LARCH – Opportunity for Social Entrepreneurs and Organisations
SEARCH IS ON FOR SOCIALLY ENTERPRISING BUSINESS IDEAS AS £4M INVESTMENT POT GOES LIVE FOR REDCAR & CLEVELAND AND HARTLEPOOL
A new £4m programme aimed at reducing poverty and inequality through the growth of social economies has launched with a call-out to social entrepreneurs and organisations to get in touch with their business ideas.
LARCH, which stands for Local Access Redcar & Cleveland and Hartlepool, is part of a £33m enterprise development and blended social investment programme being jointly funded across the UK by Big Society Capital and Access – The Foundation for Social Investment.
It’s one of six areas to be chosen to receive a mix of support, grant funding and repayable investment to grow its local social enterprise and voluntary and community sector as part of efforts to increase prosperity, boost the local economy and ultimately, reduce inequality.
Local partners are now calling for anyone with a socially enterprising business idea – or an existing organisation that has potential to do more – within these two areas to register with LARCH to see how the funding and support can help.
Carol Botten, who is CEO of Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) and the independent chair of the LARCH Partnership Board, said the opportunity is unique because it’s designed to shift the social sector culture to one of self-sustainability: “The LARCH programme will support individuals and organisations at different stages of their enterprise journey, to develop ideas and business models through events, workshops, professional support and mentoring from other successful social entrepreneurs and organisations.
“In addition, organisations will be able to access small enterprise development grants and repayable finance to help them realise their idea or sustain or grow their existing earned income streams.”
“The programme will support organisations to become more enterprising, diversify and grow their income sources and in doing so enable them to deliver more impact for local people and communities in Redcar & Cleveland and Hartlepool. With the funding landscape growing ever more competitive, enabling organisations to be self-sustaining and resilient through earned income and the delivery of contracts and services, is key to building a diverse, vibrant and resilient community and social enterprise sector.”
A social enterprise is a business established to create positive social change – it must have a focus on economic success; however, it differs from other businesses in that the money generated is used to tackle its social aims rather than to reward the business owners or shareholders.
Peter Gowland, who is a director of Hartlepower and is one of the voluntary sector organisations helping represent LARCH in Hartlepool, said “We urge anyone with a social enterprise idea to take up the LARCH offer, which is not just about providing funding for your project – welcome though that is – but good quality, continuing support throughout your enterprise journey. Hartlepool has a very rich tradition of people coming together to meet local needs -LARCH could be just the tool people need to realise their ambitions.”
Mike Milen, who is CEO of Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency (RCVDA) is representing LARCH for Redcar and Cleveland, said: “Although we see a lot of positive economic news linked to Tees Works and the Redcar and Loftus Town Plans, this still remains a challenging time for many. We intend for LARCH to encourage and support the development of a complimentary social enterprise approach to regenerating Redcar & Cleveland.
“I would encourage anyone with ideas and a passion for the area to make contact. This is an opportunity for local people to lead on the development of services and products that can create employment and improve the local area.”
Ideas from organisations that qualify will be driven by social aims or goals, derive at least part of the income from trading, rather than from grant funding or donations, and will reinvest profits in the enterprise and its social aims.
Most often, social enterprises are set up to operate by directly addressing the social issue they aim to improve, for example a specialist cardiac rehabilitation service set up in response to the barriers faced by the local community in accessing the available NHS services.
However, they can also be profitable businesses which raise money to be used to tackle social issues, for example an accommodation letting agency purely to generate funds for a local charity.
Ms Botton said: “This is an opportunity to register at the earliest possible stages of LARCH; The process of recruiting a programme manager is currently in progress and we hope to announce that early in the New Year, followed by the launch of the LARCH website and development of the brand, to make it as accessible as possible to people.”
Interest is expected to be high – follow the link to register
https://form.jotform.com/LARCHorg/registerwithlarch
For more information, interviews or pictures, please contact angela@saysomethingpr.com or call 07799332860
The Big Give – The Women and Girls Match Fund
Applications for the Big Give’s new match funding campaign, The Women and Girl’s Match Fund, are open from Monday 13th December 2021 to Tuesday 11th January 2022. The Women & Girls Match Fund is a week-long match funding campaign which will launch on International Women’s Day 2022, Tuesday 8th March.
