Full Allocation

The Local Network Fund is on target to fully commit its funds in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area. NO more new applciations forms are being sent out from the National Call Centre. However, applications for the August panel will be accepted up to 3rd August 2007.

Final Year of LNF Application Workshops

The Local Network Fund has handed out over £1.5 million worth of grants to groups working with children and young people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Projects that have been funded include youth clubs, playgroups, family support, multicultural awareness, science projects, holiday activities, healthy eating and so much more. Grants of £250 -£7,000 can cover start- up costs, develop existing projects or enable a group to do something totally different!

To help you complete your application the Local Network Fund is holding a series of workshops throughout the county which will cover all aspects of the application process including all the supporting documentation that is required. We are especially interested in involving young people in the application process and enabling them so to submit applications for projects that they have devised themselves.

Cambridgeshire ACRE, 32 Main Street, Littleport, Cambs. CB6 1PJ
Monday 25th June 10.30am – 12noon
Tuesday 26th June 7pm – 8.30pm
Friday 29th June 1pm - 3.30pm

VSF, 81 Park Road, Peterborough, PE1 2TN
Monday 25th June 10.30am – 12noon
Wednesday 4th July 6pm –7.30pm

Young Lives, 11 Bridge Street, St Ives, Cambs. PE27 5EH
Tuesday 26th June 10.30am – 12noon
Wednesday 27th June 6pm – 7.30pm
Friday 29th June 1pm - 3.30pm

To book your place, please circle the workshop you would like to attend and return this form to Cambridgeshire ACRE, 32 Main Street, Littleport, Cambs, CB6 1PJ, or fax it to 01353 862040
by 21st June 2007.
Applications forms are available from 0845 113 0161. For further information please contact Fleur on
01353 865024 or email lnf@cambsacre.org.uk.

New Helpsheets available

The Local Network Fund are always looking at ways to improve and expand the help available to groups interested in appplying to the Local Network Fund for funding. There are two new editions to the help sheets available to download from the Essential Information page of the website. Financial Guidelines and Health & Safety. We have also published a list of year four successful projectson the Successful Projects page of the website.

Youth Panel day out at Grafham Water

Recently 6 members of the Local Network Fund Youth Panel attended a team-building day at Grafham Water where they undertook activities including a range of problem solving games, climbing, archery and the rather muddy Grafham Challenge. This involved them all being blindfolded and navigating a course of obstacles including tunnels, tyres and slides and having to work together and communicate what was happening along the way.

The group had great fun and learned how to listen to each other, take on board each others points of view, communicate properly and how to encourage each other – valuable lessons which they are looking forward to implementing into the Youth Panel where they look at applications coming into the Fund and discuss their appropriateness for young people.

The LNF Team was very impressed with how the group got on with the challenges and gave it their all. They are also hoping that some of these members will attend the main Panel later in the year giving them a chance to see the process through fully.

Get your hands on our money!

The LNF Team at Cambridgeshire ACRE are encouraging groups to get their application forms in for this, the final year of funding!

The Local Network Fund is due to cease in March 2008 and therefore to stop your group missing out you need to apply now! The new allocation of funding has been announced and any projects working with children and young people can apply. Grants of between £250 and £7,000 are available for a variety of projects including starting up youth groups, toddler groups, helping pre-schools and playgroups develop sensory gardens and trim trails, running drama and music workshops, art workshops where murals have been created as well as basic life skills courses.

Fleur Kerrecoe, LNF Development Officer said ‘I would encourage all groups who are working with or are looking to work with children and young people get in touch as soon as they can – support is on hand to help with all steps of the application process’.

To be eligible your group must be a local voluntary or community group working with children and young people aged from 0 to 19 years and have a turnover of less than £100,000. Grants can cover start- up costs, develop existing projects or enable a group to do something totally different!

Recently funded projects

Revel - £2,088.98
With the help of a grant the group is running a drop-in style youth activity in the Hemingfords giving young people access to Youth workers giving them an opportunity to talk about any issues concerning them.

Coldham Crew Youth Group - £5,007.77
The grant will help with the start up a new youth club in the village of Coldham, where a group of young people have got together, formed a committee and put in plans to get this project off the ground giving young people a place to go and meet each other.

Dastak Womens Group of Peterborough - £6,980.00
Funding is helping a group of isolated young Asian women to take part in a range of educational outings and social gatherings to enable the young women to see what is available to them after school and help to build their aspirations as well as helping them to build friendships and develop social skills.

March Town JFC - £719.93
The Local Network Fund grant is enabling the club to meet the training needs as well as supplying the essential resources for two new teams enabling them to compete in league and club matches maximising football opportunities for young people.

