November 2021

SEN News

Community Learning Exchange

Jjoin us at this in-person learning exchange.  Places are fully funded and will cover your travel, subsistence and accommodation if required.

Wednesday 8th December – Let’s Get Sporty, Dumfries.  Let’s Get Sporty provides young people with training, mentoring and employment opportunities through the delivery of sport & physical activity, priding themselves on supporting young people to develop in a professional, inspiring environment delivering quality services in their local community.  More info on this visit here.

Places are limited and so please email Jayne to book a place as soon as possible.

(The CLE to The Larder is now fully booked – email Jayne to be added to the waiting list)

Social Enterprise in Scotland Census 2021 is now underway. This is the fourth official study by the Scottish Government into enterprising charities and social enterprises across the country. Every two years it combines publicly available information from regulators with survey and financial data, to help understand the characteristics and needs of the sector and inform future support. 

The TSEF Executive have pulled together this summary document to provide an update on No One Left Behind (NOLB) –  This is a helpful bookmark on progress (as TSEF see it) to date, whilst recognising it is a developing picture just now.

** New info included in the summary document on Govt’s £20million fund to create a minimum of 2,000 intermediate labour market opportunities supporting individuals 25+ years of age experiencing long term unemployment - £5mn of which has been ringfenced for the Third Sector.  This fund is payable over 2021 to 2023.  This funding proposal is summarised here, incl terms, conditions and eligibility criteria.  There is also a list of FAQs here. **

SAVE THE DATE – Thursday 30th November, 2pm.  A TSEF webinar to discuss the latest updates on NOLB  and the Young Person’s Guarantee.  Will also cover the new £20mn Long Term Unemployed programme (see above), the future commissioning through the Scotland Excel employability framework and there will also be an opportunity to look at ways in which the third sector can engage.   Speakers and contributors will include a Local Employability Partnership (LEP) representative, a Third Sector Interface and third sector employability providers/employers. Participants will be able to post views and asks questions through the chat function.  Registration details available here.

Thanks to everyone who came along to our sessions on Govt’s Becoming a Fair Work Nation – Consultation .  If you would still like to feed in your views and suggestions, please contact Jayne for a chat

Members News

Social Print & Copy are looking for some assistance for a youth employability project, they are looking to get people’s opinions on what makes a work place experience for young people supportive and engaging.  They will incorporate these opinions into their recommendations for the blueprint of an apprenticeship training model they adopt.  There are 3 different surveys

1.       Educators

2.       Employers

3.       Young People

Indoor Christmas Craft Fair For Families at East Sleep Ride CIC - Sat 20th Nov.  The day includes:
Pottery, Wreath Making and Fallen Wood Binding and there is something to suit all ages and more available. This is being run by willing parents and volunteers so please use this opportunity and let them know if you will be attending!

Fresh Start is recruiting for a Volunteer Coordinator to work alongside a team of volunteers to ensure the smooth running of the community hub which provides 250 memberships to the local community of North Edinburgh with the aim of providing food with dignity. Apply by 26th Nov.

Check out this presentation from Meet the Buyer North 2021 Event -  Sustainable Food Places, and Granite City Good Food, the Sustainable Food Places Partnership by Martin Carle, Sustainable Food Coordinator, CFINE.  You can also view other presentations from this MTB North event here

BRAG Enterprises has been awarded £90,000 over 3 years by Centrica’s Energy for Tomorrow fund. BRAG receives the only Fife award and is one of only four Scottish awards made.

COPE Ltd (Shetland) is looking for a new CEO to drive the organisation forwards into the future.  More info here, closing date is 30th Nov.

Check out this latest mailer from Articulate about their Winter Digital Opportunities for young people

Scottish Sports Futures (SSF)  are offering the opportunity for 6 young people, aged between 16-24 to participate in a 5-day training and work experience programme which will provide an insight into working with an organisation who are changing lives through sport.  Funded through the Young Person’s Guarantee and managed by Stirling Community Enterprise.  SSF would love fill the 6 placements - if you know of any young people in Stirling who might be interested, you can find out more and book here.  There are also opportunities available from other organisations and you can find out more at Connect2Progress, the online hub for wellbeing and employability support in Stirling.

Employability News

The No One Left Behind and Young Person's Guarantee Continuous Improvement Toolkit is now available (the toolkit refers to a ‘self-evaluation survey’ designed to support services to identify their strengths and weaknesses currently in development and will be published at the same time).

