Funding & Training Focus - 20 September

Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund                                            
The next round of the fund is due to open on 29 September 2023. Guidance will follow in next weeks Funding Focus!


Mears Foundation
Applications have now opened for grant submissions and will remain open until mid October – open to any community groups or organisations that would like to work with asylum seekers to apply for funding for either ongoing or new projects.
With the Mears Foundation, any submission needs to be placed by a Mears staff member, please contact Jamie Lee Ward, Partnership Manager E: jamielee.ward@mearshousing.co.uk  M: 07756206843 to discuss your proposal.
The Mears Foundation


Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN)
Funding: We offer £250 mini-grants to support community climate action storytellers.
Next application deadline: Monday 30 October 5pm. Apply


The Happiness Fund
The Happiness Fund is available to enable and support projects which improve mental health and wellbeing, inclusion, learning and skills development in local communities.
Next deadline: 6th October 2023
Find out more
 

Funding to Support the Campaigning Work of Women’s & Girl’s Organisations
Grants of between £500 and £7,000 are available to support the work of grassroots women’s and girl’s organisations in achieving change in the UK. The fund can be used to support awareness-raising, momentum-building, and campaigning. This could include campaigning for changes in policy and laws; influencing community leaders; mentoring or training for women on how to participate in public life and influence social policy; and hosting workshops, events and conferences that educate and influence wider society etc. The funding is being made available by the charity Rosa through its Voices from the Frontline fund which closes to applications at 4pm on 11 October 2023. Find out more.
 

Funding for Projects that Make it Easier for People to Talk About Death & Dying
Funding is available to support innovative community arts and culture projects across the UK which open up conversations about dying, death and grief in new and creative ways. Hospice UK’s Dying Matters Community Grants Programme will award grants of between £5,000 and £8,000 to hospices for community-led projects that support hard to reach groups including ethnic minorities, homeless people, prisoners, people with learning disabilities, LGBT+ people, those living in remote and rural areas, and deprived people. Previously funded projects have included a video game that supports young people to think about death and grief, theatre productions, a community mural, comedy nights, and workshops and courses. The deadline for applications is 5pm on 24 November 2023. Find out more.
 

Funding to Support Remote and Disadvantage Rural Communities
The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF) has announced that its Supporting Rural Communities programme has re-opened for applications. The Supporting Rural Communities programme was introduced to help remote and disadvantaged rural communities address the challenges they face and to build a more sustainable and viable future. Each year the fund awards a total of £500,000 to community groups, charities, and social enterprises that are working to improve the lives of people in mostly deprived and disadvantage rural communities. Grants of up to £25,000 are available. Applications will be accepted from constituted, not-for-profit and community-led organisations with a turnover under £500,000 per year. The closing date for Applications is 12 noon on 20 October 2023. Find out more.

People's Postcode Lottery 
The aim of People's Postcode Trust is to support smaller charities and good causes in the Scotland to make a difference to their community for the benefit of people and planet. They support projects under the following categories: - Providing support to improve mental health - Enabling participation in physical activity - Enabling participation in the arts - Preventing or reducing the impact of poverty - Supporting marginalised groups and tackling inequality - Improving biodiversity and responding to the climate emergency - Improving green spaces and increasing access to the outdoors You can apply for either project or unrestricted funding. For more information on what is eligible under each category, see the funding guidelines on the Trust's website.
Opens 02 October 2023
Find out more


Grants to Support Music Making 
Music for All, a UK-based charity that provides music education to disadvantaged young people, has launched its third funding round of 2023. The funding is available to a variety of organisations, including schools, community groups, and individuals.
 
The amount of funding available varies depending on the award. The following awards are available:

• Harris Foundation Schools Progression Award: up to £5,000
• David Hughes Award (for community projects and individuals): up to £2,000
• Working with groups with mental health challenges and/or affected by loneliness/isolation: up to £1,500
• Working with diverse communities from the Global Majority, in partnership with Black Lives in Music: up to £1,500
• Projects supporting young people aged 11-16: up to £2,150
• Ukulele + keyboard bundle offer: up to £2,000 (includes 1 keyboard and 5 ukuleles)
• Guitars (electric): up to £1,500 (includes 5 electric guitars)

The funding was introduced to support music education and music-making opportunities for disadvantaged young people and communities. Music for All believes that music can have a positive impact on mental health, loneliness, and isolation, and that it can help to nurture talent and creativity. The application closing date for funding round 3 is 11.59 pm on the 27 October 2023. For more information and to apply, please visit the Music for All website. Back to Table of Contents https://www.musicforall.org.uk/apply-for-funding/community-project-funding/

Training

Digishift - 27 September
This month we'll be talking about how to get started with digital fundraising in your small charity.
You can book your free place on our website.
If you'd like to catch up with a previous DigiShift recording, you can find these on our YouTube playlist.


