Airbus Community Awards

Do you know of a community group that is making a difference locally and could do with some extra funding? If you do, you might like to nominate them for the Airbus Community Awards. To find out more, visit www.bristolpost.co.uk/airbus

Grants Advice sessions

Are you a community group looking for advice on how to apply for Member Awarded Funding or Area Wide Grants?

If so, you can book a 30 minute slot between 10am and 1pm on Monday 6 November. The sessions take place at the Council Offices, Badminton Road, Yate, BS37 5AF. To book a place, please contact the team on 01454 865865 (Mon-Fri 9am to 4pm) or grants@southglos.gov.uk. It would be useful to know when booking which subject area you are interested in.

Another local history event

The Frampton Cotterell and District Local History Society are holding a talk by John Penny, “The Port of Bristol “, on  Wednesday 18 Oct 2017 at 7.30pm at Zion Church, Woodend Road, Frampton Cotterell BS36 2HY.   All welcome, entry is £4 or free to members (annual subscription £15) Light refreshments will be available.

Local history talk next Wednesday

There will be a talk about the Early Avon Valley Copper and Brass Industry at 7.30pm on Wednesday 4th October in the Miners (Coalpit Heath Village Hall).

Aviva Community Fund

The Aviva Community Fund is now open for applications for funding from £1,000 up to £25,000 for an important cause in your community.

All you have to do is enter a project for your community organisation – even if you took part previously – and tell them what a difference these much-needed funds could make. You can find out more here.

Local history talk next Wednesday

The Frampton Cotterell and District Local History Society are kicking off their 2017/18 season of talks next Wednesday with one entitled “A Trip to Jerusalem – Pubs and Pub Signs” by Mike Rowland. It starts at 7.30pm on Wednesday 20th September in the Zion Church, Woodend Road, BS36 2HY. All welcome, entry is £4 including light refreshments or free to members (annual subscription is £15).

Grants for community groups

Are you involved in a community group that benefits residents across South Gloucestershire? Do you need some financial support?

If so, you can now apply to South Glos Council for an Area Wide Grant (AWG). The maximum grant is £3,000, though higher awards may be possible for exceptional projects. You can find out more by visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/AWG and registering your group with the online grants system. Once you've done that, you can request an application form by contacting the Grants Helpline on 01454 865865 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm) or emailing grants@southglos.gov.uk

If you're looking for funding for a project that helps residents in just some parts of South Gloucestershire, don't forget about the Member Awarded Funding, where each councillor has £3,000 to spend on local projects that benefit residents in their ward. Do get in touch with us if you're considering making an application.

Area Wide Grants have been missing since the Conservatives scrapped the Area Forums and with them the grants that were decided at the Forum meetings and replaced them with Member Awarded Funding. Money was set aside from last year's grant pot for area wide grants but the scheme is only now being put in place to award them. Unfortunately decisions will be made by a single Cabinet Member, rather than a committee of members as it would have been in the past - another example of power being concentrated in the hands of a few.

 To view all of the grants available through South Gloucestershire Council visit www.southglos.gov.uk/grants

Friends of Ram Hill Colliery AGM

The Friends of Ram Hill Colliery are holding their Annual General Meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 21st June in Coalpit Heath Village Hall (Miners’ Institute).

Crowd funding for Winterbourne Medieval Barn

Last September Winterbourne Medieval Barn won Heritage Lottery Funding and they are now working hard to raise the required matched funding.

They've been chosen to take part in a "double your donation" project, which means that for every £1 you give, NESTA and HLF will match it. The fund is only available until 24th July. So take at look at  www.crowdfunder.co.uk/winterbourne - and share the link with your friends.

Grants for local projects

Once again in 2017/18 South Gloucestershire councillors will have £3,000 each to allocate to community projects or to spend on additional council services that benefit people in their ward. It is up to individual councillors how they go about making their allocations - if you have a project in mind, please contact your local councillor or councillors to discuss it.

Funding awarded to local groups

This year the old Community Grants were scrapped and replaced with a scheme where each councillor has £3,000 to spend on projects that benefit communities in their ward. Westerleigh Ward Councillor Claire Young allocated £1,500 to Coalpit Heath Cricket Club to buy sight screens, which they need at the level they are now playing at, and £1,500 to St Saviour's Church Hall to go towards replacing their unreliable and inefficient boiler.

For groups that benefit a large part of South Gloucestershire, there will be a chance to bid for South Glos-wide funding. A decision on how the scheme will operate is expected to be taken at the next Environment and Community Services committee meeting later this month.

Still time to nominate for Chair's Community Awards

There's still time to nominate a "local hero" for a Chair's Community Award. Do you know an unsung hero who is contributing in areas such as community development, promoting equality, arts, sports, play, environment, working with older or young people, advice and advocacy and being a good neighbour? Or a group doing the same? For the first time in 2017, the council is taking group nominations as well as individual ones.

