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Archives for April 2020

Scottish and Southern Electricity Community Resilience Funding

Due to the significant impact on communities from the coronavirus outbreak, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has repurposed its annual Resilient Communities Fund to offer grants of up to £3,000 for projects that will specifically support community members in vulnerable situations.

Applications are being encouraged for projects that will provide extra help to those who are self-isolating or social shielding, such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions.  Examples include a social delivery service, online advice centres or a befriending scheme.

The fund is open to community councils, parish councils and town councils in SSENÂ’s network areas in the north of Scotland and central southern England.

The initial funding round will close on 30 April, with additional rounds to open based on demand. Grant awards will be issued in early May to ensure timely release of funding to community groups.

In the event the fund is oversubscribed, the panel will give priority to applications which support communities that are particularly remote or isolated, contain high levels of vulnerability or low levels of resilience.

For more information click here: https://www.ssen.co.uk/resiliencefund/

EU Settlement Scheme – Service Update

We are pleased confirm that the Ealing and Hounslow EU Settlement Service has been extended by the Home Office until the end of June 2020. Due to the current CODVID-19 situation in person access to the service has been suspended until further notice. We remain available Monday to Friday via Freephone, Video call, Skype, WhatsAp and will continue to provide telephone advice and support in the current shutdown until normal service can be resumed.
To alleviate the anxiety many EU citizens will have as a result of not being able to access support we are booking appointments three months in advance to ensure anyone who needs to apply, gets the support they need to do so. Please call 0800 0564745 for further information.

Crisis Emergency Grants Programme for Organisations

Emergency Fund Message from Crisis:
The homelessness and housing sectors currently face a huge and unprecedented challenge. How do we support some of the people most at risk of coronavirus in our society to keep themselves safe? How do they find and access self-contained accommodation for people at a point where all the usual means of doing that are shut down? How do we provide the basics of food and sanitation when even those of us with a home are struggling to do that?
In both our own services and in those of organisations we have long partnered with and supported we are seeing people meeting those challenges with extraordinary commitment. Governments across Great Britain have publicly committed to bringing everybody indoors, however it is the frontline organisations, working alongside their local authorities which are stepping up to turn these ambitions into reality.
That is why we decided to set up our In This Together campaign. As part of this we are fundraising to support our services but also to deliver a grants programme which support local homelessness organisations across the UK to respond to this emergency. We have already started providing emergency grants up to £5000 to pay for things people have told us they urgently need. Services which can no longer operate from a centre are quickly turning themselves into outreach organisations, people providing their clients with the means to keep themselves safe and connected with cleaning materials and mobiles and trying to bring in the additional capacity needed to meet increased need but also fill gaps where staff and volunteers are having to distance themselves.
Through this fund, we will pay for things which we know are not the full answer to ending homelessness. We are not dropping our belief that homelessness is only ended for good for most people by providing them with a home of their own. However, this is an emergency that requires emergency solutions.
Although there are also opportunities amongst the challenges. Things we were told weren’t possible have happened: housing benefit levels are back to being linked to market rents, evictions have been suspended and governments are showing that rough sleeping can in fact be ended (even over a weekend). If we are to capitalise on this chance, we need services which make sure no-one who is now indoors needs to go back to homelessness. So, that is why we are also looking to provide larger grants, up to £50,000, to support the more substantial changes needed so that the help that is started through an emergency can turn into something permanent.
To find out more about the grants fund and to apply for funding please download the relevant application form here:
Up to £5K grant application form
Up to £50K grant application form

National Emergency Trust Grants Funding

The National Emergency Trust is raising funds to enable local grass roots community organisations to respond to the current emergency. The funds will be distributed via the network of Community Foundations. You can find out details of the Community Foundation in your area here:
www.ukcommunityfoundations.org