Needingworth Players PARC Project - £6,536.99
The group received funding to allow them to put on a successful play including learning from professionals all about the different aspects of staging a play including script writing, costumes and scenery production, lighting and make-up and of course acting.
Fen Edge Youth Council - £6,389.00
A grant is supporting the creation of a Youth Council for the Fen Edge area, including the villages of Cottenham, Landbeach, Rampton, Waterbeach and Willingham giving young people of this rural area a voice and a chance to contribute and make decisions about the kind of activities and provision they would like in the local area.

EARTH - £7,000.00
The group is using the grant to help them to develop their activities and work with young people who have crossed a legal threshold because of their behaviour teaching them basic horticultural skills and assisting them with literacy and numeracy.

Eye Junior Youth Club - £980.16
Funding is providing children and young people who make up the group with a variety of activities of their choice including basketball, volleyball, badminton and short tennis.

SummerZone - £4,714.00
The LNF grant is helping the group to run a year long programme of activities and workshops throughout the school holidays for young people including dance and music workshops, arts and crafts sessions.

Friday Drop-In/Saturday Drop-In - £6,604.74
The group is using the funding to a drop-in session on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons giving young people in March somewhere safe to meet up with their friends in a friendly and social environment and can actively take part in decision making and fun activities.

Results of the November 2006 panel meeting

Fen Edge Youth Council, Rampton, Waterbeach, Willingham, Cottenham, Landbeach

Funding of £6,389.00 has been granted to develop a Youth Council for the Fen Edge area, which is a rural area offering limited opportunities for young people. The Youth Council aims to give young people a voice, and a platform on which to initiate activities within the local community. It will be made up of young people who represent the various groups, clubs and villages in the area. Once the Council has been established, the young people will have the opportunity to devise and develop activities for the Fen Edge Family Festival in June 2007.

Cambs East Guides

Funding of £846.00 will enable the group to run a series of get-together weekends and activities to allow the girls from Cambs East Guides and the Scouts they are partnered with to form a cohesive group before the 21st World Scout Jamboree. The group need to build on their camping and team-working skills be able to rely completely on each other when needed. The group will be hosting 20 Scouts and Guides from Montserrat who will be unfamiliar with everything, and will need help to get the most from the Jamboree – international friendship, working together in peace, self-discovery, confidence building and making a difference.


Earth Ely

The group have received funding of £7,000 to develop their activities and enable young people who have crossed a legal threshold because of their behaviour (probably due to learning difficulties) and are labelled as ‘young offenders’. The group will work with East Cambridgeshire Anti-Social Behaviour Group to enable the young people to learn all aspects of basic gardening, health and safety requirements, use of horticultural machinery and tools, basic carpentry and building for garden features. As well developing their literacy and numeracy skills.


Parc Project Warboys

A group of young people have been given funding of £1,833.10 to enable them to work together and organise a talent show as well as a 5 a side football tournament. The aim of the project is to bring together members of the community in Warboys. The group would like this to be for everybody and not just for young people. The initial focus will be on the talent show planned for February they will then move on to organise the football tournament with a view to holding it in June 2007.

Results of the October 2006 Panel Meeting

March Town JFC

The group have received £719.93 to enable two new teams to join the club this year. The new teams consist of boys aged 10 – 13 years old from the community that have been playing together and have formed a team supported by a volunteer manager. It is a progressive step for them to then join a club to enable them to compete in league and club matches. Each team has a group of volunteers that manage, coach and regularly help their relevant team and the club as a whole. Funding will enable the new teams to receive support, training, match balls and a football kit for the matches.


Coldham Crew Youth Group, Wisbech

Funding of £5,007.77 has been granted to start up a new youth club for the young people of the community, which is run by young people. In order to make the application a group of young people formed a committee and canvassed other young people from the village to find out what they wanted. This has given the young people something positive to focus on and also provide them with somewhere to go.


Needingworth Players Parc Project

The group have funding of £6,536.99 to enable the young people to put on a successful play. They will learn how to write a script, make costumes and scenery, lighting and make-up and how to act by professionals who will come to the village and put on workshops and taster sessions. These will be run in the village hall during weekends.


Vikings Korfball Club , Ely

The group have received funding of £6,987.07 to set up a korfball club for children and young people. Funding will enable newcomers to the sport and those who have already played korfball at school, the opportunity to receive instruction and to play korfball competitively. The club will be open to children and young people from Ely and the surrounding villages. Parents will be able to join in with their children, helping to build positive relationships and encourage working and playing together in a team environment.


