DRAFT ACT Gazette - Autumn 2011 · 2020-05-29 · Supporting communities….championing rural issues Charity Registration Number 1080875 Company Limited by Guarantee 3957858 ACT uses

Supporting communities….championing rural issues

Charity Registration Number 1080875 Company Limited by Guarantee 3957858

ACT uses 100% recycled unbleached paper as part of its commitment to tackling climate change

What’s inside this issue:

Community Led Planning & Development Making the most of CLP - a Guide for Local Authorities

Plan LoCaL - Free Resource Pack for Communities

Community Led Planning in Cumbria

Community Assets Case Study: Bolton Photo-Voltaic Panels

Hallmark - Halls in Cumbria meet the Standard

PPL kills off music licence negotiations

New to it All? Workshop for new Village Hall Trustees

ACT Project Updates & Upcoming Events

ACRE Headlines - Selection of articles from the ACRE website

Other News - New programmes, events, seminars, funding information etc

New Video Case StudiesTake a look at our updated website with new community resources and video case studies. Let usknow what you think, all feedback is welcome: www.cumbriaaction.org.uk

LDNPA Annual ReportThe Lake District National Park Partnership has recently published its second Annual Report,including key areas of activity and success from June 2010 to June 2011. ACT is one of 22member organisations, committed to achieving the Vision for the Lake District in 2030. Moreinformation at: www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/ldnppachievements.htm

BASIS - Developing Youth & RuralOrganisations in CumbriaFind out more about how this project can supportyour group in the ‘Basis Newsletter 5’ at:www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/basis/basis_newsletter

ACT Gazette:Issue 7: Autumn 2011

ACT’s Claire Watters with Nigel Williamson, James Graham,and William Bundred holding the Hallmark Level 1 Certificatefor Longtown Community Centre (Photo, Annandale Observer)




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Making the most ofCommunity Led Planning:A best practice guide for

local authorities

New guidance examines how localauthorities across the UK are making themost of Community Led Planning to enablecommunities to plan for their future

ACT and Lake District National Park Authorityhave contributed to a new best practice guidefor local authorities just published by Action forMarket Towns (AMT) and Action withCommunities in Rural England (ACRE) with aforeword written by Greg Clark MP, Minister forDecentralisation and Communities.

Making the most of Community Led Planning: abest practice guide for local authorities will beof particular interest to officers and electedmembers who want to take forward thegovernment’s new localism measures bybuilding on existing experience and bestpractice.

Community Led Planning (CLP) alreadyprovides the basis for communities to cometogether to decide their own future, andcontribute their own efforts to make it happen.The process generates impressive rates ofparticipation and results in actions that arebased on a sound understanding of local needsand aspirations.

The guide offers an unparalleled insight intohow community action can be kick-started totake advantage of the new rights that willbecome available to them through the LocalismBill.

Examining best practice from acrossEngland, the guide shows how local authoritiescan support communities at different stagesduring the development of their plan. They canhelp them to research their neighbourhood,understand the relevance of statutory plansand provide communities with the confidenceto produce high quality plans with achievableactions that have local support.

Phillip Vincent, Team Leader for CommunityLed Planning and Housing at ACRE said:“Community Led Planning shows how localismcan be achieved in practice. It has a longhistory in rural areas and we estimate over4,000 plans have been produced bycommunities to date, covering a population of6.5 million. This has resulted in voluntaryaction, new initiatives and enterprises that haveimproved local services and facilities.

“Community Led Plans have also encouragedpeople to think more positively about the needfor new development in securing the futuresustainability of their neighbourhood. Thisguide shows how local authorities can makethe most of this activity”

Alison Eardley, Policy Manager at Action forMarket Towns said: “For localism to workeffectively, the relationship betweencommunities and their local authorities iscritical. Experience shows that the mosteffective Community Led Plans have beengiven local authority support throughout. Thisguide provides real and practical examples ofhow such local authority support can bedelivered and the difference it makes.”

The guide has received praise from Greg ClarkMP, Minister for Decentralisation andCommunities who recognises the value of CLPas existing best practice that local authoritiescan build upon to put communities at the heartof the planning process and local decisionmaking.

Download a copy of the guide at:www.acre.org.uk/our-work/community-led-planning/Resources/Local+Authority+Guidance

Community Led Planning & Development




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Free Resource Pack forCommunities

PlanLoCaL is a suite of resources includingfilms, a resource pack and website which aimsto support communities and groups that are'planning for low carbon living'.