New evaluation highlights impact of moving employability training online – during Covid many education and employment programmes have switched to online delivery. As future programmes are likely to retain at least some element of online or hybrid delivery, this report reviews the impact of the move to online delivery on different groups of young people and to identify effective practice, outcomes for young people and key lessons to inform the future delivery of youth employability programmes.

Close the Gap briefing for Scottish Government Debate: Global Ambitions for COP26 (link to attachment) - Green jobs and green skills are an integral aspect of Scottish Government’s efforts to transition to a net zero economy and the promotion of a green economic recovery.   Within the current approach to green jobs, Close the Gap has concerns around the conceptualisation of green jobs; women’s under-representation in priority green sectors; and persistent barriers to women entering these sectors.

Flexible Workforce Development Fund  - SMEs across Scotland can access training up to the value of £5,000 provided by The Open University to support staff development, address key skills gaps and develop the skills your business needs.

Living Wage new rates – the new rate was announced this week to coincide with Living Wage week- £9.90/hour (£11.05 for London).

Real Living Wage in Scottish Government Contracts –In a bid to support Fair Work practices Scottish Government has announced that all businesses bidding for its contracts will have to be an accredited Living Wage employer.  More information on Fair Work and Procurement can be found here

NOLB Commissioning Framework – Fife.  Opportunities Fife Partnership is delighted to launch the No One Left Behind Fife NOLB Commissioning Framework for 2022-25 (attached).  Register your interest via Public Contract Scotland.  You must express interest by 26th November. 

Labour market trends: October 2021 and Labour market monthly briefing: October 2021

Fair Start Scotland: annual report - year 3

The Impact of Covid-19 on Scotland’s Women Entrepreneurs - providing an in-depth understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on women entrepreneurs in Scotland and to explore the support that was available to them during the pandemic.

Funding/Finance

Ahead of the anticipated reopening in Spring 2022, The Scottish Government are running two information sessions about The Investing in Communities Fund.  The Fund aims to support community anchor organisations based in the places they serve by delivering activity in our most disadvantaged and fragile communities across Scotland (4 areas of focus - tackling poverty and inequality; sustaining place-based approaches; community-led regeneration; and ensuring a just transition to net zero.  The webinars are planned for 1030-1130 on Tuesday 30 November 2021, and 1400-1500 on Wednesday 8 December 2021.

Bank of Scotland Foundation: Reach grants programme - grants up to £25K are available to registered charities for projects that address social exclusion and disadvantage. Prepare in advance because the application window timescale is short - opens 6 Dec, closes 16 Dec.

Corra Foundation: Henry Duncan Micro Grants - grants up to £1,000 are available to small charities and voluntary groups (with an annual income up to £50K) to improve mental health and wellbeing among communities experiencing disadvantage. Apply by 23 December.

Thomas Wall Trust - grants up to £5,000 are available to registered charities (turnover below £500K, with a preference for match funding) that empower disadvantaged adults to gain critical life skills necessary for employment. Priority for projects supporting people experiencing multiple deprivation, women, disabled people, refugees and asylum seekers. Apply by 10 January 2022.

Energy Saving Trust: Energy Redress Scheme – funding to deliver energy-related projects that support households in vulnerable situations; projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit households and projects that empower householders to reduce their carbon emissions. 

The Promise Partnership – A Good Childhood is an investment of circa £3.25m from the Scottish Government. It is intended to deliver change in-line with Scotland’s commitment to #KeepThePromise and ensure children and young people grow up loved, safe and respected. The investment aims to build upon or put structures in place that will create the space to think, plan and co-design changes that ensure a Good Childhood. The priority area of A Good Childhood covers eight actions across interconnected areas of work. This funding strand is open to any of the eight but will prioritise proposals with a focus on: - Relationships - Moving on - Youth Justice Your proposal needs to reflect and consider what has to happen within your organisation, collaboration or local area to support a Good Childhood.  Next deadline: 3rd December 2021

The Arnold Clark Community Fund - up to £1k available for organisations who work in areas supporting Food Banks, Toy Banks, Housing & Accommodation and Poverty Relief, 

The Platinum Jubilee Fund - opens today! - funding projects across the UK to mark the Platinum Jubilee.  Up to £50K available over 2 years, with applications needing to fit one or more of

-          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.