Coton Pre-School , Cambridge

The pre-school have received funding of £2,557.93 to enable them to offer two lunch club sessions from September on a permanent basis. The group are also able to provide an essential outside storage space and a means of shading the children during extended outside play in the summer months as well as providing more play resources. This will help to increase the long-term sustainability of the pre-school, in this small, rural village location.


Revel, Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, St. Ives

The group have received funding of £2,088.98 to run a drop-in style youth activity for two hours, two evenings a week at the Parish Centre. There will be a chill-out room with comfortable seating, music and projected images as well as a games area with pool, table football and air hockey. A tuck shop will also be available and space to do homework if the young people require. Youth workers will be present to befriend the young people and for the young people to talk to about any issues concerning them.

FREE workshops. Helping you apply to the Local Network Fund

We have over £100,000 left to allocate to groups by March 2006.

Grants of £250-£7,000 are available, to local and voluntary or community groups working with children and young people aged 0-19, (up to 25 for young people with learning difficulties) throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

To enable your group to access these grants, the Local Network Fund Development Officer, Fleur Kerrecoe would like to invite you to attend an application workshop, which has been designed to enable the development of ideas and applications into successful, viable projects. The workshops will cover all aspects of the application process including all the supporting documentation that is required.

Workshops available are:

Cambridgeshire ACRE, 32 Main Street, Littleport, Cambs. CB6 1PJ

Tuesday 9th January 10.30am - 12 noon
Thursday 11th January 7pm - 8.30pm
Monday 15th January 10.30am - 12 noon

VSF, 81 Park Road, Peterborough, PE1 2TN

Monday 8th January 10.30am - 12 noon
Wednesday 10th January 7pm - 8.30pm
Tuesday 16th January 1.30pm - 3pm

Young Lives, 11 Bridge Street, St Ives, Cambs. PE27 5EH

Monday 8th January 10am - 11.30am
Friday 12th January 1.30pm - 3 pm
Tuesday 16th January 7 pm - 8.30 pm

To book a place on a workshop, please contact Fleur on 01353 865024 or email fleur.kerrecoe@cambsacre.org.uk. by Friday 22nd December 2006

LNF Welcomes New Team Members

We would like to extended a warm welcome to the newest members of the LNF Team, Julie Kelham and Katie Low.
Julie Kelham is from the Peterborough Voluntary Sector Forum for Children, Young People and Families. VSF support community groups wanting to improve facilities for children and young people in their area so are well placed to advise them about the Local Network Fund.
“I enjoy promoting the Fund as it has the potential to allow groups to fulfil their wish lists and improve the local activities available to the children and young people!”

Katie Low who works for Young Lives in Huntingdon as the Young People’s Involvement Officer. Katie is responsible for supporting groups of young people involved in the PARC Project to become actively involved in local decision making processes, as well as working to promote the Local Network Fund (LNF) in Huntingdonshire.
“I really am excited to be working with the LNF and look forward to spreading its word further and supporting community groups in their applications to the Fund.”

If you known of any group that would be interested in receiving funding form the Local Network Fund please contact
Fleur Kerrecoe: LNF Development Officer fleur.kerrecoe@cambsacre.org.uk or tel: 01353 865024
Julie Kelham Peterborough VSF julie@vsforum.org.uk or tel: 01733 319973
Katie Low: Young Lives Huntingdon katie@young-lives.org.uk or tel: 01480 494333

We are sure that both Julie and Katie will have great success in reaching out to voluntary groups working with children and young people in Peterborough and Huntingdon. Their role will be to encourage groups to apply and assisting them in the application process., as well as raising the profile of the Fund in those areas. I will be supporting both Julie and Katie in their new roles and all the applicants throughout the whole process.

Successfully Funded Groups from the LNF September Panel Meeting.