Up to £25,000 of match funding is available per charity. Match funds have been provided by DCMS’ Tampon Tax fund.
As well as accessing Champion funds, evidence shows that donors are more likely to give, and to give more in match funding campaigns. The Big Give also offers a free suite of resources, training and guidance for all participating charities.
Further details including eligibility, key dates and how to apply can be found here:
https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/women-and-girls-match-fund
The Big Give is also hosting a webinar about the Women and Girls Match Fund on Tuesday 14th December 2021 at 12pm, we will provide further information about the campaign and answer any questions you may have. Sign up for the webinar here.
Social media (Twitter):
Does your #charity improve the lives of vulnerable, disadvantaged or underrepresented women and girls in England and Scotland? Visit https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/women-and-girls-match-fund for information on eligibility and how to apply to @BigGive new Women & Girls Match Fund campaign.
Want to double your charity donations towards improve the lives of vulnerable, disadvantaged or underrepresented women and girls in England and Scotland? Apply now to @BigGive Women & Girls Match Fund: https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/women-and-girls-match-fund
Level up your digital skills and match up your money. Apply here for @BigGive Women & Girls Match Fund, or visit https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/women-and-girls-match-fund for more information.
Footprints in the Community – Job Vacancy
Support Worker
Following new funding from Ballinger Trust, we are now looking to recruit a Support Worker to deliver a quality support service to clients and members of Footprints in the Community, working closely with Footprints Projects staff and the Community Link Advisor. The post is initially 20 hours per week.
The role will involve supporting members/clients who have been referred to the service, offering them emotional and practical support and reassurance. Possibly attending appointments with them to enable them to access appropriate services.
The Support Worker will be responsible for supporting and training volunteers, allocating clients/members with volunteers and ensuring volunteers receive appropriate supervision.
The overall aim of the post is to provide support to clients and members to help them develop greater independence, increase their social networks and enable them to lead a more fulfilling life.
Place of work – the post will be based at 10 Queen Street, Redcar, but the successful candidate will be expected to work across various sites. A car driver/owner is therefore essential.
Deadline for applications is Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 9am.
Interviews will take place week commencing 10 January 2022.
For an application pack, please contact administrator@footprintsinthecommunity.co.uk
South Tees Changing Futures Programme – Workshops
Work has been progressing on delivering the South Tees Changing Futures Programme. Two workshops have been arranged (10am on Wednesday 15th December 2021 and 1pm on Thursday16th December 2021) to share an update and discuss the ideas around involving people with lived experience in the programme. If you would like to attend either of the workshops (they are repeat sessions) or just find out more then please email cbarlow@ers.org.uk. If you can’t make either of the sessions, then there is the opportunity for a one-to-one catch up with Chris Barlow.
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council – Funded Level 3 Courses for Adults
Please see below the information about Adult Learning opportunities, funded by Tees Valley Combined Authority:
Level 3 Understanding Autism
Level 3 Principles of End of Life Care
Level 3 Principles of Dementia
CONTACT US TODAY ON 01642 771197 OR adulteducation@redcarcleveland.gov.uk to book a place.
Healthwatch South Tees – Access to Dental Services Survey
Over the last few months we have had increasing queries from local people who have been unable to find an NHS dentist or get treatment. We have now identified that this a growing issue for local people not only across South Tees but also across the region. As a result of this, we are working together with other Healthwatch organisations across the North East to identify the scale of the issue locally which we will feed into a regional report. This will then be used to raise awareness and offer recommendations for improvement with North of England Commissioning Support (NECS), the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) and Local Dental Committees (LDC) about this growing concern.
The link for the survey is below and we would be grateful if you could circulate within your networks and share across social media platforms. This is an issue that can affect anyone in our locality and your help will ensure we get a diverse response across South Tees.
Your experience of dental services in South Tees since March 2020 Survey (surveymonkey.co.uk)
