Grants ranging from £500 to £2,750 are available for schools, youth groups, non-profit organisations, and charities to support recreational trips or holidays within the UK for groups of disadvantaged or disabled children 13 years old or younger. Applications from the 20% most deprived areas in the UK will be given priority. The grants can cover up to two-thirds of the total cost of a holiday or trip, lasting from one to seven days. The Henry Smith Charity is offering the funding, and applications must be submitted at least six weeks before the scheduled trip or holiday. Applications for trips between the 1st of September and the 31st of December 2024 will be considered until the 19th of November 2024. Holiday Grants for Disadvantaged and Disabled Children (UK)
Programme overview:
After two highly successful initiatives in Regent Street in 2022 and Carnaby Street in 2023, the programme returns for a third year!
Participants will take part in a two-week classroom-based creative business training course, followed by the opportunity to build and trade as a collective in their own pop-up shop in a central London location where they will showcase their work in a renowned shopping destination, meet customers from all over the world, help deliver engaging events and immersive in-store experiences and more.
Being part of a group of creatives will offer the opportunity to learn from others and form valuable connections for future collaborations and business development.
Who can take part:
The programme typically supports between 10 to 15 artists and creative businesses each year. Some of these can be a collective of artists trading under a single representative banner and led by one to three artists.
We are keen to feature a wide range of specialisms and disciplines, and showcase makers, artists and creatives who represent London’s vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector.
We particularly encourage applications from communities who have been historically underrepresented in the creative industries. This includes Black, Asian and minority ethnic, Deaf and disabled people, LBGTQIA+, women, and low-income groups.
To be eligible to take part, you must:
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Live or work in one of London’s 12 Creative Enterprise Zones. You can find out which Creative Enterprise Zone you’re in by using the postcode checker at the bottom of this webpage:
London Made Me retail development programme | London City Hall
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Have been trading for at least one year in your current business, with a proven sales record of your product and a desire for this to grow.
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Currently be creating work that is consistent with the practical needs and logistics of a pop-up retail space. This can include, but is not limited to photography, craft, pottery, visual art, fashion, accessories, gifts, design, homeware, jewellery and sculpture.
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Have (or be capable of producing by November) sufficient stock for at least five weeks.
Commit to being in the shop a minimum of three days a week during the trading period.
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Have or acquire by the time of the shop launch, your own comprehensive public liability insurance. You will be required to share your policy details prior to participation.
Information sessions for applicants
For full details on eligibility, how to apply, how the programme works, information sessions and details on the 2022 and 2023 programmes,
Opening a bank account is an important step for any voluntary organisation. The new digital guide from UK Finance simplifies the process, by giving you guidance on how to choose, open and manage a bank account. Read more here.
Location : Homebased
Status : Three-year fixed-term contract
Salary : £140 per day, £70 per half a day
Closing date : 31/07/2024
Interview date : 19/08/2024
The new Labour Government has pledged to ‘develop an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty’ as a key step towards supporting families in the UK. Nearly one in three children now live in relative poverty in the UK, and one in four children live in absolute poverty, according to UNICEF data from the end of 2023, with the country seeing the fastest rise in child poverty for almost 30 years. Almost half of children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds live in poverty, and 44% of children in lone parent families. The child poverty rate in the UK rose the fastest in between 2012 and 2021 out of 39 OECD and EU countries, many of which were able to reduce child poverty over this period. Furthermore, more than a million people in England are living in pockets of hidden hardship, meaning that they could be missing out on vital help because their poverty is masked by neighbours who are better off, according to analysis from the University of Belfast published in December 2023.
Originally launched in 2012 as the Troubled Families Programme, the Supporting Families programme was refreshed and relaunched in its new guise in 2021. The programme helps thousands of families across England to get the help they need to address multiple disadvantages through a whole family approach, delivered by keyworkers, working for local authorities and their partners. The UK government’s ‘Ten years of Supporting Families: Supporting Families programme Annual Report 2022-23’, published in March 2023, reported that since April 2015 to December 2023 a total of 534,961 successful family outcomes were achieved. It found that the proportion of children on the programme going into care reduced by a third; the proportion of adults receiving custodial sentences decreased by a quarter; juveniles receiving custodial sentences decreased by almost 40%; and the proportion of adults on the programme claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance decreased by 11%.
The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 announced an increase in funding for the programme so that by 2024-25 total planned investment across the following three years would be “nearly £700 million.” This funding is aimed at helping 300,000 families “facing multiple interconnected issues access effective whole-family support and improve their life outcome.” In 2024, meanwhile, the government decided to move the government’s Supporting Families programme from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to the Department for Education in order to integrate the programme into other linked policies and initiatives, including the roll out of family support hubs.
