Nature Based Volunteering Project at Matlock Farm Park – This project provides supported volunteering opportunities for people living with memory loss within a farm environment.  The project also offers buddy volunteering roles, supporting a person with memory difficulties.  The Connection Space CIC have places available for people to be referred/express an interest in volunteering and buddy volunteering.  People can also self refer, so please get in touch with Mary Derrick on theconnectionspacecic@gmail.com or 07450195051.

In the financial year 2021-2022, NHS Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Derbyshire County Council Public Health have made available four different funding pots to Derbyshire Voluntary Action, which it will administer as a single ‘Health and Wellbeing Grant’ for Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover.

This single grant scheme replaces our previous DVA Small Grant and Public Health Small Grants schemes.

The purpose of the Health and Wellbeing Grant is to support new and existing not-for-profit voluntary and community groups/organisations whose work strengthens the local community and improves the health and wellbeing of their beneficiaries. 

The partners are keen that this grant should support groups to recover from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and help them to get up and running again over the coming summer and autumn.  They particularly want to support small groups – social clubs, friendship groups, self-help groups, lunch clubs, activity groups and groups that provide support and information.

Applications can be for core costs or project projects only, or for a combination of the two.

	Maximum Amount
Core Costs/General Running Costs	£500 per application
Project Costs	£1,000 per district

Completed application forms can be sent in at any time to kim@dva.org.uk.  The panel will aim to make a decision on all applications within 20 working days of receipt.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Derbyshire Voluntary Action Start-Up Grant

The aim of the Derbyshire Voluntary Action Start-Up Grant is to support volunteers to meet the expenses of setting up a new Group and getting it off the ground.  A maximum of £200 is available.  Groups must be brand new and must not have previously received funding.  Applications will be reviewed within 10 working days of receipt.

Students and staff from Chesterfield College’s painting and decorating department have used their skills to help transform a former betting shop into a welcoming community hub for Derbyshire Voluntary Action.

When Derbyshire Voluntary Action were given the opportunity to turn empty premises in Chesterfield town centre into a safe space for people to connect with each other and the community, they needed help to give it a new lease of life.  Therefore, they approached Chesterfield College to ask if students would like to get involved to help create the space that will eventually be somewhere they might benefit from.

Vital work experience

The students spent the week working under the watchful eye of their industry expert tutors. They prepared the space, painted and cleaned the area ready for the next phase of the refurbishment.

Explaining why she had enjoyed working on the project, painting and decorating student, Naomi Taylor said:

“I have had some experience of working on painting and decorating projects at home before. Working in a place like this is different. It gives us really good practice at the type of jobs we could be working on in the future and everything that you need to do. I really like doing something practical like this.”

Terry Brickles, Curriculum Operations Manager for construction at Chesterfield College said:

“This project has come at a perfect time for the students who are near the end of their course. They have been able to take what they have learnt in a classroom and apply it in a real-life situation. They develop vital skills which will help them as they move on with their studies and into employment. Importantly, they also have a sense of pride in being able to part of something that will benefit the community.”

Making a difference to the community

During the week, Staff and young people from Fairplay, a charity who are looking forward to using the hub when it is open, thanked the students for their hard work. They baked cakes for the decorating team which gave them a welcome energy boost as they worked!

Jacqui Willis, Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s Chief Executive Officer said:

“It is absolutely crucial we get young people involved right from the beginning of this project. We are so pleased the students have been part of making this space. They have all worked really hard and the college has gone above and beyond to help us get the hub ready. We have plans to make sure their involvement doesn’t stop here. There are so many opportunities for volunteering and to provide services to help us deliver our vision for this space.”

With the decorating job finished, Derbyshire Voluntary Action will now complete the refurbishment. Soon the space will become a front door for people to find out about the services that are available in the community and how to connect with them. It will also be a place to host creative activities, performances and workshops which will encourage people to re-engage with community life as the Covid restrictions of the last year are eased.

