Messages from Scottish Borders Council

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New Messages from SBC   up to 15th November 2021

Platinum Jubilee Fund – opens 17 November

Full details about the fund will be on our website next week. But in the meantime, here are some key facts: The National Lottery Community Fund will fund 70 projects across the UK to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s 70th (Platinum) Jubilee. Deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 15 December 2021 (unless 700 applications are received sooner). Applications need to fit one or more of these areas of focus: Across Generations – Strengthening relationships between generations and creating a legacy for future generations. Community Renewal – Supporting new opportunities for people to develop skills and experiences in their local community, as well as opportunities to bring people together in new ways, and in new or different places and spaces. Our Shared Natural World – Deepening our care and action locally for the natural world. Grants will be between £30,000 to £50,000 and projects will have up to 2 years to deliver their activities Funded projects will need to be up and running by Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend on the 5 June 2022 Most organisations are eligible to apply online from 17 November by searching for ‘The Platinum Jubilee’ on our website If you have any questions before the programme opens you can contact the team at platinumjubilee@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Some of the available funding remaining locally for the communities in Tweeddale, for the current financial year:

SBC Community Fund

 There is around £40k remaining in the fund for Tweeddale currently.  This is for community based projects for voluntary and community groups.  Full details are in the link below, but final approval is granted at the Local Area Partnership meetings, of which there is only one remaining on 18^th January 2022.  If you have an activity or project in  mind then you should consider applying as early as possible to avoid missing the process deadlines, certainly no later than mid December.

You can apply for up to £5k, or £7500 if you can demonstrate you have already sought the funding from another source.  This is a great opportunity to get local support for your activities, if you would like to discuss how to apply please get in touch.

SBC Community Fund

Welfare Fund

 There is a small pot of funding available through SBC to support groups or individuals who are facing financial hardship.  If you know of someone who may be eligible please get in touch with SBC to find out more, either Hannah Lacon or Kenny Harrow.

 

Together for Our Planet fund – closes 18 November

Finally, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that our Together for our Planet fund closes to applications at 5pm on Thursday 18 November. It offers grants up to £10,000 to help local communities take action on climate change

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A new Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund has been established with £15 million allocated to support mental health and well-being in communities across Scotland.

The fund aims to support adult community-based initiatives to help address the impact of distress and mental ill health caused by social isolation and loneliness, as well as addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Grass roots community groups and organisations will be able to benefit from the funds to deliver activities and programmes to people to re-connect and revitalise communities building on examples of good practice which have emerged throughout the pandemic.

To lodge your organisation’s interest in the fund and receive emailed updates, fill out this form: Expression of Interest  https://forms.office.com/r/CUeTHFbsX6

Third sector interfaces will manage the fund in partnership with local integrated health authorities and other partners including Community Planning Partnerships and local authority mental health leads.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund is part of the wider £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund announced in February 2021 to ensure delivery of the commitments set out in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan in response to the mental health need arising from the pandemic.

Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders together will receive over three quarters of a million pounds for local organisations.  You can read the Scottish Government’s announcement of the new fund here: £15 million to help improve mental wellbeing (Scottish Government, 15/10/21).  In the South of Scotland the funds will be administered by Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway. Borders TSI are working with them on the application process and will shortly announce further details to promote the conditions for good mental health and well-being’. 

Lorna   Lorna McCullough, Area Manager for Tweeddale

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*An invite to participatory Democracy/budgeting training*

We appreciate that Participatory Budgeting isn’t terminology that is easily understood, so we will be using the same description used by Scottish Government which is  ‘Community Choices’.  This captures exactly what we are aiming to do, which is to give communities choices about the money we spend.   

We have seen during the pandemic that communities are willing to take on more responsibility and can identify where resources can be most effectively invested. We want to build on this in the Scottish Borders and to jointly learn and improve how Community Choices is implemented within our communities. To help with our learning and to increase knowledge of this new way of working, we have asked The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) to facilitate 4 sessions on participation, local democracy and engagement.

These sessions are open to anyone in the Scottish Borders, either living or working here, who is involved in increasing community participation, supporting empowerment and making sure that people have a say in the decisions that matter to them.

