This month’s podcast discusses the development of a community research network in County Durham; which is a way of supporting local people to have an active role in research.

Interviews include: DCA's Community Partnerships Manager, Fiona Christian, co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action & Professor of Sociology at Durham University, Sarah Banks and artist and Derwent Valley AAP Chair, Lea McConnell.

If you would like to find out more about the Community Research Network, email fiona.christian@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk

Listen to the Community Research Network podcast here

Durham Community Action has been working with the Ballinger Charitable Trust this summer to distribute small grants across the county to support community groups who support older people, 50 and over.

The Ballinger Charitable Trust approached Durham Community Action to manage the delivery of the micro-grants programme to community groups with eligible project ideas.

Shortlisted groups were invited to present their projects to trustees of the Ballinger Charitable Trust during an online event.

Andrew Ballinger said:

“This event was well organised by DCA, as previous events have been, and it was an excellent opportunity to meet, chat to and support community groups in County Durham, mainly supporting older people, that we would not normally hear from.”

Fiona Christian, Community Partnerships Manager at Durham Community Action, said:

“This is the third year Durham Community Action has worked in partnership with the Ballinger Charitable Trust to help administer a county-wide small grants programme, helping to identify some brilliant volunteer-led community organisations supporting our County Durham residents.

Hearing the volunteers talk with such passion and dedication about their plans to support older people was inspiring. It was great to see the range of activities that will be carried out over the next few months including crafts, star- gazing, podcast production and many other opportunities to socialise and try new experiences.”

The successful event saw £10,000 shared between 16 community organisations across County Durham.

Cornerstones Centre for the Community was awarded £500 for IT literacy workshops for over 50’s. Attendees to the workshops said: “These workshops provided me with great advice and tips. I now feel confident and safe using the internet.”

If you would like advice, support and guidance for your community organisation, please contact info@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk

Applications for the County Durham Environment Awards 2024 are now open.

The awards are organised by the County Durham Environment and Climate Change Partnership and recognise the great work and commitment towards caring for the natural and built environment through sustainable innovation, design and volunteering across the county’s communities and businesses.

There are categories for individuals, schools, businesses and community groups to apply:

• Sustainable Built Environment
• Responding to Climate Change
• Environmental Community Action
• Green Business
• Nature in Places and Spaces
• Volunteer Group of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year
• Schools and Colleges
• Active Outdoors
• Outstanding Award

Applications close on the 7 October; more information can be found at County Durham Environment Awards

Living in rural County Durham may be an aspiration for many, but the reality often falls short due to the lack of available affordable homes.

Many people who grew up in rural areas are likely to want to remain in their home village, especially if their family and close friends are there too.

Durham Community Action is looking to explore what kind of housing people feel is needed. For example:

• Do you think there are enough affordable, local homes for young people and workers in rural County Durham?
• Do you worry that as you get older that your home may not be suitable for you?  
• Are you struggling to find a home in the area of County Durham where you work or where you grew up? 
• Do you run a business and feel that a lack of  homes for workers is a problem?
• Or do you feel there has been too much building in your area?

Our Rural Housing Enabler, Susan Tron wants to hear about people who  have been unable to find a home in rural County Durham.

She also wants to hear from people who feel that there is already too much new house building in rural areas.

Whatever your views are, we can collect them anonymously and report back to the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) about the current housing situation in County Durham.

We welcome your feedback on this. To contribute please text or ring Susan on 07496 461 998 or e-mail susan.tron@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk

Do you know anyone who might be interested to join a group of people who want to create a small community of bungalows which are very energy-efficient and fully accessible?

The idea is for about 16-20 bungalows for active retired people, ready to accommodate a variety of needs in older age. The homes would be modest in size, with their own small garden and access to a community garden. Incorporating green technologies to keep energy costs to a minimum, the bungalows would be very well-insulated and have solar panels and heat pumps.

The scheme would draw upon the ideas of cohousing communities, and would have a common room for occasional shared meals and other social activities. Residents would help with the running of the scheme through voluntary hours of work.

