Rural

The RCC Newsletter for August 23rd is now available to download.
It contains information about;
The Prince’s Countryside Fund – a new fund to improve the long-term sustainability of the British countryside.
The Rural Challenge – looking towards meeting rural housing need, building thriving economies, delivering good rural services, creating flourishing market towns and empowering local communities.
The Big Switch-Off – to highlight energy savings.
Leicester Shire Promotions is launching two major new awards to celebrate the best food in Leicester and Leicestershire, in conjunction with the Leicester and Leicestershire Food Fortnight from 18 September – 3 October 2010.

The RCC Newsletter may be downloaded here RCC Newsletter August 23

The RCC Newsletter for August 16th is now available to download. It includes:
* The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) would like to hear from groups in the East Midlands who wish to explore their heritage.
* Drivers are being offered up to £5,000 as an incentive to buy greener cars.
* Leicester and Leicestershire Food Fortnight 18 Sept – 3 Oct.
* Grants available from the Leche Trust.

Download the RCC Newsletter HERE RCC Newsletter August 16

The Rural Community Council Newsletter for August 9th is available here  August 9

Written by Ted Hutchin with comments from Audrey Hutchin

This was a day conference organised by the Diocesan team of Mike Harrison, Stuart Burns and Barry Hill looking at the whole question of rural mission.  With many parishes represented, four of us from Melton attended, our new curate, Rev Sally, Jill Milner, Audrey and myself.  The day was broken into two distinct sections, the morning being led by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Rylands, who is also the Chair of the Rural Theology Group, and the afternoon comprising a number of break-out sessions covering a number of issues related to rural ministry…

to read the full report click the link below

Report on the day conference on Rural Mission

Communities Together Grants
Up to £500 is available to community, voluntary or faith groups across Leicestershire through the Communities Together grants which aim to help
support projects which:
play an active role in getting  groups of  individuals together to increase understanding .
promote inter-cultural education and relationship building.
introduce  new audiences and community groups to each other.
More details are available in the RCC Newsletter HERE RCC Newsletter July 12
Your School’s chance to take part in the Big Switch Off 2010
The Big Switch Off Campaign will be taking place between 11th – 17th October this year.
Primary school children across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are being invited to design their own caped crusaders to promote this year’s Big Switch Off campaign.
Find out more in the RCC Newsletter HERE RCC Newsletter July 12
And Finally, news that the Diocese has received support for a churches tourism pilot project Treasures Unlocked.
Leicestershire’s churches are just a ‘mouse click’ away see www.treasuresunlocked.co.uk

On Saturday 130 church leaders and key lay gathered for a diocesan day conference on rural mission. Recordings of the welcome from Bishop Christopher & keynote talks by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Rylands, plus a review of the day and photos, can be downloaded from http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=325

English Heritage reveals condition of places of worship in Leicestershire.

The survey, which is part of English Heritage’s Heritage at Risk initiative, was carried out to assess the state of repair of places of worship.
The survey found that two-thirds of congregations questioned said that funding major repairs is a constant worry.
More information in the RCC Newsletter for July 5 online HERE  RCC Newsletter July 5

The Office for Civil Society (OCS) has announced it will not be renewing the £130 million Grassroots Grants programme. Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude has unveiled plans to replace the Labour initiative set up to support small charities with a Communities First Fund, further details in December.
More in the RCC Newsletter for July 5 online HERE RCC Newsletter July 5

This is the last chance to book places on this special diocesan day conference on rural mission with the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Bishop Christopher and other experts in their areas (this Saturday 10th July, Broughton Astley, 9:30am-4pm). Just a few tickets left, all welcome, click here to read more & book your place: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=279

The latest edition of the RCC Newsletter is now available to download below.
It contains information regarding seeking Grants for Village and Church halls; nominations for local heroes for Blaby district’s seventh Outstanding
Achievement Awards, and Grants from Comic Relief’s Older People’s Programme.
Download the RCC Newsletter HERE  RCC Newsletter June 28

Event Date: Saturday 10th July,

Broughton Astley, 9:30am-4pm. There’s just ten days to go until the special diocesan day conference on rural mission. With just 30 tickets left book now to avoid disappointment! As well as a range of seminars, there’s also a number of stalls on key areas, including a Christian Resources bookstall full of related books, so why not bring some money or a card?! All welcome, click here to read more & book your place: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=279

Does your community or voluntary group need some practical help or ‘people power’?
Leicestershire Cares have teams of employee volunteers who could help
complete a one-day practical or strategic Team Challenge.
Information about this, The Big Lunch and much more is available in the latest issue of the RCC Newsletter. Download HERE RCC Newsletter June 21

There’s just a month to go until the special diocesan day conference on rural mission. With over half the tickets already gone, you need to get in quick to avoid disappointment! Designed for anyone in a rural or semi-rural situation click here to read more and book your place: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=279

Throughout our Diocese we have many Churches that contain fascinating features that would appeal to a wide range of visitors. These can range from historic stained glass to unique historical links, unusual architectural features to just simply being a very special place of repose. Sadly though, we often forget just how much value our Churches can be outside of the usual round of organised worship.

