Forth and Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum will meet meet online today – Wednesday 30th March – at 1.30pm.
Draft notes from the last meeting are attached.
For meeting login details please contact EVOC Community Planning Development Worker Kate Barrett on 0131 555 9100 or email kate.barrett@evoc.org.uk
EVOC & EHSCP invite you to a shared learning and networking event focused on building partnerships and networks in Edinburgh’s NW Locality.
Hosted by EVOC and the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, this is one of four locality-based events focusing on how we can develop relationships and referral networks to improve support for clients – particularly those who might benefit by engaging with local organisations to explore preventative and early intervention ‘Conversation 1’ type activities.
NORTH WEST LOCALITY EVENT OVERVIEW
Dr Linda Irvine-Fitzpatrick, EVOC’s Bridie Ashrowan and the NW Locality Manager will discuss the interconnections and learning from the Three Conversations Model, The Edinburgh Wellbeing Pact and work within communities.
Here’s some of that wonderful feedback we received last year:
“So much out there – great to come up to date with the resources and look at the potential supports.”
“I found this simply wonderful!”
Make sure to join us on MS Teams: https://bit.ly/3L8fLkm
Community wellbeing in Almond & Western
Forth and Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum meets online tomorrow at 1.30pm for the first session of 2022.
AGENDA:
1) Welcome and Introductions
2) Update on Adult Learning Consultation – Fay Butler
3) Support with fuel bills and heating – Niall Murphy
4) Community Benefits Portal – Claire Darlow
5) Craigroyston High School support needs – Morag Wilson
6) Group Updates
7) AOB and next meeting
The meeting will take place on Zoom.
For login details please contact Kate Barrett, EVOC Community Planning Development Worker: telephone 0131 555 9100 or email kate.barrett@evoc.org.uk
After a record-breaking number of applications, the 47 finalists for the 2021 #ScotCharityAwards have been announced!
The vote is now live for the People’s Choice Award, so take a look at the shortlist below and vote for your favourite finalist now!
The categories this year are:
Members of the public can have their say by voting for their favourite overall entry in the People’s Choice Award – voting closes at 5pm on 27 August.
You only have ONE vote, so choose your favourite carefully!
See all 47 below:
RSABI provides practical, emotional and financial support to people in Scottish agriculture. Working in agriculture can be isolating, especially during the pandemic. Our helpline calls were increasing so we needed to do something to help keep people connected. RSA…
Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund campaign shone a light on the financial cost of Covid-19 to children and families in Scotland and provided essentials like food, heating, clothing and beds to children who would otherwise have gone without. The campaign launched i…
Alistair is a volunteer within the Bridge Community Project’s Financial Wellbeing Service, where he provides hope to vulnerable members of the West Lothian community who are experiencing financial and personal challenges. His approach focuses on developing positiv…
Andrew’s influence, guidance and support has helped the trust secure an incredible amount of funding in the last 12 months alone. He liaised with key experts in Covid-19, which was instrumental in the charity securing funding for its recently launched research on…
The team has worked tirelessly with the Scottish Government, Parliament and Infection Prevention and Control specialists to improve guidance and enable meaningful contact with care home residents cut off from their loved ones due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Bob joined Cumbernauld Action on Care of the Elderly after becoming a service user, he then registered as a volunteer because he wanted to support others who felt isolated. Bob became a Befriender to someone who was bedridden after suffering a stroke, providing…
The team has redesigned hundreds of events and workshops to take them online, coordinated a Castlemilk-wide emergency response and created a Wellbeing Community Chest. It has improved services with a digital transformation strategy, formed a digital lending librar…
During the toughest of years for so many, Chris focused on ensuring AbilityNet’s older and disabled clients remain – or become part of – the digital world at a time when it’s become more crucial than ever. Thanks to him over 1,000 older and disabled people have no…
Over the last ten years, nearly 10,000 families in Scotland lost a loved one through drug-related death. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdose, providing vital time to call an ambulance. The team at Scottish Families recognised the nee…
The team at Macrobert Arts Centre believes the arts should be for everyone and recognised that there was a clear need to make performances more inclusive for the Deaf community. Creative Scotland’s Create:Inclusion programme resourced this innovative project to de…
Cumbernauld Resilience was established in March 2020 as a community-based response to the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. It united people from all over Cumbernauld from a diverse demographic to reach out and help their neighbours. The team has over 120 voluntee…
Douglas is more than a volunteer for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) – he is a life-changer. He does everything he can to help fellow stroke survivors in their recovery. When the pandemic hit, Douglas was first in line to suggest creative ways for stroke su…