The Seeds of Vandana Shiva: Film & Conversation with Seeds of Scotland
05 October 2023
6-9pm, Glasgow
Join us for the screening of the documentary film The Seeds of Vandana Shiva followed by a discussion with Glasgow Seed Library on seeds, growing and food sovereignty.
Book here


Evaluation Support Scotland
We promote self-evaluation!
Develop skills to help demonstrate your impact. Generate learning to improve policy, practice and service design. 
Let's Evaluate! is our 3-part training course designed to take you through:

• writing outcomes and indicators
• collecting evidence, and
• analysing and reporting

Getting Started: Outcomes and indicators
14/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30
16/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30  -  Book here

Make to Measure: Evaluation methods and plans
21/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30
23/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30  -  Book here

Telling my Story: Analysing and reporting on outcomes
28/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30
30/11/23 | 09:30 - 12:30  -  Book here

Is Let's Evaluate! right for you?
More about the Let's Evaluate! workshops
More about self-evaluation
Navigate the evaluation pathway

LGBTQ+ Awareness Training - 30 October and 11 December
This 3 hour session is designed to help you expand or refresh your knowledge of LGBTQ+ identity.I have run these sessions many times with very positive feedback. I have worked with counsellors, youth workers, learning support workers and volunteers, so this training would be suitable for a wide variety of professions.
Find out more and book here

Money Counts training for Renfrewshire: Promoting a cash first approach to food insecurity
Wednesday 08 November 11am-12pm
The Renfrewshire 'Worrying About Money?' leaflet is a straightforward resource for people facing financial crisis and support workers to quickly see available cash first support options and which local agencies are best placed to help.
 
Now more than ever, it is vital that people facing money worries are linked to cash first advice and support at the earliest opportunity. This one-hour online training session is designed for frontline staff and volunteers in Renfrewshire who may have brief conversations with people about their money worries or financial struggles as part of their work.
 
After the one-hour session you will:

• be fully aware of the local financial advice and cash first support options currently available in Renfrewshire
• feel confident about using the Renfrewshire 'Worrying About Money?' leaflet to ask people about wider money worries and guide them to appropriate support
• understand more about the importance of a 'cash first' approach to growing food insecurity and poverty

Please book your place here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/money-counts-training-for-renfrewshire-online-tickets-715912713197?aff=oddtdtcreator
 
This training session will be led by Emma Österberg of the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), and includes input from Citizens Advice Renfrewshire.
 
You can find out more about 'Worrying About Money?' cash first referral leaflets at www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/cash-first-leaflets.
 
If you have any questions about these sessions or if you face any difficulties signing up to attend, then please contact Emma Österberg at emma@foodaidnetwork.org.uk.


Good Conversation Training
Good Conversations’ is an introductory training session for Volunteers and workers whose role includes hosting conversations in community settings such as community cafes, lunch clubs or community drop-in centres.
The focus of the session is on practicality and empowering the volunteer to be confident in their role. The sessions, normally of about 2 hours, and are held on Zoom.
Benefits of the training to volunteers include:

• Improves confidence in your volunteer role 
• Enables you to recognise skills you already have, and how to apply them in your volunteer role 
• Equips you with new knowledge and skills (that you can use in other situations as well as your volunteer role)
• Provides reassurance that you are prepared to deal with a wider range of circumstances
• Highlights some unhelpful things most of us tend to do in conversation, and how to avoid them 
• Aids in avoidance of embarrassing or awkward situations
• Reduces personal risk
• Enables you to see enhanced benefit to your guests/service users, and to know you have made a difference 

Benefits of the training to organisations include:

• Demonstrates commitment to volunteers 
• Shows investment in volunteers’ capabilities
• Enhances delivery of organisation’s aims  
• Improves volunteer motivation 
• Improves volunteer retention 
• Potentially improves volunteer recruitment 
• Demonstrates positive steps to reduce risk factors to volunteers, beneficiaries and the organisation (safeguarding)
• Increases engagement with beneficiaries and the community 
• Helps projects reach a wider audience through enhanced effectiveness and reputation 
• Potentially increases opportunities for professional referrals 
• May lead to enhanced procedures and practices, and/or volunteers’ commitment to those already in place

People can book online on the link below:-
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