The Localism Bill will ‘devolve greater powersto councils and neighbourhoods' and aims togive local communities a real share in localgrowth, along with a more efficient and morelocal planning system. The Bill, the recentintroduction of the Feed-in-Tariff for renewableelectricity, and the Renewable Heat Incentive,combine to produce a fertile environment forcommunity led planning approaches to low-carbon development and real growth incommunity ownership of renewable energygeneration, with associated creation of incomestreams for reinvestment in local priorities.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), withsupport from CLG’s Empowerment Fund, havedeveloped a suite of tools and informationdesigned to support communities to plan low-carbon and renewable energy initiatives,including more strategic engagement with thestatutory planning system.

The resource includes:

DVDs made up of 48 short films, including 11case studies

Instructions on running participatory activitiesaround renewable energy technologies,consultation, finding funding and projectmanagement

An event planner for community consultation

An image bank, links and reference sources

For more information and to ordera copy of the resource pack,please go to: www.planlocal.org.uk

Community Led Planningin Cumbria

Many communities are currently working onproducing Community Led Plans; both newPlans and revising existing ones. If you wouldlike to know who is working on Plans in yourarea, please contact your local DevelopmentOfficer (see back page for details).

Newly Started Plans:

CopelandSouth Whitehaven Communities Together

South LakelandConiston (Reviewing 2004 Plan)

Newly Completed Plans:

AllerdaleSebergham & Welton Parish Plan 2011

· EdenSkelton Community Plan 2011

FundingDon’t forget, ACT still has funding available forCommunity Led Planning groups. Grants of upto £500 are available to help produce a Plan.Contact your Development Officer for moreinformation (see back page for details)

Want to see other Completed Plans?

Completed Community Plans are available toread on the ACT website by searching underthe Parish name. Please contact us if you findyour Plan is not listed (see back page forcontact details)

www.cumbriaaction.org.uk

Community Led Planning & Development




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Case Study: BoltonPhoto-Voltaic Panels

Background

The Heart of Eden Community Plan coverstwelve parishes around Appleby and waspublished in 2009. The Heart of EdenDevelopment Trust has been formed to deliverprojects across the area. One of the actionsidentified, following consultation with localpeople, was to research the feasibility ofrenewable energy projects.

The Project

Photo voltaic (PV) panels have been installedon the roof of Bolton Memorial Hall to generateelectricity from sunlight and income through theFeed in Tariff. Bolton is one of the villages inthe Heart of Eden area and this is intended tobe a pilot project with a view to installing PVpanels on other community buildings in thearea.. A proportion of the income will go to theMemorial Hall with the remainder going to theHeart of Eden Development Trust to developarea-wide initiatives.

What have the challenges been?

The project was developed very rapidly afterfunding was made available through the BigSociety Grant Fund. There was a projectcompletion date of 31st March 2011 but thefunding wasn’t approved until early February2011.

There was also some uncertainty as to whetherthe grant fund could meet the full project costswhich meant that the Memorial Hall committeehad to identify other funders at short notice.The total project cost £14,110.60.

The Memorial Hall committee knew thatplanning permission was not required for theinstallation of PV panels on domestic propertyhowever it was not discovered until January2011 that permission and listed buildingconsent would be required for the installationon the Memorial Hall.

With the tight timescale for the projectcompletion this proved to be a challenge andplanning consent was only received mid-March2011.

The Memorial Hall management committee andHeart of Eden Development Trust needed toagree the ownership and maintenance of thepanels and the split of income from the Feed inTariff.

It was agreed that the Memorial Hall trusteeswould own and have responsibility formaintaining and insuring the panels and wouldkeep 64 per cent of the income, with theDevelopment Trust receiving 36 per cent.

What has been achieved?

Installing PV panels on a community building isnot an unusual project but the concept of rollingthe project out to a wider group of communities,all working in partnership, is.

If a number of community buildings participatethe income generated from the Feed in Tariffwould provide Heart of Eden DevelopmentTrust with sustainable, long term funding todevelop a wide-range of local projects. It wouldalso provide the village halls with income fortheir own buildings.

One of the Heart of Eden Development Trustdirectors is preparing a “Step by Step” guide tosteer other community building volunteersthrough the process.

Within Bolton the project has raised awarenessof the opportunities the Feed in Tariff presentsand eight private householders have installedPV panels on their own homes in less than sixmonths with others considering it.

