Thank you to all those who attended our 15th Annual General Meeting last Friday. Martin Townsend, Chair of DDCVS opened proceedings which included:

  •  The presentation of the DDCVS Annual Award, which celebrates the excellent work that is carried out in the community.

  •  Neil Moulden, CEO ‘Overview of the Year’

  •  Formal AGM business section

  •  Update on the Better Derbyshire Dales Fund.

Martin thanked the Trustees that have stepped down from the DDCVS Board in 2016 for the contribution they made to DDCVS in previous years. He also thanked the remaining and new trustees and also the staff team, for their continued efforts and support, including for himself in his new role as Chair.

Martin spoke of our interest in supplementing the existing Board with additional trustees in order to add to the existing mix of knowledge, skills and experience.  If you’d like to consider becoming a Trustee, or know someone else who may be interested, do please get in touch to find out what it involves. Tel Neil Moulden on 01629 812154.

Sarah Paisley presented the DDCVS Annual Award to Pam Cripps of Hathersage Careline and Careline Extra Befriending Service in recognition of the work they do in Hathersage to offer regular contact and companionship to isolated people in the village. Pam (pictured here receiving the award) gave a short talk on both groups, the valued service that they offer and how she came to set them up.

Samantha Taylor, Resident Involvement Co-ordinator with Dales Housing (now part of the Waterloo Housing Group) has kindly agreed to run a funding surgery at our offices in Bakewell.

She would like to meet anyone interested in doing something for the benefit of their community, or who already does something that benefits their community and would make good use of a small grant.

Any activity or event or community group must involve some residents from Dales Housing properties. To book your half hour slot wth Sam please contact Sarah Paisley at DDCVS. Tel 01629 812154.

Just a reminder that the Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Area Community Forums are taking place in the coming weeks.

  •  25th October Parwich Village Hall

  •  1st November Eyam Church Centre

Forums will cover: –

  •  ‘You said, we did’ feedback session

  •  Good News briefing from Cheif Executive Dorcus Bunton

  •  An ‘efficiencies’ workshop session

  •  Update on recycling issues

  •  The ever popular ‘question & answer’ session

All forums begin at 7.00pm. Anyone who can’t attend in person can email questions in advance to communityforum@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Derbyshire Dales CVS is now one of the partner agencies providing the VSPA North and Erewash service in the Derbyshire Dales, the new service became active on 1-9-16 and is funded until the end of May 2017.

The aim of vSPA North & Erewash (Voluntary Sector Single Point of Access) is to provide an effective referral route from health and social care professionals to link their patients or persons to voluntary sector services within their local community. The priority of vSPA is to identify support for people at home or as close to home as possible to reduce social isolation, promote engagement in meaningful activity and create a positive impact on physical and mental wellbeing. The service covers the Erewash, Hardwick and North Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Groups’ patient population, which includes the North Derbyshire Dales Clinical Commissioning Groups medical practices.

  •  To provide a service to receive referrals from health and social care professionals and the voluntary sector across North Derbyshire and Erewash

  •  Identify the most appropriate voluntary sector service to support the person within their community

  •  To ensure a professional, prompt response to all referrals

  •  To improve accessibility to voluntary sector services for both the person and health and social care professionals

  •  To decrease time spent by referrers navigating voluntary sector services

  •  To identify gaps in voluntary sector services that will be shared with commissioners to inform future commissioning.

Referrals are handled by knowledgeable staff in each geographical area who provide current information and access to voluntary sector services within each locality. Established for over 2 years and providing an invaluable quality service, referrers say that vSPA has saved them time, highlighted services they didn’t previously know about and has quickly become a valued service to them.

Health and Social Care Professionals wishing to make referrals need to use the appropriate phone and email contacts. To receive further information about these please phone 01629 812154 and speak to Jonathan Simcock.

Members of the public wishing to be  referred to the service should speak to their doctor or other health care professionals.

 

The Better Derbyshire Dales Fund is a grant-scheme which supports communities by offering grants towards events; play areas and village halls. You can also apply for a grant to support any activity or running cost associated with a community group that addresses health issues.

Applications to the Better Derbyshire Dales Fund are assessed quarterly with the next grants panel on 10th November 2016. We would like applications submitted by Friday 4th November 2016. If you have any question about the Better Derbyshire Dales Fund please contact Jonathan Simcock or Sarah Paisley at DDCVS on 01629 812154. Or you can download a form and guidance from our website.

vSPA Southern Derbyshire is currently involved in a pilot project to look at the benefits of Social Prescribing to support positive mental health and wellbeing for people who may:

  •  Be socially isolated

  •  Have low level mental health issues such as mild depression or anxiety

  •  Have a long term condition

  •  Have caring responsibilities

  •  Be on a low income or unemployed

vSPA Southern Derbyshire has a limited amount of funding to support activities which engage with people in these categories and who are resident in South Dales.

The team wishes to talk to Voluntary and Community Sector groups who are already working with the target groups, or who have an idea for activities which might engage with them.

If you think your group’s activities fit the criteria or you have an idea for a new activity please contact Pam Wood, vSPA Manager by 31st October 2016:

Telephone: 01283 219761   Email: pamw@sdcvs.org.uk

This course will look at;

  •  What is Gift Aid? And how much is it worth?

  •  Who is eligible to claim Gift Aid – do we have to be a registered charity or not?

  •  What is considered to be a donation?

  •  How to go about claiming Gift Aid – what are the practical steps?

The course is suitable for all charitable, community and voluntary organisations, whether or not they are registered charities.

For more information contact High Peak CVS on 01663 735350.

 

Sarah Stainthorpe from local funder Foundation Derbyshire will be at the CVS office offering one-to-one slots to groups to talk about the grants available from Foundation Derbyshire.

To book a place please contact Foundation Derbyshire direct on 01773 525860.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service with Rural Action Derbyshire have organised a training seminar on Fire Safety in Village Halls.

The session will include: –

  •  The need to appoint a ‘competent person(s)’

  •  Carrying out a ‘fire safety risk assessment’

  •  What fire safety precautions to use

  •  Useful tips for village hall committees

  •  The need for a fire safety policy

For more information and to book your place please contact Helena Stubbs at Rural Action Derbyshire on 0845 3138800 or email h.stubbs@ruralactionderbyshire.org.uk

There is another session at Hulland Ward Village Hall on 8th November.

This scheme has been developed by the UK government to provide access to a subsidised broadband installation to homes and businesses that are unable to access a broadband service with a download speed of at least 2Mb per second and who will not benefit from the superfast broadband roll-out.

The subsidy process support towards the costs of the equipment and installation of a satellite or wireless broadband service, up to the value of £350.

Further information at Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme