”

ScottishPower is the UK’s only integrated energy company and generates 100% green electricity from offshore and onshore wind. It is developing an energy model that will play a significant role in reaching the UK’s world-leading climate change targets and is investing £10billion in the UK over five years – £6 million every working day – to double its renewable generation capacity and drive forward decarbonisation to support the move towards Net Zero emissions.

Its plans include new solar, wind and battery infrastructure, green hydrogen facilities and undertaking the mammoth task of upgrading parts of the country’s energy network to accommodate the expected rapid increase in demand for electricity.

Purchasing for public good could generate billions for disadvantaged communities

Public bodies and housing associations are being urged to use their purchasing power to tackle inequality within local communities in a new guide published today Monday, March 29th 2021 by the BetterForUs campaign 2020-4.

‘Procurement for Community Public Good’ provides a route map to how commissioners and communities can collaborate to deliver change across the UK through the adoption of fair procurement principles.

The Guide highlights how authorities can make use of existing laws to tackle disadvantage. It also pinpoints the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals in developing coherence and consistency in delivering public value commissioning across the UK.

The Guide is published in advance of BetterForUs research which shows that commissioners are not effectively making use of existing powers within current procurement law.

Regulation 20 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 and Regulation 21 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations provide that commissioning bodies can reserve contracts for positive action programmes and organisations that tackle disadvantage. 

Between 2015 – 2020 only eight organisations chose to make use of such provision, with Scotland and Wales leading the way and England and Northern Ireland falling behind.

The UK government is currently reviewing procurement law which is a devolved matter in the UK and the BetterForUs Campaign is urging it to retain positive action programmes as an integral part of levelling up.

Katharine Sutton, Director of BetterForUs said today: “Lack of investment in the everyday economy is leading to neglected communities and widening inequalities within the community.

“Public commissioners can help shape local markets and connect them to the needs of people thereby strengthening public services and building community resilience. 

“If only one percent of the procurement spend in the UK was reserved for positive action employment programmes this would generate £2.9 billion for local communities.

“Now is the time for public authorities and housing associations to maximise their public spend by providing sustainable employment with fair pay and conditions where people are treated with respect.”

Community led action Inquiry appoints independent Co-chairs

A new Scotland wide inquiry into how communities can hold the power to lead on change from within has appointed two independent Co-Chairs with extensive experience of supporting people who are most excluded in society.

The Social Action Inquiry will support communities to take action together, create change and share power, whilst working alongside them to understand what helps and what gets in the way of progress.

Led by people living and working in Scottish communities, this three-year independent inquiry will:

  • Provide money and power to communities to undertake activity, which they direct and lead on.
  • Support people to find their voices, take action and use what they learn to create wider change.
  • Try to make change as it goes along, partly by bringing together people who hold power, and those currently furthest from it.
  • Build evidence for longer term change in Scotland.

Sam Anderson and Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin join the Inquiry as the newly appointed Co-Chairs. They will be passionate advocates for participation, collaboration and shifting power so that change is led by the knowledge held by communities.

Sam is the Founder of The Junction (Young People, Health & Wellbeing), an award-winning charity based in Edinburgh which works with and for young people on a range of health issues. 

She brings extensive experience as a coach, mentor and facilitator supporting people furthest from power to feel understood and heard amongst systems that might otherwise exclude them.

Sam said: “Social Action has been a significant part of my life journey. I am therefore delighted the need for an Independent Social Action Inquiry for Scotland has been recognised and invested in.

“I feel honoured to be able to contribute to this important Inquiry through the role of Co-Chair and to see the potential of Social Action unleashed in our journey towards an equitable Scotland.”

Catherine-Rose is a social researcher with a wealth of professional, research and personal experience of care. Her experiences of kinship care and as an informal carer have inspired her to build a career that explores how the systems we live within could be reimagined.

Catherine-Rose said: “I am honoured to take up the role of Co-chair of the Social Action Inquiry. As someone who has tried to build community around every significant challenge in my life, I’m thrilled to contribute to an Inquiry that will help us galvanize the ways we take action together.

“I’m particularly delighted that we can shine a light on the work that people and communities are already doing in Scotland, to have the resource to strengthen that activity and the support to think about where power can be redistributed to making meaningful change.”

