Tag: communities

Tackling food insecurity during school holidays

More than 7,000 children from low income families will have access to healthy and nutritious food during the Christmas school holidays, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said this morning. Continue reading Tackling food insecurity during school holidays

Community groups encouraged to Grow Stories as part of local campaign

Scotland’s Local Storytelling Campaign “Growing Stories” is underway and is running to Friday 30 November.

The Local Storytelling Campaign is a creative outreach initiative that bookends and runs alongside the Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF); an annual celebration of live storytelling & cultural diversity that takes place each year at the end of October, organised by Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS). Continue reading Community groups encouraged to Grow Stories as part of local campaign

Democracy Matters: sign up for discussion event

Working together, Community Development Alliance Scotland, The Scottish Community Development Centre and the Poverty Alliance invite you to discuss the next phase of the Local Governance Review and  share your ideas about how local democracy could change.

Join us for the morning, chat to us over lunch and learn how you can help others have their voice and make a difference.

  • The Studio, 67 Hope Street , Glasgow
  • 10 am til 2pm
  • 9th August 2018

Register here >> 

Democracy Matters

The Scottish Government has launched the next phase of its Local Governance Review, inviting people to join a conversation called ‘Democracy Matters’.

The campaign asks five key questions about how decisions should be made at a more local level. It asks whether communities, of place or identity, should have more control of decisions and what those might be. It also asks how this should look and what new or existing decision-making processes could be used.

The Local Governance Review was launched earlier in the year aims to find out what changes are needed to encourage a more local, participatory and inclusive democracy in Scotland.

A short animation summaries the review and the five questions being asked:

“In modern Scotland power must work in a way that involves and benefits everyone. To get this right, we will review how responsibilities and resources can be shared across national and local government in a way that delivers the greatest benefit to Scotland’s different places. However, the starting point must be with our citizens and the power and potential within our communities themselves.”

The review encourages people to hold conversations in their communities to discuss Democracy Matters and includes a community engagement fund where groups can apply for £100 – £300 to help make conversations happen. They have also published guidance about how the discussion might work and how it could be facilitated.

The review of local governance was set out in the Scottish Government’s 2017-18 programme for government and will be part of the forthcoming Local Democracy Bill

You can download the report and view more information on the Scottish Government website here.

Register for the event here >>

Democracy Matters: an opportunity for people to have their say

People across Scotland are being invited to join a conversation about community decision-making to help make public services more locally focused. The Democracy Matters conversation will identify new legal rights for communities which would place them at the heart of decision-making.

As part of the conversation people are being invited to consider a short set of questions on shaping local democracy. Community groups can also apply for grants of up to £300 to host their own events related to the project.

Communities Secretary Angela Constance said: “The start of the Democracy Matters conversation is an important moment for community decision-making in Scotland. We believe that more decisions about public services should be taken locally, and that communities should be able to influence those decisions.

“We want to hear from people across Scotland about the issues they want decisions on in their neighbourhood, town or village, and the kind of arrangements that would help that happen.”

COSLA President Alison Evison said: “Across the country, it is widely recognised that Scotland needs local solutions to the opportunities and challenges it faces.

“The conversation is a vital contribution to the change that is needed across all spheres of government to make Scotland a more democratic place, and to ensure that Scotland’s public services are built around the communities they serve.”

Scottish Community Alliance Director Angus Hardie said: “As things stand, communities often find that the really important issues that affect them the most are decided without their involvement and in faraway places. 

“But if democracy is working well, most of those decisions would be taken much closer to these communities and often by local people themselves. Democracy Matters is a rare opportunity for communities everywhere – especially for those groups whose voice doesn’t always get heard – to become involved and to re-imagine how democracy can be made to work for everyone.”

The Democracy Matters conversation is a joint venture between the Scottish Government, COSLA and the community sector and will run over the next six months.

More information on how to take part in the conversation and how to apply for funding to run an event is available online.

You can also contact the organisers via: democracymatters@gov.scot

 

Letters: Grants available for farming and community projects

Sir,

The ongoing effects of weather, bureaucracy and concern for the future continue to put our countryside under pressure, with few avenues to turn to for support. This can have dramatic consequences for the rural economy and the people who live and work there.

The Prince’s Countryside Fund is committed to supporting community led projects, that will reinvigorate and sustain farming networks and the countryside by providing services and amenities through its grant programme.

Open for applications until June 14th 2018, grants are available for up to £50,000. If you are involved in a community run or farming support project, and think that your organisation may benefit – or if you know someone else who might – please get in touch straight away by visiting www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/grants.

The Fund has supported a diverse range of projects delivered locally such as a community transport app in Argyll and projects on Barra, Orkney, and Shetland. We are proud to have distributed over £9 million since 2010 to more than 250 projects led by these grassroots organisations.

We believe it is crucial that we help rural areas during these times of change to retain a thriving countryside and encourage a sustainable farming sector in the UK, and we would really encourage people to apply for our funding.

Claire Saunders, Director, The Prince’s Countryside Fund

137 Shepherdess Walk, London, N1 7RQ

£14 million for young people and communities

More than £14 million of funding will support the work of 117 charities helping children and young people throughout Scotland. The money, from the 2018/19 Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund, will enable a wide range of projects aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people and supporting adult learning to be delivered. Continue reading £14 million for young people and communities

Building a fairer Scotland?

A 28% funding increase will help deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over this Parliament, as announced in the Draft Budget by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay. Communities Secretary Angela Constance said that, while the target is challenging, the government has shown that it can deliver. Continue reading Building a fairer Scotland?