Covid-19 has been a rollercoaster for everyone; no less for children and families in hospital and those privileged to support them. Innovation and dedication from supporters, partners, staff and volunteers saw support for children shielding at home, in wards and w…
In response to the pandemic and in partnership with Natwest, last year Cyrenians launched a full-scale food production service; cooking and delivering more than 5,000 freezer-friendly, healthy and delicious ready meals every week to local people who were unable to…
The Fringe is widely recognised as one of the greatest celebrations of arts and culture on the planet. It is a worldwide brand that speaks to the values of being open, welcoming, inclusive, pioneering, international, experimental and innovative. Pursuing a vision…
As the manager of Harlawhill Day Centre, Fiona supports the elderly community of Prestonpans every day. When lockdown struck in 2020 she put an immediate outreach plan in place to keep all the centre’s clients socially connected, and tirelessly organised free meal…
Child Sexual Abuse impacts one in six children in Scotland and targeting offenders is one of the most important ways of tackling abuse before it happens. As a result of the ‘Get Help or Get Caught’ campaign over 79,000 people visited the team’s website and 185 peo…
GAU is proudly embedded in the communities it serves and is fully responsive to the needs of those they work with. When lockdown hit the team acted quickly and decisively with a new food delivery service that has helped hundreds of people. They also delivered onli…
In 2020 Glasgow’s Golden Generation was awarded funding to get older adults online. However, most service users had never used technology before so GGG bought tablet computers and developed a bespoke app with videos, Covid updates, puzzles and befriending video ca…
Edinburgh School Uniform Bank is a volunteer-run charity, which is a safety net for struggling families and a vital resource for education and health professionals – and when pandemic restrictions were put in place Julia knew she had to keep the service open. Desp…
Lead’s aim is to provide accessible digital skills and cyber safety training to disabled people, unpaid carers, practitioners and people experiencing barriers to learning. With a small team of five staff, they supported 989 people to improve their digital skills a…
Lilias’ particular focus over the past four years has been to fundamentally change how Cosgrove Care approaches fundraising, and to improve the environments in which people live, and the charity operates within. She has spent many hours researching grants and has…
Linda wants the team she works with to be recognised for the outcomes they accomplished. Valuing the team and working together is essential to achieving the best possible outcomes for the most vulnerable in our communities. Linda believes she has become an effecti…
Long Covid Care Now continues to raise awareness and push for better care – ensuring that people with Long Covid are not the forgotten victims of the pandemic. Thanks to the campaign’s activities public awareness is high, the Scottish Government has committed fund…
Our application aims to highlight the hard work and achievements of our manager, Lorraine Jarvie. Lorraine has brought a wealth of experience and a new level of excellence and professionalism to MOOD ensuring its services are delivered to the highest standards. Lo…
The project helped people cut their energy bills, despite the pandemic, but also secured new heating systems, warmer home payments and even new windows for a number of deaf and blind people who were struggling to heat their homes and pay their bills. On top of thi…
Nicola has achieved a huge amount in the last 12 months. Working with young carers, she set up #Supermarkets4Change, campaigning to raise awareness of unpaid carers with supermarkets to include young carers in the protected hours set aside for vulnerable people to…
COVID-19 brought the impacts of digital exclusion for single parent families into sharp focus. Not only did One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) respond with a gifting campaign that distributed over 100 new laptops, tablets and mifi connections over the period, but…
The PEEK team has continued to support Glasgow communities throughout lockdown – reaching out, offering a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear. Through their PEEKACHEW mobile food truck, the team delivered the equivalent of 353,891 healthy meals…
Pam Noble was a trustee of Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust from 2017 until 2021 and its chair from 2018. The projects developed under Pam’s leadership have established strong foundations for a sustainable future supported by extensive community consultation. The…
People Know How believe in the inextricable link between social and digital isolation and the pandemic has only reinforced that view. Over the last year the team has provided devices, digital skills and connectivity to thousands of people across Edinburgh and East…
LGBT Youth Scotland worked alongside LGBTI young people and a taskforce from JP Morgan to create a digital community called ‘Pride and Pixels’, which combined a community Discord space and a Moodle learning hub to create a digital space for young people where they…
R:evolve Recycle is a unique project managed by LEAP, a charity that works to enhance the lives of older people across Scotland through volunteering, learning, socialising and befriending. R:evolve’s goal is to reduce clothing consumption, cutdown carbon emissions…
The team, made up mainly of volunteers, give their time, and have their own lived experiences – and therefore are totally accepted and trusted by the most vulnerable. RES is about shared trust. It has reached a diverse range of the community, crossing numerous ag…
