Stakeholder Newsletter: January 2021

Beechwood Village Community Trust
Stakeholder Newsletter
January 2021

New Funding Opportunities for 2021

At the meeting of the Beechwood Village Community Trust on 22nd October 2020, a proposal to develop a new range of funding pots was discussed and agreed, in principle.  The finer details are currently being worked up and we hope to launch the new funding pots in Spring 2021. However, to give people an idea of what will be available, we have summarised our new funding opportunities, below:

A ‘Give it a Go’ Grant: Up to £500, which is available to individuals or newly formed groups, to give an idea a go, to see if it works. There will be no application form. All that will be required is a short video from the applicant telling us about their idea and why they think the project is needed.  The grants process will be less rigorous and allow scope for new ideas to be tried, tested and flourish.

Applicants will be legally responsible to deliver their project and will be required to report back to the BVCT Board, as a condition of the grant. This will be the first step on a funding pathway, which will become more robust, as the level of grant funding increases and our team will be happy to support individuals to become more formally established, to enable successful projects to continue.

Grants to Organisations Grant: This is the current grant funding pot that the BVCT offers.  Up to £5,000 can be applied for to deliver projects which benefit people living within the Beechwood and Craylands area. This grant cannot be paid to individuals and groups/organisations must be fully constituted, with a bank account and have a set of accounts/balance sheet.  Full details of how to apply for this existing funding pot can be found on https://beechwoodtrust.org.uk

 Big Project Grant: Grants will be made available for projects between £5,001 up to £10,000 (for a 1 year project) or £20,000 (for a 2 year project). This is a much larger grant which can used to deliver a larger scale project and applications can be based over 1 or 2 years.  However, successful applicants will be required to deliver specific outcomes, consider how the project will be sustained after the funding has ended and undertake much more detailed reporting commitment on a quarterly basis.

Helping Hand Fund: A one off grant, up to the value of £500 per household, living within Beechwood and Craylands. This fund is targeted towards low income families and can be accessed via a referral from an approved agency (yet to be agreed).  The funding can be used to support a child’s living expenses, such as food or clothing (e.g. school uniforms) or could be used to support a child’s attendance to a club, which encourages an active or healthy lifestyle, such as, football, swimming, gymnastics or dance. The funding can be used to purchase equipment and cover weekly subscriptions. This will enable children to fully participate in activities, alongside their friends.

All of our funding is ringfenced to the Beechwood and Craylands area and aims to bring positive community benefit to residents living there.  We will be working over the coming months to develop these opportunities further and hope to launch these new funding pots in Spring 2021 – we’ll keep you posted!

Other things to look forward to…..

Before lockdown, the Beechwood Village Community Trust approved an application for funding to support a local community group, Parents 1st. Sessions are currently postponed, however, the two informal information events and a 10-week programme called ‘Me & My Community’ will be launching, when we re-open the Beech.  You can read more about the fantastic opportunities that Parents 1st will be bringing to our community here:

https://www.essex.parents1st.org.uk/

BRAND NEW YOUTH CLUBEssex Boys and Girls Club are ready and waiting to launch on Wednesdays at The Beech, for our young people between the ages of 10-25. We know it’s been really tough on children and young people and are hoping to get this up and running really soon. We’ll let you know when sessions are starting.

The new free to download ‘Street Tag’ App, has recently been launched in Basildon and we would encourage all of our stakeholders operating in the New Town area to help spread the word to residents, encouraging them to download this fantastic app and give it a try.

Street Tag places a number of virtual tags around Basildon, which are visible on the map in the app. Once the location is reached, points are automatically credited to your account.  As points increase, they are added to a leader board, which shows the top point earners. People can play as individuals or set up a group, so that families, friends and even colleagues, can play as a team.  For more information on how to begin tagging visit: www.streettag.co.uk.

Southend Achievement Through Football (ATF)

Beechwood Village Community Trust, recently awarded Southend ATF a grant to provide weekly sporting activity sessions at Northlands Park, for children and young people aged 11 – 16. These sessions are focused on building friendships, healthy exercise and lots of fun! Staff at Southend ATF provide coaching in a safe space where young people can express themselves through leisure activities, to get an understanding of their abilities. The club will run for 1 year and at the first session had over 40 young people attend!

Community Hub Closure – Update

The Beech Community Hub sadly closed its doors on 20th March 2020, due to Covid -19 and has remained closed since that time. We are reviewing the situation daily, to look at when we might be able to open our doors again.  While there are restrictions in place, and with our community’s health and well-being in mind, we feel that it would be sensible to remain closed during this time.

 

 

We have been working hard to make sure that The Beech is a safe place when we return. We have installed hand sanitiser stations, new signage and one-way systems, in preparation for our reopening. We will only re-open the Beech when it is considered safe to do so.

In the meantime, remember to: Wash Hands, Cover Face, Make Space!

 

 

Local Community Inspirations

Does your organisation know someone that has gone above and beyond to help their community during the pandemic? We would love to hear from you and include their good news stories in our next Newsletter! Please contact: woldham@swan.org.uk or call 07872 033403.

 

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