Community Resilience Briefing – 30 June 2023

Welcome to The Highland Council’s fortnightly briefing for groups with an interest in local community resilience.

Funding

SCVO is a key source of funding information for the third sector. Funds that may be of interest include:

The Truemark Trust Makes grants to charitable bodies dealing with all kinds of disadvantage, with preferences to neighbourhood-based community projects.Apply at any time, Trustees meet every three months.
The Tabhair Charitable Trust Supports small to medium sized charities focusing on improving social wellbeing and employment opportunities.
Misses Barrie Charitable Trust This trust gives to a wide range of charitable causes, recent examples include young people, music, and physical health. Apply at any time, trustees meet three times a year.

Social Innovation Challenge
Funds and supports innovators to kick-start solutions that tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The programme will award up to £50,000 in granting funding to support the development of new social enterprise solutions.

The theme this year is focused on issues connected with the rising cost of living. They will be looking to support new social enterprise ideas for removing the deep-rooted obstacles that prevent individuals and communities form living fulfilling and dignified lives.

CyberScotland Partnership Funding
Organisations are invited to submit proposals for grant-funded activity which delivers progress on specific aims and outcomes of The Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland and receive funding ranging from £5,000 to £50,000.

With a focus on enhancing cyber resilience in specific target groups, applicants are encouraged to address the outlined areas of priority. Collaborative proposals are also welcomed, fostering the spirit of cooperation and knowledge sharing within the cyber security community.

Welfare, poverty reduction and resilience

SEPA Water Scarcity Report– The latest report shows that Nairn and the Black Isle join Loch Maree as being areas with significant water scarcity, while Nairn is now classified as having moderate water scarcity. See the report for full details and guidance.
Community Learning Exchange – Supports community groups by encouraging collaboration and partnerships through the sharing of resources and peer learning. Provides the opportunity for communities who are planning new projects or initiatives to learn from the experiences of others.
Resilience Learning Hub–Ready Scotland are providing learning resources to help individuals, community groups, and voluntary sector organisations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a range of emergencies. They offer learning modules, and a further list of free learning on topics offered by trusted partners.
Be Safe Be Sound Campaign – Counter Terrorism Policing is collaborating with the UK’s music industry to deliver safety advice to the public. Campaign materials are available, at no cost, for organisations, venues, and festivals to use on any appropriate communication platform. Materials include videos, posters, banners, and guidelines.
Community Council Election Timetable 2023 – Elections for community councils will be held soon. The notice of Election and further guidance will be published 4 September 2023 and the deadline for submitting nomination papers will be 3 October 2023. For the full timetable and further guidance see the elections webpage.
Lockbit Ransomware – Lockbit Ransomware has been the most prolific form of malware since January 2022 and represents the highest ransomware threat to UK organisations. Attached is a guidance document highlighting the threat of malware along with mitigations to help prevent falling victim to ransomware.
Cost of living support – Highland Council webpages on support and information to help with the cost of living.
Help during the cost-of-living crisis – Scottish Government advice and information.
Energy Advice – Inverness Badenoch and Strathspey Citizens Advice Bureau offer free, impartial energy advice to householders. We provide advice to help reduce household energy use, save money, and understand energy bills and support householders to manage energy debt. This can be done in person, over the phone or by video call. We can be contacted on 01463 219742 or email energy@invernesscab.org

Mental Health and Wellbeing

NHS Highland Mental Wellbeing– a collection of resources and signposts to help people of all ages to look after their own mental wellbeing. Register for the event by following the link.
Cost of living crisis and your mental health
Many people are feeling the strain as the cost of living continues to increase. This resource provides information on how you can maintain your mental wellbeing at this time, alongside information on how to manage your money as bills rise.

Emergency Planning