• Breathing Places
• Recent awards in the region
• East of England regional events
• External news

Regional introduction

Welcome to the Summer edition of our regional update

This update includes news on the Young People’s Fund 2, Family Learning and Breathing Places programmes and recent awards made in the region.

As part of our work our team try to keep our regions MPs informed about the excellent projects that we have funded in their constituencies. We also encourage projects to consider inviting them to any special events they might be holding. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Mary Seacole Housing Association in Luton with Margaret Moran MP. We had a chance to find out more about how their grant is being used to help young homeless people access training and develop skills, and to make the transition into independent living. MPs will be going into summer recess soon and so we hope to be able to take advantage of their availability and get them out to see some of the fabulous work that our projects are doing.

I will be going off on maternity leave at the end of August and so the September e-bulletin will be introduced by Jonathan Clark who will be covering the Head of Region role in my absence. I hope you will continue to find the e-bulletin informative and useful and that as ever you will share with us any news or views you want to share.

Best wishes

Sara Betsworth, Head of Region – East of England

Young People's Fund 2

Local Grants Open for Business

Following the recent launch of the Young People’s Fund 2 ( YPF2 - local grants) we are currently putting together a set of briefing notes for potential applicants to the programme. These will be forwarded via regional youth networks.

The notes cover topics such as: key programme information, examples of projects funded under YPF1, sample project outcomes, Participation Works and also provides a ‘tick box assessment’ of whether a project is potentially fundable.

It is important to remember that only youth-led projects that meet the programme outcomes will be considered for funding. We recognise that some organisations would like to involve young people but lack the skills and experience to do so.

We are helping to address this issue by funding Participation Works to provide a range of support and development services to the voluntary and community sector. We are currently liaising with them to organise a workshop in the region during September. More details will be included in the regional briefing notes.

The Young People’s Fund 2 is open to voluntary and community sector organisations. If you would like a copy of the briefing notes please contact the regional team on 01223 449023 or regionevents.ea@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Last call for Family Learning

The Big Lottery Fund launched the Family Learning programme in 2006 with grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 available to help fund specific projects and activities. The programme will close to outline proposal forms on 29 August 2008 and full applications on 30 November 2008.

Earlier this year we produced a set of regional briefing notes to promote the programme and encourage more good quality applications from the East. Subsequent application monitoring has shown that the number and success rate of outline proposals received from our region has increased markedly.

However, despite the increase in successful outline proposals, there are still a disappointing number of full applications being received and no projects from the East of England are being considered for funding at the July Award Committee Meeting. Family Learning is a rolling programme and awards are made every two months.

With the number of applications likely to increase as we approach the August/November deadlines, competition for funding will be much stronger in the final Committee meetings. We are particularly keen to encourage organisations that have submitted a successful outline proposal form to enter a full application at the earliest opportunity.

A high proportion of full applications are failing to meet the required standard for consideration at the committee stage. We would urge all potential applicants to look again at the " most common reasons for unsuccessful applications" in the briefing notes to ensure that their project avoids these pitfalls.

If you would like any further information about the Family Learning programme or a copy of the briefing notes please contact the regional team on 01223 449023 or regionevents.ea@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Breathing Places

The Breathing Places programme is a UK wide small grants programme developed with the BBC which aims to inspire people to get involved in creating and caring for a breathing place in their local area. Successful awards from the third phase were announced on June 10, these included:

The Greensand Trust based in Sandy Smith Nature Reserve, near Beadlow in Bedfordshire was awarded £9,900 for a project which aims to develop an existing nature reserve by the development of a vegetation monitoring scheme, coppicing, pollarding, pond management, ditch clearance, improved fencing and construct an otter holt. An interpretation board will be installed as well as bike racks to encourage cyclists to visit the site.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust based at Foxburrow Farm in Ashbocking near Ipswich was awarded £9,990. Foxburrow Farm is a 67-hectare nature reserve and working farm owned by the Trust. The project will increase wheelchair and pushchair access to the site and six trail walks will be developed with the installation of new interpretation panels and benches. The pond will be refurbished to encourage wildlife and biodiversity and new varieties of plants will be planted in the sensory garden.

