Have Your Voice Heard!

Take the 2022 State of the Sector Survey

The VCSA is running its first State of the Sector Survey since 2017. Just think about how much has happened in these past five years! It is so important that we hear from you.

Hearing from lots of different organisations from across the county will give us good data. Getting good data means that we can reliably communicate the value of the sector to our partners and funders and we can give you trustworthy facts that you can use in grant applications and in promoting your work.

But we can't do this without your help-- completing the survey takes some time and effort, we know. And we know how valuable your time is. As a thank you for your time, we are offering to create a free infographic for each organisation who wants one, using the data you provide. This could be used for funding applications or to promote the work you do.

The survey closes March 31st, so please don't delay. We want to hear from voluntary organisations, non-profits, charities and community interest companies all across the county, so one you take it - share it!

Here's the link: 2022 VCSA state of the sector survey | Shropshire Council

VCSA Member Feature: Shropshire Remap

Shropshire Remap recently helped a client who was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair. He was forced to eat meals on his lap as he could not fit his knees underneath his dining table.

The table had been inherited from his great grandmother, and so was of sentimental value to the family, who were eager to find a solution without drilling or altering the table. Remap volunteers – whose expertise ranges from woodwork to engineering to computing – set to work to supply the answer.

Shropshire Remap have plenty of experience of regularly partnering with Occupational Therapists to address a variety of needs. In the past they have helped 132 people retain independence whilst living with a disability. From modifying a professional artist’s easel to creating gardening tool adaptations for a client who has difficulty gripping, they remain eager and willing to help those who need it.

In this latest case, a Shropshire Remap volunteer carved four wooden blocks to accept the table legs and stained them to match. This raised the height by six inches so the client can now fit his wheelchair underneath and eat meals or do paperwork at the table without these additions being too noticeable or jarring with their surroundings.

Branch Chairman, John Graham, said “Shropshire Remap are always seeking volunteers to enable us to continue to support people with disabilities and difficulties by making aids and equipment to improve their quality of life and independence. Volunteers with either specific or general skills are welcome such as engineers, woodworkers, electric or electronics, metalworkers, or just good DIYers!”

If you want to learn more about Shropshire Remap, visit their website: Home - Remap Shropshire

Interested in having your organisation's stories of success featured in our newsletter, website or social media? We want to hear from you! Contact: VCSAssembly@shropshire.gov.uk

Shrewsbury LGBT+ History Festival 2022

SAND is pleased to announce that the full programme of events for the 2022 Shrewsbury LGBT+ History Festival is now available. 

This is the 7th year that this festival has taken place in Shrewsbury, and friends, family, allies and members of the LGBT+ community are welcome to attend.

All events with one exception are free to attend (No Ordinary Evening, tickets are £10 suggested donation). Even for free events, tickets must be booked through the website.

The events run from 1st - 3rd of April. For more information, visit the event website or you can download the full programme of events HERE.

I Was Flooded:

Shropshire residents and organisations urged to share experience of 2022 floods to build case for flood protection 

Last week Shropshire was once again hit by very serious flooding affecting hundreds of homes and businesses across the county.

For many this will be at least the third time in just three years, they have been flooded. Three of the five worst recorded flood events on the River Severn have been since 2020.

Shropshire Council wants to further help these people and businesses affected by flooding. The best way to do so is through effective long-term measures. Shropshire needs more help from Government and the Environment Agency, who have a responsibility to respond to flooding from the River Severn, to fund these measures desperately needed to stop the annual cycle of misery of flooding in Shropshire.

The more information the council has about how these floods have affected people and businesses in Shropshire, the stronger case it can make to Environment Agency and to the Government.

The council has asked us to help get the community, particularly those who have been flooded, to tell the council about it using a simple form at www.shropshire.gov.uk/flooded. This will gather vital information, as well helping the council to better plan its services to support people and businesses when flooding happens.

Anyone not online, can call the council on 0345 6789006 (8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday) to share their experience of flooding.

