Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Service

Are you a member of a local group in need of advice about funding/governance or an individual thinking about volunteering?

Neath Port Talbot CVS will be holding a local session on Tuesday 15th May 2012 from 11.00am – 3.00pm at Resolven Building Blocks Resolven ICC, Resolven, Neath, SA11 4AB

We can provide support with:

• Governance and Training
• Funding and Grants
• Project Development and Business Planning
• Practical Services, Payroll and HR Advice
• Volunteer Recruitment

Booking is essential

To make an appointment please contact us on 01639 631246 or info@nptcvs.org.uk. Your appointment will be confirmed by a member of Neath Port Talbot CVS staff.

Hay on Earth – the Dragon Series 5-9 June 2012

In 2012, the Green Dragon’s Den event will be running for the third year, with up to £40,000 grant funding from Welsh Government available to help winning projects in Wales (up to £10,000 maximum for the winning project in each of the four categories). Each day has a different theme, featuring specialist speakers, practical workshops, networking, learning and action, with the opportunity to contribute ideas and help others develop theirs.

Looking for projects that demonstrate one or more of the following elements:

Introduce and prove new concepts that increase sustainability action

Link projects, organisations and solutions in more effective ways

Make inspired use of seed funding

Please email your completed [Download not found] to Darren Gibbs at TYF:

hay-on-earth@tyf.com by the close of play on Tuesday 8th May.

You can bid to the Dragons in one of the following categories:

1. The Power of Youth – Under 25s

2. Innovation for Sustainability

3. Sustainable Work & Travel

4. Sustainable Community Futures

Please see [Download not found] for further details.

The £23.7 million Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) is supporting the development of coastal areas, promoting sustainable economic growth and jobs, so that people are better able to respond to changing economic needs and opportunities.

The Fund is UK-wide, however, different levels of funding have been allocated to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on the basis of revenue generated

Wales: £1.15 million.

Individual bids will be invited from £50,000 upwards. There is no set upper limit on grants; however, the Big Fund has suggested that the maximum amount awarded is unlikely to be greater than £2 million in those countries with an overall allocation greater than £2 million (England and Scotland).

The funds can be used to support both capital and revenue projects and communities will be encouraged to match funds with other pots of money.

Examples of activities that may be eligible for funding include:

• supporting skills and training initiatives to improve job prospects;

• maintaining and developing specialised tourist infrastructure;

• managing and adapting to flood and coastal erosion risk;

• supporting social enterprises to bring new economic opportunities and jobs;

• offering apprenticeships to school leavers;

• creating new workspaces to support and grow local economies;

• boosting local approaches to promoting enterprise and economic  regeneration;

• supporting sustainable transport improvements.

Innovative bids will be welcomed from businesses, social enterprises, local enterprise partnerships, charities, voluntary groups and local authorities supporting economic development within the community.

Applications must be received by 25 March 2012

For further information please see The Big Lottery Fund website.

Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) runs the Wood Energy Business Scheme 2 (WEBS2), which is a capital grant scheme for woodfuel heating, small scale woodfuel CHP and woodfuel processing projects. The scheme draws funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) , administered through the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). The scheme operates across the whole of Wales, but is administered as two separate schemes. One scheme supports projects in the Convergence Areas of Wales . The other scheme supports projects in the Competitiveness areas of Wales. FCW has limited funding available and a limited time frame within which applications can be supported. The current unallocated grant available for new schemes in Convergence areas is £2.5 million. The maximum amount of grant that can be awarded to a Convergence project 40.550689%.  The closing date for applications is the 30th March 2012. Further information is available on the website.

Almost £100m of European Structural Funds was accessed by the third sector during the current round of European funding. But what will the 2014-2020 programmes look like? How can we influence the design of the new programmes, and what funding oppportunites are they likely to present?

This event will inform delegates about the developments that are taking place within the design of the new European programmes and will be of interest to any organisation planning their funding future. The event will also offer an opportunity to learn how loan finance, through WCVA’s Communities Investment Fund, can support third sector enterprise in Wales.

