Updates: Community Grants final push; 14-19 support programmes; Vacancies; SFA

Please see full news item for the above, including important insight into Skills Funding Agency contracts

Please circulate this to any other groups/networks/individuals who you feel could benefit from any of this news!  

If you have a questions or enquiries about any of these news items, contact us and we will be pleased to either respond directly or find you someone who can help you more

New funds added

For further details of any of the below funds/programmes, go to our Funding page and scroll down to the fund holder title:

• LSC/ESF Community Grants (deadline 19th March). There is a big push to distribute the remaining moneys from this fund – remember there is up to £12,000 for third/voluntary and community sector organisations to claim and this is absolutely the final opportunity to do so!! A new promotional leaflet has now been made available – see Funding page.
• City College Norwich – NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) sport programme, all sorts of activities available.
• City College Norwich – Vocational courses for young people aged 14-16 under supervision of the Youth Offending Team
• City College Norwich – Programme for young parents or parents to be aged 16-19 in the Norwich area, life and vocational skills.

Job vacancies

Please see here for information of a Manager required for a Health Trainers Project (salary up to £27,858) and an Administrator for the same Health Trainers project.  Please note the email address for enquiries is: vicki.knights@communityconnections.org.uk

Please see here for a part-time co-ordinator post required for Great Yarmouth and Waveney Mental Heath Action Group.

Skills Funding Agency allocations (the body taking over from the LSC)

Many thanks to Tim Cracknell of the Cambridgeshire Learning Consortium for flagging up this below excerpt from the recently released (on previous Norfolk Unites news item) Skills Funding Agency guide:

''In contracting for 2010/11 we expect to apply Minimum Level Performance rigorously... we will seek to increase the average contract size... and over time reduce the number of smaller contracts.... we will be mindful of the need to continue to provide opportunities for smaller organisations, including Third Sector Organisations, to engage in the delivery of SFA programmes, although this will not necessarily be through direct contracts.  This may require a more planned and structured approach to sub-contracting".

This continues the move away from smaller, localised delivery as was seen in previous LSC contracts into a bigger, more ‘corporate’ world.  This is where Norfolk Unites can be all the more vital, bridging that gap between these larger contracts and doing our utmost to ensure that individual third sector organisations still have something to contribute. This can be seen in our close working with Norwich City College on the current ‘NEET in Norwich’ contract, for example, in working with bodies from other sectors to increase third sector contributions to learning and skills contracts not necessarily held by third sector organisations.  As with everything with Norfolk Unites, the beneficiary is at the core and we will be as pragmatic as possible to ensure third sector organisations are not marginalised from making a vital contribution to these opportunities.

Please ensure you are signed up to Norfolk Unites to ensure you are on the radar for future partnership and contract opportunities.  Encourage others to sign up, too, so that together we can present a coherent, accessible route to Third Sector provision to larger contract holders, thus maximising the opportunity to contribute for you, our individual members.

See our new leaflet which lays out our work.

Date Added: February 12th 2010