You can find out more and download an application form on the South Glos website. The deadline is 16th January 2017.

Grants for community projects

The old Community Grants have been scrapped and replaced with a scheme where each councillor has a pot of money to spend on projects that benefit communities in their ward. Each councillor has £3,000 to spend this year. If you’ve got an idea for a project, please contact your local councillor.

Help people save energy and money

Would you like to help people save energy and money? The Centre for Sustainable Energy is looking for people to become local energy advice volunteers.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy is a charity working across the former Avon area, Somerset and Wiltshire to support people living in cold homes or having difficulty managing their energy costs. They are looking for people who can spare some time to help provide home energy advice to people in their local area.

No experience is necessary as you will be given basic training in energy efficiency and giving advice and will receive lots of "on the job" training as you are out and about with their advisors. All out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed. For more information, email volunteers@cse.org.uk

And don't forget if you're in fuel poverty, you may be eligible for a grant towards installing central heating - more information here. The scheme has now been extended to cover oil where gas is not available but if you think you are eligible, apply quickly as funds are limited.

Local volunteers win awards

Last night Claire spent an inspiring evening with volunteers from across South Gloucestershire who were being presented with Chair's Community Awards.
Local winners included:

• Celia Morrish, who volunteers for Great Western Ambulance Charity
• Jason Bidwell, who started Frampton Cotterell Harriers
• Paul Hulbert, who among other things is involved with Wapley Woods and the orchard for the future
• Eileen Holcombe and Shirley Owen, who provide hot lunches at Paul's Place and help the charity in other ways
• Mary Head, who is active in a long list of voluntary groups and activities inside and outside of South Gloucestershire, including many involving St Saviour's Church
• Trevor Thompson, who as well as volunteering at St Saviour's has spent a lot of time sharing his great knowledge of local history

Well done and thank you to you all.

Grants for local groups

The Frome Vale Area Forum had some tough decisions to make on grants on Thursday night, with very little money left in the pot for this year. Normally at this time we'd be able to allocate money for the coming financial year, but with the axing of the Area Forums there is no coming year's money to allocate. Details are not yet clear on how the grant system will work.

Two local groups were successfully in winning funding. Fromeside Gymnastics club were granted a total of £1740.52 and the Floral Friends of Frampton £300.

Next chance to apply for grants

Community groups have until 10th April to apply for grants to be awarded at the July meetings of the Area Forums.

Frome Vale Area Forum, which covers an area including Frampton Cotterell, Ladden Brook and Westerleigh wards, has £21,450 left for community grants, while Severn Vale Area Forum, whose area includes Charfield Ward, has £48,599 left. It is also possible to apply for New Homes Bonus and Positive Activities Funding (the latter is for provision for young people).

More information and links to the online application system are available from this page.

Applications can be made throughout the year, which decisions being taken in July, September, December and March, but the money available will reduce as the year goes on. The amount available will be updated on the Grants page after each meeting.

Grant success for local groups

A number of groups in the Ladden Frome area were successful in getting grants at last week's Area Forum:

• Floral Friends of Frampton - £1840
• Tytherington Rocks FC - £1000
• Wickwar Wanderers FC - £1250
• Wickwar Pre-School - £1212
• 1st Wickwar Brownies - £1240
• Frampton Cotterell Male Voice Choir - £750

Mediation process for Manor Hall and Coalpit Heath Pre-School

Following recent concerns in the community about the future of Coalpit Heath Pre-School, we are pleased to report that the Pre-School and the Manor Hall Management Committee have committed to an independent mediation process, sharing the costs between them. We hope that they will now be given the time and the space to complete this process, not only to help with the immediate issues but also to build a better relationship for the future. In the meantime, we have been assured again that the Pre-School has not been given notice.

Grants for community groups

Local voluntary organisations, community groups and Parish Councils have until Wednesday 26th November to apply for a range of grant funding from South Gloucestershire Council - Community Grants, New Homes Bonus (NHB) and Positive Activities Subsidy (PAS) grants.  The final decisions on all three will be made by councillors at the area forum meeting in March.

Community Groups are aimed at projects that benefit local people. Generally the grants are less than £3,000 but more can be awarded if the Forum thinks it is justified.

New Homes Bonus funding is a grant which the council receives annually from central government, based on the number of homes built or brought back into use. This money would typically be used for larger projects. It's worth contacting your ward councillor to find out more, as the number of new homes built has varied greatly between the wards.

The Positive Activities Subsidy grant funding is to help local young people aged 13 to 19 (up to 25 for disabled people) to take part in, or initiate, activities.  Applications should be for projects which are accessible, affordable, wanted and valued by young people. Frome Vale has very little of this funding left to allocate.

To apply visit www.southglos.gov.uk/grants (free internet access is available at all South Gloucestershire libraries). For more information call the grants helpline on 01454 865865 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm) or email grants@southglos.gov.uk