Robert is the co-founder and driving force of Linkes community project (2006), serving as chairperson to promote integration, empowerment and social inclusion. In response to the pandemic, he was visionary and determined, quickly building alliances to set-up a foo…
The Edinburgh Tool Library (ETL) got involved with the Edinburgh Mask Makers (EMM) collective, set up and coordinated by nominee Rosie Sinclair, during the first lockdown in 2020. Rosie, together with three other coordinators, Dhouha Mastouri, Martha Mattos Coelho…
The aim of the ‘Save Your Outdoor Centres’ campaign was to secure funding from the Scottish Government to ensure that Scotland’s Residential Outdoor Education Centres did not close. Not only did the campaign succeed in getting £2 million of funding, it brought tog…
The team delivered critical services to support people and animals during the coronavirus pandemic. They pioneered an emergency foster scheme during lockdown getting over 260 animals into loving homes, launched their first ever online rehoming service to allow peo…
SCRAN coordinated a coalition of charities that produced, packaged and delivered nearly 150,000 meals during the first lockdown, supporting over 1,000 people per week at its height. None of it possible without the 220 local people who gave tens-of-thousands of ho…
Shawn wants to be a role model for both BAME and disadvantaged communities. He has successfully made an impact in communities across Glasgow by delivering Cyber-crime Prevention Awareness Workshops and also creating a space through a community gardening pr…
During the pandemic The Flourishing Well received many referrals to help support traumatised people. The team had to adapt really quickly to the online platform – after receiving their first round of funding in July 2020, by December they had hosted 352 one-to-one…
The Louise Project is a place where all are welcome and where people are safe to be vulnerable. We support families experiencing poverty to transform their own lives and to be active participants in the transformation of their community. We work in a relational an…
In April 2020 The Space launched its Digital Inclusion Service so families could learn about the internet, how to use their devices, and attend online activities. The team enabled 41 families to become digitally active and 20 more restarted their education online…
TripleTapTech aims to provide advice, help, support and training to anyone with a visual impairment in accessing and using technology. This includes teaching basic and advanced skills used to successfully access and prosper in the digital world. The team aims to p…
WHALE Arts has constantly adapted activities in response to the needs of the community over the last year and a half, with online classes, free weekly community meals on a take-away basis, delivering food, making and delivering art packs and sending wellbeing pack…
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity across Scotland through shielding, furlough, unemployment, rise of domestic abuse and withdrawing of some support services for vulnerable people. West Lothian Foodbank created a food network with partners and vol…
With over 70 volunteers, five staff, and a network of 550+ Young Leaders, 2050 Climate Group equips young people with leadership skills to challenge the climate crisis. 2050 Climate Group was born from a need to empower, equip and enable young leaders from across…
Join EVOC for a session focused on how to re-open / re-mobilise your organisation, projects and activities safely.
Aimed at organisations and managers who are making plans to re-open / re-mobilise, this event will focus on a selection of issues including community transport, workforce and volunteers.
1. National overview: Ian Brooke (Deputy Chief Executive, EVOC)
2. Volunteers: Marion Findlay (Director of Services, Volunteer Edinburgh)
3. Re-opening Guidelines: Angela Davis (Environmental Health Officer, City of Edinburgh Council)
4. WHALE Arts Re-opening Experiences: Laura Delahunt (Enterprise and Facilities Manager, WHALE Arts)
5. Panel Q&A
Breakout group discussions:
Please note that this event is now taking place on Microsoft Teams.
EVENT LINK
Registration for this event closes on Tue 17 Aug at 6pm.
You will receive an email through Eventbrite by 9am on Wed 18 Aug that includes the Teams link for this event.
If you don’t receive an email please check your email junk folder or get in touch with us: esther.currie@evoc.org.uk
The Scottish Government would like to better understand the impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary sector and volunteering. If you are an organisation which has engaged volunteers in the last two years, they would really like to hear your views.
The survey will provide invaluable and up-to-date insights on both the challenges and opportunities facing volunteering and will help to guide the recovery process in 2021 and beyond.
The findings will be published and widely disseminated for the benefit of all volunteer involving organisations.
A new £30 million fund is being established to support small businesses within the third sector, helping them to grow as Scotland recovers from the impacts of coronavirus.
The fund will be designed to respond to a need for third sector organisations to access loans to help grow and explore new forms of social investment and finance. It will also help support the sector to meet the challenge of the pandemic and to become more sustainable in the long-term.
Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We have worked hard to support the third sector throughout the pandemic. This new fund will focus on those organisations with the potential to grow, contributing to jobs and making a positive contribution to our communities and the wellbeing economy.