Deadline is 5pm, 15th December

£15mn Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund - to support mental health and well-being in communities across Scotland.  Apply via your Third sector interfaces (TSIs) – you can find the list of TSIs here

Clothworkers Company Charity Governance Awards - several cash prizes up to £5K are available for registered charities and trustee boards that can demonstrate excellent and effective governance, particularly those that have successfully addressed the challenges of the pandemic and can demonstrate how good governance transforms lives. Entry is free. Apply by 22 January 2022.

Carbon Innovation Fund - new Co-op and Co-op Foundation fund to support food and farming projects that are tackling the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They plan to award funding of between £75k and £100k to about 10 projects in year one. Eligible organisations will include charities, social enterprises, co-operatives and local, regional and national governments worldwide.  Closes midday, 10th Dec.

Support/Resources

Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network - over 500 professionals who provide their expertise free of charge to charities across Scotland.  All types of support can be arranged, from HR, finance, and strategic planning to marketing, governance and mentoring. This support is available to charities outside Inspiring Scotland’s portfolios as well as portfolio members.  

Community Business: Making it Easy (23 Nov, 10-12) - an introduction to how community ownership can help to launch and grow successful businesses and bring about positive social change.

The Social Enterprise Academy have launched another series of Just Enterprise programmes - find out more about these practical and peer-led programmes here.  For other Just Enterprise learning opportunities click here.

Scale Accelerator - a new six month training programme from Spring Impact. UK based social leaders can build the skills, knowledge, and mindsets needed to scale and reach more people. Subsidised places from the National Lottery Community Fund are available. Apply by 17th January.

FareShare Community Volunteering Hub - FareShare have partnered with Do IT (the UK’s largest volunteering brokerage platform) to help easily connect with volunteers.  Join the platform for free and create volunteer opportunities to get help with your FareShare food collections or any other roles within your organisation.  Your volunteer roles will be promoted to both FareShare volunteers and Do IT site users (which gets over 200,000 monthly visitors).

A new website is being launched to encourage links between good causes and businesses across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Borders. The ESESCommunities.org portal will allow charities in the region to make community benefit requests of businesses in the supply chain of City Deal projects.  More here.

The Community Benefits Gateway - a new online portal connecting NHS Scotland suppliers with communities in Scotland, to further improve lives, and support healthier communities. It works with willing NHS Scotland suppliers to match with Scottish third sector organisations who are looking for assistance and support.

The National Lottery Communities Fund has developed a media and communications toolkit to help funded community-led climate action projects to share their work incl useful guidelines, templates and links to resources.

Information/News

Understanding Scotland: New Report - the inaugural edition of Understanding Scotland answers questions about the kind of country we want to be, who we trust to help us get there through Covid-19. Tackling poverty and inequality is key concern for Scots with 34% describing dealing with the problem of poverty and inequality as the top issue of concern facing Scotland.

How is Scotland Performing? – a blog which provides a snapshot of the current performance of the National Indicators, updated the first Monday of the month.

‘Include For Good’ is the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities’ (SCLD) programme for change and is about ensuring that people with learning disabilities are included in every aspect of Scottish life and challenge the status quo.  They are currently looking to recruit people with learning disabilities.

Communities played a crucial role in the response to Covid-19 - A joint update from the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General for Scotland outlines how Scotland’s public bodies worked with and empowered communities in the response to the pandemic, creating new ways of delivering support. The speed at which some communities were both enabled and empowered to work with councils, partners and charities showed how bureaucratic barriers can be quickly removed.

Circular Communities Scotland is the new name for CRNS, a network membership organisation, dedicated to supporting the establishment of a thriving circular economy in Scotland. It supports and represents over 170 repair, reuse and recycling charities and social enterprises across the country.  

Health in a changing city - The recent report provides a comprehensive analysis of changes in population, socioeconomic, environmental and health factors over the last 20 years within Glasgow and in comparison with Scotland.

Nearly half of children in minority ethnic communities in Scotland are growing up in poverty, according to a new report.  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said people in ethnic communities faced "shocking inequalities" in Scotland, with unequal access to secure, well-paid work, affordable housing and social security.

Let’s do Peer2Peer – Develop peer support in your own way.  Are you looking for help and resources to develop peer roles and approaches? This short animation from Scottish Recovery Network explores what Peer2Peer is and how to get involved