Big Lottery Fund

Regional introduction

Welcome to the latest update from the Big Lottery Fund in the East of England

This update includes information on Young People’s Investment, the Big Lunch, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award, the Cabinet Office new policy directions and much more.  The ‘External News’ slot has regional items which we hope you will find useful and informative.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Bridge View Information and Advice Centre in Lowestoft for winning the ‘High Sheriffs Community Group of the Year’ award which recognises the work they do in terms of reducing criminality in the local area. To find out more about the award please visit www.stjohnshousing.org/news/

Did you know that a whopping £27 billion has now been raised for the good causes by the National Lottery since its introduction in 1995? Why not find out more about how your Lottery money is spent and visit www.lotteryfunding.org.uk

Best wishes,

Sara Betsworth, Head of Region – East of England

Young People – BIG Investment

Big Lottery Fund is developing a new, multi-million pound investment for young people across England.

Young people are at the heart of designing this investment. Around 20 young people from across England are working with the Big Lottery Fund on this. Over the next 2 months these young people will work with BIG to decide the priority areas to fund.

In the last week they have talked to over 1,000 other young people in their local areas (face to face and via social media) and reviewed over 50 pieces of evidence. They have also reviewed academic and policy evidence and debated priority issues.

Positive thinking...

Temitope, aged 20 said: ‘I feel really good and pro-active about this programme. I really do feel this is the most powerful and thought provoking project for young people that BIG can do.’

Daniel, aged 18 said: ‘I am very positive about the BIG process. The group are fantastic and we have all contributed really well to every conversation and every piece of work.’

These are the emerging priorities:

• Unemployment (including NEET, education and training)
• Leisure plus (constructive places to go with good support services)
• Safety (violence and gangs)
• Young people’s portrayal in the media
• Young people’s self image and identity
• Health and wellbeing (mental health, stress, bullying, sexual health and substances)

This is a great opportunity.BIG is doing something really exciting and we hope other funders and agencies will do the same.

We want to hear from more young people and are using social media to engage them and let them know what we are doing. Please help us by promoting these networks to young people in your area:

Follow the conversation on twitter by searching #BIGyp

Have your say on facebook

The young people on our team are also updating the Big Blog every week, have a look and see what they’ve been doing www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Big Lunch Starter packs available

Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee with your very own neighbourhood Big Lunch on 3 June 2012.

The fourth annual Big Lunch will fall on the same weekend as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. So anyone who would like to celebrate and commemorate the Queen’s 60 year reign can do so by holding a Big Jubilee Lunch!

As announced by Buckingham Palace, the Big Jubilee Lunch will be a part of the main programme of events over the central weekend of Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June 2012. A special four-day Diamond Jubilee bank holiday will take place so there will be plenty of time for you to enjoy lunching in your community.

You can request a free pack to help get you started on organising your Big Lunch and visit the Big Lunch website for lots of ideas and advice.

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Awards

Nominations opened on 27 February 2012 for a special award that will mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by recognising the work of voluntary organisations throughout the United Kingdom.

The new Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 will honour the efforts of charities and voluntary organisations that undertake projects at a national level this year, including groups which are supporting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an extension of the successful Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the highest recognition for volunteering, with an equivalent status to the UK MBE.

To find out more information, visit this website

Cabinet Office issues new policy directions for BIG

Last year responsibility for the Big Lottery Fund (BIG), including setting policy directions, transferred from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Cabinet Office. The revised policy directions follow a 12-week consultation conducted by the Cabinet Office. These new policy directions cover BIG’s spending in England, the Isle of Man and UK-wide spending. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland policy directions are issued by the devolved administrations.

Responding to the new directions, Peter Ainsworth, BIG’s UK Chair, said: “BIG welcomes the new policy directions issued by the Cabinet Office. The directions reflect a change in sponsor department for BIG and restate our funding focus to support communities and people in greatest need.