“It also goes some way towards our commitment to explore other strands of social investment, including capital loans, to build upon Scotland’s world leading position in social enterprise.
“The fund will help this sector to ensure that it not only supports our communities, but is at the very forefront of our recovery, leading our communities and our country through recovery.”
Yvonne Greeves, Board member at Firstport & Chair of Catalyst Fund, said: “The Catalyst Fund is an exciting new addition to the social investment arena in Scotland.
“The patient, revenue-based repayment model is well placed to help certain social enterprises obtain the capital they need to start-up and grow, whilst offering them a more flexible repayment approach to match their ambitions.
“We welcome the support from the Scottish Government in backing this innovative model and we look forward to supporting social enterprises with potential for high-growth to enter new markets and deliver significant social impact.”
The Third Sector Growth Fund will build on more than £1 billion which has been invested in communities since the start of the pandemic, which includes a recent commitment to a further £14 million to allow the Communities and Third Sector Recovery Programme to continue to the end of June.
The Third Sector Growth Fund will have three elements:
The delivery partners are The Social Impact Venture Portfolio and Social Investment Scotland, a social enterprise and a charity offering loan funding and business support across the sector to make a positive impact on lives, society and the environment.
Social Investment Scotland will manage The Circular Economy Social Enterprise Fund and Long Term Third Sector Finance Fund.
The Impact Investment Partnership Scotland (IIPS), an entity owned equally by Firstport and Social Enterprise Scotland (SES), will manage the Social Catalyst Fund.
Access to the funds will be by application. Further details of the funds and how to apply will be published on the partner organisations websites later this Spring.
This is a reminder for the Forth and Inverleith VSF on Zoom, tomorrow – Wednesday, Nov 4th at 11am
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82718053569?pwd=dXBFc3ZqUWZXTjFONlNOUkhyQ1F3dz09
Meeting ID: 827 1805 3569
Passcode: 938535
We will use the below agenda to guide our discussion and welcome Dr Linda Irvine-Fitzpatrick and Dr Peter Kitchen as guests to the forum:
1. Welcome and introductions – name and organisation
Kate Barrett
Development Worker – Community Planning, EVOC
People most at risk from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak are to receive further support following emergency investment in crucial services.
Charities Scottish Women’s Aid, Social Bite (above) and other key partners will share up to £8 million to provide an emergency response and ensure services can react to coronavirus (COVID-19).
Disadvantaged groups facing hardships such as homelessness, food insecurity or social isolation and loneliness are among those to benefit from services such as:
• emergency accommodation in Glasgow and Edinburgh
• the provision of food and essential supplies to vulnerable groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen
• public health information translated into British Sign Language (BSL) and the creation of an easy, one-stop shop approach for BSL users
• online and telephone support for both older people and young people, and more isolated members of the LGBT community, to improve mental resilience and wellbeing
This investment is part of the Scottish Government’s wider £350 million Communities Funding to help those most affected by the pandemic.
Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We are facing an unprecedented situation that requires a practical response – at scale and pace – to help people most at risk in our community. We must do all that we can to protect the health, welfare and wellbeing of the people of Scotland.
“These significant national investments are helping to strengthen the support available to individuals and ensuring that key services are available for those most in need.
“We are continuing to work with partners, including community organisations to ensure funding reaches those best placed to provide support.”
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) receives an award of £3 million. SCVO Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said: “I am delighted that Aileen Campbell, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, and her colleagues in Scottish Government have listened to the voices from the voluntary sector looking for urgent support at this time of unprecedented uncertainty.
“The measures announced today will go a long way to helping voluntary organisations through the immediate pressures, which of course means that they can continue to rise to the challenge of supporting people and communities across the country.”
Our £8 million of priority funding is supporting services like @scotwomensaid, whose crucial work ensures that people most at risk from the impacts of coronavirus can get the support they need.
Find out who the funding will help ➡️ https://t.co/ORauQMVGNj pic.twitter.com/5UGXBwqo5E
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) April 6, 2020
Scottish Women’s Aid has been allocated £1.35 million and there’s over £226,000 for Rape Crisis Scotland. The Child Poverty Action Group is awarded £105,000.
The £350 million Communities Funding was announced by Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell on 18 March 2020.
Since it was announced more than £100 million of new support has been delivered to local authorities to assist their efforts. This includes £50 million in hardship funding, £22 million to bolster the Scottish Welfare Fund, and £30 million from the Food Fund.
An additional £23 million is held in reserve for the Scottish Welfare Fund and will be targeted to where it is most needed. £50 million is also in reserve to meet increased demand for Scottish Social Security and support through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
The Third Sector Resilience Fund, worth £20 million, launched on the 25th of March.
