Features

Hot News March 2008

1. Funding approvals
2. New Deal News - did you got yours?
3. NDC Staff move
4. Join in the fun!
5. National Community Forum

1. Funding approved to continue adult education

Critical funding has been approved to help secure the future of local adult education venues the Whitehawk Inn and The Bridge, until Autumn 2008.
The money will bridge a critical funding gap and enable both venues to carry on running whilst they apply for more long-term funding from other sources. ebndc staff will continue to support both organisations to further develop their onward sustainability.

For more information contact Jenni Cresswell 01273 296766 / jenni.cresswell@eb4u.org.uk

2. New Deal News - did you got yours?

Look out for the latest edition of New Deal News, which launches East Brighton Trust. The newsletter features the people who volunteer their time to run the Trust and looks at some of the businesses which have the Trust as their landlord. The Trust launches with its first round of small grants for community groups with the theme, ‘enjoy yourself and celebrate in 2008'.

If you would like a copy of the newsletter please contact: Janice Hoiles 01273 295052 / janice.hoiles@eb4u.org.uk Click here to go to our newsletter page.

The very last edition of New Deal News will be distributed at the end of March. This final edition will focus on some of the differences the programme has made to people's lives from across the different neighbourhoods.

3. NDC Staff move

Remaining ebndc programme delivery staff will be moving from the Wellsbourne Centre to The Bridge, Moulsecoomb at the end of March, beginning of April. This is because the Wellsbourne site is due to be redeveloped.

Staff emails and telephone numbers will remain the same, although please bear with us during the move as there are bound to be initial teething troubles!

For more information contact Jenni Cresswell 01273 296766 / jenni.cresswell@eb4u.org.uk

4. Join in the fun!

Have you tried out Boccia (pronounced botcha) - the latest craze down at The Manor (formerly Manor Road Gym)? Boccia is an exercise that almost anyone can do, regardless of age or level of mobility; it's a seated game, which involves rolling a soft ball at a target ball called the Jack. People can play as individuals or teams - it's fun, competitive and challenging with tea and biscuits afterwards.

Boccia is played every Monday from 1 to 2.30pm at The Manor, Manor Road, Whitehawk and is only £1 per session.

The Manor has easy access for people with reduced mobility. For more info please contact Tanya: 07788 992205

5. National Community Forum

Paul Allen, the ebndc Director has recently been selected to join the National Community Forum as someone who works in an NDC area. The Forum is made up of 24 members who live or work in excluded communities across the country and has been running for about five years. The forum is used by Government Ministers as a 'sounding board' for feedback on new national strategies and policy development. Ministers can quickly gauge how local communities might perceive a new policy and how effective it might or might not be, when it is actually put into practice.

Paul expects to gain valuable experience, which will be useful in his work here in East Brighton.

For more information contact Paul Allen 01273 293103 / paul.a.allen@brighton-hove.gov.uk

1. Funding for Bridge to Attendance

Funding for the Bridge to Attendance (B2A) project was approved by the ebndc Approvals Board on 13th December 2007. The project has been approved approximately £99,000 to continue offering a safe learning environment to East Brighton secondary school pupils at risk of exclusion.

ebndc will fund Bridge to Attendance (B2A) for one year, in which time they will work in partnership with Longhill School to develop an Inclusion Strategy, and aim to sustain the service by embedding itself into the schools mainstream service.

For more information please contact Steve Hartley, Project Delivery Officer: 01273 296729 / steven.hartley@eb4u.org.uk

2. Parenting seminars

Rebecca Howie, the East Brighton Sexual Health Worker is hosting parenting seminars starting in February. The first two will be on Drugs and Sex, if there is sufficient interest in these two sessions, then she is planning to continue hosting the seminars, each one with a different topic.

The Drugs seminar will be Thursday 7th February 2008 9.30am -12.00pm and the Sex seminar will be Thursday 14th February 2008 9.30am -12.00pm, both at the Crew Club, Coolham Drive, Whitehawk.

If you know of any parents who you feel would be interested and benefit from these sessions then please contact Beccy on 01273 294536 / 07876 505618 or email rebecca.howie@eb4u.org.uk

3. Grants available

‘It's Your Community' awards of up to £1,000 are available to local groups and individuals, for anything that can be shown will benefit your community. It's Your Community awards exists to inspire us all to make a positive change to the communities in which we live.

Awards should be for the benefit of the community, or to build community spirit.
If your idea is any of the following: a physical improvement that you can touch, likely to make real, tangible results that you can see or demonstrates fresh, bold thinking, and is innovative enough to inspire others - Why not apply and see what you can do?

These are some examples of the types of projects that have already received awards however, they are open to new, ground-breaking suggestions outside of these four areas.
Community Places - Improving the places communities share
Reinvigorating community, amenity and recreation areas, for example, installing new equipment for a playground, repairing a pavilion roof, erecting a community noticeboard.
Community People - Helping bring people together
Creating a sense of ownership and social responsibility, for example, promoting personal safety awareness to young people, supporting a self-help group for elderly people.
Community Pride - Tackling issues head on and restoring a sense of pride
Clearing litter and rubbish, removing graffiti
Community Landscape - Improving communities natural environments
Creating community gardens, planting trees, improving public access to riverbanks.