If you would like to attend please click these links below to download the booking form and programme. Please return the booking form and £12.00 per delegate to me no later than Thursday 5 April 2012. Bookings are only secured upon receipt of payment.

• Booking Form
• Programme 

If you have any problems downloading the documents please contact the Helpdesk on 0800 2888 329 or email policy@wcva.org.uk

The Prince’s Countryside Fund was established to help rural areas in the United Kingdom to become more sustainable. The focus areas for the Fund are:

projects to improve the sustainability of British farming in areas of deprivation;

projects to improve the sustainability of rural communities; and

projects to reconnect people with the countryside.

The total amount of funding available in each round is approximately £250,000. The maximum level of funding for individual projects will be £50,000. The Fund can pay for a portion or the entirety of the costs of a project and applications for capital, project and resource funding will be considered.

Applications will be accepted from organisations that can demonstrate the support of the community which will benefit from the project and show evidence of consulting the community.

Those wishing to apply this year are advised to commence planning their proposals in advance of the next funding round. The programme will reopen to applications on 12 March for one month only.

The deadline for receipt of applications will be Friday 13 April 2012.

For further information go to the GRANTfinder website

Heritage Lottery Fund: changes to small grants programmes

From April 2012, the maximum grant limit for Your Heritage applications is increasing form £50,000 to £100,000.

The maximum grant limit for Young Roots applications is also increasing from £25,000 to £50,000. Young Roots projects can last up to two years (up from 18 months) and the age range widened to include young people from 11 – 25 years old (previously started at 13 years old).

Also from April 2012, HLF will make decisions on Your Heritage and Young Roots applications at bi-monthly meetings. A full list on submission deadlines and decision meetings can be found on the website. 

As always, if you have an idea for a heritage project HLF encourages seeking pre-application advice using the on-line portal

Comic Relief has launched a new grants programme: Managing Money Better. The programme is particularly focused on addressing the many ways in which people over 65 are often disadvantaged due to complexities in understanding financial matters, are often exposed to the dangers of financial abuse, and the difficulties involved in making ends meet while coping with rising prices. The programme will be open for applications from 16 January 2012, with a closing date of 17 February. There will also be a second cycle in April 2012. If you would like to discuss the programme, please contact anyone in the Older People grants team on 0207 820 2000 or visit the Comic Relief website.

Source: WCVA Members E-Briefing

The Big Lottery Fund is making £5 million available to support completely new ideas or approaches that haven’t been tried anywhere else in the UK. BIG is committed to bringing about real improvements to communities most in need but recognises that existing ways of meeting need do not always work and that some needs are new with no ways of addressing them.

Big Lottery Fund will make grants of between £20,000 and £1 million to fund projects that test new ways of tackling emerging and existing social problems. The closing date for round 2 stage one application is 2.00pm on 23 February 2012.

For further information about the BIG Innovation programme please visit the Big Lottery website.

The Participation Unit based at Save the Children UK is pleased to announce that they are inviting submissions of tenders for contracts under the Reach the Heights Programme. Reach the Heights is a Welsh Government initiative aimed at reducing the number of young people in Wales aged 11 – 19 years who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or who are at risk of being so in the future. The projects are funded by the European Social Fund (ESF).

They aim to contract the delivery of a range of programmes of participatory workshops and projects for young people aged 11 -18 years old in Wales who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or young people who are at risk of becoming NEET in the future aimed at supporting them to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives and making a change in their community. The contracts will be awarded through a process of open procurement. Organisations and individuals interested in delivering the work are invited to submit bids for the funding.

The notification has gone on to the sell2wales website. The appropriate paperwork is available to download from the Participation Workers Wales website.

Remember the funding is for organisations that work with young people not in education, employment and training (NEET) and at risk of becoming NEET aged 11 -18 years old living in the 15 counties within the Convergence areas of Wales.