This will be invaluable to make case for flood protection measures for Shropshire more strongly than ever and reduce the risks of more people’s live being ruined by floods.

Age of Creativity Festival: May 2022

The Age of Creativity Festival is a yearly event to celebrate creativity with, for, and by older people! This year’s Festival runs throughout May and the website is now open for submissions of age-friendly creative events that are taking place, both on and offline. Take a look at the Age of Creativity Festival website to see if there are any events you would like to share with your networks, or if you have any upcoming events you’d like to add to the site. 

The Age of Creativity Festival is an annual event to celebrate a creative later life across England. The festival is led by Age UK Oxfordshire, with Age UK and hundreds of Age of Creativity network members. Local Age UKs and other age-friendly organisations are encouraged to take part by listing their creative events and activities on the Festival website. You’ll find 100+ creative and age-friendly activities for older people to try – both online and offline on the Festival website, many of these taking place throughout 2022.

Spotlight on New VCSA Member: Share

In the UK, one person dies every hour as a result of alcohol. This staggering statistic is highlighted on the website of one of the newest members of the VCSA – Share. Share is a charity in Shrewsbury looking to support not just those who are suffering with alcohol addiction, but also their family and friends with support groups, information, volunteering opportunities, a small grants program and more.

Share’s founder, Jane Mackenzie is a former mayor of Shrewsbury and has been working to raise awareness about alcohol addiction with Share since it was established in 2018 by Jane and her daughter Amy, who herself suffered from alcohol addiction. Sadly, Amy passed away as a result of her addiction in 2019, and Jane says that this has only strengthened her passion for the mission she and Amy began with Share. 

Share has hit the ground running in its work with community partners, such as Shropshire Council, Energize, Shrewsbury Samaritans and several local alcohol rehabilitation groups.

Share hopes to further the profile of its mission through its huge upcoming virtual conference: Alcohol: Sharing the Truth which will take place on the 19^th and 20^th of May 2022. The conference will feature over 20 speakers including members of the medial and research communities, national advocates and leaders of alcohol addiction support organisations, and those with personal experience of addiction and its impacts. The conference will also include workshops centred on questions such as “Can we embrace both abstinence and reduced drinking as recovery choices?”

Jane Mackenzie said in a recent interview with Shropshire Council:

"Our virtual conference is for everyone, from anywhere in the country, who wants to understand more about alcohol, and the impact it has on the individual, the family and society. Over the two-day conference we’ll hear about the latest breakthroughs in research and treatment of alcohol dependence. Our world class speakers will share best practice in recovery, and talk about how families can be central to this."

The VCSA is happy to welcome Share into its community of members! If you are interested in connecting with Share or learning more about their upcoming conference, please check out their website.

Healthwatch: Psychological Therapies Survey

Healthwatch Shropshire are asking everyone to help get the word out about their experiences using NHS Primary Care Psychological Therapies Services. The NHS is looking at these services and wanting to hear from people about how they can improve.

Lynn Cawley, Chief Officer of Healthwatch Shropshire (and VCSA Board Member), said, “We want to ensure that the patient voice is at the centre of any service development and would encourage anybody who has used the service to get in touch. All experiences will be shared anonymously.”

Frances Sutherland, Head of Transformation and Commissioning (Mental health, LD & A) Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, said, “We want to ensure these services are easily accessible and support people in the right way which is why we want to understand more about how it feels to be treated by our local services. We are really pleased that Healthwatch have agreed to undertake this work. We want to hear the views of people who have used the services now or in the past so that we can design our service to best meet their needs.”

Please use this link to learn more and to take/promote the survey.

Shropshire Responds to Ukraine Crisis

Shrewsbury Polish Centre was recently featured in a BBC news story about response to the crisis, and other VCS organisations in Shropshire are also rising to the occasion.

Shropshire organisations supporting and co-ordinating help for the crisis in Ukraine include: 

• Refugee Charity Shropshire | Shropshire Supports Refugees | England; 
• Shropshire European Organisation c.i.c – Home | Facebook; 

• Ukraine front line support | Facebook; 
• SEMA: Shropshire Ethnic Minority Alliance – Home | Facebook

If your organisation is doing work to help those caught up in the conflict in Ukraine, please let us know and we will be happy to help get the word out.

