Living Well North Edinburgh opens it’s doors this Friday
Living Well North Edinburgh (LWNE) is holding a rebrand launch event at their West Pilton Park home this Friday.
Join the LWNE team to celebrate the project’s brand new look – it’s a great opportunity to meet staff, volunteers and members and find out the wide range of services and activities on offer – and there’s food and refreshments too!
The fun kicks off from 12 noon – all welcome!
For further information call 343 6375.
MY Adventure director’s anxious wait for news of Nepali friends
Hello everyone,
As some of you may know, until recently I have been living with an amazing community in Nepal (writes James Howell). This community has just suffered the most horrific natural disaster they have ever experienced. Last week’s earthquake has claimed over 7000 lives in Nepal: I do not know how many of my friends are among that number. I have had seen three photographs of the village I lived in and it is barely recognisable.
You may not be able to help everyone effected, but you can help me help people I know.
I spent two years living in a ridge top village named Ghyampesal which lies in the Gorkha district in the foothills of the Himalaya, the epicentre of the earthquake. Our first aid truck bound for Ghyampesal left Kathmandu on Sunday (2 May) – and I can personally guarantee it will reach those it is intended for.
We intend to send as many trucks as we can but that is only possible with your help. If you cannot give any money don’t worry, pass this message onto someone who can. Please go to this website for the details. Every penny helps.
Thank you everyone for reading this: I attach a photo of my friend Didi (sister) (above) and Thakur’s family (top). We don’t know if they are OK but with your help we maybe able to find out.
Many thanks,
James
James Howell, Director MY Adventure
M: 07716 888 788 T: 0131 332 7132
Myadventure.org.uk
North West Carers are moving home next week. The local organisation won’t be moving too far, however – the Carers are ‘flitting’ from Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre down to the Prentice Centre in Granton Mains.
Manager Angela Dias said: “We are moving to new premises on Wednesday (18 March). Our new address is: The Prentice Centre, 1 Granton Mains Avenue,
EH4 4GA. Our email addresses and website address will remain the same as now, as will our telephone number.
“We would expect communications to be working as normal, however please bear with us if there are complications with our telephone and email systems within the first few days. We will put a mobile number on our website on Wednesday which will provide a default communication system in the unlikely case of any unforeseen difficulties.”
www.nwcarers.org.uk
angela@nwcarers.org.uk
An extra £2.5 million in government funding to help charities and other groups support families going through relationship breakdown has been announced today (8 March 2015) by Steve Webb, Minister with responsibility for child maintenance.
Scotland’s Family Decision Making Service partnership is one of sixteen trial Innovation Fund projects to have been providing tailored support across the country helping separated parents work together for the benefit of their children since 2013. The new funding means they will now be extended until September.
Projects include specialist support to teenage parents working with their children’s grandparents, face-to-face services for separated parents caught up in long-term disputes, and tailored help for Muslim families who are experiencing relationship breakdown.
Minister for Child Maintenance Steve Webb said: “Family breakdown can be difficult for everyone involved, but the evidence shows that children stand a much better chance of getting on in life when their parents are working together.
“This funding will allow these projects to continue their excellent work by helping parents to put aside their differences for their children’s sake.
“We are starting to see some very encouraging results from these projects which will be invaluable when it comes to designing future services and are proving priceless for the families being helped.”
Children 1st’s Family Decision Making Service (Scotland) has worked with more than 1500 individuals since it’s launch.
This bespoke service provides support to parents 365 days a year over the telephone or through live webchat. It draws upon the expertise of three organisations: Children 1st, Scottish Child Law Centre and One Parent Families Scotland.
Assistant director Linda Jardine said: “This extra funding is good news for separated and separating families in Scotland.
“Children cope better with family break-up if their parents work together on the decisions which affect them, and through the Family Decision Making service parents are able to draw on the combined expertise of three partners to help them to do this.
“So far the service, which is unique in Scotland, has worked with more than 1,500 individuals to make sure that, whatever difficulties the adults may be experiencing, their children remain the focus.”
Part of the DWP’s work on relationship support, the projects were originally set up to work alongside the new Child Maintenance Service, which is taking a fresh approach to tackling the issue of family breakdown.
More than 6 out of 10 separated parents using the new Child Maintenance Service are now choosing to make their own financial arrangements rather than relying on the state to collect and pay maintenance on their behalf.
At the heart of the reforms lies the principle that children have a much better start in life when both parents work together across a range of issues including contact, schooling and finances – even if they have separated.
The third party organisations delivering the projects were encouraged to come up with new and innovative ways of delivering the support.
