Create Equity: Capacity Building Fund

Create Equity is developing an 18 month capacity building fund for Black and Asian organisations.

The fund will:
– Provide unrestricted grants, up to £70k
– Deliver Project Support Office services in areas such as finance, marketing, project management
– Offer consultancy in areas such as business, financial planning and governance

Deadline: Tuesday 2 May

Barnet Council's Community Events Funding

Barnet Council’s vision is to make Barnet a ‘Borough of Fun’, where those who live and work have opportunities to enjoy life and celebrate the things that are important to them. Community Groups can apply for up to £1,000 throughout the year to host an event with their community. 

Tesco Community Grants

These grants, managed by Groundwork, are open to charities/community organisations to apply for a grant of up to £1,500.

Every three months, three local good causes are selected to be in the blue token customer vote in Tesco stores throughout the UK.

Organisations can submit multiple applications across boroughs, providing they have beneficiaries in that borough.

Contact your local enabler Sylvia to discuss your application: e-mail: 
sylvia.empson@groundwork.org.uk  mobile: 07549 019368

Co-op Local Community Fund

Co-op is welcoming registrations of interest for their Local Community Fund, which provides funding to local groups working within Barnet.

Last year’s successful applicants including Hope Corner Community Centre, GROW and Citizens Advice Barnet.

Winners get three payments throughout the year.

Register your interest with the Co-op Local Community Fund. Applications open on Tuesday 9 May.

Did you know, that individual Co-op food stores and funeral parlours also have small grants of £150 for local good causes, pop in and ask.

Donations from John Lewis Brent Cross

Have you heard of the John Lewis Community Matters scheme?

Each branch has a budget of £3,000 per quarter to donate to local charities.

They can donate cash, products or help with volunteers, depending on what your organisation needs.

With a huge branch in Brent Cross, it's worth nominating your charity to see what support you might be able to get.

Boost

Boost exclusively support charities and non-profits that focus on sport. They offer small grants of up to £750, as well as bigger grants where appropriate.

Breathe London Communities Programme

This programme is providing 20 fully funded air quality sensors to community groups, as part of the Breathe London network. 

All successful applicants will be supported by Imperial College in using the monitoring data and engaging with their communities, including online workshops and in person meetings.

They are looking for projects that:
.    Can lead to an improvement in local air pollution or a reduction in exposure to pollution (or both).
.    Include a strong aspect of community involvement.
.    Are representative of the diversity of London.

Deadline: Friday 30 June

Last year NW7 Hub and Christ's College Finchley were successful and are now providing valuable data for the Council's Air Quality Action Plan, currently under consultation. 

Unrestricted Funding

Have you noticed more unrestricted funding opportunities recently? Could you do with some tips on applying? NPC has put together a quick guide on Unrestricted Funding.

CEOs' Supper Club - TONIGHT!

An opportunity for VCFSE leads for organisations of all sizes in Barnet to come together informally to chat, eat, network and talk about what really matters to you.

The CEOs from Young Barnet Foundation, Inclusion Barnet and Volunteering Barnet will be present to facilitate conversations, listen to challenges and use the experience in the room to enable constructive solutions to current problems.

Thursday 20 April, 5.30-7.30pm
Where: ITJL, Barnet Council, Colindale

Book your place on the April CEOs' Supper Club

Food & Drink is available for purchase, here's the menu 

Help shape the Mental Health Charter for Barnet 

Barnet Together, in partnership with the London Borough of Barnet, is coproducing a Mental Health Charter for the borough.  We are hosting an online session next Tuesday where we'll be sharing an overview of this project, and importantly letting you know how VCFSEs and those that you are supporting can get involved. 

The Mental Health Charter will acknowledge and support mental health in Barnet, fostering a culture of positive mental wellbeing.

Tuesday 25 April, 4pm

Find out more & book your place on the Mental Health Charter workshop

Hidden Histories: Learn More about the History of Grahame Park

Join Grahame Park’s creative and talented residents telling the story of the estate through drama, dance and art.

Saturday 22 April, 2-4 PM

Where: The Old Library, Grahame Park, The Concourse NW9 5XA

SAFE webinars

26^th April at 7pm, Countering radicalisation and changing mindsets 

3^rd May at 2pm, Conflict management 

11^th May at 12pm, Women’s safety

17^th May at 7pm, Hate crime and your community

24^th May at 7pm, Incels, the new face of misogyny?

1^st June at 2pm, Online security 

7^th June at 2pm, Organising security - with update on Martyn's Law

SAFE shares CST’s security knowledge with groups outside the Jewish community that are vulnerable to violence, extremism or hate crime.

Planning a church fundraising capital appeal

The Church Grants team will be hosting an online webinar (only £9.99) exploring the theory and practice of how to effectively plan for a major fundraising capital appeal.

The 2-hour session (with a break) will be led by Matthew Lagden & Andrew Clark, the Directors of Church Grants. This jam-packed webinar will give you loads of understanding, direction, advice and practical resources to successfully plan your fundraising appeal. We will also be interviewing a church that has recently gone through the process.

Thursday 27 April, 9.30-11.30

FREE Upshot Barnet VCFSE 

With the support of Barnet Council we’re excited to offer eligible* members the opportunity to use Upshot for FREE for one year, then at a reduced cost of £200 in the second year, members will be offered a further year at a discounted rate before transferring to full Upshot membership in year 4. There is no obligation to commit to the full four years and you will receive free dedicated support from a new Upshot member of staff.

We will be running online Upshot sessions every month. If you have any queries or to register your interest, please contact: neilt@youngbarnetfoundation.org.uk

*eligible members are those who have an annual turnover of less than £500,000. The free license will ONLY cover projects that are run in Barnet, additional costs will apply if you want to use Upshot for projects outside of Barnet.

