We’re excited to announce we are developing a new app to support people to walk more as part of their everyday lives in Derbyshire.

As part of this, we’d like to include your local open spaces to walk, along with some less well known walking routes.

So we need your help.

We’d like you to send us photographs of local open spaces or parks within your community and can include anywhere in Derbyshire or Derby. We’ll include these images in the app and everyone who sends us a photograph will be entered into a draw to win a prize of a £50 Love to Shop voucher.

Photos can be submitted between Monday 04 March 2024 and Friday 29 March 2024 and should be submitted to marketing@activepartnerstrust.org.uk Please include the name of the park/open space and its location within the submission.

For terms and conditions, please head to the website:

Walk Derbyshire Photo Competition

Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s Ellie Scott is the guest on the latest Let’s Chat Derbyshire Podcast episode.
 
Derbyshire’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Team speak with Ellie about The Georgia Bird Foundation (GBF) and about her lived experience of losing her best friend Georgia, who died by suicide and how she’s used this experience of starting GBF. They also discuss about how young people can support their own mental health and how we can support young people.
 
Listen here:  https://linktr.ee/dccmhsp

BRIGHTLIFE charity will be hosting the CHAMPIONS AGAINST LONELINESS AWARDS dinner on the 16^th March 2024 at the SMH Stadium in Chesterfield. (Chesterfield Football Stadium)

The event is being supported by local companies and individuals who wish to celebrate the work of local heroes who help others to feel less lonely and isolated within their communities.

Loneliness is a killer and it can creep up on any of us when we least expect it!

BRIGHTLIFE would like the local communities of CHESTERFIELD, BOLSOVER AND NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE to nominate any volunteer that they feel deserves to be recognised for the work they do to prevent and relieve loneliness and isolation.
How are the Awards decided?
 
The Award in each category is decided based on the following:
 
– The number of nominations received by an individual/organisation in a category
 
– A review of the nominations in each category by the BrightLife adjudication panel, focussing, in particular, on the ‘What’s the story behind your nomination?’ section of the nomination
 
The categories are: –
Champion
Champion Young Person
Champion Volunteer
Champion Carer
Champion Business
Champion Neighbour
Champion Charity
 
Please follow the link to our website https://www.brightlife.charity/champions
 
Choose the category and give us the reasons for your nomination.
 
If you need any further information, please call 01246 273333 and ask for Ann Monk

Community groups and voluntary organisations based in Chesterfield are being invited to attend a new training programme – designesd to help them boost their profile and support the services they offer to local people.

Delivered by Chesterfield Borough Council thanks to external funding, and in partnership with Derbyshire Voluntary Action (DVA) and Links Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), the new ‘Fundamentals Training Programme’ is being offered to all groups and organisations that provide services and activities to residents in Chesterfield.

Funding for the Fundamentals Training Programme has been successfully secured from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)

The event will take place on Monday 11 March, between 9am and 4.45pm at The Winding Wheel Theatre. Attendees are welcome to attend for just the morning or afternoon session or can stay for the full day, and can choose which of the following workshops they would like to attend in each session:

Morning sessions (9.45am to 12.45pm) :
– Searching for relevant grant funding and writing grant funding applications
– Recruiting and supporting volunteers to help deliver activities
– Climate Change workshop designed to help groups make greener choices when delivering their activities

Afternoon sessions (1.40pm to 4.40pm)
– Marketing and promoting services and activities they offer
– Health and safety advice for services and activities delivered in a community setting
– Climate Change workshop designed to help groups make greener choices when delivering their activities

Free lunch and refreshments will be provided for attendees.

Dates for future training dates are also being arranged and will be made available via the council’s website in due course or you can contact Wendy and Marie at email communitydevelopment@chesterfield.gov.uk or call 01246 959657 / 01246 959620 to have your name added to the list.

The training programme is just one initiative which is benefiting from funding through the UKSPF, after Chesterfield Borough Council was successful in securing £2.6m from the Government. It will fund initiatives up to April 2025, which are designed to improve life for local people and support local businesses.

If you would like to find out more about the training, or book your place please email communitydevelopment@chesterfield.gov.uk or call 01246 959657 / 01246 959620.

When booking please give the following information:
Full names of attendees, email addresses, phone numbers – which morning session and afternoon session you would like to attend – and also if you would like to stay for lunch.

Voluntary, community and charity organisations in Derbyshire can apply for a grant to set up warm and welcoming spaces this winter.

The warm and welcoming spaces fund is to support organisations to provide a warm refuge for residents and their families struggling to heat their homes.

Organisations can apply for up to £1,000 towards the cost of opening up community venues and/or to extend their opening hours during the colder months.

To qualify for a grant, organisations must pledge to offer a heated space during the winter months, provide seating, offer refreshments such as a warm drink and a biscuit, and be free of charge.

More information can be found on the Derbyshire County Council website Warm and welcoming spaces – Derbyshire County Council

Please submit your application form in Word or PDF format via email to grants@derbyshire.gov.uk. If you are unable to send your application via email, please post it to the following address: Derbyshire County Council, Corporate Services & Transformation, Strategy and Policy, County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

If you have any queries regarding the attached documents or the Programme, please send your query to grants@derbyshire.gov.uk and they will respond to you ASAP.

Application Form
Supporting Information 2023-24

1^st February 2024 is Time to Talk Day. You can show your support by sharing the local and national resources within the Derbyshire Mental Health toolkit across Derby and Derbyshire.
 
To access this toolkit and many other digital resources, please visit: https://bit.ly/DerbyshireMHToolKit 
You can also order Let’s Chat Derbyshire physical resources: https://bit.ly/Letschatresources 

A Google interactive map for the Chesterfield ‘Warm & Welcoming Spaces’ is now up and running and can be accessed via the Chesterfield Borough Council website: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1JrCSjycja_aUlPvSTs5YeqkGhaRwNw8&usp=sharing