The location has not been decided – the scheme would need about one acre of flat land in a location where there is easy access to bus services and local facilities, and if possible, pleasant views. For further information, please contact Dorothy at admin@necans.uk, or telephone 0770 748 1915, and leave a message on the answerphone.

The County Durham Poverty Truth Commission project team have been out and about over the last few months drinking cups of tea and meeting loads of interesting and inspiring people!

We have now successfully appointed a number of enthusiastic Community Commissioners and will soon be moving onto the next stage of the commission.

We will be meeting regularly to build relationships with each other, talk about poverty, share our stories and plan our launch event which will be happening early next year.

We’re very excited to get started and look forward to working with our Commissioners, facilitating them to have their voices heard and make a difference to the way people think about poverty in County Durham.

More information can be found on our County Durham Poverty Truth Commission webpage

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have launched a new, quick and easy-to-use tool to help small organisations and sole traders create a bespoke privacy notice and protect people’s information rights.

Under data protection law, every organisation that holds people’s information needs to explain why it holds it and what it does with it. This is so their customers, suppliers, staff and volunteers know what will happen to their personal information.

Organisations can provide this information through a privacy notice, which is displayed on their website or included in other communications, to ensure they’re compliant.

More information can be found on the ICO website: Create Your Own Privacy Notice

Digital Unite have developed a free Digital Champion Programme Planner to support organisations with digital inclusion – helping people to get online. The planner asks questions about your target audience and why essential digital skills matter within your organisation, before providing a tailored report with recommendations and resources including Digital Unite’s Digital Champion project guide.

The planner helps aid and support organisations to boost their digital confidence and skills for staff, volunteers, service users and citizens. Once signed up you will also receive Digital Unite’s top tips for running a successful Digital Champion project, tried and tested with hundreds of organisations.

To find out more visit the Digital Unite website

The Derwent Valley Partnership will be hosting its first Environment Conference on Friday 27^th September from 10.00am - 2.00pm at Consett Rugby Club.

The conference is free to attend and there will be a range of guest speakers including Lyndsey Hocking from Durham Community Action who will be talking about the Derwent Valley Community Growing Project and the County Durham Community Growing and Food Network.

Refreshments and a buffet lunch will be provided. Places are limited so booking is essential.

If you would like to attend this event, please contact the DVP team at dvaap@durham.gov.uk or telephone 07818 510365 to book your place.

Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week 2024 takes place from Monday 7th to Friday 11th October. 

The NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) is encouraging sports clubs and community sport providers to host a ‘Team Huddle’. This is an opportunity for everyone involved in sport and activity to come together and a reminder that every child, no matter their background, abilities, or gender, should feel welcome and safe in sports.

In creating a Team Huddle it encourages everyone involved in sports: parents, coaches, and organisations, to create spaces where every child can participate without fear or harm and ultimately ensure our children are safe in sport.

A key resource for this week is ‘The Huddle Event Pack’, full of helpful tools and information for parents and coaches, including videos, guides, and templates. It’s designed to make it easier for everyone to understand how to keep children safe and make sports more inclusive.

During Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week, parents and coaches are encouraged to use The Huddle to learn more about safeguarding and to put these ideas into practice. By doing so, they can help make sports a positive, fun, and safe experience for all children.

Plan a Team Huddle to help keep children safe in sport | CPSU (thecpsu.org.uk)

A free networking event about digital inclusion is taking place in central Durham from 10.00am - 2.00pm on Thursday, 24^th October.

Hosted by Digital Unite and Capgemini, the event brings together anyone with an interest in ensuring people can make the most of an increasingly digital world together.

Hear from key players who are tackling the digital divide, access Inspire training and build relationships over a buffet lunch.

If you would like to book your place and/or ask about having a stand at the event, please email kate.holmes@digitalunite.com as soon as possible.

Are you thinking about taking on your first employee? Do you already have employees and need to know if you meet legal requirements?

In this short webinar on Thursday 26th September from 10.30 - 11.30am HR expert Alison Schreiber from The HR Dept will highlight what you need to know as a first-time employer and some of the common issues for voluntary organisations to watch out for. There will also be plenty of opportunities to ask your own questions too.

The County Durham Volunteering Kitemark is a free quality standard to recognise organisations for overcoming the barriers to volunteering and offering a high-quality, positive volunteering experience. 

