Stay of execution for Ratho?

One year’s funding gives hope to Pilton Retreat

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 A statement from Pilton Retreat (issued 22 February)

The Education, Children & Families Committee did not change their decision at the meeting on 11 February 2016 so the Retreat has not been awarded a 3-year grant.

They have however proposed giving us a 1-year contract extension (95% of the 2015-1016 contract value). This still needs to be approved by the Finance & Resources Committee which meets on 17 March 2016.

If this extension is granted, it will give us time to investigate what other sources of funding may be available to allow the Retreat to remain open after March 2017.

A further update will be posted once we have heard the outcome of the meeting on 17 March.

A heartfelt thank you for all your support.

Pilton Retreat

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OneCity Trust open for grant applications

GRANTS from £5,000 – £10,000 AVAILABLE

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The OneCity Trust’s main grant programme is now open for applications. Registered charities and constituted groups based in Edinburgh and focussing their work in the city with an annual income of less than £200,000 are invited to apply for funding for social inclusion projects meeting one or more of the priorities of:

·         COMMUNITY CONNECTEDNESS

·         CULTURAL BRIDGING

·         CIVIC INCLUSION

New this year is a partnership with Travis Perkins Managed Services and the City of Edinburgh Council. A Community Benefit fund offered to the Council by Travis Perkins as part of a major contract will be allocated through the OneCity Trust.

Applications for this funding will be considered from organisations that involve City of Edinburgh Council tenants, or from other organisations aiming to benefit geographical areas with a high proportion of Council homes. The themes will be the same: community connectedness, cultural bridging and civic inclusion.

Overall, the Trust intends to make up to 8 grants, each at the level of £5,000 to £10,000.

For further information and to request an application form, please see www.onecity.org.uk

If you’d prefer to speak to someone, please telephone Susan Shippey on 0131 469 3874 or email 1617applications@onecity.org.uk  Please note that the Trust is supported by the council on a part-time basis.

The deadline for applications is 29 April 2016, and projects should commence on 1 July 2016 and run for up to one year.

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Lottery funding for children and family activities

Deadline looms for Communities & Families applications

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Don’t miss out on your chance to secure last minute funding for the Communities and Families fund, a joint programme delivered with the Scottish Government. Since opening the programme has awarded over £5.4 million to groups working with children across Scotland. Continue reading Lottery funding for children and family activities

Council funding: for some, the wait goes on

Reprieve for some but others still await funding decision

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The city council has heralded a new way of distributing grants but some highly-regarded local voluntary sector projects still await the decisions that will determine their future. And with just six weeks before the start of the new financial year, management committees and voluntary boards across the city are faced with unpalatable choices: issue redundancy notices and risk losing staff or hope that all will be well with next year’s funding? Continue reading Council funding: for some, the wait goes on

New Lottery support to strengthen voluntary sector

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Voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations will have the ability to improve their performance and sustainability, thanks to two new online tools supported by the Big Lottery Fund. Continue reading New Lottery support to strengthen voluntary sector

Hopes rise for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

Some funding secured but the fight goes on

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Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre has received a boost ahead of a crucial funding meeting next week. It’s now recommended that the Centre WILL receive funding from Health and Social Care – albeit with a cut. Centre chairman Alex Dale says that’s welcome news – but stressed that the fight to save the centre is not over yet.

The Centre’s management committee received an update from Inverleith councillor Lesley Hinds yesterday. She told Drylaw Community Association:

Following my discussion with Councillor Ricky Henderson, Convener of Health and Social Care, I am pleased to inform you the Health and Social Care Committee meeting on 26th January will recommend funding for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre.

I would be grateful if you could pass on this information to Board members and users of Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre.

The Children and Families Committee will make a decision on your other grant on 11th February and I will be strongly arguing for a grant to be awarded from this Committee.”

Welcoming the news, Drylaw Telford Community Association chair Alex Dale said: “It’s very good news for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre that Health & Social Care has decided to revisited our Grant Applicant and have decided to recommend for approval a grant award based at last year’s level minus 4.1 %.

“This is a positive step forward for the Centre’s future and its users  but the future of the centre will not be secured until the Children and Families report back on 11 February with a positive recommendation for the centre.

“On behalf of the Management committee I would like to thank the City of Edinburgh Inverleith Councillors who fought on our behalf to persuade their colleagues and council officers to reinstate this stream of funding and their ongoing support to secure funding from Children & Families.

“I would also like to thank our centre users and the community who took the time to support the centre via our on–line petition and those who took time to pop into the centre and sign our paper version – this very much appreciated but the campaign to secure the future of the centre goes on.”

Inverleith: YOUth decides!

It’s here! ‘YOU(th) DECIDE!’01 JAN INP youth decide

You(th) Decide! is an opportunity for young people aged between 11 and 18 to tell us what they think needs to happen in Inverleith to make it better for young people, and have a say on how local funds are spent (writes INP’s Elaine Lennon).

Councillor Gavin Barrie, Champion of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership’s Young People’s Action Group, is asking young people to send us your ideas, and then, once young people have voted on their favourites, three projects costing around £1000 each will be implemented. Poster and proposal form here. Please pass on and help us get young people aware of this.

Spread the word! You can link to either the pdf (foot of page) or directly to the poster or form as jpeg on our noticeboard here:

http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood-partnerships/inverleith/local-info/local-noticeboard/

Please tweet the info too to help us get the info out, and proposals in, by the end of the month. I’ll watch out for them and retweet them, and please use @north_team and hashtag #inverleithnp if possible.

Finally, as you’d expect, there are a few guidelines that we’ll need to follow to ensure that we are spending public money on appropriate projects. These are also shown on the proposal form, but are that projects must be:

  • be located within Inverleith
  • be of benefit to a large number of people
  • not have any ongoing costs
  • be open to all
  • be able to be completed by September 2016

It would be great if you can remind young people of this when they are thinking of projects to apply for, or when you are encouraging them to apply.

YOUth Decide poster and proposal form 2016 final

 

Letters: False economy of funding cuts

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Dear Editor

Cuts in funding local authority services are happening again this year and will affect every person in varying degrees and add to the contraction in public services: services that are necessary and needed.

There are also other services provided daily by other organisations, mostly run by volunteers with some financial help from the council: these too are facing drastic cuts. Day Care clubs, lifelong learning and literacy classes, mentla health support,, befriending, support and information services, classes of all kinds and -very importantly – community transport to and from activities.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are helped out of isolation every week with all the benefit – both mental and physical – stemming from these services. Curtailing existing funding to these organisations is not only false economy but will see a deterioration in the health of those people affected, causing a far greater expenditure in other health and care costs.

The councils must rethink their attitude to these services – and, above all, their attitude to PEOPLE.

A. Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens