News

Big Lottery Fund and the Secret Millionaire Team Up to launch the Secret Millionaire Fund

Channel 4's 'Secret Millionaire' TV show have teamed up with the BIG Lottery's Awards 4 All programme to launch the Secret Millionaire Fund. Grants ranging from £300 to £10,000 are available to local community groups, schools, parish councils and health bodies to carry out much-needed projects in their area.

Similar to the popular TV programme, the fund is open to organisations that work to improve the lives of disadvantaged people, and particularly keen to support initiatives that:

- Give people a better chance in life by improving their skills and increasing their access to training

- Promote stronger communities with active citizens who work together to solve local issues

- Improve rural and urban environments

- Promote healthier lifestyles

Applications are invited online at a special Secret Millionaire website until December 21st 2009. Some successful projects may even get the chance to be featured on the website or the next television series.

For further information about this fund, or to apply, please go to the Secret Millionaire website.

Abbey Charitable Trust launches new Leicestershire Fund

The Abbey Charitable Trust have just announced a £90,000 funding programme for Leicester and Leicestershire. Voluntary and Community Groups can apply for up to £20,000 of funding through this programme, although the average donation tends to be around £4,000. All funding must help disadvantaged people through one or more of Abbey's charitable priorities, which are:

- education and training

- financial advice

- community regeneration

There are no application forms or deadlines for this funding programmes. Interested organisations are requested to write a letter (on headed notepaper) on no more than two sides of A4 paper, stating what they are requesting funding for. The letter should also include a statement confirming that you are authorised to make an application on behalf of your organisation, and the letter should be signed by a trustee and a member of staff.

All letters need to be sent to the following address:

Abbey Charitable Trust

P.O. Box 911

Milton Keynes

MK9 1AD

For more information, please email Abi Veasey, Community Events Manager, or telephone 0151 966 3152.

Equality & Human Rights Commission launches new Strategic Funding Programme for the VCS Sector

The EHRC has announced its new £10.2 million Strategic Funding Programme, providing three-year project-based funding of up to £450,000 for community and voluntary sector organisations.

The first priority area will fund organisations providing guidance, advice and advocacy services in areas including education, health and employment, as well as building capacity where there are gaps in local provision. The second priority area will support increased co-operation between groups - including ethnic or religious communities - in areas where there are known tensions. A third priority area will be around support for legal advice and awareness of legal rights. This will operate as a separate programme, which is expected to launch in June.

The EHRC is particularly keen to fund activities that directly serve and involve individuals and local communities, that targets an unmet need and that has the potential to inspire and inform longer term activity that helps to promote the Commission's objectives.

East Midlands funding surgeries providing information, advice and guidance for interested VCS groups are being held in Nottingham on May 19th and Leicester on June 2nd. If you are interested in attending either of these sessions, please email Patrick Devine, East Midlands Regional Advisor for details.

The deadline for applications is Friday June 12th 2009. For more details, visit the EHRC's website.

Certificate and Foundation Degree in Managing Voluntary and Community Organisations - University of Leicester

The University of Leicester are delivering a Foundation Degree in Managing Voluntary and Community Organisations. The course aims to offer students knowledge of the changing social, political and demographic contexts in which voluntary and community groups operate. It further explores issues surrounding the setting up and effective management of VCS organisations as well as providing the necessary skills and information required to negotiate with official agencies and funders. The 3-year course (both taught and distance learning) begins in September 2009, and is being delivered at sites in both Leicester and Northampton. There are also potential opportunities to access grant funding/bursaries for individuals wishing to access the course.

For more details, email Malcolm Flaherty, Course Director, or telephone 0116 2525911.

course_outline

Seminar for Not-for-Profit Organisations

Wednesday 6 May, 6.00pm – 8.00pm

LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE

This seminar is for not-for-profit organisations about to set themselves up formally or re-looking at their current structure.

It will look at the advantages and disadvantages of different types of legal structure:

Company limited by guarantee, Community Interest Company, Industrial & Provident Society, Charitable Incorporated Organisation (available from April 2010) or Limited Liability Partnership.

