Community First Brierley Hill – 19th March 7pm – St Michael’s Church – £40,000 available

Community FirstThere will be a meeting of the Community First Brierley Hill panel next Tuesday, 19th March 2013 at 7pm.
The meeting will be held at St Michael’s Church, Bell Street South, Brierley Hill.
Community First Brierley Hill has almost £40,000 of grants available for community groups in the Brierley Hill ward over the next two years.
The agenda for the meeting is:
  1. Apologies
  2. Minutes of the previous meeting (see below)
  3. The Community First Action Plan
  4. Applications for funding (update on present status below)
  5. Dates of future meetings
  6. Any other urgent business.
I do hope you will be able to attend the meeting and look forward to seeing you.
Kind regards,
Tim Sunter

Nine Locks Shotokan Karate Club recommended for £2,400 funding

Layout 1A Brierley Hill Karate Club which caters for children and teenagers in Brierley Hill has been recommended by the local Community First panel for funding of £2,467.74.

The Nine Locks Shotokan Karate Club which meets at the Nine Locks Community Centre had applied for support from the Community First Brierley Hill fund.  The government backed fund has £68,000 to distribute to local groups over four years.

Club Instructor Ross Jones said:

“There are currently approximately 12 young people who regularly attend the club however we would like to be able to accommodate up to 30 children / young people. The community first grant will enable us to better subsidise a growing number of students, kit out new members, produce publicity and engage more participants.

“They will be given group and individual tuition using the equipment provided for by this grant. They will be coached for competitions with other clubs and transport will be provided by our club. Social events will be arranged for members of the club and their families in order to foster community and strengthen links with other community members.”

For further information on the Community First Brierley Hill fund go to www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org

Black Country Rebels dance group recommended for £2,110 grant


A voluntary dance group has had its grant application for £2,110 recommended for funding by the Community First Brierley Hill panel.

Black  Country RebelsThe Black Country Rebels provides dance classes for 4 to 25 year olds in the Hawbush area – supporting activities which would not otherwise be available for local youngsters.  To keep up with demand the group need extra resources and the grant will go towards equipment and travel costs.

Funding team member Yvonne Curtis said:

“We provide out of school dance activities and holiday clubs that are not available locally and which are affordable for the ward of Brierley Hill and Hawbush Community.

“We involve young people and encourage them to be active, become part of a team and help them to build confidence, friendships and self esteem.”

Black Country Rebels meets every Wednesday from 5.30 to 8.30 pm at St Pauls, Hawbush Road, Brierley Hill.  Further details on taking part can be found by calling Tina Bowen on 0785 271 1885.

Community First is a government initiative which gives grants to community and non profit making initiatives in designated areas across the country.  Further information can be found on the website www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org

Community First Brierley Hill – panel meeting 18th September 2012 – all welcome

The Community First Brierley Hill panel will be meeting on Tuesday 18th Septembe 2012 at St Michael’s Church Brierley Hill.

The panel has, to date, recommended funding for fourteen community groups for grants totalling £12,336.30 out of a total allocation of £67,820 available over four years.

On Tuesday the panel will be considerin grant applications from the Nine Locks Community Centre towards a karate club, and from Dudley Strategic Campaigns team towards tackling alcohol abuse towards young people.

The papers for the meeting, together with the grant applications can be read below

Continue reading Community First Brierley Hill – panel meeting 18th September 2012 – all welcome

Community First Brierley Hill sets 2012 meeting dates for grant recommendations

The Community First Brierley Hill panel will meet on:

  • Tuesday 17th April
  • Tuesday 15th May
  • Tuesday 17th July
  • Tuesday 18th September
  • Tuesday 20th November

All meetings start at 7pm and will be held at St Michael’s Church, Brierley Hill.

The panel will work on the production of a Community First plan for Brierley Hill and recommend approval of match funding grants totalling £11,248 for this year and £16,979 for 2012/2013. 

Residents and community groups in the Brierley Hill ward are encouraged to take part.  More details can be found at www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org or by emailing communityfirst@brierleyhill.org.

£11,250 of match funding available for groups in Brierley Hill…apply now!