Free Social Prescribing Webinar:

Nurturing Midlands Children & Young People Social Prescribing

This free regional webinar is for all different community, voluntary, faith groups and social enterprises working with Children & Young people with an interest in offering their activities in the context of Social Prescribing.

Here's a great opportunity to see how you can link in social prescribing and learn about different models of working. You'll learn more about Children & Young People Social Prescribing from guest speakers and activity providers with an opportunity for Q&A at the end.

When: Monday, 14th March from 11am-12:30pm

For more information and to register, visit the Eventbrite page.

Emergency Funding Available for Storm-Damaged Community Sports Facilities

Sport England has announced it will provide grants of up to £15,000 to community organisations and public bodies if they are in charge of a sports facility which has incurred flood or storm damage and requires support to reopen.

Grants can be used to:

• Repair storm-damaged buildings and roofs.
• Grass and artificial pitches.
• Decontaminate flooded clubhouses.
• Replace damaged electrical systems or clear blocked drains.

Funding may also cover the hire of skips, pressure hoses or tarpaulins to secure exposed buildings (for use when safe to do so).

Groups should apply on the Sport England website using the Queen's Jubilee Platinum Activity Fund form using the project reference 'Storm 22' and including a picture of the damaged facility.

Applications are accepted at anytime.

The Government has announced the launch of its Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) to fund low-carbon technologies like heat pumps, solar and geothermal energy. The scheme is supporting the rollout of the next generation of heat networks, enabling more towns and cities to take up this established technology.

Heat networks supply heat to buildings from a central source, avoiding the need for households and workplaces to have individual, energy-intensive heating solutions - such as gas boilers. At present, there are over 14,000 heat networks in the UK, providing heating and hot water to around 480,000 consumers.

The scheme will incentivise new and existing heat networks in England to move away from high-carbon sources, as well as exploiting waste-heat opportunities while bringing down costs for consumers. During the programme’s lifetime, it is expected to reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 5.6 million cars off the road for a year.

The GHNF is a capital grant funding programme with a total budget of £288 million. Grant levels for individual projects will vary, however, there will be an upper limit of £1 million for commercialisation support. Funding requests will typically span across multiple years. In a given financial year (April-March), applicants must have carried out works up to the value of the grant awarded within that given financial year.

Applications are open to public, private and third sector organisations in England.

The scheme opens its first application round on 14 March 2022, with a deadline for applications of 27 May 2022. This will be followed by quarterly rounds until the scheme closes in 2025.

For more information or to apply, visit: the GOV.UK website

National Lottery Awards for All England Accepting Applications for Jubilee Funding

National Lottery Awards for All is a small grants programme provided by the National Lottery Community Fund for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations.

The aim of the grants programme is to support communities to thrive by funding projects that:

• Build strong relationships in and across communities.
• Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities.
• Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.

The programme is currently also accepting applications for projects which meet these aims while also commemorating the Platinum Jubilee.

Projects for the Jubilee could be one-off events or happen over 2022, such as:

• Cultural festivals or activities to promote community cohesion and build connections across communities.
• Community events or activities engaging people from different generations and cultures to get to know one another and share experiences.
• Improving local spaces to provide a space for the community to connect to nature.
• Events or activities driven by the community to reduce isolation and help people to socialise again.

Funds awarded up to £10,000. Deadline for applications is 31st March 2022. Apply on the website.

Prince's Countryside Fund: Rural Communities Grants

The Prince's Countryside Fund is inviting applications for grants of up to £25,000 over two years, for projects that will create a long-term difference in rural communities across the UK. Applicants must be from properly constituted, not for profit organisations with an income of less than £500,000. They particularly welcome applications from groups and organisations with projects in hamlets, villages and small market towns. 

Application deadline: 12th April 2022. For more information and to apply, visit their website.