Month: December 2016
Scottish Veterans Fund 2017-18 Now Open
The Scottish Veterans fund will provide £600,000 of funding over the next three years to a wide range of projects which support veterans, including projects relating to employability, housing, befriending and wellbeing. Charities and other organisations can apply for funding for projects that will help to break down barriers which prevent people who are leaving the armed forces from transferring their skills and disciplines to business, this in turn will make the transition to civilian life easier. For the first time funding for strategic projects will be available for up to three years. Please see the website for further details: http://news.gov.scot/News/Scottish-Veterans-Fund 
North East Scotland Credit Union (NESCU) in Stonehaven.
NESCU will be opening a collection point in The Housing office on Allardice Street, Stonehaven on a Tuesday from 3pm – 4pm. NESCU urgently need volunteers with financial and cash handling skills, providing a great opportunity to help in the local community and make a positive difference. For more details please contact Andy Farquhar, Volunteer Coordinator by e-mail Andy@nescu.co.uk, or telephone 01224 899688.
Brighter Bervie
Brighter Bervie would like to have more active members. The primary activity is gardening in many forms, but newcomers needn’t be horticultural experts nor be big muscled – there’s a variety of tasks to suit everyone and a chance to develop new skills. Regular healthy therapeutic outdoor efforts are usually tackled in a friendly group situation but individuals can work more on their own if they prefer. In addition to hands-on gardening there’s a range of background activities which don’t involve much or any manual work and some can even be done remotely such as assisting office bearers. They meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and on Saturday mornings.
They are looking to fill the following committee member vacancies: Replacement secretary (handling correspondence and record keeping), Funding co-ordinator (searching for appropriate funders and applying for support for specific projects), Communications co-ordinator (circulating news via social media etc.) and an Assets manager (identifying needs for and maintaining equipment etc.). No previous experience is necessary just a willing and enthusiastic attitude and a preference to someone on the local area. If anyone is interested or wants to find out more then please email brighterbervie@hotmail.com
Co-op community fund
The Co-op is looking for new local causes for its members to support in the next round of funding and will fund thr
ee projects in each of around 1,500 local communities across the UK. Between March and September 2017 Co-op members can choose the local cause they want to support from a list of up to three causes. For this reason, the project’s main activity must not finish before October 2017. To find out more, visit: https://causes.coop.co.uk/
Indoor mobile coverage for rural community hubs
Vodafone UK are calling all community hubs, rural pubs and village halls to apply to their 3G mobile Community Indoor Sure Signal (CISS) programme. This scheme will enable up to 100 rural community hubs, from pubs to village halls and community run shops, to receive reliable, indoor 3G mobile coverage and internet access. Following a successful pilot at The Bear and Ragged Staff pub in Bransford near Worcester, Vodafone is calling for applications from rural community centres, such as independent or community run pubs and shops, village halls, scout huts, doctor’s surgeries or visitor centres, that do not have reliable mobile coverage, to apply for the programme. Coverage will bring both 3G voice and data ensuring both employees and visitors at the community hubs will be able to make both calls and use data on their Vodafone mobile phones or tablets.
For more information and an application form, visit: http://mediacentre.vodafone.co.uk/pressrelease/vodafone-unveils-programme-give-indoor-mobile-coverage-rural-communities-centres/
Rural Scotland in Focus 2016
The SRUC Rural Policy Centre has launched its Rural Scotland in Focus 2016 report. The report has three main sections: section 1 focuses on changing land management in the agriculture, estates and forestry sectors; section 2 focuses on reviewing evidence about the characteristics of rural Scotland’s economies beyond the land-based sector and highlights where there are gaps in our evidence; section 3 reviews community empowerment policies from 1999-2016, and discusses the need for data to underpin on-going assessments of whether, where and how these policies deliver. You can download several documents from the SRUC website including the summary brochure, the full report and the individual sections. 
http://www.sruc.ac.uk/downloads/download/1202/rural_scotland_in_focus_2016
Mearns Cycle Hub (Formerly Benholm Bikes)
Mearns Cycle Hub are seeking volunteers to run bike maintenance classes one evening a week, and to help keep the Hub open 2-3 hours at the weekend, subject to volunteer availability, so that people can book their bike in for repair, or hire a bike stand so they can do their own repairs. Volunteers will also be responsible for taking bookings, working with children and adults on their bikes, selling spares, dealing with money, keeping the shed tidy, opening up and locking up. Volunteers will potentially be working with children and may therefore need to be disclosed.
Mearns Cycle Hub plans to open in Laurencekirk in Spring 2017. They want to help more people get out on their bikes, and want to help them learn how to repair and maintain their bikes. The hub would like volunteers to have a keen interest in bike mechanics, and preferably some experience of working on bikes. This does not have to be in paid capacity, a bike hobby is perfectly acceptable. They are looking for people who have the capacity to support and mentor others to learn how to maintain bikes. Volunteers are welcome with little or no experience of any of the following but people would be very welcome with experience of cycling/ cycle ride leading/ people with disabilities / older people/ bike mechanics/ events/ fundraising/ good communication skills, particularly face-to-face/ and a good role model.
For more details on this opportunity contact: mearnscyclehub@gmail.com. The hub are planning to hold a volunteer meeting in early 2017 as part of their preparation for the Spring launch.
Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund
Apply to the Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund. The fund is looking to help small, local community projects and groups through our GALAXY Hot Chocolate Fund. Each week until February 26th 2017, it is seeking to award a total of seventy £300 donations to help community groups and people across UK and Ireland. Five donations will be awarded each week, four by its panel of judges and one through the People’s Choice award to the organisation with the most weekly votes. http://www.galaxyhotchocolate.com/
Have Your Say
This year there is a brand new approach to simplify and illustrate the challenges faced – make your voice heard.
Each year, Aberdeenshire Council engages with staff and local residents on budget plans to ensure the voice of communities comes through in any and all budget setting decisions.
This year, in place of traditional surveys and written text, is a suite of infographics. Each paints a picture of a different part of council budget setting. Attached to each infographic is a short set of questions, in some cases just two questions, where you can share your views. Please respond to as many topics as you feel passionate about.
The engagement process is open now to anyone who lives and works in Aberdeenshire. It will close at the start of January, giving enough time for the results to be passed to councillors who in turn will use them to inform their decision making for the coming financial year.
https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/budget-engagement
Our Mearns
The “Our Mearns” initiative was established last year in response to information and knowledge gathered by the Kincardineshire Development Partnership. KDP had identified many community projects and initiatives across the Mearns at various stages of development and saw the value of bringing these initiatives together to facilitate the collaboration of these groups and projects to contribute to a bigger picture. In addition, as an area affected by the current economic climate there is a need to raise the profile of this part of Aberdeenshire and capitalise on its other assets. A successful event was held on 19th November 2016 to launch the Our Mearns Tourism Association, whose aim is to create an Arts, Cultural and Heritage Tourism Destination of the Mearns. The event opened Membership of the Association inviting groups, individuals and business to become part of the movement. Membership at this exciting stage is free and expressions of interest in joining the committee to take the strategic plan forward are also being considered. For more information please contact Jacky Niven at jniven@kincardineshiredp.org 
K&M Communities 