CAITHNESS VOLUNTARY GROUP UPDATE: By Yvonne Hendry

Caithness Voluntary Group is open for business. We supported community groups throughout 2020 and we look forward to working with them again in 2021.

We work with groups covering a range of support including funding, policies and procedures, volunteering and governance.

Caithness Rural Transport and Befriending Caithness continue to run their services. Anyone wishing to book transport should email Coreen Campbell (coreen@cvg.org.uk), while to find out about the befriending service contact Angie House (angie@cvg.org.uk or 07592 493048).

The National Lottery Community Fund is organising open sessions for groups interested in applying, as some changes have been made to its funding streams. We will keep you posted about these so you can join in.

Grants are available from Scottish Sea Farms' Heart of the Community Trust for projects that deliver lasting change within Shetland, Orkney, Highland, Argyll and Dumfries in health promotion, education and personal development as well as community projects. The average award is around 5000. Details are at http://www.scottishseafarms.com/community/heart-of-the-community

The Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund is open for applications up to 5000. The fund is now focusing on recovery. This phase of funding will support organisations to continue their operations or to re-establish or redesign their activities to comply with new regulations, in addition to providing emergency support for those who need it most.

Details are on the Foundation Scotland website.

Adapt and Thrive is a Scottish Government funding programme that helps organisations to change and recover.

Recovery for the third sector has not been straightforward, and lockdowns, changes to guidelines and the tier system will continue to be part of our daily lives in 2021. As a response, Adapt and Thrive has adapted and from this week all eligible organisations can access funding regardless of turnover size, while the top value of grants has increased to 75,000.

Working with an adviser, organisations will be supported to develop a plan so they can adapt to the challenges presented by Covid-19, operate sustainably and continue to have a positive impact in their communities. This may mean developing new income streams, restructuring the organisation or changing how services are delivered. Funding to implement the plan is also available.

Adapt and Thrive offers tailored, specialist advice, as well as grants and loans. The advice is designed to help organisations to build recovery plans that are flexible, allowing them to stay open, respond or adapt quickly to any changes in guidelines or tiers. The funding is unrestricted so it can also adapt around the needs of the organisation.

The Communities Recovery Fund, also from the Scottish Government, supports the delivery of services in communities that were suspended or reduced because of Covid or the creation of new services.

The fund offers grants so organisations can reintroduce the delivery of services and supports the adaptation of existing services or the development of new ones to tackle new community needs relating to the pandemic.

For information on both funds click here.

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Looking forward to giving continued support to Caithness community groups - JohnOGroat Journal