The fund is to sustain and develop Camden’s rich culture, its strong communities and dynamic partnerships by supporting quality, creative events, projects and activities. This year the fund is managed by Voluntary Action Camden (VAC).

Applications are welcome for grants of £200 to £5000 for:

• Small-scale events with a capacity of under 500 people, the maximum amount that can be applied for is £500. A copy of the application form can be downloaded here
• Larger-scale events with a capacity of 500 people or more the maximum that can be applied for is £5,000. Please note the average is £1,000. A copy of the application form can be downloaded here.

A copy of the detailed guideline can be downloaded here.

The application process is open from Monday 19^th January 2015.

The deadline for completed applications is: 6pm on Monday 16^th March 2015

Camden Council is supporting this grants programme in recognition of the contribution made by community festivals and events to strengthening Camden communities and in developing a rich culture and economy within the borough.

Contact

If you would like more information and/or to be sent hard copies of the application forms and the guidelines please contact acharles@vac.org.uk. Tel. 020 7284 6553. Fax. 020 7284 6551. VAC, 293-299 Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2TJ.

Please note your grant is only administered by VAC. For all other aspects of your event please contact Camden Council’s events team. events@camden.gov.uk. Tel: 020 7974 5633.

The following tenders for contracts will be advertised from January 2015:
· Community Connectors (volunteers support isolated older people to re-engage with their local communities)
· Intergenerational Projects
· Men’s Projects
· Digital Inclusion Projects (tablet training)
· Evaluation of the Programme
· LGBT Asset Based Community Development
· Other aspects of the programme including work with the Bangladeshi community, and neighbourhood approaches (Somers Town & St Pancras; Gospel Oak and Haverstock; Regents Park; and one area to be identified) will be tendered at a later date
These will be advertised from January 23rd 2015 onwards in VAC bulletin and on Age UK Camden’s website. VAC has offered to hold a ‘register of partners’. If you are interested in bidding for a tender with Ageing Better in Camden as a partner you can register that interest with VAC, who will share your details with other interested organisations. Please note that Ageing Better in Camden is seeking to contract with one organisation or consortia per contract. If you enter into a partnership you will need to decide which organisation is responsible for legal, financial and delivery matters within your partnership. If you want to be on the ‘register of partners,’ please contact Ricky or Monica on 02072846550, or download the form here.
All those who have completed the expression of interest questionnaire will be invited to an information and networking event on Thursday 15th January at 10am.
In addition if you are looking to develop an intergenerational project application, Camden adult social care can offer advice, training and networking to support you to find local partners, and help you to plan and run your intergenerational activities and programmes. Contact: Vanda Carter, Intergenerational development officer vanda.carter@camden.gov.uk / 020 7974 2810.
For more information on Ageing Better in Camden please visit www.ageukcamden.org.uk or contact corinna.hyman@ageukcamden.org.uk or Julia.shelley@ageukcamden.org.uk

The fund is to sustain and develop Camden’s rich culture, its strong communities and dynamic partnerships by supporting quality, creative events, projects and activities. This year the fund is managed by Voluntary Action Camden (VAC).
Applications are welcome for grants of £200 to £5000 for:

• Small-scale events with a capacity of under 500 people, the maximum amount that can be applied for is £500. A copy of the application form can be downloaded here

• Larger-scale events with a capacity of 500 people or more the maximum that can be applied for is £5,000. Please note the average is £1,000. A copy of the application form can be downloaded here.

A copy of the detailed guideline can be downloaded here.
The application process is open from Monday 10th February 2014.
The deadline for completed applications is: 12 noon on Thursday 13th March 2014.
If you would like more information and/or to be sent hard copies of the application forms and the guidelines please contact acharles@vac.org.uk. Tel. 020 7284 6553. Fax. 020 7284 6551. VAC, 293-299 Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2TJ.
Please note your grant is only administered by VAC. For all other aspects of your event please contact Camden Council’s events team. events@camden.gov.uk. Tel: 020 7974 5633.