Community First Brierley Hill is calling on residents and community groups in Brierley Hill to apply for match funding from the government’s Community First scheme.  Anyone interesting in applying for the funding can find more details and download an application form on the Community First Panel for Brierley Hill  website. Money is available over four years, but time is running out for this year’s funding.  The Community First Panel is meeting on 17th April to consider the first lot of bids.

Community First is an England-wide programme, funded by the Office for Civil Society, on behalf of the Government. It will run for four years, until March 2015. Two funds of money, worth £80m, have been created to help communities come together, become more resilient, and make their local area a better place to live.

Each of the 600 areas will have their own Community First panel, comprised of local people to represent their community. They will be involved in creating a plan for the local area, raising awareness of the funds, and planning how they will match and spend the money.

Brierley Hill ward has been selected as one of the 600 areas to receive Community First funding. Total funding of £67,820 is being made available of the next four years – £11,248 in year 1; £16,979 in year 2; £16,975 in year 3; and £22,618 in year 4.

Further details from: communityfirst@brierleyhill.org

or on the website:

Community First Panel for Brierley Hill

Community First Brierley Hill–Hawbush Community Gardens submit first bid for £766

hcg growthHawbush Community Gardens have become the first group to submit a bid for match funding the Community First Brierley Hill.  The £766 requested is a grant towards a secure steel container, a petrol strimmer and protective clothing. Other funds have been raised from ASDA who have donated £500 and volunteers.

The project, in Bull Street Brierley Hill, aims to improve the environment of the inter-war housing estate by maintaining and cultivating an area of land at the rear of Hawbush School.  Residents are even encouraged to grow their own food.

Community First is a government fund which aims to encourage people to get involved with their community.  Brierley Hill ward has been allocated £11,000 to match fund activities this year, raising to £16,000 over each of the next two years.

The Community First Panel for Brierley Hill will meet on 17th April to consider whether to recommend the funding for Hawbush Community Gardens and any other applications received before then.

For further details on Community First Brierley Hill Click here:

Community First Panel for Brierley Hill

Community First: some answers to questions in Brierley Hill

I have spoken to CDF about the questions we raised at our meeting. The responses are given below:-

As the panel partner can Brierley Hill Community Forum also bid for funds?

Yes, provided they declare an interest when their bid is being considered in the same way as every other applicant has to.

What happens for groups who do not have a constitution or terms of reference?

The CDF want to make it easy for groups to apply. If there are no terms of reference etc then a side of A4 setting out what the project intends to achieve, who is involved, how any disputes will be resolved and signed by those running the projects will suffice.

Timing of bids and money coming through

Once the panel has recommended a bid for funding using the online form CDF want to turn around its approval within 7 days. It will then notify the group of the success of their bid (or otherwise) and ask them to sign and return a grant acceptance form (see the website for a copy of this). Once that is returned they will authorise the money to be paid into the agreed account. I specifically mentioned the Jubilee street part which was discussed at the meeting, so they know why I was asking.

Are we OK in asking for bids in tranches?

You will recall that we are asking for bids in tranches, with the first lot to reach us by 10th April, ready for out meeting on 17th April.

This is fine (indeed, they said, good practice), so we should be OK.

Capital bids

I have been asked whether improvements to a community building would meet the funding criteria. CDF responded that they believe that this should be OK as long as it meets the objectives of the scheme.

Community First Brierley Hill: website up and running

The Community First Brierley Hill website is now up and running.

You can view the website on www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org.

Be sure to click the latest news link to keep up to date with all of the latest news.

Any comments for improvements will be welcomed.  Please add to the comments box for this post.

Community First Brierley Hill priorities

Bids for community first match funding have to show how they meet local priorities.

At the Community First Panel meeting on 13th March the following priorities were agreed as a starting point for Community First Brierley Hill.  The panel hoped that the reflected the need of local residents and were flexible enough to enable community groups to innovate:

1. To support improvements to the environment in the Brierley Hill area.

2. To support activities which enrich the lives of those most in need, in particular young people, the elderly and those with special needs.

3. To add value to the work of local individuals and qualifying organizations by supporting activities which:

  • complement existing works
  • plug gaps in the work already being undertaken in the community
  • improve communications
  • encourage participation in community activities

4. To support events and visits which raise aspirations, inspire learning and celebrate our town and its heritage.

Details of how to submit a bid are on the Community First website:

www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org

If you have any questions then please contact us on communityfirst@brierleyhill.org