Community Assets




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The Learning

There is a lack of clarity among many PlanningDepartments as to whether planning or buildingcontrol permission is required for PVinstallation. Early discussion with the localplanning authority is recommended.

It would help similar projects if District Councilsand other planning authorities introducedagreed policies for determining whether roofstructures are suitable and for grantingapproval.

The availability of funding will be crucial to theproject being extended to other villages in theHeart of Eden and the Development Trust isresearching this.

Contact Details

See the Heart of Eden Development Trustwebsite for a report on the PV projectwww.heartofeden.co.uk

Get Generating: A Renewable Energy Guidefor Rural Communities produced by Actionwith Communities in Rural England (ACRE)www.acre.org.uk/Resources/ACRE/Documents/Renewable_Energy_Guide.pdf

Plan LoCaL - Planning for Low CarbonLiving www.planlocal.org.uk

Halls in Cumbria meetthe Standard

ACT is delighted to report that LongtownMemorial Hall Community Centre and GrayriggCoronation Hall have achieved Hallmark 1.

You may remember that last Autumn ACTlaunched the ACRE Hallmark Quality StandardScheme, here in Cumbria. The schemepromotes the delivery of effective and wellmanaged village halls through a systematicpeer assessment process. Hallmark aims toreward and establish good practice toencourage management committees toimprove established customs and procedures.

On achieving Hallmark 1 Nigel Williamsonmanager of Longtown Memorial HallCommunity Centre said;

“We are extremely pleased and proud that theLongtown Memorial Hall Community Centrebecame the first Cumbrian communityorganisation to achieve the Hallmark QualityStandard. The process proved extremelyrewarding and invigorating, allowing theManagement Committee to review currentpractice and consider future development.

“Hallmark provides tangible evidence of goodpractise, management and community use.Such recognition will be of great importancewhen dealing with service providers, fundersand communities to ensure viable futures forvillage halls and community centres. We werealso deeply indebted to ACT for its invaluablesupport.”

If you are interested in achieving Hallmark 1,but are unsure about the requirements, or feelthat your committee needs some help inupdating its current procedures, please contactClaire Watters at ACT (see back page forcontact details)

Community Assets

Installation of Photo Voltaic Panelson Bolton Memorial Hall




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Community sectorcampaigners furious as PPL

kills off music licencenegotiations

Community sector leaders have written to PPLUK to denounce its decision to ignore the plightof over 30,000 community groups who say theycannot afford the introduction of new musiclicence fees.

In a letter sent on 2 June 2011 PPL UK, therecorded music licensing collector, said that itwas turning its back on two years’ ofnegotiations with the Community Sector LawMonitoring Group (CSLMG) who representcommunity groups’ interests.

It announced its intention to charge a fee of 1%of community groups’ income in order to havepermission to play recorded music in publicplaces unless their income is under £10,000 ayear, in which case they will pay a flat rate of£42. Similar charges will be applied by thePerforming Rights Society. Sports groups areso far not included in the decision, and theycould potentially face even higher charges.

CSLMG today expressed shock as until thisletter they believed themselves to still be in aproductive negotiation with PPL UK, in tandemwith the PRS, over the terms of the introductionof compulsory licences for all communitygroups.

As far as CSLMG and its memberorganisations were concerned, no deal had yetbeen struck between PPL and the sector.In a response to PPL UK’s letter David Tyler,chief executive of Community Matters and chairof CSLMG, wrote, “We all felt that ourdiscussions with PPL were moving forward andthat this was encouraged by PPL asking us to

provide more information at each meeting. Wehave all invested considerable time and effortinto substantiating our proposals for furtherimprovements to a community buildings tariffand understood that you were consideringthem very seriously. As your letter makes noreference to our proposals, I now have towonder whether this was really the case.”

David Tyler later added, “We have not beenfighting these charges out of a sense ofentitlement but because many of our memberssimply cannot afford to pay for them. To agroup with an income of £50,000 a year, a totalof £1,000 on music fees is a great deal ofmoney and often the difference betweenrunning a service or not. Furthermore thecharges have no relationship to the amount ofmusic a community group is likely to play; it’sjust a way of wringing more money out of smallcharities.”

CSLMG collectively denounce the decision andhave vowed to carry on campaigning againstthe charges, seeking the introduction of anaffordable capped or flat rate for all communityorganisations that want to play live or recordedmusic.

