Government Publishes Plan to ‘Rebuild’ after COVID19

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.

/by

Businesses Should Pass Three Tests Before Bringing Their People Back to Work

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

/by

#YouAreNotAlone.

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

/by
,

National Lottery Awards for All England

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.

/by
,

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: Food Charities Grant Fund

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.

/by

Chancellor’s announcement on The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

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. 

/by

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

 

/by
,

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

 

/by

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Returning to the Workplace

View CIPD’s useful guide here.

/by
,

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.

/by