With this in mind, the Diocese is launching a pilot project to evaluate how to communicate our treasures to a wider world via modern communication tools. Funded by The Leicestershire Rural Partnership, the project will be based on a selection of 10 Churches from across the Diocese, each one offering some form of uniqueness. The aim is to have the pilot running by the end of June such that we can capitalise on the summer holiday period.

As part of the Rural Working Group, this initiative will have as its first focus Churches that are located outside of the main urban centres of the Diocese. The selection of these will take place during the month of May, and we are very happy to receive any suggestions as to specific places to include.

Please contact Peter Hooper for further details 0116 239 4606 or peter@hoopers.orangehome.co.uk

Join the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Assistant Bishop of Leicester and a range of other special guests for a diocesan day conference on Rural Mission on Saturday 10th July. A mix of practical seminars, keynote addresses, Q&A and good local food. Click here for more details and bookings

Community Foundation Fund – open for applications. The Fund is provided and administered by the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland (LLR) Community Foundation in partnership with East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA).
Funding is intended for larger projects that can improve and sustain the economic climate of an area and its way of life in Leicestershire, Rutland and Leicester.
Financial assistance up to £20,000 is available to voluntary and community organisations for projects that improve the local economy and way of life.

TNR Communications Charity Giveaway
You will have to be quick off the mark with this one as the deadline date is 16th April.
TNR Communications are giving away a combined PR photography package and videocall services worth £2,525 to a registered UK charity seeking media coverage for an event.

Further Details and other items of interest are available in the RCC Newsletter RCC Newsletter April 12

• Year six of People’s Millions has now been launched, an exciting partnership between the Big Lottery Fund and ITV in which the public vote for which community project they want to receive funding of up to £50,000.
• Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE) and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have worked collaboratively to produce a new guide for local parish and town councils entitled: Adapting to climate change: a guide for local councils.
• National Family Week aims to highlight the important role families play in society and encourage healthy active lifestyles and quality family time. Now in its second year, National Family Week is the largest coalition on family issues and is backed by all major political parties and a huge range of national charities, community groups and sporting associations.
• The Grassroots Grants programme offers small voluntary and community groups in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland the opportunity to apply and receive funding from £250 to £5000. Deadlines for the next round of
  applications are:
  Leicester City: 7th May 2010
  Leicestershire: 21st May 2010
• Organisers of this year’s Moira Canal Festival are looking for volunteers to help out at the weekend long event on 22nd and 23rd May.

More information about all of these is available in the RCC Newsletter for March22

E.ON Sustainable Energy Fund
Financial assistance up to £20,000 is available to voluntary and community groups in England, Scotland and Wales for energy saving projects on nonresidential facilities.
The E.ON Sustainable Energy Fund is provided by energy company E.ON UK to support community energy projects leading to the production of energy
from a sustainable source or a reduction in the amount of energy used by community organisations.
More details in the RCC Newsletter for February1

Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
The Foundation currently makes over 300 grants a year and one of their policies is to accept applications from local and national charities or notfor-
profit organisations which are addressing issues in needy rural areas.
More details in the RCC Newsletter for February1

Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards Scheme
The Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards Scheme provides one-off donations of between £500 and £4,000 to local projects that support children and their education and welfare, elderly people and adults and
children with disabilities.
More details in the RCC Newsletter for February1

FREE Grassroots Grants Workshops
Groups interested in applying to VAL for a Grassroots Grant can come along to one of the following workshops to find out how. The workshops are only available to groups with an annual income of less than £30,000. This session is FREE of charge and includes refreshments.
New Small Grants Scheme Announced by Children in Need
Small grants of up to £10,000 are available to Third
Sector organisations supporting children and young people.
The new scheme marks the first time Children in Need have run a UK-wide small grants programme and is aimed predominantly at organisations which
have not previously considered applying.
The programme is open to any third sector organisation working with children and young people under 18.
Further details and more atrticles are available in the RCC Newsletter online HERE

The deadline for completed applications is Friday 22nd January 2010. This means that any nominations need to be made well in advance so that the application can be completed in time for the deadline. The Awards are a
fantastic opportunity to celebrate the success of women both in business and in the community who very often go unrecognised for their contribution and achievements.

Full details of this are on the RCC Newsletter January 11

Also in this issue are funding opportunities, a report on the War Memorials trial project and notice of the ‘Windy Ridge’ planning enquiry.

The following training is available for voluntary groups, community groups and charities:

Strategic Funding and Finance Management
Thursday 4th March 2010, 10am – 4pm Market Harborough

Finding & Managing Funding
Tuesday 9th February, 7-9 pm Melton Mowbray

Further details and other funding opportunities are now online at the RCC Newsletter for Dec 21