This in-person information session on Thursday 10th October from 10.00 - 11.30am will provide the opportunity to learn more about the process and examples of evidence needed to achieve each section of the Kitemark and to ask questions about the application process. 

The session is open to both organisations new to the Kitemark process, and those who are due for renewal of the Kitemark.

This event will take place in person at the Durham Community Action offices in Low Willington. 

For any queries please email charlotte.linton@durhamcommunityaction.org.uk

Round 3 of the Community Energy Fund (CEF) is now open for applications until 13th October. 

CEF supports the feasibility and development stages of urban and rural community energy projects to benefit their local area and help kickstart clean energy projects for saving, managing or generating energy.

It can support a range of projects including small-scale wind and rooftop solar partnerships, battery storage, rural heat networks and electric vehicle charging points amongst others and can also be used to fund fuel poverty alleviation schemes such as energy efficiency, retrofit and advice projects.

The fund is for the development of projects from idea to investment-ready stage; it does not provide capital funding for the installation of projects. Community ownership/ community benefit is a key criterion for the funding.

Stage 1 Feasibility Grants are available of up to £40k to produce a feasibility study to establish the technical and financial viability of a project. Stage 2 Development Grants are also available up to £100k to develop projects ready to delivery stage.

All guidance documents and application forms can be found at Community Energy Fund - North East & Yorkshire Net Zero Hub

Please get in touch with the Net Zero Hub’s community energy team via enquiries@NEYnetzerohub.com  if you are planning on applying to the fund or if you have any queries about your project eligibility

Northern Gas Networks (NGN) Affordable Warmth and Safety scheme is offering funding to grassroots organisations in their area to provide energy saving advice to vulnerable households so they can achieve affordable warmth and safety.

The fund is being administered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and the deadline for applications is midday on Monday 30^th September.

Grants of up to £21,000 are available projects that offer:

• Personalised energy advice
• Support to access debt and benefits advice
• Support to access the Priorities Services Register
• Carbon Monoxide safety awareness
• Support to access grants and fuel vouchers

Training will be provided to successful applicants so previous experience providing energy advice is not required. This fund is aimed at grassroots organisations who have experience supporting vulnerable households in their community.

Find out more about the scheme and how to apply here

Northern Powergrid Foundation have grants of between £1,000 and £20,000 for projects that address community energy resilience projects in North East England, Yorkshire, and north Lincolnshire. The deadline for applications is 14th October.

Projects can include installing solar panels and battery storage at community hubs to improve resilience during planned or unplanned power cuts, or power related emergency events.

A range of organisations can apply including but not limited to parish councils, village halls, community hubs and community centres, community associations, community trusts, community partnerships, etc.

Find out more on the Northern Powergrid Foundation website

New Local Network boundary areas

Have your say on proposals for new Local Network (Area Action Partnerships) boundary areas.

Proposals for new Local Network boundary areas

Closing Date: 20th September

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Advice Services

Have your say in how advice services are offered to County Durham residents in the future. These services include managing money, debt management and access to benefits, as well as welfare, employment, housing, consumer rights and health and social care.

Advice service consultation

Closing Date: 20th September

Represent Women, a new organisation, aims to provide a policy and advocacy voice for the women’s sector. We are gathering the views of women and girls living in the North East and Tees Valley. 

There are two surveys, one for all women and girls living and working in the North East and Tees Valley (10-15 minutes)  

Women's survey on local services

A second for VCSE workers and allies.  (5-8 minutes) If you work or volunteer in the VCSE sector, please complete both.

Women and girls VCSE sector Survey

In addition, if you are an organisation that supports women and girls we encourage you to hold focus groups on specific topics that are relevant to the people you work with. Represent Women staff can support these groups if needed and have provided a focus group guidance document, available upon request.  

Your input will help them create briefing papers to inform decision-makers and share findings with their networks. Findings will be shared with the women and girls VCSE sector.  

Closing Date: 4th October

• Ambulances and Paramedics
• Patient Transport Service
• 999 Call Handling
• NHS 111 Calls

Complete the North East Ambulance Survey here