Next session: Thursday 27 April, 4pm

Social Media Impact

Join this online event from Media Trust if you are looking to find out how to measure the impact of your social media activity.

Wednesday 3 May, 10am

Deaf Awareness and Sign Language Workshop

Barnet Together working with Signs4Life are facilitating this online workshop to give individuals and organisations across Barnet, the best opportunities to connect with the Deaf community and how to break down barriers to communication.

This subsidised workshop will give you the confidence to work with the deaf community, and learn where to seek help and best practice guidelines to support them, whether they are Children and Young People you support, Adults you support, members of your team or volunteers.

Thursday 11 May, 9.30-12.30

Book your subsidised place on this Deaf Awareness and Sign Language Workshop for just £20

Resolving Difficulties

This one-hour online training session from Volunteering Barnet will explore the challenges that may occur when managing volunteers and how to resolve difficulties effectively.

Tuesday 23 May, 1pm - 2pm

Book your place on Volunteering Barnet's training session

Barnet Cultural Heroes Creative Placemaking

Barnet’s Cultural Heroes is a creative placemaking project which will celebrate Barnet’s cultural heritage and historically significant figures who have made a valuable contribution in the field of art, architecture, culture, music, design and industries such as aviation and commerce. The project will involve commissioning a public art agency to research Barnet’s cultural heritage and the outcome of this research will form the basis of an artwork that will be situated in locations across the borough and will be supported by a map that draws together this research, celebrating and amplifying the contribution these individuals have made and showcases their contributions to residents and those visiting the borough.

The deadline for this tender is 25 May 2023, and you can find more information via Barnet Sourcing.

DCMS launches programme to help charities win public contracts 

If you are interested in the above opportunity or think that these kind of tenders may be in your future then do check out the government-funded programme launched to help voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) in England bid for and win public sector contracts. 

As part of the programme, charities and social enterprises will be offered a range of webinars, short and long courses which will be delivered by SSE.  Participants can also access an online hub that contains resources on how to engage in public sector procurement.  

Find out more about this programme from the DCMS

Apply for FREE Vodafone SIM Cards for those you are supporting

On behalf of the Barnet VCFSE , Barnet Together applied for sim cards from the Vodafone initiative to tackle digital exclusion in the UK. It is also quite timely with the Cost of Living Crisis upon us. SIM's cards are available to groups supporting our more disadvantaged groups across Barnet.

Each SIM card provides FREE calls, texts and 20 GB of data for 6 months.
To request SIM cards for your organisation please complete this survey.

A reminder to only request what you need, as quantities are limited. (maximum amount per application 25).

FREE laptops for your service users

2econd Chance is delighted to be working closely with Barnet Council to promote digital inclusion through their Refurbished Laptop Scheme, which enables community organisations to apply for refurbished laptops for their service users.

This offer is open to community organisations based within the London borough of Barnet. They have a limited number of laptops available and will prioritise applications that target barriers to digital inclusion with people who are likely to be digitally excluded.

They are also always looking for your unwanted laptops and tablets to bring back to life for a new user.

Free Excel training from Santander

Looking to improve your Excel skills?

Apply for one of 5,000 places on Santander Scholarships Skills | Excel for All, a FREE, flexible, online programme delivered by Udemy.

You can choose either Complete or Advanced Excel – which, once completed, will help you to become more confident in one of the most widely used professional tools.

Applications close 16 May 2023, apply today!

Chipping Barnet Library Awarded £125,000 for Refurbishment

Barnet Libraries have received funding of £125,000 to make improvements to Chipping Barnet Library.

The money from The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) Cultural Investment Fund, will be used towards improving study facilities at the library, as well as providing a flexible space to host other council services.

The funding will also help deliver a range of measures to improve access for those living with dementia. Getting the bid has already enabled a successful application to the Alzheimer’s Society for the library to be designated as a Dementia Friendly Venue, which will work towards providing quieter spaces for people with dementia and providing clear internal signposting including sensory maps.

Help them better understand needs by completing a short space survey. 

5 job vacancies at Young Barnet Foundation

Do share with any friends/colleagues looking for a new role. Young Barnet Foundation are currently recruiting for a mix of full and part-time roles. 

• Marketing and Communications Officer
• Member Development Officer
• Community and Events Fundraiser
• Trust & Foundation Officer
• Finance Manager

Closing date for all: Friday 12 May

More information and how to apply

Need a space to hold your workshop or meeting?

At Inclusion Barnet, we run two libraries in Barnet that have meeting rooms available for hire. 

With discounted rates for community groups, and potential to welcome up to 30 people, the spaces are flexible to suit your needs. 

Read more about hiring a library meeting room

Cost of Living Crisis

We now have a dedicated Cost of Living Crisis page on our website where we're compiling both local and national information, resources and guidance linked to the Cost of Living Crisis, and the impact on Voluntary Sector organisations. 

Do let us know if you have any activities and support that needs to be added.

Sign up to Barnet Together Alliance partners' Newsletters...

• Food Banks/Food Poverty support, email Barnet Food Hub.
• Children, Young People and Families (for Young Barnet Foundation members only)
• Local Environmental news & initiatives, sign up here.
• For Volunteer recruitment/ management support, sign-up. 
• Barnet Council's Together newsletter, email.

Sign up to Barnet’s voluntary sector Manifesto

Barnet Together is calling for community, voluntary, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) groups as well as statutory organisations and businesses operating in the borough of Barnet, to sign up to the Barnet Voluntary Sector Manifesto.

The aim of the Manifesto is to create better understanding and deeper cross-sector collaboration between organisations working within Barnet. 

If you are a representative of a group, service provider or business based in or serving Barnet, then you can sign up to the Barnet Voluntary Manifesto.

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#StrongerTogether
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