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LOCAL & NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
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HR
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SERVICE UPDATES
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FUNDING
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TRAINING & LEARNING
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RESEARCH & BLOGS
LOCAL & NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Scottish Government: The First Minister announced a range of new restrictions. All pubs and restaurants across central Scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases. Snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls will also close in the NHS Lothian area for two weeks from 10 October. Contact sports for people aged 18 and over will be suspended for the next two weeks – with an exception for professional sports. Indoor group exercise activities will not be allowed, although the current rules will remain in place for under 18s and gyms can remain open for individual exercise. Outdoor live events will not be permitted in NHS Lothian area for the next fortnight. There will be no travel ban in any of the areas, but people in the central belt have been urged to avoid public transport unless it is “absolutely necessary”, and they have also been advised not to travel outside of the health board area they live in if they do not need to. BBC NEWS
Brexit: With all the discussions about Covid, it is easy to forget that we will still be leaving the EU on 31 December 2020. There will be guaranteed changes from 1 January for businesses as we start our new relationship with the EU, and there are many actions you can take today to prepare. We are being urged to:
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Check what actions you need to take by visiting gov.uk/transition
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Sign-up for updates. UPDATES
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Attend government webinars for additional support, you can sign up to attend BEIS webinars now. WEBINARS
Scottish Government: Further measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) are to come into effect as Scotland recorded more than 1,000 new positive test results in a single day. Restrictions on licensed premises will come into force from 18:00 on Friday 9 October, with all other restrictions applying from 00:01 Saturday 10 October. A full list of additional restrictions, including those specific to the Lothians, and be found here RESTRICTIONS
HR
Acas, CBI and TUC joint statement on handling redundancies: COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on many businesses and workers. Challenges to working practices, disrupted supply chains and weakening demand, are leading many employers to consider redundancy as the only survival option. The joint statement message is that employers should exhaust all possible alternatives before making redundancies. JOINT STATEMENT
SERVICE UPDATES
#IWill Scotland #PowerOfYouth Charter: Scotland’s young people are now having to endure some of the most acute impacts of Covid-19. Disruption to their education; ongoing uncertainty over their future; worsening mental health and wellbeing; economic downturn; climate emergency. Now, more than ever, we must listen to young people, work with them, and empower them to be changemakers. Youthlink Scotland are asking organisations to sign up to their pledge. #POWEROFYOUTH
The Spark is a Scottish Government free national relationship counselling helpline. It is a relationship helpline that provides online support by qualified counsellors who give telephone support, assess the severity of the callers situation and sign post elsewhere or if required offer their own free counselling service. Whilst it is a relationship counselling service they work with couples, families, parents and can give individual or couples/ family counselling. This is currently taking place online, but outside Covid restrictions, can be online or face to face. Freephone 0808 802 2088. THE SPARK
Lothian Buses: The new restrictions mentioned above state ‘Public transport use should be minimised as much as possible.’ However, there may be times when travel is necessary, and this update on services from Lothian Buses will be useful. LOTHIAN BUSES
#KeepThePromise: All those with responsibility towards infants, children, young people and their families must come together to devise a collectively owned, multi-sector ambitious Plan to make sure that all of Scotland’s children grow up loved, safe and respected.
Webinars are happening throughout week commencing 12th October, with 5 sessions available (all with the same content) to help organisations understand the work of The Promise team, the Scottish Approach to Service Design and how to engage with the work of change.
FUNDING
New Grants: VCEL is launching a small grants programme funded by Foundation Scotland from the Response, Recovery and Resilience fund. The grants are for community organisations and the maximum grant available is £1000. The grants will target resources across Scotland, supporting projects which reflect the needs of individual local authority areas. Our total allocation in for East Lothian is £6000. In order to apply, you must be a locally based community group or third sector organisation with an annual turnover of less than £100,000 per year. All grants will need to respond to the following priority: ‘Living with poor, interrupted or impaired access to food, shelter, and necessary amenities (e.g. sanitation, heat)’.
People across Scotland of all backgrounds that are faced with challenges associated with accessing food, shelter or basic amenities will benefit. This will mean that services are primarily provided to those living in the greatest poverty. We know that this group disproportionately includes disabled people, black people, Asian people and people from other ethnic minorities, carers and young families as well as older people. It also disproportionately affects some communities disadvantaged by their physical geography more than others. APPLICATION FORM
Please return your application form by Monday 26th October, 2020, 5PM Organisations will be informed of the decision by Tuesday 3rd November 2020. All funds must be spent by 31 March 2021.
