Third Sector Interface - Argyll and Bute Community Directory
Argyll and Bute Council · 9 November 2022
Back to Oban Lorn & the Isles Area Community Planning Group — 9 November 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 | P a g e Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface Partner Update – OLI ACPG Period: 29th July to 17th October – 2022 The Scottish Government has confirmed that year 2 funding for the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund will be £282,303.16. Two consultation events were held in September to review local and national priorities for the fund, an online application tool has been built linked to A&B TSI database and the fund was formally opened locally on 17th October 2022. Full applications to the fund will not be considered without the submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI). The deadline for EOI’s is the 21st November 2022. The Cost-of-Living Crisis combined with rising energy costs has dominated the policy agenda locally and nationally and TSI’s have been thinking hard as a sector about how best to support our communities and third sector organisations. In August A&B TSI introduced a Cost of Living Crisis Information page - Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface (argylltsi.org) At September’s Community Planning Partnership (CPP), the TSI CEO presented a paper on moving the local Community Wealth Building agenda forward. The proposal which was accepted was to deliver a piece of research to baseline local best practice in terms of CWB related economic and social activity as well as identify key local opportunities arising from this new model. The TSI will seeking to tackle the cost-of-living crisis in a sustainable way through recycling locally generated profits, developing social enterprise and helping place the local economy on a sustainable footing. The new A&B TSI database now contains over 1400 services across the region and has powered the Argyll and Bute Community Directory launched on 6th September 2022 (https://abcd.scot/). This is a very exciting development for the TSI and our members, as not only does it provide a referral route for third sector services (and some statutory services) but it provides a means to analyse the strengths and gaps in local provision as well as map this against data such as that on poverty, health inequality and demographics. As a next step TSI will be developing a self-service module so groups can keep their data up to date. TSI has secured funding for its successor programme to the Young Person’s Guarantee – Argyll and Bute Positive Destinations. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund have granted an award of £127k over 2.5 years for the delivery of pre-employment support services via the provision of a mentor and a volunteering placement. The funding enables support to be extended to other vulnerable groups not included in the predecessor programme with approximately 20 people per year benefitting from the service. Further applications are in the pipeline, and it is intended that 60 people per year will be supported.
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2 | P a g e The Argyll and Bute Volunteer Conference has been announced for 9th December 2022. TSI are looking to develop a pan-Argyll and Bute approach to identifying and sharing volunteers as well as to underline the distinction between paid and voluntary activity as the public sector prepares to further reduce expenditure given what is likely to follow from the UK Chancellor’s statement on October 31st 2022. Scottish Government asked that TSIs play a role in the planning for the resettlement of Ukrainian Refugees. The scheme has accelerated rapidly with over 300 people settled in Argyll and Bute to date. Welcoming events supported by Argyll and Bute TSI staff continue to be held across the region. The TSI is offering the Inveraray Hub as a space for community groups to meet instead of heating their own space and subject to further thought TSI is thinking of compiling a warm spaces list with opportunity for activities list, so it is not just a list of places to go without an activity i.e. to reduce stigmatising people. Regular area visits by TSI CEO will be part of a rolling programme to build a friendly and supportive relationship based on knowledge of issues faced by the different regions of Argyll and Bute. First visits took place June and July to Dunoon and Oban and Helensburgh was visited on 30th August 2022. Campbeltown will follow later this month. TSI CEO has accepted an invitation to Chair Argyll and Bute’s Corporate Parenting Board (CPB) which reports to the Community Planning Partnership Board. Key responsibilities of the CPB include ensuring effective collaboration between all agencies involved in supporting care experienced young people and care leavers and to challenge partners to improve.