The National Trust For Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty based at Wood Farm Visitor Centre, Sheringham in Norfolk was awarded £10,000 for a project which will transform a former car park in Sheringham Park, into a multi-purpose wildlife area. The group will install a perimeter fence to exclude dogs, create a new path around the perimeter of the area for dog walkers, provide a bird feeding station and install CCTV for wildlife observation. A hazel-coppice entrance gate will be created a sensory trail planted with species selected for the way they feel, sound and smell. A meeting area, seating and picnic tables will also be provided.

For further information please visit www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

Last year Trumpington Community Orchard Project based in Cambridge were awarded £8,041. The group have created a community orchard by planting local heritage varieties of apple and other fruits such as medlar, quince and mullberry. The local primary school were involved in enhancing the wildlife habitat using bird boxes, bat boxes and insect shelters.

To view images and find out more about the Trumpington Community Orchard Project please visit Trumpington Orchard Project

Recent awards in the region

Reaching Communities – Funded in June

Maldon and District Council for Voluntary Services (MDCVS) has been awarded £125,460 for funding to continue and extend the services currently offered by the MDCVS in Essex. The project aims to remove barriers that beneficiaries face in regards to volunteering, and closely supports beneficiaries with gaining appropriate volunteer opportunities, and matches them with appropriate placements specific to their skills, interests and specific needs.

Edward Worlledge Middle School Parents and Friends Association based in Great Yarmouth has been awarded £23,848 for a new project called the C.A.B.I.N. (Communities Accessing Books and Internet). C.A.B.I.N. will be the first port of call for families of the community who need advice, support, access and information on resources available and this will be provided from a dedicated support group. Other services include classes in literacy, English speaking and language for foreign families, and ICT classes. The project will also increase skills and employability and help to improve community cohesion, to re-energise and bring together a very diverse community mix, leading to a greater understanding of other cultures, religions and lifestyles.

The Tendring Furniture Scheme based in Clacton On Sea has been awarded £138,810 for an existing project which collects and redistributes essential items of furniture for the benefit of disadvantaged members of the community within the Tendring peninsula, Essex. This project will offer a training scheme for young people to repair or refurbish unwanted furniture which would otherwise be destined for landfill and offer it for sale and reuse at heavily discounted prices to residents on low incomes.

Find out more about Reaching communities

Awards for All

In June a total of £333,030 was distributed to 50 groups across the East of England region through Awards for All. Visit the Awards for all website to find out more about recent awards made in the region.

Vote now for your favourite project to win a National Lottery Award

The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK's favourite Lottery-funded projects.  Now entering their fifth successful year, the Awards recognise the difference that Lottery-funded projects - both large and small - make to local communities, as well as celebrate the achievements of the people behind them.

Public voting for the semi-finals of the National Lottery Awards has now closed, and the three projects with the most votes in each category will qualify for the final round of public voting.

The final round of public voting will take place between 21 July - 8 August, with three projects competing in each category. The project with the most votes in each category will win, and the winner of each category will be announced on a special BBC1 programme, to be shown later this summer.

For more information on all the projects that made it through to the semi-finals, and to cast your vote, visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards

East of England regional events

Below is a list of events that one of the BIG regional team will be attending in September.

External news

Invitation to apply to become an Action and Learning Site 2009-10

The Department of Health has established a project to address the recommendations in 'Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People' (2005) that by 2010 each locality should have a user-led organisation modelled on existing Centres for Independent Living. The involvement of disabled people, carers, and other support users is central to the project. A second round of the User-led Organisations Development Fund will be available for user-led organisations to deliver Action and Learning Sites. These will develop ways of meeting the Life Chances recommendations, and share their learning with other organisations across the country. Closing date for applications is 28 July. www.dh.gov.uk/en/socialcare/socialcarereform/userledorganisations

The Guardian Charity Awards 2008

The Guardian Charity Awards showcase best practice among small and medium-sized charities and help them win the profile and funding they need to move forward. The awards are aimed at charities delivering practical solutions to present-day problems. Closing date is 1 August. www.societyguardian.co.uk/charityawards