Catherine-Rose and Sam will shortly be recruiting an Inquiry Panel, along with an Inquiry Lead. If you’d like to apply to join the Inquiry Panel to help direct the Inquiry’s activity, or be part of the team as the Inquiry Led, please keep an eye on our website for announcements: https://socialaction.scot/

The Inquiry will also build on the findings and recommendations from the Together We Help research that explored social action in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Find out more about the Social Action Inquiry vision and background here:

 https://socialaction.scot/about/

Speaking on behalf of the partners who have founded the Inquiry – Carnegie UK Trust, Corra Foundation, Foundation Scotland, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), The National Lottery Community Fund, and The Robertson Trust – Fiona Duncan (CEO of Corra Foundation) said: “This inquiry starts from the idea that social action is a vital part of the solution to the challenges we face as a society – now and in the future.

“The issue is not whether community-led action should be at the heart of creating lasting change, but how everyone can help create the conditions for this to happen, and to flourish.

Collaboration is at the heart of this, and it’s down to the collective efforts of the partners that we’ve reached this point. The partners are delighted to welcome Sam and Catherine-Rose and look forward to the Inquiry taking shape and beginning to help bring about change.”

Commemorating COVID-19

Fund will enable communities to remember in their own way

Communities will be supported by artists to develop projects that help them reflect on the impact of the pandemic, as part of longer term efforts to commemorate those who have lost their lives to Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Greenspace Scotland commissioned artists will engage with community groups, faith groups and those hit hardest by the pandemic to shape ideas that benefit communities and reflect local people’s experiences of the pandemic.

The Covid Community Memorial projects, which could include commemorative gardens, memorials or artworks, will be supported with £4.1 million provided by the Scottish Government and administered by Greenspace Scotland.

The First Minister led a minute’s silence at noon today (23 March 2021), marking a year since Scotland first went into lockdown.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “None of us will ever forget this year, which has been like no other. We’ve all made sacrifices which have helped to save lives in the past 12 months, and many of us have lost loved ones – each one a person who can never be replaced and whose loss is greatly mourned.

“Vaccines now offer us hope that we can soon get back to a more normal way of life, and give us confidence that we can start to set dates for when it may begin to return. But as we move forward, and our daily lives begin to return to normal, we will – we must – remember those we have lost, and continue to offer our thoughts, solidarity and support to the bereaved.

“Today, after a year where we’ve been forced to live our lives apart in ways that for many will have been unimaginably difficult, we will come together to mark the first anniversary of lockdown, to pay our respects to those we have lost, and to reflect on everything we have been through as a nation.

“In the years to come, projects supported by this fund will provide spaces that people will visit, and cherish; where people will be able to gather in person to mark the pandemic and to remember those who have died – and to remember the many ways we supported one another as a nation through an extraordinary period.”

Julie Procter, Chief Executive of Greenspace Scotland, said: “The heart-breaking and difficult events of the past year have highlighted more than ever how important it is for us all to have access to greenspace. Somewhere for us to breathe fresh air, meet with friends and family, connect with nature and find solace during challenging times.

“The Covid Community Memorial project will connect with communities across Scotland to create special places where people can come to reflect on this time, remember those who have sadly lost their lives, find healing and hope for a brighter future.”

Greenspace Scotland will issue a call for expressions of interest in April with a view to awarding commissions in June. The aim would be for outputs from the commissions by November 2021 and project design and delivery from November to October 2022.

Use the power of the pub to level up, report urges

Failure to support the nation’s pubs return from lockdown risks imperilling the government’s levelling up agenda for economic and social renewal, the think-tank Localis has warned.

In a report entitled ‘The Power of Pubs – protecting social infrastructure and laying the groundwork for levelling up’ Localis argues it is vital that the lockdown roadmap is not allowed to slip back further for pubs, and that the commitment to end all trading restrictions by 21 June must be delivered to return all pubs to viable trading.

Without such assurances and medium-term support to help place the pub sector at the foundations of a strong recovery, the authors warned local economies and community resilience in left-behind parts of the country – including ‘blue wall’ former industrial heartlands, rural and coastal areas – would be particularly hit.

Among key recommendations, the report authors urged central government to further reduce the tax burden on the pub sector to aid the recovery and called for an extension to the Business and Planning Act 2020.

Local councils should be directed to help pubs by issuing licence fee refunds – paid for by the Treasury – for the six months to June 2021, through business support grants, the study advised.

Additionally, where premises have been put to new community purposes during the pandemic, councils should offer a diversification grant to pubs looking to retain or expand the services they provided during lockdown.