Article taken from Chesterfield College website

The Feeling Connect Fund has enabled Ashgate Hospicecare to buy 7 tablet devices to create an IT equipment loan service for its community patients. The tablets are all set up with the most up to date software, apps and for those without broadband the sim cards they need to access virtual hospice support, wellbeing activities; and a way to connect with others to combat their feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Yvonne McDonald, who was diagnosed with malignant glioma of the brain in August, will be loaned one of Ashgate Hospicecare’s tablets, which has been funded by a grant of £4,792 from the Feeling Connected Fund.  The 68-year-old, from Bolsover, is looking forward to accessing Ashgate’s virtual Day Services so she can connect with different people and benefit from the online therapy sessions. She had previously tried to access the virtual services but didn’t have the necessary equipment or software until now.  

She said: “It’s lovely to find out I’ll be getting one of Ashgate’s new tablets and I’m looking forward to using mine.  

“I want to take part in the quizzes and other activities; I think it will be a good opportunity to take my mind of things.

“It will also be good to meet and speak to different people, it’ll be good to do things with others after not seeing people during the lockdown.”  

Funding from a project aiming to break down the barriers around ‘social connectedness’ to stop people from feeling lonely and isolated is helping a number of organisations across Derbyshire.

Derbyshire Voluntary Action (DVA) recently launched the Feeling Connected Fund, which funds work in the community across North East Derbyshire and Chesterfield to help people stop feeling disconnected from others.

The aims of the project are to raise the profile of the benefits of being socially connected, raise awareness of existing services that support social connectedness and identify interventions, initiatives, and activities to assist people to feel socially connected.

One organisation to receive Feeling Connected funding is the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership (DEBP), which specialises in supporting the aspirational decision making of young people to shape their future, helping them to fulfil their potential.

DEBP, which works with vulnerable young adults and young people up to the age of 19 – or 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), received more than £4,000 from the Feeling Connected Fund.

Thanks to the funding, the ‘Let’s Get Creative’ project was set up to support young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.  It provides the opportunity to link up with businesses and organisations in the creative sector, giving them an insight into what it’s like to work in that environment and meet other young people with shared interests. 

The group of learners have undertaken a range of activities to learn about a variety of aspects within the creative sector.  They have been able to spend time at Chesterfield College which is hoped will help them transition into further education – a move that can be very challenging. The group are utilising their skills in developing an interactive app and this includes the creation of soundscapes.

Clare Talati, director of DEBP, said: “During the pandemic, we saw a huge increase in young people with additional needs feeling isolated because they are often not catered for by mainstream provision. Most of their peer network and social interaction is at school, so when the schools closed last year it had a huge impact.

“We recognised an opportunity to provide young people with the chance to utilise, develop and showcase their skills, allowing them to progress positively and enhance their experiences – people with SEND are often an unrecognised talent pool. Thanks to the funding from the Feeling Connected project, we have been able to collaborate with Kakou, a local organisation specialising in inclusive technologies and Chesterfield College’s Digital, Media and Graphics department, to deliver ‘Let’s Get Creative’, which is achieving just that.

“It’s been such a fantastic experience for the young people involved and what is clear is that participants are getting a huge level of satisfaction from this initiative. It is enabling each of the young people to create a bigger peer network and giving them the opportunity to interact with new people in different ways, which is proving extremely beneficial.

“Without the funding this project wouldn’t have been possible, so a huge thank you to DVA for all their support, as well as all the other partner organisations we’ve worked with who have supported us in delivering it.”

Delivery of the project also coincides with the Marmalade Trust’s Loneliness Awareness Week, which is taking place from 14 – 21 June. The week aims to get people talking about loneliness and reduce the stigma around it, accepting that is does exist but looking at ways to help.

A total of six organisations have benefitted from the support of the Feeling Connected Fund, including Ashgate Hospice, EMH Care and Support and St Thomas Church, Brampton.

The Feeling Connected project is a multi-agency Health and Wellbeing Partnership project, led by DVA.  

DVA, which has created a network of more than 300 organisations with the aim of making the voluntary sector stronger and more joined up, is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year after forming in 1991. 

Testimonials from some of the funded organisations: https://dva.org.uk/feeling-connected/

Please see below the link to Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s Annual Survey 2021.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DVAAnnualSurvey21

We would be very grateful if you would take a few minutes to let us know what you think about our work over the past year or so (from April 2020 to June 2021) and the services and support we have offered you through our core work.