The sessions will consider how we can work together to increase participation, engagement and involvement with our communities, extend the use of this way of budgeting, what the national context is and ways to get better at working together with our communities. There will be a range of presentations, group discussions and practical elements to make these sessions interactive and useful.

The session dates are;

• Wednesday10^th November
• Wednesday 17^th November
• Tuesday 23^rd November
• Wednesday 1^st December

Sessions will be online using Zoom, starting at 6pm. Sign up for the sessions is being hosted by SCDC and you can sign up using this link; SBC training | SCDC – We believe communities matter

 For more background reading on PB in Scotland then please check out the PB Scotland website; PB Scotland – Participatory Budgeting in Scotland

Kenny Harrow   Locality Development Co-ordinator Communities and Partnerships  Scottish Borders Council       kenny.harrow@scotborders.gov.uk 0300 100 1800

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Borders Buddies Resources – Outside the Box Various Borders Buddies resources are available. Please do get in touch with your postal address if you would like some of these sent to you. The pdfs can also be downloaded from our website here: https://otbds.org/9035-2/

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Call to Arms! Scottish Borders COP26 Conference

A Call to Arms! Communication, collaboration and coproduction showing Scotland what can be achieved in a rural area such as the Borders. Our thoughts after the conferences in Glasgow and a picture of just what we are facing across the world. Our own Borders TSI conference will look at the discussions that have taken place, just what the governments, big business and indeed all who attended have agreed around:, What are the plans?, the timescales?, and just how much they have agreed to spend and how the plans will help to save our planet for our future now an then! Entry from 10:00am for a 10:30am start Agenda: Keynote Speaker – Dr Martin Valenti, Energy Transition and Green Enterprise Director, South of Scotland Enterprise. Scottish Borders Updates from Key Partners including Scottish Borders Council and the Third Sector. COP 26 Q&A Roundtable – Submit your Questions! Lunch Networking and Stalls We will begin by discussing just how in our own Scottish Borders, we can Communicate, Collaborate and look at opportunities to Coproduce everything that we can that will show the rest of Scotland that even though we are a Rural area, have little or no spare resources, we can come together and show just what can be achieved following our very own “Call to Arms”. I do hope that you will come along, it is the beginning of our discussions across the region but hopefully we will start our journey together. COP 26 has to persuade the international community to act together. With so many agendas and so many different country ambitions it is difficult to see how this will happen. The world is a more angry place than it was a few years ago. China is looking to annex other land, and is increasing its military capability, and Russia has been belligerent. This has resulted in other nations stepping up their defences and flash points are becoming more numerous. With all this going on, there is no proper focus on climate change, which will become a greater threat to everyone all and we can’t lose sight of how important this agenda is. So far, there have been a few floods, a few cities have been destroyed by hurricanes, a few thousand homes and a few million acres have been destroyed by fire and drought has been silently killing people in the “third world.” It has not been enough to make governments really want to act. They talk about it and set targets, but nothing really happens. COP26 seems to be a final push to actually get nations to realise that they have to act and act together in unity. No country should consider its own internal plans greater than those concerning the climate. They must do more than talk at COP 26 they must begin to take steps to put the climate right. There is a negativity to conquer and much ill feeling to work around. if COP 26 does nothing else, it should be powerful enough to make everyone know that when things happening like now are really grim –that it has only began to recognise that for those in power it is starting to impact them as much as those who inhabit the planet,- and by then if we do nothing it is too late. Success at COP26 will mean an international road map and more than vague promises to keep to it. Success at COP 26 will be an international movement that begins to oversee climate change and has the power to make it happen. Will it happen? Either it will or there will be a disaster unfolding which no nation can avoid. So we are now launching our own Scottish Borders “Call to Arms”

Book Your Place Today!

The Borders Third Sector Interface is the Third Sector Interface (TSI) for the Scottish Borders and is made up of four organisations. Scottish Borders Social Enterprise Chamber C.I.C. (SBSEC C.I.C.) The Bridge Berwickshire Association for Voluntary Services (BAVS) Volunteer Centre Borders

 

An update from Age Scotland:

Click this link for more information. A PDF version of the document (with links) can be downloaded here

Red Cross Borders Activities Calendar for Older People

Click this link to download a PDF file with full information

Borders Library Opening Hours

Opening hours will increase at the Eyemouth, Galashiels, Hawick and Peebles. Please check our webpage for the opening hours for each location by CLICKING HERE.

