COVID-19: Schools, Travelling to Work & Additional Workplace Guidance

Further guidance on coronavirus safety measures has been published, which have been highlighted below for your information:

– Safe workplace guidance: https://bit.ly/CV19WorkingSafely.

– FAQs to summarise what you can and can’t do have been published, which are based on the new guidance: https://bit.ly/CV19FAQs

– Phased opening of schools, colleges and nurseries: https://bit.ly/SchoolsReopening

– Travelling safely: https://bit.ly/CV19SafeTravel

– How to carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment: https://bit.ly/CV19RiskAssessments

– Cleaning your workplace safely: https://bit.ly/CleaningWorkplaces

 

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Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation: COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund Update

At the end of last Thursday, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) issued a call for applications for charities providing domestic abuse safe accommodation services in England (see our funding update below).

Social needs don’t get any more urgent than this, but after waiting a month for any news after this was identified as a funding priority in the Chancellor’s statement, charities were initially given just three working days to bid for emergency funds to help women and girls in serious danger (including a preference for consortia bids!).

The application guidance claims the department will give ‘special consideration to services that provide support to particular groups such as…BAME, LGBT and victims with disabilities’. But the absurdly short application window risks excluding charities supporting those very groups, because they’re likely to have less capacity to rapidly put together applications.

Thankfully the Women’s Resource Centre and the Small Charities Coalition organised a rapid letter to politicians over the weekend which DSC supported, and the deadline has subsequently been moved forward to Thursday 21 May – better but still very tight.

Domestic abuse safe accommodation: COVID-19 emergency support fund

 

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Coronavirus (COVID-19): Returning to the Workplace

View CIPD’s useful guide here.

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The Baring Foundation

The Baring Foundation’s Strengthening Civil Society programme has today launched three new funding schemes to support its grantees and broader civil society through the Covid-19 crisis. The fund will run throughout 2020 and will amount to £1m in grant money.

The first new stream of funding is for Supporting Legal Action Related To Covid-19 and is open to applications from all registered charities, including current grant holders, with an annual income of less than £5m. Grants are available of up to £40,000 for organisations with a demonstrable legal expertise in the area in which they work.

Deadlines for this fund are staggered throughout 2020, with the first one being midday on Thursday 28 May. Further guidance for applying to the fund can be found on their website, as well as later deadlines, and an application form.

There are two additional new grants, an Operational Impacts Grant and an Increase In Demand For Advice From Frontline Organisations grant. Both of these are open to current grant holders and other organisations who have received funding from the Strengthening Civil Society programme since 2016.

The Operational Impacts Grant is offering small-scale grants of up to £5,000 to organisations who have been severely impacted by Covid-19. The Increase In Demand From Frontline Organisations strand is offering grants of up to £30,000 for hub organisations which provide legal advice to other organisations, helping them to drive social change.

The Implementing successful litigation fund, a previously established fund, is still operating with the next deadline being on May 20th at 9am.

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Resourcing Racial Justice Fund

Resourcing Racial Justice has announced a fund to support BAME charities through crises, be it Covid-19 or otherwise. Applicants can apply for grants between £5,000 to £50,000 to support their projects that respond to the immediate needs brought about by this crisis, and other crises that may occur after the current pandemic, such as an environmental crisis brought on by global warming.

This comes after the racial justice charity #CharitySoWhite has published an open letter asking for the ringfencing of 20% of Covid-19 related funding for BAME charities citing the recently published report by Ubele stating that 9 out of 10 BAME micro and small organisations are set to close following the lockdown.

The first round of funding opens 18th May and closes 15th June. A launch event webinar will be help on 20th May that will provide more information on the Resourcing Racial Justice Fund and how to apply.

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Charities Eligible for Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan scheme (CBBL)

Similar to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the government has confirmed that charities are also eligible for smaller ‘bounce back’ loans of between £2000-£50,000, which the Chancellor announced in April. The requirement for businesses to generate ‘50% income from trading’ does not apply to charities. Find out more.

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Have you Accessed Government Support?

Government announced £750m in funding for charities nearly a month ago. We finally heard some more over the weekend when Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick MP announced that £76m of this funding will be allocated to support vulnerable children and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, but nothing about which charities will receive this support.

Details for distribution of most of the rest of the funding remain unclear. As part of the #NeverMoreNeeded campaign to increase the support available to charities, we want you to tell us how helpful and accessible the support that’s currently available has been – including the support provided to business which charities can access.

Just answer some quick questions in our short survey, and tell us about how your organisation is being affected by the current crisis.

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Doorstep Library Network

Doorstep Library Network is a children’s literacy charity who believe in the power of reading and sharing stories with children from a very young age.

During the lockdown they are offering a weekly newsletter and online reading service for families. By subscribing to their newsletter, you will receive a weekly email with ideas for education, advice and fun that are all home-based! You will also be sent their digital story time videos from Doorstep Library volunteers and staff, for ages 0-11.

Website

If you would like to subscribe to Doorstep Library’s newsletter, just click on the following link and fill in your details – https://bit.ly/HFDoorstepLibraryNewsletter

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Women & Girls Network (WGN) News

Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a free, women-only service that supports women in London who have experienced violence, or are at risk of violence. We offer counselling, advocacy and advice. Our overall aim is to promote, preserve and restore the mental health and well-being of women and girls, to empower them to make a total and sustainable recovery from their experiences of violence.

We offer FREE London-wide VAWG training. We are passionate about delivering training that influences best practice and improves and enhances the effectiveness of front-line professionals working in the field of violence against women and girls. WGN’s training has at its heart the Women and Girls Network ethos. The principles of feminism, intersectionality, multiculturalism, holistic and creative approaches are threads that run through all of our training courses.

We published our very first WGN Training Newsletter filled with upcoming (virtual) training opportunities, self care practices and lock down readings. If you would like us to promote your upcoming training or other news, let me know and we would be happy to include this in our upcoming newsletter.

If you would like to receive regular information about WGN’s services, training, events, employment and volunteer opportunities please sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media.

WGN’s training opportunities are posted on our Eventbrite Page

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SASH Events in May

SASH provides free, non-judgemental support to improve your sexual health, your relationships, and your mental health. We work in Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster to improve residents’ sexual health.

Flyer

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