Localis chief executive, Jonathan Werran, said: “The case for treating Britain’s pubs with fair consideration in exiting lockdown measures is, at core, as simple as it is heartfelt. Where there’s a pub, there’s a community.

“As one of the biggest contributors to the UK economy, the sector has a vital role to play in the recovery and levelling up journey of the country as well as in maintaining community cohesion and social resilience well beyond the pandemic.”

Emma McClarkin, chief executive, British Beer and Pub Association, said: “The Pandemic has fractured our communities economic environment and frayed our social ties.

“The pub is a powerful embodiment and symbol of both, woven into the fabric of our society and it is one we need to support and strengthen as we rebuild our trade as well as reconnect our communities.”

Together We Help: report highlights community support during the pandemic

When Scotland first went into lockdown in March 2020, a wave of uncertainty and fear was felt throughout society as people were told to stay at home, to save lives.

But as schools, shops and offices closed, communities did not.

Local people and grassroots groups were quick to come up with innovative ways to help during the crisis. Social action accelerated and became a central feature of Scotland’s response to the lockdown and ongoing challenges of coronavirus.

In July 2020 Social Action Inquiry partners commissioned The Collective to lead on a short-term piece of research to capture the stories and lessons learned from communities coming together to help.

From food drop offs to phone calls to isolated neighbours, volunteering and wellbeing support, the research brings to life the ways people developed creative approaches to make a difference.

The final research report Together We Help is now available and shines a light on the power of communities to mobilise and initiate social action in response to the issues that matter to them.

Eighteen community researchers gathered insights from 367 people involved in social action in their local areas, asking what inspired them to be involved and what lessons can be learned to build a fairer Scotland.

The research suggested that the stigma associated with accessing support such as food banks in times of need may have reduced as demand for these vital services increased dramatically throughout lockdown in 2020.

Community researchers also found that offering support and participating in local responses to the coronavirus crisis was both a ‘blessing and a curse’ as while it helped people to feel more connected to their community it also increased awareness and feelings of frustration at the growing levels of inequality on their doorstep.

The findings from the Together We Help research will help inform the Social Action Inquiry.

This independent inquiry will look at how communities take action and will try to contribute to a Scotland where social action is valued and is able to make change happen in communities.

Read the final report online here

COVID-19 and Communities Listening Project: A Shared Response

We are delighted to share with youCOVID-19 and Communities Listening Project: A Shared Response, published today by the Carnegie UK Trust.

The report draws together findings from over 80 conversations with people across the UK during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on how organisations and communities were adapting to meet the changing needs of the people around them, as well as the evolving relationships between different sectors.

The report reflects that at the onset of the pandemic, it was often communities who stepped up to offer essential support, such as food and checking in on isolated individuals. The report calls for more partnership working between the public and voluntary sectors and communities: investing in communities to unlock their power.

Looking to the future, the Trust considers how to maintain working together and sharing power across sectoral and professional boundaries. The report highlights actions taken in the pandemic that could be a springboard for moving towards long-held ambitions of partnership working and more people-focused and preventative public sector services.

You can read the full report here and an accessible version is available here. 

A blog on the report’s key messages is also available on our website.

We would be delighted to hear your views on the ideas put forward in the report, and you can share the report with your networks over Twitter using the hashtag #COVIDConversations.

Best wishes

Sarah

Sarah Davidson
Chief Executive
Carnegie UK Trust

For regular updates on all of the Trust’s projects and activities click HERE to subscribe to our bi-monthly e-newsletter.

New online community requests Veteran stories for new app

  • As generations pass since the two World Wars, the history of our fallen has the potential to be forgotten as sentiment wanes
  • Memories will have added longevity by engaging users with a web-based platform that appeals to families and younger people
  • The free app, Faces of Valour, will launch in 2021 combining the community stories and military history

As generations pass, are we likely to move further from the emotional resonance our generation has over the history and memories of our fallen heroes? Those who fought for our freedom and way of life. There is no blame to be placed, it is human nature that as time passes our understanding and emotions begin to deplete.

However, Canada based Memory Anchor are pleased to be developing a brand-new mobile application, Faces of Valour with the mission to address this. The app, which will be launching soon, will combine many resources which include the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) who honour and care for 1.7 million men and women, in 23,000 locations worldwide that died in the first and second world wars.