Last year the Government decided to endvoluntary and community groups’ statutoryexemption from paying for music licencesbefore a deal on charges had been reached.The change in licensing will affect thousands ofsmall community charities’ activities such astea dances for older people, youth clubs,children’s music and movement groups,fundraisers and fetes and festivals. CSLMGhas warned that these activities may have to bestopped when PPLK UK begins charging.

The Performance Rights Society has made nonew announcement, and the plans for a singlelicence covering both PRS and PPL UK arebelieved to still be going ahead.

CSLMG Press Notice 20.07.11

Community Assets




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Community Assets

The Marketplace

Marquee for hire

12m x 6m floor space

Community Events: £100 hire charge

Private Functions: £200 hire charge

For more information, please contact:

UECP Project Officer Libby Bateman

Tel: 07759665233

or Email: [email protected]

Community AssetsAdvice Service

The Community Assets Advice Service existsto help keep Village Hall and CommunityBuilding Management Committee membersup to date and well informed of any changesrelating to them, and to feed back at regionaland national level the needs and concerns asa collective voice.

If you have a query or concern please contactACT on Tel: 01768 840827Email: [email protected]

It may not be possible to respond to yourquery immediately. If required, please leave aclear message with your name, contactdetails, and query. We will endeavour toanswer as quickly as possible.

New to it all?

A workshop for new Village Hall committee members

13th October 2011, 9.45am - 3pmMungrisedale Village Hall

Q: Have you recently joined the management committee of a village hall or community building?

Q: Would you like information to help you understand your role as a Trustee?

If the answer to either of the above is yes please join us at Mungrisedale Village Hallon Thursday 13th October. We will be looking at:

To reserve a place please contact Claire Watters at ACTTelephone: 01768 869518 or Email: [email protected]

Trustee duties & powers

Trustee roles

Financial controls

Reporting requirements

Licences and legal permissions




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Learning from Big Society:Eden Valley Communities

Since March 2011 ACT has been recording theexperiences of the three groups of communitiesinvolved in the Eden Valley Big SocietyVanguard, the only rural Big Society vanguardin the country. The Upper Eden, Heart of Edenand Lyvennet Valley groups had all carried outCommunity Led Plans and are working todeliver a wide-range of projects.

Big Society is the Government's vision of asociety where individuals and communitieshave more power and responsibility, and use itto create better neighbourhoods and localservices. Rural communities in Cumbria have along tradition of self-reliance, residents are wellused to finding their own solutions to localissues and many are already involved in thistype of activity.

Thanks to the enthusiasm and advocacy oflocal MP, Rory Stewart, the three groups ofcommunities in the Eden Valley were includedin the Big Society Vanguard programmeannounced by the Prime Minister in July 2010.

Learning from the Big Society has beensupported by Eden District Council and theNorth West Improvement and EfficiencyPartnership (NWIEP) and has included theproduction of guidance sheets, case studies,and a conference.

Guidance Sheets:Community Owned Enterprises

Community Renewable Energy

Community Broadband

Community Land Trusts and Housing

Community Transport

Case Studies:Community Transport: Ravenstonedale

Cycleway and Heart of Eden Transport Study

Neighbourhood Planning: Upper Eden

Community Housing: Lyvennet CommunityTrust

Community Owned Enterprise: CrosbyRavensworth Community Pub

Community Broadband: Eden Valley Digitaland Great Asby Broadband

Community Renewable Energy: LyvennetRenewable Energy and Bolton Photo VoltaicPanels (see pages 6 and 7)

The ‘Big Society: Rural Action’ conference onSaturday 18th June included key speakersfrom Government, Action with Communities inRural England (ACRE), and Eden DistrictCouncil, all of whom spoke about the changesbrought forward by the Big Society.

In particular, the conference celebrated theachievements of the community groupsworking in the Eden Valley Vanguard area.Representatives from these groups spoke ofthe community led projects being developedand their experiences of the vanguard.

For more information, including case studies,guidance sheets and presentations from theconference please visit:www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/what_we_do/big_society

ACT Project Updates and Upcoming Events

ACT AGM

23rd September 2011

10am - 12noon

Eaglesfield Village Hall

For further information or to reserve a placeplease contact Dani Hudson at ACT onTel: 01768 869511 or Email:[email protected]




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Tebay & OrtonLocal Distinctiveness Project

Annie continues to work with several groups inthe Tebay and Orton area.