NEW Happy Days Children’s Charity: Funding for families with children aged 3-17 who are disabled, have a special need or have been abused in the UK. The aim is to help as many people as they can by funding trips, experiences, respite breaks and group activity holidays for those who need them most.. – read more
In Kind Direct: Positive feedback about In Kind Direct. Charities who register with them can purchase goods (free delivery) at low prices. Unlike other retailer schemes they guarantee good quality brands which aren’t stigmatised and so welcomed by clients e.g. 5 hand sanitisers for £1.44 and five top branded shampoos worth £5 each for 90p. IN KIND DIRECT
The Screwfix Foundation: Grants help all sorts of projects, from repairing buildings and improving facilities in deprived areas, to decorating the homes of people living with sickness and disabilities. – read more
The Edward Gostling Foundation: The goal of this grant is to fund organisations that support people living with a mental and/or physical disability or a long-term illness have the same choices, quality of life opportunities and aspirations as others. – read more
TRAINING & LEARNING
Asset Based Community Development: During the pandemic we have seen many examples of how neighbours have acted as first responders at street level to ensure that no one goes hungry , no one is lonely and we have seen individuals in communities taking action offering a listening ear or a lending hand, growing connections and building trust. We know that whatever happens post COVID-19 it is not going to be about doing more of what has always been done (under more stress, for more people than before and with even less financial resources than ever). Even if that were the case there simply will never be enough professionals and volunteers to do this. It is instead about adapting and responding to the reality of the situation and acknowledging the role that Citizens can and do play in creating change. Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) is centred on starting with what is strong in neighbourhood life, not what’s wrong and provides a way of understanding how Services can walk alongside Citizen led change in a way that does no harm to the way in which people ‘do’ community. Macmillan is funding two free sessions as part of Midlothian’s Improving the Cancer Journey, which are open to all Third Sector staff and volunteers. More information here. ABCD SESSIONS
SURF: SURF is hosting five online regional events this Autumn, all designed to provide information, enhance place-based trust and share learning on cooperative responses to COVID related challenges in regeneration. They will encourage open, inclusive and constructive cross sector discussion. Participants will have the opportunity to share their COVID experience and to join a national conversation on how we can move forward together. SURF
RESEARCH & BLOGS
The Social Renewal Advisory Board has launched a call for evidence. Organisations and community groups are being asked to share ideas and evidence based on their experiences of responding to the pandemic, and their engagement with people with lived experience of poverty and inequality. Deadline for responses is 16 October. REBUILDING A FAIRER SCOTLAND CALL FOR IDEAS
COVID-19, Social Care and Human Rights: Impact Monitoring Report: Research published by the Scottish Human Rights Commission shows that a considerable proportion of people who use social care support at home have experienced either a reduction or complete withdrawal of support during the COVID-19 pandemic. SOCIAL CARE & HUMAN RIGHTS
Saving the High Street: the community takeover by the London School of Economics and Political Science, reveals how fragmented property ownership; a lack of transparency on who owns high street buildings; and absentee landlords with no vested interest in local places, are a barrier to creating unified high street regeneration strategies that can address the increasing number of buildings sitting empty. The report, which explores how community businesses can help revive the high street’s fortunes, also showed that where local authorities have helped facilitate community business ownership and access to both public and privately-owned buildings, it has created more vibrant and resilient high streets. HIGH STREET
Social Action During the Coronavirus Pandemic will investigate the rapid development of neighbourhood level support activity across Scotland, and consider the learning outcomes that can inform approaches to ‘building back better’. One project element is gathering stories of local action for presentation in a dedicated website. There are two opportunities to participate:
1) Become a community researcher – Survey those who have volunteered their time and helped others in your area (involving 20 hours of time over Oct- Nov, for a £200 payment).
2) Share your story – Provide a blog, a video, an interview or a photo series, for a contribution of up to £50 per case study. TOGETHER WE HELP SCOTLAND
A Different Approach to Community Led Asset Development: Community asset transfer has grown significantly in recent years through legislation, funding and a support infrastructure. Demand is increasing but the challenge many of these projects face, is how to finance the post-acquisition costs of developing these assets in an increasingly challenging funding environment. In partnership with the William Grant Foundation, we researched and scoped out new models of innovative approaches to achieve these goals. BOOKING
Charity Finances in a Pandemic: RSM (MORE INFO) will lead this session to help charities think about managing their finances during a period when many will be under particular stress. Organisations seriously impacted financially by the pandemic or not will find this a useful opportunity to learn from the expertise. Topics covered: Financial models; Planning review; Going concern; Reserve funds; Restructuring options; Overview of government funding and reliefs. There will also be time for questions at the end of the session. Thank you to EVOC for organising this and sharing the invite. BOOKING