Each of the projects is unique in the type of support that they offer, which can be delivered through face-to-face sessions, over the telephone and online.
Some of the projects target specific groups, such as teenage parents, people on low incomes and families with diverse cultural background. Practical guidance is also offered on a range of matters including legal advice.
A total of £10 million was set aside to fund the various projects when they were introduced in 2013. The results from the projects will be used to design future government services.
The Innovation fund projects are:
Howells: Working Together for Children (South Yorkshire)
Family Lives (Leicester, Waltham Forest, Gloucestershire)
Resolution: Family Matters (Doncaster, Wakefield, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Retford)
Sills and Betteridge: Moving Forward (Lincolnshire)
Mediation Now: Changing Lives (Hampshire and Portsmouth)
Spurgeons: Supporting separated teenagers (West Midlands and Warwickshire)
Changing Futures North East: Moving On (Teeside, Sunderland and County Durham)
Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships: Parents In Dispute (London)
Children 1st: Family Decision Making Service (Scotland)
Pinnacle People: Families Together (Bristol)
Malachi Family Support Services (Birmingham and West Midlands)
One plus One: Splitting Up? Put Kids First (nationwide)
National Family Mediation: At Court Mediation (Hereford and Worcester, West Yorkshire and Berkshire)
Family Matters Mediate: Listening to Children Matters (Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire)
Deadline for applications is THIS FRIDAY (30 January)!
Postcode Community Trust has launched a Community Grants programme, through which charities can apply for anything between £500 – £20,000 to deliver projects that positively impact on their local community.
Funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, applications for £2,000 or under are open to organisations that are not registered charities (although registered charities may apply for this smaller amount if they wish). Applications for between £2,000 – £20,000 will be open to registered charities only.
The Community Grants Programme will be accepting applications for projects that meets one or more of the following funding themes:
All regions in Scotland and Wales are eligible to apply for funding in each funding round. However, only certain areas of England may apply – please see the website below for full details.
For more information on how to apply, visit the Postcode Community Trust website.
A Local Radio Station?
Various people have suggested that a local radio station for Muirhouse/West Pilton/Drylaw and the surrounding area might be a positive development. Some of the positive aspects of this proposal might be:
Interestd? An initial meeting has been organised to discuss the possibility of creating a local radio station, and will take place on
Wednesday 12 June at 5pm
in North Edinburgh Arts Centre
15A Pennywell Court, Edinburgh, EH4 4TZ.
All welcome
Location: http://www.northedinburgharts.co.uk/locate.php
Allan Hosey
Community Learning & Development Worker, West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
Phone 0131-551-3194
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The Big Lottery Fund Scotland announced its latest package of funding worth over £5.5 million to eleven projects across Scotland today – and Leith-based Women onto Work (WoW) was one of the biggest winners, receiving a grant of £600,000.
Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “I am delighted to announce this latest round of grants from our Investing in Communities portfolio. JMT Care Services’ In Touch project supports young people as they leave care and Midlothian Sure Start is helping fathers, who have complex issues, develop a relationship with their children. Women onto Work will provide skills and experience for women across Edinburgh to take that first step back into employment and I am delighted that our money will help to expand this service further. All three projects are focusing on the heart of the community, trying to ensure a good start for our children and young people. They are doing extremely valuable work helping people in need and building stronger, more connected communities. These are excellent examples of the type of project we wish to fund and it is good to know that today’s grants will enhance the services they provide.”
Based at Norton Park, Women Onto Work receives a grant of £600k to provide help to women across the capital who need a bit of extra support to help them get back into the workplace. Each woman who enters the “Ready For Work” programme will receive tailored training and be able to access one to one coaching support which will help to signpost them to further education, training, job clubs or volunteering opportunities.
WoW Business Development Manager, Alex Lambert, said: “Women Onto Work has been supporting women who face barriers move towards employment since 1989. We help them to develop new skills so they have the best possible chance of finding sustainable employment. We are absolutely thrilled about this funding which means that we are going to be able to offer this platinum, personalised service to nearly 350 new clients over the next three years. These new clients will be women who live with a mental or emotional health problem and those who are struggling single parents. Women who are currently socially and financially marginalised and simply cannot get the help they need to progress through existing services.
“As well as scaling up our work to meet unmet demand in Edinburgh, the Big Lottery Fund award means we’re now going to be able to offer our service to women in the Lothians and Scottish Borders. We can’t wait to share this news with all of our partners and, most importantly, with the many women who are waiting for this service.”
Today’s funding is part of a package of eleven Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Investing in Community grants totalling £5,618,181. To see today’s other successful projects visit http://news.biglotteryfund.org.uk/newsroom-uk.