Local Tourism Business Group: Localtourism businesses have worked in partnershipwith Eden Tourism and ACT to produce afabulous new ‘Visit Orton & Tebay’ tourismpromotion leaflet.

Friends of Tebay Church: The ‘Friends ofTebay Church’ group have launched the firstphase of renovations and continue with plansto develop the vestry of St James Church inTebay for community use.

Lunesdale Archaeology Society: The groupcontinue to research local heritage. As well asdiscovering several new prehistoric sites, theyhave also undertaken an excavation of a highstatus building adjacent to Low BorrowbridgeRoman Fort, Tebay.

For more information please contact :Annie Hamilton-Gibney, ACT DevelopmentOfficer (see back page for contact details)

Festivals on the Green

Rain and high winds didn’t stop spring andsummer festivals going ahead at Wasdale,Newbiggin, Great Asby or Burgh by Sands. Thecommunities showcased their fantastic greenspaces with a wealth of traditional culturalevents.

At Wasdale whilst sheltering from the weatherin the Old School community hall, everyonecould admire the large ceramic mural producedby school children from the area depicting thelandscape of the valley.

At Newbiggin village springs festival, thecommunity had to decamp into the village hall.But nothing could dampen the atmosphere asthe local community joined in the spirit of thingswith music from local fiddlers and traditionalchildren’s games. Even the maypole came intothe hall so that local children could display theirtraditional maypole dancing skills in the dry.

At Asby the age old tradition of well dressingtook place at St Helen’s well, children fromAsby Primary school scattered petals andsugar water into the well and placed panels offlowers, petals, seeds and beans at the wellsentrance.

The community at Burgh by Sands held athree day extravaganza to celebrate the officialopening of their new green and wetland area.

For free OGS resources includingcase studies and guides visit:www.ourgreenspace.org.uk orEmail: [email protected]

ACT Project Updates and Upcoming Events

Annie delivers a ‘dig and record’ workshop aheadof the Tebay Roman Fort excavation.




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Enhancing CommunitiesProgramme

The Enhancing Communities Programme,SITA Trust's funding programme for communityimprovement projects, has announced that thenext rounds of their Core fund and Fast TrackFund have opened.

The Core fund, which offers grants of up to£60,000 are available to not for profitorganisations whose community improvementproject has an overall cost of no more than£250,000, is available for applications until 28November 2011.

The Fast Track fund, which provides grants ofup to £20,000, available to not for profitorganisations with a community improvementproject that has an overall cost of no more than£40,000, is accepting applications until 21October 2011. For more information, pleasevisit the SITA trust website:www.sitatrust.org.uk/community-funding

Rural bus cuts hit communities

Cuts to rural bus services are damagingcountryside communities, MPs have warned.Extensive cuts to rural, evening and weekendbus services mean many people, especially theold, young or disabled, are finding it difficult toparticipate in employment, education orvoluntary work.

It is also becoming harder to access vitalservices such as healthcare and retail facilities.In a review of England's bus services followinglast year's Spending Review, the cross-partyTransport Committee warns that even deepercuts in bus services are likely in 2012–13.

For more information, please visit the RuralServices Network website:www.rsnonline.org.uk/Services/Rural-bus-cuts-hit-communities.html

ACRE Headlines

These are a selection of headline articles taken from the ACRE website over the past fewweeks. More information can be found at: www.acre.org.uk

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) is the national umbrella of the RuralCommunity Action Network (RCAN), which operates at national, regional and local level insupport of rural communities across the country.

BT Community Connections

Currently there are nine million people in theUK who have never used the internet. BTCommunity Connections is an award schemewhich offers community groups the chance toget online and help people discover thewonders of the internet.

The campaign offers community groups theopportunity to apply for a year’s freebroadband, if the community group helps thecommunity access the internet and improvespeople’s ICT skills.

For more information please visit:www.btplc.com/Responsiblebusiness/Supportingourcommunities/Digitalinclusion/BTCommunityconnections/index.htm




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Village SOS launched

A new campaign by the Big Lottery Fund hasbeen launched to help communities restorevillage life by starting new business ventures.Village SOS is a national campaign whichincludes a £5m funding pot. Awards from£10,000 to £30,000 are available for thebrightest ideas for new community enterprisethat will make a lasting difference in ruralcommunities. It is being delivered by thePlunkett Foundation in partnership with Co-operatives UK, Locality and ACRE.

