Free Swimming Lessons for disabled young people. To book click here  https://lbhsc.org.uk/ 

You can also register for the event by clicking here

The next Heston and Cranford Area Forum will be taking place on 8th January, from 6.00 to 9.00pm, at Cranford Community College, TW5 9PD.

Area Forums serve as a vital platform for the community to come together, connect with connect with fellow residents and local organisations, and engage with local Councillors and Council officers on the issues that matter to them most.

Event Highlights:

• Marketplace Stalls (6.00-7.30pm): Discover what’s happening in the community, learn about the work of local community groups and partners, and discuss individual concerns with the relevant Council officers.
• Winter Wellness update: The Public Health Team and Jade Pharmacy are promoting the Winter Wellness offer. This is vital information for people to stay safe and healthy during the winter period. The Winter Wellness offer includes information on vaccinations and where to go for support, as well as the Warm Welcome offer. https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news/article/3008/a_warm_welcome_awaits_across_hounslow
• Open Forum (7.30-9.00pm): Engage with your local Councillors and Council officers, voice your opinions on local issues, and help shape the decisions affecting your community.

Free food and drinks will be provided, plus arts and crafts activities for children.

Heathrow Community Trust (HCT) are seeking local people with a passion for their community to join our grant review panels. The panels are very important in enabling HCT to support the communities around Heathrow, ensuring our funds have the best possible impact for local people.

HCT have three grant streams with panels made up of community expert and advocates, Heathrow employees and HCT trustees. These panels meet up to 4 times per year, reviewing applications and makes recommendations to the board of trustees to award funding.  Our three main grant streams are:

• Projects for Young People – funding projects working with young people aged up to 24 years, which improve young people’s lives by increasing their resilience, raising their aspirations and breaking barriers to employment.
• Environment and Sustainability – funding projects which improve the environment for the community, providing community green spaces or raising awareness of environmental issues, or improving the sustainability of community buildings.
• Communities Together – funding projects which bring people together, improve inclusion into the community and find ways to care for nature and the environment in the area.

Being a member of grant review panel is a great way to find out about community projects across the 9 boroughs we fund (Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond, Runnymede, Slough, Spelthorne, South Bucks, and Windsor & Maidenhead) and to understand more about the process of grant giving.

How to Apply
For details about the panel role member for Communities Together Grants click here Grant Review Panel Role Description Communities Together Grants 2024

For details about the panel role member for Environment and Sustainability Grants click here Grant Review Panel Role Description Environment and Sustainability Grants 2024

For details about the panel role member for Projects for Young People Grants click here Grant Review Panel Role Description Projects for Young People Grants 2024

each role are in the attached role descriptions. Please do share these roles with anyone in your network who may be interested in applying.

If you have any questions or would like an informal conversation about any of the roles, please email Claire at ceo@hcommunitytrust.org.uk.

To apply, please send a CV & covering letter to ceo@hcommunitytrust.org.uk, stating which role you are applying for, explaining why you would like to apply for the role and how you meet the areas set out in the role description.

The closing date for grant review panel member applications is Wednesday 31 January at 12pm. Interviews will be held in February and March, with successful applicants asked to provide two references.

Join Hounslow Council on 16 January 2024 at 9-11am in Holy Trinity Church for a light breakfast and to chat about the learnings from the Summer engagements on the Thriving Communities Strategy and Voluntary Sector Survey 2023.

After engaging with over 500 people including residents, year 6 students, young people, volunteers and VCSE organisations including resident groups, faith organisations, charities and others, we want to share what we heard.

Based on the engagements, we have developed the basis for a high-level Thriving Communities Strategy, setting out our commitments as an organisation and calling for the commitment of other public sector partners. Come along to hear the thinking around this.

We have heard how important networking is for local VCSE organisations, so there is time for you to meet other local organisations and perhaps commit to a few actions to help support civil society in Hounslow.

Attendees also stand a chance to win some great prizes.

Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vcse-breakfast-civil-society-in-hounslow-tickets-773734048367?aff=oddtdtcreator

Ealing and Hounslow CVS is working in partnership on a new research capacity collaboration in Ealing.

Ealing Council has been awarded £5 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to create a research capacity collaboration with the local community and leading academics.

Although the borough’s 7 towns have much to celebrate, there are stark and longstanding inequities in health determinants – the ‘building blocks’ of health like education, social connection, housing, and good jobs. This leads to poorer health and shorter lives for disadvantaged communities.

To address these issues, the council has formed a new team called NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration Ealing. Working closely with partners from local community organisations and research institutions, the team has successfully bid for funding that, over the next 5 years, will help the council better understand where health challenges lie. A new approach to collecting and learning from data and insights on the building blocks of health will drive greater health equity in Ealing.

Community involvement

During a competitive application process, the NIHR’s Health Determinants Research Collaborations funding committee was impressed that the bid had a strong focus on community involvement and engagement with Ealing’s voluntary and community sector as a core part of the application process, including as part of the interview team. Ealing was the only London borough to win funding in this round.

The panel also welcomed the strong buy-in from the council’s senior leadership and the authority’s commitment to building a strong research and learning culture, which is built on deep engagement with, and learning from, Ealing’s diverse communities.

Councillor Peter Mason is the leader of Ealing Council. He said: “We are delighted that the work we have done so far on building a culture of learning at the council, and on bringing our communities into decision-making, has been recognised by the NIHR panel. We are really looking forward to getting stuck into this project and building our capacity for meaningful research that will help us change the lives of Ealing residents for the better.”

‘Creating a society where everyone can thrive’

Councillor Josh Blacker, the council’s cabinet member for healthy lives said: “The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age impact our health. Creating a society where everyone can thrive needs all the right building blocks in place: good education, quality housing, stable jobs, and good pay. But for too many of our communities, blocks are missing or are inadequate, and we need to learn how to fix the gaps.

“The council is already tackling these inequalities through commitments in our council plan, our health and wellbeing strategy, ‘Together in Ealing,’ and our response to Ealing’s independent Race Equality Commission. This funding will build on our momentum for change. By changing our capacity to learn and improve, it will help us to better understand the health issues local people face, which in turn will inform positive actions across all areas of life in Ealing.”

A core multidisciplinary team of council staff from the strategy, public health, community engagement, and data teams, along with academic partners and community groups, will drive the work to develop research capacity forward. Starting in early 2024, the first phases of the 5-year programme will involve establishing new research structures, including a Communities Board so that the collaboration’s research agenda meets the needs of local people.

Partnerships

Partners from the voluntary community sector include Golden Opportunities for Skills and Development, Ealing and Hounslow Community and Voluntary Service (EHCVS), and Southall Community Alliance.

Gurpreet Rana is the chief executive officer of EHCVS. She said: “This opportunity will enhance research skills in the sector, support research development in active community settings, and develop strong and trusting relationships between voluntary, charity, and faith sector organisations and academic partners. The project will enable communities to shape where they live.”

The council’s research academia partners in this project are the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, and the Institute of Development Studies.

Professor Matt Egan from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said: “This is an important opportunity to work with Ealing and its communities, as well as incredible partners from other universities. By working together, we can learn more about creating building blocks for better health across Ealing and beyond.”

Three Guineas Trust are introducing a new grant programme for organisations offering legal advice to disabled people. Find out more – https://threeguineastrust.org.uk/grants/access-to-law/