The Aviva Community Fund is now open with up to £25000 available – closes 11 October 2016

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About the Aviva awards

We believe good projects come in all shapes and sizes. So the best way to support a variety is to let both large and small projects share the funding.

To suit projects of different sizes, the funding levels you can apply for are:
Up to £1,000
Up to £5,000
Up to £10,000

Up to £25,000

The Aviva Community Fund will finance over 800 projects across four different fund levels and six categories, spreading our awards to communities throughout the UK.

1. Health, disability and well-being
2. Supporting the younger generation
3. Supporting the older generation
4. Sport in the community
5. Environment
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6. Community support

If your project gets among the most votes and wows our judges, it will be in with a chance of receiving those much-needed funds.

Closing date for applications – 11 October 2016

Link to the application info: Aviva Awards

Link to the download Submission Guide

Good Luck Shedders!

 

Men’s Sheds: The Movement in Scotland & the Big Picture Internationally Seminar

 

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Sometimes the planets are in alignment. Thursday 13 October is one such occasion, when three international visitors with diverse and deep insights into the now international Men’s Shed Movement are in Glasgow. They have teamed up in an event hosted by University of Glasgow with the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association, the Glasgow Area Men’s Sheds, the Australian Men’s Shed Association and the International Men’s Shed Organisation* to present a Forum to update and explore where and how the Movement has suddenly ‘taken off’ across the UK and Ireland, most recently into Scotland and around Glasgow.

If you are interested in any aspect of this remarkable and transformative grassroots international Movement: as a participant, policy maker, organization or government representative, student, member of the public or researcher, this free Forum is for you. The latter part of the session will provide an opportunity to discuss how the Scottish movement might be expanded to benefit men, families and communities and also provide the essential data government and community organisations find useful to help them ‘get on board’ an already fast moving ‘train’.

Venue: University of Glasgow, School of Education,5th Floor Common Room, 11 Eldon St., Glasgow G3 6NH

Date : Thursday 13 October 2016

Time: 1pm-4.30pm

RSVP and Book your place : cradall@gla.ac.uk

Full information :  www.cradall.org  – sheds-movement-scotland-big-picture-internationally

 

Year of Listening 2016 Competition

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Are you a budding poet, writer or photographer? If so we’d love to hear about what listening means to you!

Email your photo (<2MB), short story (<500 words), or poem (<40 lines), which answers the question:

What does listening mean to you?

to: info@breathingspacescotland.co.uk

 

Listening can mean different things

An act, a moment, a mood

For some it’s lending a caring ear

Or making others feel good

Whatever it is, let’s hear your thoughts

And make this one of those years

When Scotland’s time to listen

Brings music to your ears

 

The closing date for entries is Friday 28th October 2016. One winner from each category will receive an MP3 player. See the competition terms and conditions for more details.

Full Information : http://www.breathingspace.scot/news/2016/year-of-listening-2016-competition/

Scotland’s smallest community and voluntary groups : -Application deadline for Community Grant 2016-17 is this Thursday 25th August

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Scotland’s smallest community and voluntary groups!

Reminder: Application deadline for Community Grant 2016-17 is this Thursday 25th August

 Community Grant Fund 2016-17

This fund is about to close so get your skates on lads if you haven’t filled it in already– closing date 5 pm on Thursday, 25 August 2016

The Community Grant Fund is aimed at Scotland’s smallest community and voluntary groups that make a vital difference to their communities. Their activities keep communities vibrant and encourage community empowerment and participation, providing essential local services whilst contributing to social capital, resilience and well-being.

The grant’s focus is on supporting and building the capacity of Scotland’s smallest volunteer-led groups, with an income of less than £25,000 per year. Groups can apply for grants of up to £1,000 for a wide range of costs or activities that will help sustain or develop their activities.

Priority will be given to groups that work:

*           With health or disability issues;

*           For the benefit of people protected under the 2010 Equality Act (Age; Disability; Race; Faith; Sex or Sexual orientation, etc.)