The initiative was launched to coincide with thestart of the six-part BBC1 series Village SOS,which airs at 8pm on Wednesdays. As well asan advice line, the campaign includes awebsite which includes a series ofdownloadable start-up guides. The websitealso includes a community network area, givingcommunities a space to share their ideas andinspire each other.

There are three main entry requirements forthe competition; applicants must be acommunity enterprise, the village must be in arural area and have fewer than 3,000 peopleliving in it and there can only be one entry pervillage. For more information, please visit theVillage SOS website: www.villagesos.org.uk

The Environment Councillaunches free Community

Engagement Helpline

The Environment Council (TEC), the UK’sleading charity on stakeholder engagement forthe environment, has launched a CommunityEngagement helpline.

The charity which works on a range ofcommunity level issues, such as naturalresources planning, climate change impactsand decommissioning of industrial sites findsthat people feel powerless to get their opinionsincluded in local and regional decisions thataffect their environment and sense ofwellbeing.

TEC’s Community Engagement helpline is aweb based tool that allows people to receiveadvice from stakeholder engagement experts.This could range from communities wishing tobe more actively involved in the siting of windfarms to advice on how to influencesustainable transport.

For more information, please visit: ww.the-environment-council.org.uk/get-in-touch/whats-your-question.html

ACRE Headlines

Britain faces rural housingshortfall claims report

Rural Britain faces a 76% shortfall inaffordable housing, claims a new report fromthe Countryside Alliance. According to thereport, rural and semi-rural councils in Englandplanned to build only 29%of the affordablehousing needed during 2010/11. This meantan annual shortfall of 76%, or 176,360affordable units, among councils in England,Wales and Scotland with responsibility forhousing.

The survey found significantly fewer first-timebuyers in rural areas, accounting for 27% of allbuyers compared with 45% in urban areas.Rural housing remains less affordable than inurban areas where average prices are 5.4times the UK average annual earnings in thecountryside.

To view the report, please visit the CountrysideAlliance website: www.countryside-alliance.org.uk/ca/communities/shortfall-in-affordable-housing




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Cumbria communityMessaging

A new community messaging service is helpingpeople across Cumbria stay up-to-date withissues in their community from crime to majorincidents and much more. Cumbria CommunityMessaging, allows anyone in Cumbria to getup-to-the-minute information on a wide range ofcommunity issues by email, voicemail or text.

Cumbria Neighbourhood Watch Association isleading the project, with support from CumbriaConstabulary, Cumbria Community SafetyPartnership and Cumbria County Council’semergency planning and trading standardsteams and fire and rescue service.

It’s free to receive information and memberscan choose the things they would like toreceive information about, and how and whenthey get it. Alerts on a range of communityissues will be sent out through the system, fromemergency incidents and bogus sales people,to fire safety events. The service also allowsmembers to respond with information.

Dr John Perkins, Chair of the CumbriaNeighbourhood Watch Association, said: "Thisservice takes the basic idea of neighbourhoodwatch – neighbours looking out for each other –and brings it right up to date to get informationout to communities fast.

“Getting Cumbria County Council, CumbriaCommunity Safety Partnership and CumbriaConstabulary involved means that everyonecan get free information about a wide range ofthings including trading standards, crime, firesafety issues or major emergencies.”

Anyone can sign up to the scheme now atwww.cumbriacommunitymessaging.co.ukand begin receiving updates.

Community ResilienceHandbook

A new publication on community resilience hasbeen launched by a Community of Practicesponsored by Carnegie UK Trust. It opens byfeaturing, and celebrating, how effectivelyCumbrian communities were able to respond tothe floods of November 2009. The aim of thepublication is to inspire communities across theUK and Ireland, and beyond, that it is possibleto build more resilient communities eventhrough tough times.

Building on the Cumbrian experience (andmany other stories from as far as New Orleans,the Outer Hebrides, and Tooting, London), thishandbook:

is packed with and based on real-lifeexperience of community resilience pioneers

introduces and translates some of the mostuseful academic insights into resilience

weaves in current and recent media stories toopen a discussion about the bigger policyimplications of resilience thinking

is beautifully designed and presented, withillustrations, pictures, ‘live’ web links and evena workshop that people in communities canuse to make sense of ‘community resilience’in their own context, and

includes a ‘compass’ of community resilience,a new framework to help navigate the manyaspects of the topic and challengecommunities to ensure they are ’covering allthe bases’

For more information, contact Nick Wilding [email protected] and follow updates ontwitter @comresilience. The book is availableto view online at: www.fieryspirits.com andprinted copies are available to order at:www.surveymonkey.com/comresilience

Other News




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Cumbria Equality Resource Centre is enteringits action packed final year, finishing in October2012!

