Tag: support

GIC still providing support and advice

Due to the Coronavirus restrictions our office currently remains closed to the public – but Granton Information Centre is still operating!

Please call us Mon – Fri, 9.30am – 4pm on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:

•  You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt

•  You wish to discuss an existing case

•  You require a foodbank referral

All messages will be returned as long as you clearly leave a telephone number for us to reach you on.

Emails are being checked daily – our email address is info@gic.org.uk

GIC Covid19 advice

Granton Information Centre – here for you

 

Plans in place to support vulnerable pupils

Plans to ensure learning continues for Edinburgh’s vulnerable young people are being put in place across the Capital.

Two dedicated hub schools opened today for identified children with complex additional support needs, including those of key workers.

A programme of activities, planned in conjunction with the pupils’ own class teachers, will be delivered by staff from special schools and supported by teams from the Additional Support for Learning service (ASL). Both schools will continue to be open over the Easter holidays.

Other children and young people with additional support needs are being supported by their schools through a combination of video conferencing, online learning activities and learning packs which have been sent home by their schools.

Class teams are in regular contact with these pupils to support their wellbeing and ensure their learning continues with 250 iPads being allocated to allow face to face contact for vulnerable children.

Our schools are teaming up with psychological services and other partners to provide further family support, advice and remote learning for vulnerable pupils. The ASL service has shared a list of recommended resources and contact details with schools, early years settings and families to support children with complex needs.

The ASL teams have also put in place bespoke one to one support for our children, young people and families with the highest need with a large focus being on the outdoors. To achieve this they will be using the hubs they have set up at Urban Nature and our own Seaview Centre.

Th council is currently working with partners to ensure that provision is available for children with complex additional support needs whose parents are key workers, and our children with the most complex needs, over the Easter holidays.

Information about this will be shared directly with parents next week.

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Our special schools and the Additional Support for Learning service have been working extremely hard to make sure parents and carers for children with additional support needs have been supplied with online and digital resources along with home learning materials.

This is clearly a very worrying time for everyone in the city but even more so for those families with children who have additional support needs. The team have pulled out all the stops to ensure learning can continue for these young people and support for keyworker families continues.

Depute Leader Cammy Day said ‘Opening the two schools means that those young people with the most complex needs will continue to receive learning and their parents and carers are being supported.

This is very much a team effort and I would like to thank all partners for their support for our vulnerable learners during this challenging time.

Chancellor to announce support for self-employed

The TUC has called on the government to provide urgent aid to Britain’s five million self-employed workers. The government has been accused of dithering, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak is now expected to make an announcement later today.

A report from the union body published on 23 March warns the current measures in place for self-employed workers are “inadequate” with many facing severe hardship over the coming months.

Hundreds of thousands of self-employed workers have tried to apply for Universal Credit but have experienced huge problems when trying to accessing the system, leaving them with no income.

The TUC report calls on ministers to extend the wage subsidy scheme announced on 20 March to the self-employed. The TUC said this could be done through providing the self-employed with a guarantee of at least 80 per cent of their incomes based on their last three years of self-assessment tax returns.

It says this could be paid directly to the self-employed as a tax rebate. The call was repeated by a succession of unions representing gig workers, musicians, actors, journalists and others in insecure employment.

The TUC report highlights the example of Norway where the government is providing grants covering 80 per cent of self-employed workers’ earnings. In Belgium an income replacement scheme has been set up for the self-employed.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government took a big and important step last week with wage subsidies for employed workers. But millions of self-employed workers – from the creative industries to construction – are still facing a collapse in their earnings.

“Many won’t be able to meet their basic living costs without further support. Ministers must urgently beef up support for the self-employed.”

She added: “Large-scale wage subsidies are the best way to boost household finances, keep businesses running and help our economy bounce back after this crisis. All workers – both employed and self-employed – should have their wages protected.”

On 23 March, the prime minister announced people may only leave home to exercise once a day, should travel to and from work only when it is “absolutely necessary”, and should shop for just essential items and to fulfil any medical or care needs.

The Chancellor is expected to make an announcement on support for the UK’s five million self-employed workers later today.

Tax Free Grants for the Self-employed?

In an effort to help the current situation for the Self Employed, HEATHER SELF, a Partner at leading accounting and tax advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, makes  a number of suggestions which Government could embrace:

“It’s a difficult time for those who are self-employed and believe that they have been left behind. I am sure that this is not the case but it’s up to all of us to work together.

“Most self-employed people who have to make a self assessment return use an accountant so it is up to us to come up with ideas we think will help them and assist the government with its plans and calculations.