For more information go to http://www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk/AboutTheAwards.aspx

4. Job vacancies at state of the art new site at Moulsecoomb

Custom Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a locally based contract services supplier to the pharmaceutical industry. Custom is an independently owned business established in Hove in 1979. The company offers services for contract manufacturing, packaging and technical support for a number of UK and multinational pharmaceutical businesses.

Custom currently employs 140 full time staff and is now expanding with vacancies for a further 10 full time members of staff based at the site in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, predominantly within the packaging department. Full training will be given to new staff. Vacancies exist for Packers, line leaders, packing (electro-mechanical) engineers. There are also production vacancies at the Hove site.

If you are interested in working for a rapidly expanding local business, send your details/CV to the HR Department, Custom Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Conway Street, Hove, BN3 3LW.

5. Short courses available

The Working Together Project is involved in two new partnership projects, which will enable short courses to be delivered for people working paid and unpaid in the Voluntary and Community Sector. Courses will be developed with the aim of supporting the community and voluntary sector to "gear up for the changing operating environment" and also deliver training in Neighbourhood Renewal areas.

If you have suggestions of training then please let the team at the Working Together Project know.

All Working Together Project training is delivered in accordance with the level of demand. If you think the project should be delivering something, even if they've never run it before then do say so, and they will do their best to deliver it.

To contact the Working Together project : 01273 234773 or www.workingtogetherproject.org.uk/

6. Free facilitation training

Go to www.workingtogetherproject.org.uk/training/prog.asp for details of a two day facilitation training course that is free of charge to Community and Voluntary Sector Forum members, volunteers or workers in community and voluntary sector organisations. If you are a neighbourhood activist or representative, you may also attend free of charge. All that is asked in return is that that you should be willing to facilitate Forum events in the future and that you are able to attend both days of training. This is a fabulous opportunity which the Forum and Working Together Project are pleased to be able to offer.

If you are interested, or would like further details, please email Nicola from CVSF nicola@cvsectorforum.org.uk 01273 234041

7. Support for BME groups

TWICS (Training for Work in Communities) - as a partner with the Federation for Community Development Learning (FCDL) - is offering to help build the capacity of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, organisations and networks in the South East, to work more effectively around their own identified needs, build capacity and develop a stronger infrastructure by providing training opportunities for individuals/groups to explore or expand their current Community Development skills

SO if you are a BME (including Traveller and Eastern European) group/individual based in the South East of England and would like financial, or any other support in arranging training, then please contact Ranthir at TWICS on 023 8067111, or e-mail rrathore@twics.org.uk.

This assistance is limited and can only be offered up to the end of March until further notice.

8. £130 million Grassroots Grants

Grassroots Grants is the name of a new, multi-million pound funding programme to boost local community organisations with access to small grants and long-term financing. The Community Development Foundation is the lead national partner in delivering the scheme with £130 million available from 2008-2011 to strengthen the community sector.
Grassroots Grants will be divided into two parts. An £80 million small grants fund for community organisations; and a groundbreaking £50 million endowments programme to enable local foundations to generate additional donations from the private sector on a matched basis and invest them in endowments, thereby building their capacity to provide long-term funding for frontline community organisations.

For further details please visit: www.cdf.org.uk

9. Inspire a child to read!

Do you like children, enjoy reading - and have plenty of patience? Volunteer Reading Helpers are needed to support and inspire children learning to read in local primary schools. One and a half hours, twice a week during school hours, excellent training and travel expenses paid.

Volunteer Reading Help (VRH) is a national charity that helps disadvantaged children develop a love of reading and learning. What they do is simple: they recruit and train volunteers to work with children aged 6-11 who find reading a challenge and may need extra support and mentoring.

To find out more call 0845 4500237, email mailto:sussex@vrh.org.uk or fill out an online application form at http://www.vrh.org.uk/

10. Sad news

It was with sadness we heard that Mick Foley passed away earlier this month. Mick was a well known local resident and worked as Facilities Manager with eb4U for many years. Previously Mick had worked as the Facilities Manager in Whitehawk Primary School. Mick retired from eb4U in 2006 to start his new dream life in Thailand with wife Tanita and family. His funeral was held on Monday 21 January and was very well attended by many of his East Brighton friends and colleagues. Our thoughts go out to Mick's family and friends.

Our next Hotnews will be sent out Friday 29 February
 

Happy New Year to everyone, from all the staff and volunteers at East Brighton New Deal for Communities (ebndc). From April of this year, the final eleven projects will be delivered with programme funding. That’s not to say that activity in the area will be any the less – over 70% of the projects the programme has funded have continued in some way.

From January 2008 we will be releasing our email bulletin Hotnews on the last Friday of each month. Hotnews will bring you the latest information on projects that we’ve funded and other useful bits of information for project staff and involved residents.

Look out for the first Hotnews of 2008, on Friday 25 January. Hotnews is available by email, post and on this website. If you would like to subscribe then email veronica.symons@eb4u.org.uk

Best wishes,