“The directions give us the flexibility to fund what works for communities, to focus on local and national issues, to involve people, develop partnerships and to share with others the learning from our funding and initiatives. I have been clear on the importance of the additionality principle and am pleased that this principle is preserved in the directions. We now look forward to delivering against these policy directions, using Lottery investments effectively for the benefit of communities across the country.”

To download a copy of the Policy Direction document, and for further details on the consultation visit the Cabinet Office website

Village SOS - The Local Magazine - issue three out now

The Local is the regular magazine from Village SOS which celebrates the people making a real difference in their communities through enterprising ideas.

• It's packed full of advice, information and inspirational case studies from community enterprises and useful organisations across the UK.
• You can download a copy of or order your printed copies by visiting the Village SOS website.

External news

BBC Children in Need – Volunteers needed!

BBC Children in Need is currently recruitingvolunteer committee members for its regional advisory committee in the Central region, they are particularly interested in applications from the East of England Download application

The closing date for the role is the 15th April 2012.

BBC Children in Need is positively changing the lives of disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK and celebrate diversity and positively encourage applications from all parts of the community to join our Central regional advisory committee. This is a great opportunity for a committed and enthusiastic person to support BBC Children in Need's decision-making processes.

Anyone interested in the roles can contactMelinda Connelly, Regional Manager, on 0121 5677120 or 07590 307171, or email melinda.connelly@bbc.co.uk for an informal chat about whatthe roles entail.

Big Local  - Invitation to tender

Up to 100 community development and renewal advisors wanted

Could you support local communities to work together to make their local areas even better places to live? If so Renaisi want to hear from you! Renaisi is looking to develop a national pool of experienced and committed individuals ‘Big Local reps’ who can guide and coach 150 communities across England to make their areas even better places to live.

These areas have been awarded £1m as part of the Big Lottery Fund initiative, called Big Local, which gives people locally a key role in deciding how to improve their areas and create lasting change. Each area receives at least £1m to spend over 10 years – along with support, training and networking opportunities.

They now need a pool of reps to help provide this support. Big Local reps will need to have excellent facilitation skills and be able to use their limited time effectively. This role would particularly suit those working on a freelance basis or those who have capacity to manage it alongside other employment responsibilities.

Please note – this is an invitation to tender. Renaisi is recruiting and managing Big Local reps on behalf of Local Trust www.localtrust.org.uk the organisation that has been set up to deliver Big Local. Reps will be contracted to Renaisi on a national framework contract. For further information and details on how to apply please click here. Or alternatively if you have any queries then please contact Donna Lightbown on recruitment@renaisi.com or telephone 020 7033 2614.

Get CSR Connected CIC – Hertfordshire

Get CSR Connected CIC here, a social enterprise based in Hertfordshire. They specifically support local employer teams to do local team building community projects.They currently have teams looking for indoor and outdoor projects for the spring and summer season.

These teams are ideally looking to do projects in and around:

• Broxbourne
• Hertford/Ware
• WGC/Hatfield
• Stevenage/North Herts
• St Albans/Harpenden

Ideally projects that would suit teams of either 15-20, 25-30, 40-60 or 60-100 people.

Get CSR Connected organise projects to be completed in ½ - 1 day with the team as a manpower resource. This can be a great opportunity to complete projects, whilst also building a relationship with local employers. They support both parties to organise and complete the project in partnership.

If you have any project you think may be suitable – please get in touch. Get CSR Connected would like projects that already are (or can be) organised well in advance. To find out more and how to get involved please visit www.getcsrconnected.org.uk/herts

Please contact at projects@getcsrconnected.org.uk or call on 01920 485552.

Paralympic Torch Relay – East of England

Communities across the East of England are set to celebrate the Paralympic Torch Relay over the August bank holiday weekend, 25 – 27 August. In the East of England celebrations will be held in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire. For more information about events in the region please visit www.london2012.com/paralympic-torch-relay