“This is what I have attempted to do with the following suggestions which I have sent to HMRC.”

a.  Anyone who has commenced self-employment prior to 1 January 2020 will be entitled to a tax-free grant

b.  For those who were self-employed in 2018/19 and were still self-employed at 1 January 2020 the initial amount of the grant will be the lower of:

–  50% of the personal allowance claimed in their 2018/19 tax return, and

–  50% of their self-employed income for 2018/19

c.   For those who commenced self-employment in 2019/20 the grant will be the lower of:

– 45% of the personal allowance they are entitled to for 2019/20, and

– 50% of their self-employed income for 2019/20

Heather added: “ The grant can be claimed in the 2019/20 tax return which is due to be filed by 31 January 2021.  If it produces a repayment, the repayment claim will be processed in the normal way. 

“While this would not produce any immediate cash, it would reassure the self-employed that funds they have set aside to pay their taxes could be used to tide them over.  Easy access to short term loans may also be needed, but the Government’s existing measures should help with this – and if not, they should be quickly extended.”

Heather said: “ This would get an initial grant of just under £6000 to a large proportion of the self-employed, and the figure would be easy to calculate.  Those fortunate to earn more than £125,000 would not qualify, as they do not get the personal allowance.

“Further help will also be needed in the coming weeks – perhaps a more sophisticated system of income support, based on average earnings over the last 3 years, as Norway are proposing.  But in the same way that the Chancellor has reassured employees, he needs to get some immediate help to the self-employed.”

The government is expected to make an announecement on support for the self-employed later today.

WhatsApp groups set up as communities pull together

“Street level” messenger groups are springing up across the UK as communities forge new relationships to help each other through the Coronavirus self-isolation crisis.

Messenger apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are being conscripted to connect whole streets worried about how to survive self-isolation and loneliness.

Young and old are uniting to help those without and those needing help and support at their time of need.

“A neighbour set up a group and we now have 10 of 12 houses on the street subscribed”, explains Jonathan Ratcliffe, who lives on Windermere Avenue in  Menston, Yorkshire.

Ratcliffe, who is currently running national office agency Offices.co.uk from home, has been in self-isolation since Monday juggling work and family life.

“We haven’t been to the shops this week, life is testing let’s say! John down the road asked on WhatsApp if anyone needed anything, and 30 minutes later we had bread, bananas and paracetamol – it really helps morale”, explained Jonathan.

Being able to draw on neighbours for help and social interaction is going to become a hallmark of the efforts needed to get the country through the next 12 weeks.

“No one knows where this is going and who might need help. We have a 10-week-old baby with a heart condition, and so we are being extra careful”, added Jonathan. “My neighbours help now will be paid back twice over when we are out of isolation– it’s lovely knowing that there is support on our doorstep should we need it”.

Other groups have sprung up locally in Menston supporting streets and even whole estates.

One such group has been set up covering Menston’s Moorfield Avenue by resident David Williams.

“We are in the process of setting up a WhatsApp group to cover our street,” David explained. “We started by dropping a note through everyone’s door, so they knew who to text to join the group. 

“We are then identifying those who need to self-isolate and pairing them up with people who can help out so people can self-organise as much as possible but also stay in touch as things develop.”

Zoe Edwards, who lives in the centre of the village, added: “We have done similar on our road although tricky when some people don’t use or have WhatsApp. We are trying to keep in touch with those people separately”.

The Windermere Avenue group: 10 houses have joined out of 12

  • 18 people have joined the group
  • Age ranges from 38 to 75
  • One house currently in self-isolation

Resident Alison Wilson in Menston is using the platform to forward-plan a big party to celebrate the community spirit locally in Menston: “Once this is over, we need a massive big street/village party to cheer ourselves up and thank everyone for their kindness and community spirit”.

“Creating support groups now is really important. Being able to ask for help should you need it is going to be a lifeline for many people, young and old – the love and support I’ve seen on our street for neighbours has been humbling”, concluded Jonathan.

Essential items packs available at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s essential items packs are ready to roll out. Please let us know if you know anyone who is elderly, isolated or vulnerable and would appreciate a pack being delivered to their door.

Alternatively, pass on our number to someone you think may need a pack and ask them to give us a call to arrange delivery. Not everyone has access to social media, so please help us spread the word and get a bag of essentials to someone who can’t get to the shops.

Our number is 315 4989 and someone will be here Monday to Thursday 9am – 5pm and Friday 9am – 4pm.

Essential packs consist of toilet roll, tissues, hand soap, long life milk, soup, porridge and several other food items. We can also pop in some wet wipes and toothpaste if needed.

Meeting to discuss community response to Coronavirus pandemic

North Edinburgh activists are to meet tomorrow to formulate a community response to tackling problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting will take place in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 2.30pm.

Meeting organiser Willie Black said: “We have already seen communities coming together to do what they can to help their neighbours and our more vulnerable residents, and  the purpose of tomorrow’s meeting is to co-ordinate this community response to make sure no person is being missed or left out.

“By working together and pooling our resources we can better respond to the challenges posed to our community by this pandemic.”

Local voluntary sector organisations, food banks, community centre representatives, council officers, community councils and local elected politicians have all been invited to attended.

What can you do to help? Why not attend the meeting and find out!