Meanwhile, however, local support for families in crisis has failed to keep up with an explosion in “bed poverty” in England caused by rising destitution and the cost-of-living crisis, according to research by Barnardo’s, with applications to council-run schemes for replacement children’s beds or bedding quadrupling over the past five years and a greater proportion of applications rejected, likely due to the schemes struggling to meet demand. Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a rescue plan for “austerity’s children” – the generation of over 3 million UK young people born after 2010 from low-income families who “have never known what it is like to be free of poverty”. As part of his proposed programme of support for children is a relaunch of the Sure Start early-years scheme, in part funded by a £1bn social impact fund.
This timely symposium will provide practitioners across local authorities, the police, social services, education, welfare and the housing sector with an invaluable opportunity to examine the scale of poverty in the UK and the impact of the Supporting Families Programme, evaluate the plans that the new government has in place and discuss avenues for significantlyimproving access to local services and the support provided to struggling families.
There were 2,960 children adopted in England in 2023, according to the Department for Education, a 2% decrease from 2022. The average time between a child entering care and being placed for adoption was 1 year and 7 months in 2023, up from 1 year 6 months in 2022. It then takes a further 10 months, on average, for an adoption order to be granted and the adoption to be completed. A survey of adoptive parents by Adoption UK has found their children are around 20 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than their classmates.
Most adoption activity in England is now undertaken by Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs), in line with government policy to move to a regional delivery model, with these agencies undertake varying degrees of adoption recruitment and support services on behalf of local authorities.
Ofsted’s thematic review of adoption services provided by RAAs, published in March 2024, finds that day-to-day adoption practice by RAAs is strong, but many of the challenges that led to regionalisation remain unresolved. Demand for adoption support often exceeds the resources available to RAAs, meaning some individuals and families do not receive the support they need, when they need it. Meanwhile, there continues to be a national shortage of adopters. Transparency and communication issues, mismatches between children and parents, lengthy due diligence timeframes, ineffective permanancy planning are still key challenges that need to be resolved.
This symposium will offer local authorities, voluntary adoption agencies, children’s care services, schools, mental health services, social workers, third sector bodies, and relevant judicial agencies with a timely opportunity to examine the state of adoption in the UK and discuss how to increase adoption numbers and strengthen partnerships working to deliver excellent and innovative adoption services nationwide.
Find out about the Allen Lane Foundation in this new interview by Kalli Jayasuriya, DSC Researcher. Take a look here.
Here are some social media tips from social media experts from around the sector, including one from DSC’s Digital Content and Communications Officer, Gabriella Poznansky. Take a look here.
This is a great opportunity for a highly organised individual who is passionate about making a difference in women’s rights and has management experience of leading a small team.
The purpose of the role is to manage a team of Helpline Support/Case Workers and volunteers providing advice and support. The Helpline Manager will be responsible for overseeing the helpline service continues to be culturally sensitive and able to respond to a diverse population of women with complex needs. Other responsibilities will also include identifying and managing safeguarding issues, maintaining helpline database, attending external stakeholder meetings and raising awareness of the helpline service, engaging in other MWNUK projects, services and activities as required. You can read more about this job opportunity here.
Deadline for application is Friday 2nd August 2024 by midday.
The National Supporting Autistic People and People with a Learning Disability Conference 2024 will seek to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges that autistic people and people living with a learning disability experience, advocate for inclusivity and support and demolish the barriers preventing individuals the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
The programme is devised to further the knowledge agenda and features addresses from expert contributors tasked with developing policy and practices, as well as professionals facilitating practical interventions and effective strategies to support and improve circumstances. Furthermore, as part of the speaker line up, we are privileged to have presenters with lived experience who will highlight the realities of their lives and their aspirations for the future.
Delegates will have the opportunity to exchange insights, experiences, and best practices through a series of discussion and debate sessions during the plenary sessions with further interaction facilitated through casual networking breaks..
Book your place today at the National Supporting Autistic People and People with a Learning Disability Conference 2024 and be part of the narrative to make a difference and induce positive change.
sobus
20 Dawes Road, London, SW6 7EN
Telephone 020 7952 1230
Email info@sobus.org.uk
Registered Charity No.1071089
and Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No.03471416
Sobus is a new Community Development Agency for Hammersmith & Fulham. It has been created through the merger of the Community and Voluntary Sector Association Hammersmith & Fulham (CaVSA) and the Fulham Community Partnership Trust (FCPT). Building on the strengths of both organisations, sobus aims to provide a wider range of support services for local charities, community groups, social enterprises and start up businesses.