Viva Youth Theatre The Viva Youth Theatre received a £7,000 grant to launch their Integr8 project. This is a pilot scheme for a new integrated youth theatre for young people with and without disabilities. The project aims to promote inclusion by offering opportunities for young people of mixed ability to participate in the arts together. The youth theatre will offer young people the opportunity to work with a professional theatre practitioner to develop theatre skills and devise work for performance. Littleport Youth Works The group have received funding of £6,495.52 to enable them to operate a youth club for the young people of Littleport. The club will provide various activities and training opportunities for the young people to engage in and also the group will encourage the young people to develop into managing the club. Histon and Impington Youth Club They have received funding of £6,919.56 for a new Rec Sports Club for young people. The new multi-use sports club will provide opportunities for healthy exercise in informal sport recreation for the young people on the Village Recreation Ground. The multi sports offered by the club will include football, basketball, unihoc, netball, and volleyball and sessions on healthy living and exercise will also be provided. There will be an after-school club for school years 7, 8 and 9, as well as an evening club for school years 9, 10, 11 and 12. Hilton PARC Project The PARC Project in Hilton aims to involve young people in their community by enabling them to have a voice in local decision-making through work with the Parish Council. The group of young people have been awarder a grant of £899.69 to organise an event aimed at bringing all the young people in their village together. This will take the form of a music night featuring local groups, by young people and for young people. They will have the opportunity to entertain their peer group and demonstrate their musical skills and abilities. The project aims to raise the profile of young people in the village and demonstrate to the Parish Council and wider community that young people can organise and run a safe and successful event for young people. Scamps Playgroup With a grant of £5,732.15 Scamps Playgroup were able to open throughout the holiday period, running family sessions to include parents and older siblings. This enabled them to provide families with access to a supportive network of other parents and opportunities for child development and family support. The group aim to provide a stimulating and fun place for children and adults to join in session activities, which help to develop their confidence, encourage their special skills and support a sense of community spirit in a safe environment. Sessions included storytelling with participation and introduction to drama, dance and movement using rhymes, poetry alongside contemporary and classical music, arts and craft sessions related to environment seasonal themes, fun and therapeutic play through role and imaginary play as well as social eating with healthy snack time. Ely Youth Initiative The group have been awarded £6,650.00 to run a project, which focuses on capturing young peoples views on youth provision through consultation. The next stage will be to put on an event to present the information, highlight identified gaps to providers and funders. Get commitments from key agencies on how they will address the gaps and sign post young people to youth provision and relevant help/advice agencies. The project will identify why they do not access the available provision and lead to more targeted, relevant and young people friendly youth provision that has been identified by young people. Salvation Army A grant of £2,109.12 will fund the groups project to develop an outside learning environment, which will be accessible all year round. The group have designated an area, but need to provide a large awning to ensure the children are safeguarded against extreme weather i.e. sun, rain etc. Outside play is essential to children’s development, as it gives them the opportunity to experience being out in the fresh air, to work together, to learn together and to have fun. The group will use this opportunity to increase the parents and carers awareness of this as the main educators of their children.

The LNF Fun Day

The Local Network Fund Fun Day was a great success. A lot of groups who brought along a wide range of activities for the children and young people to join in with. The Peterborough Wheelchair Basketball Club was a particular favourite, as they brought along extra wheelchairs for the young people, (and some slightly older ones!) to experience what it is like to be in a wheelchair, although the specially adapted chairs made spinning around the hall great fun. The Boys Brigade brought along a ‘Canon Tournament’, which involved two teams negotiating an obstacle course and rebuilding the canon, with plenty of cheers from the crowd. The Isle of Ely and St Neots Rowing Clubs organised a rowing competition and the Mepal Girls Football team showed off their football skills. There were also lots of craft activities including making pasta necklaces and face masks and displays including the Isle of Ely Sailing Club sailing boat! I also understand that the Korfball Club has gained a couple more members, as we were all able to have a go at shooting baskets and talk to Lee Matthews about the sport and becoming involved. All the children and young people that attended had an enjoyable time, tried out most of the activities, and went home with a goody bag.

CRB Checks

The following information has been obtained from the government website regarding CRB checks. If you would like more information about the Criminal Records Bureau or CRB Checks please refer to the government website www.crb.gov.uk The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), is an Executive Agency of the Home Office, established under Part V of the Police Act 1997 and launched in March 2002. It is an important government initiative and its purpose is to help all types of organisations in England and Wales make more informed recruitment decisions. The CRB achieves its purpose by providing a service called Disclosure. This is a carefully regulated one-stop shop service that enables organisations to gain access to important criminal and other information for recruitment and licensing purposes. This service enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involve children or vulnerable adults. This is particularly important for positions involving trust of any sort. Such trust is critical in posts involving contact with the vulnerable. It is also vital for upholding standards of professional performance and for organisations empowered by statute to issue licences The Disclosure service implemented through the CRB has been designed so that relevant information can be made available to many more organisations – but always with the consent of the individual applicant. As prospective employees or volunteer workers, individuals need to be reassured that the Disclosure service will ensure that they are evaluated fairly and that their rights to privacy are not prejudiced. The CRB has addressed this issue in a number of ways: No Disclosures can be issued without the consent of an individual applicant. The information provided on Disclosures is always provided to individual applicants. If they are unhappy about any aspect of it or believe it to be wrong they can challenge it and have it reviewed. There are increased safeguards in the Code of Practice to ensure that personal information provided by the CRB to any organisation remains confidential. This is to ensure that the individual’s rights to privacy should not be abused. Contact Details There are several umbrella organisations that can do the checks for you at little or no cost: Young Lives www.young-lives.org.uk Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire www.adec.org.uk East Cambridgeshire District Council www.eastcambs.gov.uk Natural High www.natural-high.net There are also a variety of Child Protection providers who offer courses in Child Protection Cambridgeshire Area Child Protection Committee www.cambsacpc.org.uk Cambridgeshire Local Safeguarding Child Board www.cambslscb.org.uk Young Lives www.young-lives.org.uk NSPCC www.nspcc.org.uk