Whilst the app is in development, the co-founders of the project are hoping to collate as much information as possible from communities in Canada, the UK, and US. The community hub has been launched to coincide with the Remembrance services to engage with people who have stories to tell and information to share.

Ryan Mullens, co-founder of the Faces of Valour from Memory Anchor comments: “When we decided to create the Faces of Valour app, it was always our intention to create a unique and interesting way for people to interact with military history and honour those that have fallen to protect our freedom and way of life.

“By creating an app that offers physical interaction, modern technology and can appeal to more generations will help us to retain the memories of our loved ones we lost. With each generation we move further in time from the conflicts, but this should not mean that those people and their sacrifices should be lost or forgotten. 

“By collecting information, pictures and real-life stories of family members and loved ones, will ensure the app is rich with information when it is launched.”

The team have begun to build a community across the UK, Canada and the US to act as a resource by providing information, pictures, images of service records, medals and so much more – that will ensure the family members, friends and loved one’s memories are available for the world to engage with.

Anyone wishing to engage with the community can visit the website www.memoryanchor.com and register for free.

Matthew Cudmore, co-founder of Faces of Valour comments: “We are so excited to launch our community site and begin to collate lots of stories of real people.  We are so grateful to our professional partners at Beechwood, Veterans Affairs Canada and of course the CWGC. The development of the app has been the focus for Ryan and I for months, and we can wait to bring it to market soon. 

“For now, we are excited to focus on our community in time for Remembrance celebrations, in whatever form they may take this year. With every story we are told we hope to continue to tell that story for many years to come.”

You can follow the Faces of Valour team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

New fund to support local shopping

A new £1 million ‘Scotland Loves Local’ fund will provide grants of between £500 and £5,000 to hundreds of projects to promote town centre and online businesses.

The funding aims to support small scale improvements that will help motivate people to shop, eat and relax within their community whilst ensuring public health safety.

Grants can be put towards providing safe shopping information for residents and tourists, the installation of public health infrastructure such as protective screens, physical distancing markers, hand sanitising equipment and PPE.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We know money spent locally is more likely to stay in the local economy and support local jobs. The Scotland Loves Local campaign encourages people to think how they can safely support this.

“This fund will help initiatives supporting businesses, such as projects to encourage safe shopping, business and leisure opportunities, promoting and advertising local providers of online shopping or enhancing visitor appeal.

“We all have a part to play in Scotland’s economic recovery and can do so, whilst we look out for one another and follow the FACTS guidance.”

Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership Phil Prentice said: “This is an exceptional opportunity for local communities – a chance to get the funding that will unlock some brilliant creativity.

“We’ve seen throughout the Scotland Loves Local campaign that people all over the country want to back their local towns and places – we’re looking forward to seeing some brilliant ideas take shape. Our campaign is highlighting that money spent locally stays local for longer. This new fund will be a real boost for communities across the country.”

The funding is being provided by the Scottish Government, and administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership.

Applications to the fund open today, Sunday October 18th and close on Friday November 25th.

COVID-19 and Communities: Community Hub Case Studies

New report from the Carnegie UK Trust

Over the past five months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carnegie UK Trust has been undertaking a series of conversations with communities across the UK, exploring the changing relationship between local government, public services and communities.

Throughout these conversations, we’ve heard from several areas that community hubs were a critical part of the emergency response.

In many cases, these demonstrated strong leadership, creative practice and partnership working. The Trust believes that these hubs could have a longer-term role in recovery from the pandemic, joining the dots between people that require support and connecting them to a range of services to promote individual and community wellbeing.

Building on the learning from four areas, (North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lancaster and Scarborough), our new report offers examples of best practice, challenges, opportunities and learning for the future. We hope that these examples will inspire change.

North Ayrshire: A case study on kindness

On the same day, we are also releasing a report that tells the story of our two-year partnership with North Ayrshire Council.

This ‘case study on kindness’ shares the activities, achievements and learning about what it takes to embed kindness across a local authority area, and finishes with five priorities that we hope will feel relevant and urgent for local government and its partner organisations everywhere.

I do hope that you find these reports helpful.

To let us know your thoughts, please email Pippa@CarnegieUK.org or join the debate online by tagging @CarnegieUKTrust #COVIDConversations – we would be pleased to hear from you.

Best wishes

Sarah Davidson,

Chief Executive, Carnegie UK Trust