Blogs

 Charity land: register it or risk losing it
This article looks at the responsibility charities have to protect their assets including land. It considers some of the risks of losing unregistered land and suggest registration with the Land Registry as one of a number of safeguarding measures. Find out more at www.gov.uk/government/speeches/charity-land-register-it-or-risk-losing-it

 The ACRE Datasheets are an invaluable source of advice on a number of issues concerning Village and Community Halls.  These used to be available from our Village Halls Advisor, but now can be ordered direct from ACRE by following this link.

We will continue to explore other methods of getting these from local sources more quickly, but in the meantime, please use this ordering method.

Despite what you may have read or heard in the media, the vetting and barring (VBS) scheme has not been scrapped – some aspects of it have been put on hold while it is reviewed.

Memo from Chris Carman - Funding Adviser DCA:

I went to an update meeting with the Community Foundation for Bournemouth, Dorset & Poole at the end of last week and would like to pass on some important information to you.

The Wates Foundation is open to applications once again after a review of its grant-making structure.

The Foundation aims to promote work that builds social values and responsibility and provides access to opportunities that address disadvantage.

A government-backed national online database is inviting village and community halls to register as spaces for adult informal learning.

The School of Everything  helps put local learners, teachers, groups and venues together.   

The ISA have just published the full guidance for the Vetting and Barring Scheme.

This document contains details on:

The Community Chest for 2010 is a pool of £20,000 and a time bank of up to 200 hours for practical voluntary help from Hall & Woodhouse employees.  Applications are now being accepted.  The Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest was established in 2002 to provide local help for the community in and around Dorset.  Since then, over £100,000 has been donated to 148 local voluntary organisations, with Hall & Woodhouse's employees completing over 2,000 hours of voluntary work assisting with practical projects in the local community. 

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)¹, and members of the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN)², have announced the launch of this year's COMMA fund. 

COMMA, the Community Aggregates Fund, uses money from Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) to address the impacts of aggregate extraction on the environment and local communities.³ COMMA supports community-based projects in 23 qualifying areas in England.⁴