*           With families and young people; and

*           With older people.

Groups can apply for funding for a wide variety of activities or operational costs, depending on their greatest need.

VAF is particularly keen to fund activities that will help build and develop strong organisations – e.g. training for committee members and volunteers, visits to other organisations and conferences or professional support and consultancy.

Groups could also apply for the cost of equipment, costumes or uniforms, classes or training, counselling, furniture, toys, safety equipment, field trips or venue hire.

We expect to make around 60 grant awards. The grant must be spent before 31st March 2017.

Applications for the Community Grant Fund should be received by 5pm on Thursday 25th August 2016.  The application form and guidance notes can be downloaded below

Guidance Notes

Application Form

For any further information please give our Volunteering Team a call on 01383 620780 or contact them via e-mail at  cgenquiries16-17@vaf.org.uk

Community Grants Team

Email:            cgenquiries16-17@vaf.org.uk

Website:        www.voluntaryactionfund.org.uk

 Tel: 01383 620780 

 

CONGRATULATIONS  BELLSHILL MEN’S SHED  FOR  GETTING FUNDING  THROUGH THE  VOLUNTARY ACTION FUND – SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS FUND

STONE MASONS @ THE SHED AT THE BRAES – 19th August

StoneMasonry at The Shed

 

Date : Friday 19th August 2016

Time : Drop in between 11.00 and 13.00
Cost : FREE
Venue : The Shed at The Braes, Bank Street, Slamannan, Falkirk, FK1 3EZ

Join Historic Environment Scotland’s stone masons for a lunch time of demonstrations and hands on activities. Learn about this traditional craft skill with other men from the community.

For those 16 years of age and over.
Refreshments provided.

For further information please contact Vicky Grandon on telephone: 07449 342 438

Email: Vickygrandon@hotmail.co.uk

All the best Shed videos – join the SMSA Video You Tube Channel

You Tube watch us

The SMSA have created our own You Tube channel, to host our own videos and those of other Sheds and Shed Associations which we feel are worth watching. Be sure to subscribe to our channel which is free, so you can find us easily. If you have a You Tube video from your Shed which you feel would benefit the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement and would like us to have it in our library, please email us for consideration: info@scottishmsa.org.uk. You can also find the You Tube link at the bottom of all our pages on this website.

Big Lottery – Community Assets Funding – not looking good for Sheds!

Community Assets: The essential update

by Steven Shanahan

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It is now over three weeks since Community Assets opened and interest is very high. We’ve been getting far more phone calls and emails than normal as a result of this. Many of these have been fairly complex. Due to this increase, it has been taking us longer than usual to reply. Sorry if you’ve been affected by this and do please bear with us.
We have also been getting lots of questions that are unfortunately a less good fit with Community Assets.

Based on the budget for this funding, we are only expecting to fund between 10 and 15 communities over the next year. It means the level of competition for grants will be very high. We will in turn only encourage requests that will very strongly address inequality or disadvantage.

What we’re less likely to consider

Although we realise the benefits of the work of these organisations, we’ve found a harder case for applying might be from:

  • Sports groups delivering sports only activities
  • Scout groups
  • Heritage focused
  • Men’s sheds
  • Play parks or park improvements
  • Community Councils
  • Churches (when the church will still own it)
  • Car parks

From all organisations, requests we are less likely to consider are:

  • General refurbishment
  • A lease (unless exceptional circumstances are involved)
  • A building that will only be used for headquarters

National Sheds Grant Fund launches to a great success!

NEWS UPDATE – 10 July 2016

 

The funding window is now closed. Please do not send in anymore applications until it opens again in 2017. Well done to all the Sheds who applied and were successful – successful Sheds should know by the end of August!

 

Communities urged to apply for funding to set up Shed spaces

Local community groups across Scotland are today being encouraged to apply for a share of a new grant fund to help support the set-up of community Shed spaces.
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