We'll also consider whether charitable status might be for you, by assessing the pros and the cons- it shouldn't be assumed it's the right way forward in all cases.

After the initial presentation, there will be lots of time for questions and sharing information and experiences.

The seminar is led by Robert Nieri of Freeth Cartwright Solicitors who specialises in the not-for-profit and charitable sector.

To book your free place, please contact Angie Minton at Creative Leicestershire on 0116 2671950 or email aminton@leics.gov.uk

Grants Officer Vacancy at LLR Community Foundation

The Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Community Foundation are currently advertising for a Grants Officer. The closing date for applications has now been extended to 14th April 2009 and a job description is attached below:-

LLR Community Foundation Grants Officer - Job Description

Please contact the LLR Community Foundation on 0116 2293088 for further details, or visit their website:

www.llrcommunityfoundation.org.uk/about_us.htm

Free Fundraising Healthcheck

Small and medium sized charities are able to analyse the potential success of their fundraising strategies during the recession, using a new on-line 'Healthcheck' tool, which is free to use. The Fundraising Health Check, developed by the Institute of Fundraising and Think Consulting Solutions, is an automated program that analyses income and expenditure data and produces a report outlining weaknesses and recommendations for improvement.

To use the online Healthcheck tool, click on the link below:

www.fundraisinghealthcheck.org/

Sport England unveils 'Rural Focus' for new Funding Round

Rural communities are the focus of Sport England's first themed funding round, which opens for business on 1 April 2009. The £10 million fund will support projects that tackle the barriers to, and unearth new opportunities for, getting people in rural areas playing and enjoying more sport. Rural communities have been chosen for the first round because they face particular barriers to participating in sport, such as a reduced choice of sports available to them and transport issues. Sport England look forward to receiving bids to the Rural Communities Themed Round from a wide range of our partners - from local authorities to sports clubs and smaller community groups.

For more information, click on the link below:-

http://funding.sportengland.org/funding/funding_programmes/rural_communities1.aspx

In addition, Lisa Goddard from Leicester Shire and Rutland Sport will be able to advise potential applicants on any project ideas and the suitability of their applications. Lisa can be contacted on 01509 226767, or email l.goddard@lboro.ac.uk

ESF Community Grants Programme Launched for the East Midlands

The East Midlands European Social Fund (ESF) Community Grants Programme was launched in February 2009. The grants programme aims to provide up to £10,000 to CVS groups, for projects that prepare disadvantaged people for work.

The deadline for applications is 30th March 2009.

For more information, please contact Mick O'Hara at the CVS Community Partnership on 0116 229 3019, or visit the link to the One East Midlands website below:

www.oneeastmidlands.org.uk/news.php

Free Gift Aid Training at Voluntary Action Blaby District

Could your club benefit from Gift Aid?  Come to a free Gift Aid training session being held at Voluntary Action Blaby District on Tuesday 3rd March, 7-9pm to learn more about the scheme.  Find out if your organisation qualifies, what kind of donations are eligible and how to go about claiming back money – you may be able to receive an additional 28 pence for every £1 in donations.  You will also learn how to complete the necessary paperwork, what recordkeeping is required and you'll be able to get one-on-one advice from an HMRC staff member.  If you represent a community sports group, special issues facing sports groups will be addressed.  Register early for this event, as it is expected to be popular, by calling VABD on 0116 272 7669 or emailing community@vabd.org.uk. The address for VABD is The Pavilion, Sportsfield Lane, Huncote, Leicestershire, LE9 3BN.

Grassroots Grants Programme for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

The Grassroots Grants Programme that is being run by Voluntary Action Leicester is currently closed. For information, the next deadlines for applications are as follows.

Leicestershire - 26th June 2009

Leicester City - 19th June 2009

Rutland - 27th July 2009

For further information, please contact VAL on 0116 257 5052, or visit the VAL website: www.voluntaryactionleicester.org.uk/home-page