The questions are broad, but please be assured we will look at your responses carefully and take account of them in our future interactions with our funders, as well as including them in our annual review and reports to stakeholders.

Thanks for your continued support.

Jacqui Willis
Chief Executive
Derbyshire Voluntary Action

Derbyshire Voluntary Action are delighted to be showing our support this Loneliness Awareness Week, which is organised by the Marmalade Trust

To celebrate, we’ll be showcasing some of the organisations who have benefitted from funding through the Feeling Connected project, which aims to break down the barriers around ‘social connectedness’ to stop people from feeling lonely and isolated.

It’s amazing to hear about all the things people have done with our funding and how much our support means to them – https://dva.org.uk/feeling-connected/

Get your nominations in for The Voluntary Sector Awards 2021. This year the awards will take place on Wednesday, October 13^th at The Pomegranate Theatre.

A list of Awards and sponsors are as follows:
 
Young Volunteer of the Year – Derby University (TBC)
Volunteer Long Service Award – DCC Public Health
CEO/Manager of the Year – TBC
Volunteer Team Of The Year – Brampton Brewery
Most Innovative Project – Inspec Solutions Ltd
Employee Of The Year –  TBC
Volunteer Of The Year – Chesterfield Borough Council
Trustee / MC Member of the Year – TBC
Organisation Of The Year (Income under 25k) – Chesterfield Borough Council
Organisation Of The Year (Income up to 100k) – NEDDC 
Organisation Of The Year – (Income over 100k) – Chesterfield College
 

Nominate now! Click here>>

As part of its response to the Covid-19 crisis, Rural Action Derbyshire launched its own Rural Hardship Fund. The fund has been supported by monies from the Prince’s Trust and Derbyshire County Council and provides one-off small grants of up £250 to people in rural areas who have suffered hardship because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The grants are provided to improve the health and well-being of the rural community in cases where circumstances have led or are leading to a significant deterioration in an individual’s health and well-being.

We appreciate that Derbyshire is a large rural county, with lots of small towns and villages with rural peripheries. The Hardship Fund does not exclude partner referrals for residents living in the small and medium sized Derbyshire towns and villages, but does exclude the larger urban areas of Chesterfield and Derby City.  However, we are particularly interested to hear from people who are living and working in isolated rural locations and have little support.

We are happy to take referrals from the following agencies / partners. This list is not exhaustive, so if you are working with someone who needs some financial support please get in touch.

Please be aware, we are not able to accept self-referrals.

• Citizen’s Advice
• A Derbyshire Food Bank, Community Café, School Holiday Club or Community Pantry.
• Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy
• Farming Life Centre
• The Farming Community Network
• Social Prescribers

For more information contact:

Jo Peck, Project Coordinator, Rural Action Derbyshire

Telephone Direct: 01629 592978

Mobile: 07738 107072

Email: j.peck@ruralactionderbyshire.org.uk

Kakou is an engineering social enterprise based in Chesterfield who design ‘tech for good’. The organisation creates technologies that support and empower the masses. The word “Kakou” is Hawaiian for their value of inclusiveness. It means “all of us” and “we are in this together.”  They received Feeling Connected Funding to support a number of projects to connect people and reduce isolation.

Ann Fomukong-Boden, Co-Founder and Director, said: “Over the past year, through our community programme SocialFuse, we produced free online music, art and wellbeing sessions to help people connect and reduce isolation, whilst also teaching new digital connectivity skills.

“We were delighted to be chosen as a recipient of Feeling Connected funding as the grant has enabled us to continue providing our free activities within the community.

“We are currently running Re-Start Art for mental wellbeing workshops online led by the wonderful Lucie Maycock, and soon we will be resuming our Fusion Music sessions featuring singing, instrument learning and British Sign Language sign-singing.

“Being part of the Feeling Connected project has also enabled collaborative projects with other organisations, maximising the usage of the grant. We have been working with the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership on their Let’s Get Creative project, from which the outcomes will be featured within the Don Catchment Rivers Trust “Hidden Heritage Secret Streams” project and Chesterfield Borough Council’s “Best Foot Forward” campaign.”