Free Equality Health Checks

We are offering all third sector organisationsthe opportunity of a free equality health check,a brisk assessment of your Equal Opportunitiespolicy, recruitment and retention policies,publicity and outreach strategies and also achance to discuss on an individual basis theequality needs of your organisation. Why notinvite us to the first hour of your next trustees’meeting? Please ring Andrea on 01768 895242or email [email protected].

Travelogue: Diversity at the Heart ofCumbria

In 2010, Cumbria Equality Resource Centrestaff travelled around Cumbria to discover therange of equality and diversity activity inCumbria. Hundreds of hours of interviews andfilm footage have been distilled into a short filmseries called “Travelogue: Diversity at the Heartof Cumbria”. This film series gives voice toBME, LGBT and Disabled people, serviceproviders, small business owners, statutorystaff, young people and the elderly.

On Thursday 27 October from 10am to 2pm atBishop Bully Barn, Rydal Hall, Ambleside,CERC will debut the Travelogue film series forits participants and third sector providers whomay wish to use these films for fundingevidence, training or presentation aids. Placesare limited so please RSVP by Friday 16September to [email protected].

Cumbria’s first large gay PRIDE event takesplace on Saturday 1 October at SwallowHilltop Hotel, Carlisle from 1pm to 10.30 pm.Please check the following link for moredetails: www.cumbriapride.org

Neighbourhood Forums

Neighbourhood Forums are an opportunity foryou to get involved in issues affecting yourarea, and to get information about localservices. You can talk to decision makers andlocal residents, and raise your own ideas forcommunity improvement. There are over 60Neighbourhood Forums in Cumbria, organisedby our three area support teams coveringNorth, East & West Cumbria.

Each Forum area also manages a communitygrants fund, available to voluntary, not for profitand community groups, for community basedprojects which will benefit the localarea. Applications can be for anything from£50, with most awards less than £1,000.Criteria can vary from area to area, but on thewhole groups must be non-profit making,locally based, doing their own fund-raising andthe project must show community benefit. Fordetails of your local forum or area team,contact a member of staff:

Area Support Team North

Carlisle Tel: 01228 221054Paul Carrigan [email protected] Jeff Tweddle [email protected]

Eden: Tel: 01768 812143Brian Morris [email protected] Jeff Tweddle [email protected]

Area Support Team West

Allerdale Tel: 01900 706012Lynn Singleton [email protected] Sally Scales [email protected]

Copeland Tel: 01946 505019Maria Hewitt [email protected] Cooper [email protected]

Area Support Team South

South Lakes Tel: 01539 713447Kelly Alty [email protected] Carol Last [email protected]

Barrow Tel: 01229 407576Alison Meadows [email protected] Derek Brook [email protected]

Other News




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Useful contacts at ACT

This newsletter, and previous editions can be downloaded from the ACT

website: www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/gazette

© ACT 2011. Voluntary Action Cumbria, The Old Stables, Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0DT. This publication may bereproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context.

The material must be acknowledged as Action with Communities in Cumbria copyright and the title of the publication specified.

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, ACT does not accept responsibility for anyerrors or omissions in the information provided in this publication or the content of external websites listed.

Nicola Kirby - Development ManagerDirect Tel: 01768 869528Email: [email protected]

Julia Wilson - Senior Development Officer,South Lakeland and FurnessDirect Tel: 01768 869524Email: [email protected]

Hellen Aitken - Development Officer, CarlisleDirect Tel: 01768 869520Email: [email protected]

Carl Glynn - Development Officer, Eden &Community Assets AdvisorDirect Tel: 01768 869525Email: [email protected]

Jeff Downham - Development Officer, WestCumbriaDirect Tel: 01768 869526Email: [email protected]

Terry McCormick - Senior DevelopmentOfficer, West CumbriaDirect Tel: 01768 869523Email: [email protected]

Claire Hudson - Enterprise Officer & BASISProject CoordinatorDirect Tel: 01768 869538Email: [email protected]

Claire Watters - BASIS Project OfficerDirect Tel: 01768 869518Email: [email protected]

Annie Hamilton-Gibney - Development Officer,Tebay & Orton Local DistinctivenessDirect Tel: 01768 869517Email: [email protected]

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