Camden Council have now opened the second round of the Equalities and Cohesion Fund. The fund aims to build an ever-more inclusive and resilient borough through one or more of the following:
• promoting understanding and engagement across different communities
• bringing communities together to address local challenges in a way that increases their capacity to act in the future
• strengthening a sense of belonging and reducing marginalisation
The total amount of funding available is £1.7m over two years from April 2014 – March 2016. Grants of between £5,000 and £40,000 per year for a maximum of two years will be available to locally focused not for profit organisations. It is anticipated that the majority of awards will be at the lower end of that scale.
More information including guidance and the application form can be found here. Please contact vcs@camden.gov.uk if you have any questions about the fund. Deadline: midnight 8th September
Support Offered by VAC
Briefing Thursday 8th August 2 – 3.15. Followed by one-to-one sessions to discuss people’s ideas with them. Each session will run for 15 minutes. You must attend the briefing followed by a one to one session.
Further support sessions will be held on 26th August pm and 21st August am for people who have got to the stage of developing a draft application.
To book contact Monica or Ricky 020 7284 6550 or acharles@vac.org.uk

Next month Camden are launching the third round of funding from the Innovation and Development Fund. Camden want to give power to local communities to make things happen in their area. The fund offers financial investment and a tailored support package to support local innovators make their ideas a reality.
For this round, the focus is on projects that help build resilience, both in individuals and communities. Building resilience is about finding ways to:
• empower people to help themselves;
• adapt to change and uncertainty; and
• develop communities who look out for each other.
As a borough we have a wealth of diverse community assets (from community buildings through to social networks) that can be used to engage people in activities that help build resilience.
If you would like to understand more about the theme of building resilience and to consider applying to the fund, please book your place on to one of the launch workshops by emailing Eloise.shepherd@camden.gov.uk with your preferred date. Places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
28th May 9am-1pm
3rd June 1pm-5pm
These workshops are being supported by the British Library and the European Open Innovation Project.
Click on the web page for more information.

Localgiving.com is a fantastic new website for charities and community groups. With regular match funding challenges, it is specifically designed to support small, local charities by providing easy-to-use online marketing and donation tools that help to promote your group to local donors, engage with supporters and raise donations.  Localgiving.com is the only website that enables charities that are too small to register with the Charity Commission to claim Gift Aid, thus boosting donations by 25%.
There is an annual fee (of £60 + VAT), but there is also a three month free trial to begin. You can set up your page, trial it for 3 months and see how it works for you. After the trial period, you can cancel with no obligations and no financial loss. But if it is working for your organisation, you can enjoy the great fundraising benefits for only £1.50 a week.
Sign up to Localgiving.com and you can benefit from free fundraising training, fundraising challenges and match fund promotions. Over £2 million has been donated through the site already, and across the UK over 2,200 local charities and community groups are registered on the site.
For more information, and to register your organisation, contact Anna Horsley at The London Community Foundation on annah@londoncf.org.uk or 0207 582 5117.

Do you want to save money on goods and services?  VAC and partners are developing a service for voluntary & community groups in Camden to access deals on goods and services. Organisations will:
• Save money on goods and services by accessing negotiated deals
• Save time shopping around as we will identify preferred suppliers
• Make more ethical and environmentally friendly purchasing choices
• Access tailor made services for the community and voluntary sector
To begin with the project will begin by focussing on;
Gas and Electricity
If successful other services will follow such as Insurance, stationary, and recycling.
If you would like to take part, please download the form, print on headed paper and return to acharles@vac.org.uk together with 2 recent electricity and gas bills.

With the Community Right to Challenge (CRtC) coming into force 27th June 2012, Camden Council and Voluntary Action Camden convened the (first!) Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Forum on 21st June 2012. This brought together representatives from across both sectors to discuss what impact CRtC will have on Camden and more fundamentally what it’s all about! The CRtC requires the council to consider all ‘expressions of interest’ to provide or assist in delivering council services. Expressions of Interest can be submitted by certain types of community groups and organisations. The expression of interest must be accepted or rejected (or accepted with modifications) on grounds specified in the legislation such as the suitability of the organisation to provide the service and the social value created above and beyond the benefit of the service itself. You can read the full report of the meeting here – or here for the pdf version.