 

Celebrating Big Issue Invest’s Power Up programme

A celebratory event was held at the Playfair Library Hall, Old College, in Edinburgh on Thursday to mark a £600,000 investment and business support into 12 Scottish social ventures by Big Issue Invest.

Big Issue Invest’s Power Up, a lending scheme offering investment and support to early stage social ventures across Scotland, was first launched in November 2017 and has supported 18 social business to date with a total of close to 1 million (£950,000) of investment.

The programme​ is funded by partners, Aberdeen Standard Investments, University of Edinburgh, Experian, Places for People and the Scottish Government with legal support from Brodies LLP.

Invisible Cities was one of 12 social ventures that successfully completed the three month Power Up Programme in 2019.

The Scottish social enterprise trains local people who have experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own cities. Until the investment from Big Issue Invest, Invisible Cities was 100% volunteer lead. Now they have a team of 4 staff – 2 full time and 2 part time. They have a total of 12 guides across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Manchester and have recruited York and Cardiff as two franchise cities.

Zakia Moulaoui, Founder, Invisible Cities, said: “By taking part in the Big Issue Invest programme, Invisible Cities has grown from a small Edinburgh based team to a multi-location social enterprise with a plan!

“The support and mentoring was invaluable, with results we see every day in our work, plus connections we could have never made on our own. As a leader it has made me really dig into the reasons why we do what we do and be very clear on what we want to achieve in the future.”

Social enterprises that were supported in 2020 included Blank Faces, a fashion brand tackling homelessness, Social Stories Club, who create socially-conscious gift hampers that have a positive social impact and Eat Sleep Ride, a social enterprise offering therapy of horse riding to develop self-esteem, communication and social skills in those who need help.

Karis Gill, Director at Social Stories Club, said: “Power Up has been amazing for us, as it has pushed us to the next stage.

“We’ve been paired up with mentors and had the most phenomenal expertise and insight into the corporate market. For a small business, this has been truly invaluable.”

Danyal Sattar, CEO of Big Issue Invest, said: “It has been a fantastic day.

“We are so pleased, working in partnership with our partners Aberdeen Standard Investments, University of Edinburgh, Experian, Places For People and the Scottish Government and Brodies LLP, to be able to have been inspired by -and to have supported – these 12 organisations with the investment and business development expertise that they need in order to make an even greater difference within their communities.”

“This unique partnership has brought creativity, technical skills and mentoring to early stage social ventures, which adds value beyond the funding they receive.”

Commenting on behalf of Aberdeen Standard Investments, Craig MacDonald, Head of Credit, said: “It’s great to see the significant impact the Power Up Programme continues to have on a number of early stage social ventures across Scotland.

“We are delighted to be one of the partners of this very worthwhile initiative. Providing mentoring and advice services can make a very real difference to organisations in their infancy and along with the other partners, we hope to provide valuable guidance and insight.

“Supporting social ventures and working with local communities is a key aspect of the overall sustainability programme at ASI and we look forward to seeing Power Up continue to go from strength to strength.”

Dave Gorman, Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at The University of Edinburgh: “The University of Edinburgh is delighted to continue working with Big Issue Invest as a major partner to Power Up Scotland.

“The Programme has supported some truly innovative and impactful social ventures which our own students, staff and local communities have enjoyed learning about and using. We look forward to seeing what other ventures benefit from the programme’s support in the following year.”

The Power Up programme is open to organisations across Scotland. The funding available is to enable organisations to build on the good work they currently do within their communities.

Whether it’s buying equipment, hiring new talent, or progressing with business development plans. Successful applicants will also receive mentoring and business development support to social ventures for the two year period.

The programme has been designed for early-stage social ventures, regardless of company structure – social enterprises, charities, and private enterprises are all welcome, with social value creation being the key criterion. The expectation is that many applicants will be accessing finance for the first time.

If you are a local social enterprise or charity looking for investment, you can apply for the chance to be selected to pitch before our selection panel consisting of Power Up Scotland partners in 2021. 

For more information www.bigissueinvest/powerup to register your interest and we will email you an application form. If you are an investor, you can be part of powering up Scotland’s social enterprises. For more information, visit bigissueinvest.com/

New befriending service for physically disabled young people

We believe young people are the experts in their own lives. We also believe young people can play an active role in our communities.

Ecas has a new service for physically disabled young people ages 18 to 30 living in Edinburgh and Lothian.

We will work with you to identify goals and plans based on your unique circumstances. By meeting at a pace that suits you, we will support you to identify your own solutions, navigate opportunities available, and realise your potential.

How it works:

  • You enquire about the service or make a referral
  • You have an initial meeting with the Outreach Officer so you can get to know more about the service and we can get to know you
  • We will plan together at a pace that works for you
  • We’ll have regular meetings to develop your actions and mark progress
  • You will move on from the service when you’re ready

More detail is available in this overview.

Enquire and make a referral:

  • If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more, please contact our Outreach Officer Megan.
  • If you’re ready to participate or make a referral, please fill out an application form.