News : Local and Regional
News
Future Jobs Fund
This Fund of £1 billion was announced in Budget 2009 and will support the creation of jobs for long term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market. Run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the Fund will be spent over the next two years.
The aim of the Fund is to create 150,000 jobs, primarily for young people aged 18 – 24 years old who have been out of work for a year.
The Government is keen to work with charities as well as local authorities and social enterprises to turn this vision into a reality.
For more information on the Future Jobs Fund visit the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/futurejobsfund.
Community Cashback
Community Cashback is a new scheme in England and Wales which gives local people a say in how £4million of recovered criminal assets (for example confiscated cash or property) should be spent in their communities.
You can become involved by suggesting a project you would like to see happening in your area or if you don't have a project to suggest, you can have your say on a project suggested by someone in your community.
Click here to have you say.
Government extends Social enterprise funding
A £20 million boost to the Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme means social enterprises struggling for funds will have more chance to access the finance they need to survive.
Introduced in January, the EFG scheme provides UK banks with a Government-backed guarantee that their small business loans will be repaid in order to encourage them to lend more to small firms.
The Government has now announced that it will guarantee bank loans worth a total of £20 million to Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) through the EFG scheme – freeing up money for CDFIs to lend to social enterprises.
New Guide to Social Return on Investment launched
A new guide for Social Return on Investment (SROI) has been launched byt the government's Social Enterprise Summit. The guide will help third sector organisations articulate the added social and environmental value they create and also help underpin the thinking of commissioners and investors in a standardised way that is easy for all to understand.
Download the guide at http://www.sroiuk.org/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,29/Itemid,38/
Call for Charities after Tech Press Success leads to IT Volunteer Boost
Thanks to recent media success in top technology press, The Register and Computer Weekly, iT4Communities (iT4C) has seen a huge boost in volunteer IT professionals signing up.
There are now 600 new IT volunteers looking to share their time and talent with charities and voluntary & community organisations that need IT help and support.
Caroline Bucklow, iT4C Charitable Operations Director, says:
“It’s inspiring to know that so many IT professionals want to give something back to their communities at a time when many other industries are slowing down. I hope enough new charities sign up to keep them all engaged!”
IT4Communities is a unique volunteer service. As the lead national IT volunteering charity, iT4C makes IT work for charities by introducing volunteer IT professional to charities needing IT help.
There is an £85 administration charge for a whole year’s support which includes a professional project description for all your IT volunteering opportunities, access to the 6,000-strong IT volunteer community and ongoing support from the team.
For more information visit www.it4communities.org.uk, email info@it4communities.org.uk or call 020 7796 2144.
Third Sector Survey
Headline targets for the Third Sector survey, which will be used to set up the targets for NI 7, are now available on this website
The Big Squeeze
London's lead Voluntary and Community organisation calls for views from across London's communities about the impact of the recession.
London Voluntary Service Council (LVSC) and its partners are seeking evidence from voluntary and community organisations across London about the impact of the recession on the communities they serve, the demand on the services they provide to them and how they are dealing with this.
The LVSC would like community and voluntary groups to fill out this small survey on how your organisation is coping with the current recession.
The link to the LVSC website page with details of the Big Squeeze campaign is www.lvsc.org.uk/bigsqueeze.
Youth Violence
Youth violence is a major concern that continues to devastate families, communities and neighbourhoods. The Home Office is working across government to provide help and support for young people, parents and victims. Voluntary and community organisations are key to this process and can make a real difference by transforming the lives of vulnerable young people who are either at risk or who have been involved in gangs or carried or used an offensive weapon.In December 2008, the Home Secretary outlined a new £4.5m fund for local community groups to run activities for young people in 13 priority areas. This will fund intensive work with young people through mentoring and outreach work. Organisations can apply for grant funding of up to £10,000 per annum for three years.
This fund is being managed on behalf of the Home Office by Tribal’s Community Development Team.
For more information on the fund please visit Tribal’s website at: http://grantsadmin.co.uk/homeoffice_communityfund/ Contact details:Grants Programme Administrator
2nd Floor
154 Gt. Charles Street
Queensway
Birmingham
B3 3HN Tel: 0845 603 1869Fax: 0845 094 0535Email: info@grantsadmin.co.uk