The full list of the projects to be awarded a share of the funding is:
| Organisation | Amount | Brief outline of project |
| Young Scot | £46,992 | Young Scot will deliver Covid-19 information and social media support for young people. |
| Who Cares? | £175,132 | Support for the Care Experienced Community. |
| British Deaf Association Scotland | £26,212.50 | Public health information to be translated into British Sign Language (BSL) and for there to be an easy, one-stop shop approach for BSL users to find official information |
| Scottish Women’s Aid | £1,350,000 | Deliver increased provision of support |
| Rape Crisis Scotland | £226,309 | Deliver increased provision of support |
| Child Poverty Action Group | £104,877 | Ensure the most up to date advice and support is disseminated to advisors to support families in need through increasing staffing levels; provision of IT equipment to facilitate the move to home provision of support; development and delivery of webinars to a group of front line advisors; subscription costs, development of benefit advice bulletins and increased advice line capacity. |
| One Parent Families Scotland | £100,000 | Deliver increased provision of support |
| Simon Community | £296,000 | Securing emergency accommodation in Glasgow and Edinburgh to support vulnerable people through the COVID 19 Crisis. Their actual funding proposal shows this is for two months |
| Simon Community | £21,290 | Extra accommodation in Edinburgh |
| Glasgow Night Shelter | £153,500 | Destitute Asylum Seekers – Emergency accommodation response for destitute asylum seekers |
| Age Scotland | £80,000 | Helpline costs |
| Gypsy/Travellers – Various Partners | £73,600 | Deliver increased provision of support |
| LGBT Health and Wellbeing | £10,000 | Provide telephone support to more isolated members of the LGBT community, with a particular focus on older LGBT people and those experiencing digital exclusion, and expand their LGBT Helpline Scotland from 2 to 4 days per week. |
| LGBT Youth Scotland | £41,500 | To improve support for the LGBTI community in Scotland, particularly those aged 13-25, throughout Covid-19 through accelerating development of a Digital Youth Work platform, including learning hub to offer improved support, help them develop greater resilience in relation to their mental health and in time, new skills and strengths. |
| BEMIS | £56,100 | To provide access to essential food to diverse minority ethnic communities across Scotland through a network of organisations via a Small Grant Sustenance Fund and emergency grant relief to individuals and families or those supporting them directly such as foodbanks. |
| Befriending Network | £6,333 | Additional staff costs to support befriending organisations |
| Glasgow Disability Alliance | £85,800 | Additional staff costs for telephony and online support |
| Equality Network | £3,932.82 | To provide Zoom accounts to allow regional LGBT groups to stay in contact, many of whom have members who are socially isolated for a number of reasons |
| SCoJeC | £4,650 | The proposal has 3 parts: 1. Connecting with Jewish Communities (£2,750), 2. Crisis Hardship Fund (£2,000) and 3. Providing food packages urgently for Passover (£1,900) totalling £6,650. |
| DeafBlind Scotland | £30,000 | To produce information in Braille, Moon, XXL print, BSL videos or audio CDs; increase access to advocacy and advice staff to help people understand what support is available to access grants and support; and to increase home visits for Deafblind people who don’t have self-directed support. |
| Social Bite | £500,000 | The provision of food and essential supplies to vulnerable groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen through the Covid-19 crisis |
| FareShare | £500,000 | To purchase and distribute ambient food |
| Cash For Kids | £500,000 | To give vouchers/cards to families for essential items including food and fuel |
| Food Train | £241,515 | To respond to the increased demand for older people seeking home delivery of food |
| Coalition with support from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) | Up to £3,000,000 | The Scottish Government is working with SCVO as part of a coalition programme to ensure funding gets to community groups |
| Intercultural Youth Scotland | £22,296 | Provides for a range of activity to support young minority ethnic people, particularly around mental health support and careers support |
| Barnardo’s | £178,000 | To provide direct support to 2,100 children, young people and families with an estimated distribution of £23k per week, plus £40k across the period to support capital spend (e.g. laptops/phones/activity packs to support school work and reduce social isolation). Barnardos’ is working with Action for Children to ensure a cohesive approach is taken across Scotland. |
| Action for Children | £202,000 | To support over 20,000 children and young people, including disabled children, care experienced young people, and young carers, and their families, through a two-tier response: i. Welfare Response and Emergency Fund which will distribute funding support to young people and families and ii. Wellbeing Response and Safeguarding Capacity which will increase the organisation’s capacity to protect children, young people and families at greatest risk who may be more isolated than ever due to the current situation. |
Total: £8,036,039.32