Remember there is no longer any requirement to pre-book your Library visit and our computers are available for use by all.

Help if your gas or electricity supplier goes bust Don’t panic. Ofgem, the UK’s independent energy industry regulator, is there to protect you if your supplier fails. This means you will not be left without gas or electricity and any payments you have made are protected. Click here for the complete leaflet

 

New Guidance on Supporting Communities Safely:

https://www.scdc.org.uk/supporting-communities-safely

 

Great Borders River Clean on the Weekend of 5th-7th November

Borders Buddies Update

“Our Borders Buddies project in the Tweeddale area, funded by SBC Community Fund, is supporting people to rebuild connections post-Lockdown. On a case-by-case basis this takes many different forms. One person said: ‘You have made such a difference in my life…thanks to you I am feeling empowered.’

“We are pleased to launch a suite of resources produced to support people of different ages and abilities to reconnect. You can access these, along with a blog and short video about the project, here: https://otbds.org/borders-buddies-resources/?fbclid=IwAR2KhjhS1cuezt1er5DNiLan603M1aBCpmCH6-YuFZqJhpjHXqSgdCvbh_I

More resources: 

Borders Buddies Resources

You can also share from our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/OTBSouthEast/

Older Messages

Volunteer Opportunities:

Walks

Open Walks in the Borders  (Opens as PDF)

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Fire Alarms

The law on fire alarms is changing. By February 2022, all homes in Scotland will be required to have interlinked fire alarms, meaning if one alarm goes off, they all go off. This will alert you to danger more quickly, no matter where you are in your home.

The new legislation requires all homes to have:

• One smoke alarm installed in the room most frequently used for general daytime living purposes
• One smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings
• One heat alarm installed in the kitchen All alarms should be ceiling mounted and interlinked
• Where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance, such as a boiler, fire (including open fires) and heater, a carbon monoxide detector is also required. This does not need to be linked to the fire alarms.

The homeowner is responsible for making sure their home meets the new fire alarms standard, and for finding a contractor to carry out the work. When purchasing an alarm, choose a reputable brand and make sure the packaging clearly displays compliance with BS EN14604:2005 for smoke alarms. Carbon monoxide alarms should have the British Kitemark (EN 50291-1). Heat alarms should comply with BS 5446-2:2003. To find out more about the new legislation and the support available, visit: mygov.scot/firealarms

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Grants for Rural Communities

Today Scottish Government have released details of their new Rural Communities ‘Ideas into Action’ fund which consists of two streams:

• Small Grants of up to £3,000 for grassroots rural groups or organisations to support community projects that fit with local needs and are locally led.  The process for applying for this funding has been simplified to make it easy for unincorporated groups to apply and both capital and expenditure costs are eligible.
• Large Grants of between £3,000 and £50,000 for not for profit organisations to invest in community led initiatives that respond to local need.  Again, capital and revenue costs are eligible and these can be delivered in partnership with other local organisations.

Further details are available here. The grants are open for applications from Monday 13th September with a closing date Friday 8^th October–with only £1.5 million available across Scotland. Applications through Inspiring Scotland from next week.

If anyone wishes to discuss applying and needs support please get in touch with me asap,

Lorna McCullough, Area Manager for Tweeddale  The Bridge   The Volunteer Resource Centre  School Brae  High Street  Peebles EH45 8AL

email lorna.mccullough@the-bridge.uk.net

My working days are Tuesday – Thursdays, currently from home.

www.onlineborders.org.uk/community/thebridge

 

Old Messages from SBC   from  8th August 2021

There is new information about setting up Digital Buddies events:

This might be of interest to some of the people in your groups, a new guide to setting up a Digital Buddies project, based on our real-life learning.

https://otbds.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Setting-up-a-Digital-Buddies-Project-What-we-learned.pdf

Messages received July 15th 2021

To obtain information and request a certificate of your Covid vaccination follow this link: https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record-of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status