Letting the Future In

A celebration of innovative community projects for Children and Young people
A local family project has been included as a case study in a new publication celebrating innovative community and voluntary projects funded by the Department for Education and Skill’s Local Network Fund for Children and Young People has recently been launched.

‘Letting the Future In’, published by Community Links, is available free of charge and features innovative projects supported by the LNF which are contributing to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters - the government policy framework for children and young people.

The East Cambs Family Project
The group received a grant of £7,000 to fund a series of parenting workshops in rural areas where support to parents was in short supply. The workshops contained information on child development, importance of play, healthy eating and challenging behaviour. The advantage of running the courses in the rural villages meant more families were able to access information, support and advice and benefit from meeting in their own community to share their knowledge and experiences.

The project is one of 74 case studies from across the country that are included in the book.
Parmjit Dhanda, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, said:“Local communities have an important role to play in improving the lives of children and young people. The document “Letting the Future In” will be a valuable resource to those individuals or organisations wanting to do more to help children and young people to grow and learn. The case studies detailed in its pages will be an inspiration, demonstrating how voluntary or community groups can make a real difference.”

A free of charge copy ‘Letting the Future In’ can be obtained by telephoning 0845 602 2260 and quoting stock ref LNF/LTFI. The full text of ‘Letting the Future In’ is also available to download in from the Community Links website www.community-links.org as well as the Every Child Matters website www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/localnetworkfund

Sunday Fun Day 3rd September 2006

The Local Network Fund in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough would like to invite you to their Fun Day on Sunday 3rd September 2006 at Huntingdon Leisure Centre, St Peters Road, Huntingdon. Children and young people will be able to join in with the wide range of activities that will be available on the day from the climbing wall, football, korfball, wheelchair basketball and rowing. There will alos be a bouncy castle and craft tables, so please come and join in with the fun.

Successful Projects

Peterborough Peterborough Wheelchair Basketball Club - Helping to establish d develop a wheelchair baskey ball club for children and yuong people in Peterborough allowing every participant the opportunity to play competitively if they wish. Huntingdon St Neots New Ramp Group - Developed a youth club around the skate park developing skaters interests, activities and skills. Fenland Whittlesey Ring Side ABC - Established a boxing club for young people, providing necessary specialist training and fitness equipment to enable the group to run properly and safely. East Cambridgeshire The Barns Young Peoples Forum - Enabled children to take part in a variety of summer activities , including horse riding and a climbing wall. South Cambridgeshire Forward Gamlingay! - A youth consultation. By running a digital storytelling project the young people were able to express theit views in a creative way and implement some of their needs. Cambridge Moonbeams Playgroup - Enabled the group to implement a regular indoor activity and purchase equipment to be used at the playgroup.

Funding Reaches £1 million

The Local Network Fund in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has awarded over £1 million since April 2003. A wide rnge of voluntary and community groups working with children and young people have benefitted from the money, including mother and toddler groups, youth councils and sports projects. Funding in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been extended until March 2008. Groups are invited to apply for grants of £250 up to £7,000 to cover start-up costs, develop projects or build on existing activities that will benefit children and young people with limited opportunites or access to services that many young people take for granted. Applications are invited under the five 'Every Child Matters' themes, which are Being Healthy, Staying Safe, Enjoying and Achieving, Making a Positive Contribution and Achieving Economic Well-being. Projects that enable young people to voice their opinions on issues that concern them are also encouraged. There is currently £366,000 available in grants until March 2007.

Workshop Dates for 2006

The next dates in the series of workshops for the Local Network Fund are:
Wednesday 10th May 2pm - 4 pm and
Tuesday 6th June 10am - 12 noon.

Both will currently be held at Cambridgeshire ACRE
32 Main Street
Littleport
Ely

Booking for these workshops is essential, as spaces are limited. Directions and workshop content will be sent out with the booking confirmation.

The Local Network Fund

The Local Network Fund is a programme from the DfES (Department for Education and Skills), set up by the Government.

The object of the Local Network Fund is to give communities the power to make a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged children.