This visual time capsule, which explores where we find solace and meaning during the global Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, is continuing to grow with contributions from all over the world. Thank you to everyone who has taken part. Read the News Release
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The government has published a 50 page document outlining how the country will move out of the current crisis into a recovery phase. Confusingly, there are some critical differences between these plans and the rules remaining in force in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and there has been much debate in the press and elsewhere about whether the overall policy is clear or muddled. You can find the full document here, as well as a summary by our colleagues at NCVO about implications for charities here.
The Government has indicated that organisations with employees who are unable to work from home, such as construction and manufacturing workers, should start planning for their return. Full government guidance on working safely is expected later this week but, in anticipation, the CIPD is urging businesses to ensure they can meet three key tests before bringing their people back to the workplace: Read on
At home shouldn’t mean at risk. If you or someone you know is suffering from #DomesticAbuse, isolation rules do not apply. Police response & support services remain available. Find support at http://go.pardot.com/e/851633/3bn8BWg/8fkc/37897652?h=plahvfN_iQMRHNGFLirNcc7Boal5xWbUAJIjcs2tTEA or call 999 if you are in immediate danger
The National Lottery has adapted their Awards for All programme to focus on funding projects by organisations that support their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. This programme is now only funding activities that support people affected by the crisis and it is anticipated that this will be the case for 6 months.
Voluntary and community organisations can apply for grants of between £300 and £10,000 to fund their work supporting people at high risk from Covid-19, or people who have faced an increase in challenges as a result of Coronavirus. Projects must involve the local community to be eligible for the funding. Applicants can apply to the fund online through the National Lotter Awards for All website, the application process is ongoing.
Front-line food charities are now eligible to apply for a grant of up to £100,000 to help them continue to provide food to vulnerable people during the Coronavirus crisis as part of Defra’s new Food Charities Grant Fund. The fund is operating on a first come first served basis with Defra assessing applications in the order that they come in.
Charities are eligible for the grant if they are unable to meet the increased demand for food from vulnerable individuals and supporting charities and have the capacity to distribute all the food purchased with this grant by 9 August 2020. The grant can be used to purchase food for people who are unable to afford food or have moved into contemporary accommodation due to Covid-19, such as domestic abuse victims, those recently released from prison, or newly homeless people. The fund cannot be used to provide food for the extremely clinically vulnerable, as they are being supported by the government.
To apply, charities have to have registered with the eSourcing portal and apply through that.
The Chancellor has announced that the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain open until the end of October.
Full details of the announcement can be found here: https://bit.ly/CJRSExtension.
Key details to note:
· Furloughed workers across the UK will continue to receive 80% of their current salary, up to £2,500.
· From August, furloughed workers will be able to return to work part-time with employers being asked to pay a percentage towards the salaries of their furloughed staff.
· The employer payments will substitute the contribution HMG is currently making, ensuring that staff continue to receive 80% of their salary, up to £2,500 a month.
Further details on implementation will be made available by the end of the month.
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
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
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.
