This is the second round of the Local Connections Fund, a £4 million investment designed to help small charities and community groups working to reduce loneliness by building community connections across England. The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is investing £2 million into this second round of funding. This will be used to fund hundreds of ‘microgrants’ between £300 and £2,500, so small, local organisations (with an annual income of £50,000 or less) can bring people and communities together. By a ‘community’, we mean people: living in the same area - like a city, town or street who share characteristics - like beliefs, values, interests or faith who can be grouped together in some other way. Two rounds of funding The Local Connections Fund has been split into two equal rounds of funding. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) provided the first £2 million, which was distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund and completed at the end of March 2021. The second round of funding is provided by The National Lottery Community Fund. If you received funding in Round 1, you will not be eligible for funding in Round 2. What the funding's for The funding is aimed at bringing people together in safe and secure ways, making people aware of what services are available to reduce loneliness and to build lasting connections. People understand what’s needed in their communities better than anyone. We know that groups within various communities will have different needs and will need different levels of support. We want to hear directly from organisations about who in their community needs additional assistance. Who can apply Organisations can still apply, even if they already have existing grants with The National Lottery Community Fund. You cannot apply for costs that have been funded by other means, including Government or National Lottery funding. If duplicate funding does occur, we’ll take action to recover these funds. Area: England Suitable for:Small (with an income below £50,000), constituted, local charities and community groups working to tackle loneliness by helping people feel more connected within their communities .Funding size£300 to £2,500 Total available£2 million in Round 2 - successful applicants must have completed their project and spent their grant by 30 November 2021 Application deadline Applications close - 6 August 2021 at 5pm

Voices for Life, a Bath and Wiltshire based children’s singing and wellbeing charity, is honoured that the Mayor of Bath has kindly agreed to be Patron of their Charity. Voices for Life was founded during the pandemic by Shean Bowers (pictured far left below) and Tessa Armstrong (pictured far right below) to inspire children to be happy and confident through music and singing. The charity officially launched in February with the release of an online video introduced by world-renowned conductor and composer, John Rutter. The aim of the charity is to enable primary school children to be the best they can be at school by providing them with fun opportunities to express themselves through music, singing and confidence coaching, building their self-esteem and confidence. Peter Martin, Chair of Trustees of Voices for Life, said of the appointment “It is great to have the support of The Mayor of Bath and we look forward to growing the charity to enable us to reach and help as many children as possible.” Voices for Life is currently running a post-lockdown project for 250 local primary school children to help transition them through the pandemic. Weekly workshops are taking place in preparation for the premiere of ‘Stardust’, an oratorio written for the charity by composer, Jools Scott, and librettist, Sue Curtis. The performances are taking place on 14th and 15th October 2021 in Bath Abbey, accompanied by The Bristol Ensemble. The Voices for Life projects are carefully created to provide children with a renewed sense of confidence in themselves as well as memorable experiences. Find out more at: www.voicesforlife.org.uk

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is offering free PPE (personal protective equipment) for use by voluntary sector organisations. You can express your interest in receiving this free PPE by completing a short form with a few details and then a representative of DHSC will contact you to arrange delivery. Please note that the details you provide will only be passed to DHSC, and the PPE and the delivery are both free of charge. UPDATE 22/07/21 - DHSC has asked us to share the following information with you: This offer will close on 1 August at 11pm. All charities that complete their survey before this time and date will have their request processed. Charities are beginning to receive their items. Please be assured that DHSC is processing your deliveries as quickly as possible. Please ensure that the data you input is correct. They have experienced a lot of incorrect details in the surveys (eg home address instead of email address) which means they are unable to send the PPE request form. Please do share this opportunity with your networks. Full Support Healthcare has also committed to donate over £8 million worth of Type II face masks to charities, schools and good causes. If you represent a charity or good cause that would benefit from receiving a free donation of face masks, please contact Katie Mawston at kmawston@fullsupporthealthcare.com advising the following: Charity/School/Cause Name: Delivery Address: Contact Name: Contact Email & Telephone Number: Number of cases required (1 case = 2,000 masks):

B&NES are planning the first Climate and Biodiversity Festival in September (13-26) to showcase individuals, organisations and businesses that are taking action to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies. The festival is being co-ordinated by Bath & North East Somerset Council and will enable the area to highlight the national debate ahead of two significant international environmental events: the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in China in October and the UN (COP26) Conference in Glasgow in November. The council is inviting residents, community groups, organisations and businesses to shape the two-week programme of events by running their own activities on the theme of carbon emissions and nature — for example topics could include food, travel, waste, renewable energy, biodiversity, buildings and finance. How can you get involved? You could organise or create an activity of any kind: music, poetry, film, theatre and art or maybe a discussion or a debate. If you are interested and would like to take part, please register on the festival website and they will be in touch. You can find more information online at: Climate & Biodiversity Festival If you need any further information or have any questions, email sustainability@bathnes.gov.uk Please share this information with your colleagues, friends and community groups. We’ve got a shared responsibility to tackle the challenges of the environmental crisis and so the event organisers would like as much local involvement as possible to help highlight these important issues.

Confidence in driving can be a problem as you get older, and the recent lockdowns haven’t helped – it’s quite likely that you’ve been driving much less than usual, or possibly not at all since last March. Are you thinking you might just not drive again? Maybe the real cost of running a car doesn’t seem worth it anymore? Then again, the reality of not driving and losing independence becomes a strong reason for keeping the car going, despite the anxiety that may cause. The most important thing is that you are safe and feel as confident as you can One way to achieve this is to attend a Route 60+ event, dedicated to supporting older drivers to keep driving for longer; safely and with confidence. Somerset Council’s Road Safety team have been running these events with great success and with thanks from grateful drivers. The Road Safety Team say: “There is no safe age to stop driving. Our Route 60+ programme is designed to help drivers continue their driving career for as long as possible.” The session addresses issues such as how vehicles have changed over the years, how our own driving habits have changed, and how we can update our skills. With their help and expertise you can get some tips, ask any question but above all, come away feeling more reassured about driving. You can also discuss whether stopping driving is the best for you, but make that as an informed decision With support from the Police Trust Road Safety Fund, the Village Agents will be hosting Route 60 + events in our rural areas from July. These are free events open to all and will include a chance to meet other organisations that may also be helpful. You don't have to be over 60 and you will be welcomed with a hot drink. Confirmed dates are: Tuesday 20th July at the Somer Centre in Midsomer Norton Monday 20th September at Conygre Hall, Timsbury. Doors open at 10am for browsing and the seminar begins at 11.30am.

The Bath Carnival is bringing a one-off digital event featuring live music, stage performances from the community and special guest headliner Eva Lazarus. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions they are no longer able to have a live audience, so for the first time ever the entire event will be professionally live-streamed, using multiple production standard cameras. Note: There will be no outdoor event or procession this year. They are proud to share the final lineup for this year's digital Bath Carnival event. The stream will be published online and will be free to watch on Saturday 17th July. They have been preparing and recording artists for many months now, and over this coming weekend, the final piece of the jigsaw falls into place as they record the last 5 hours of professional carnival performances live at The Forum, Bath (Official). Special guest headliner Eva Lazarus will be bringing her new PA set featuring DJ and Dancers, to close the event with a burst of costume, spice and energy! The carnival team will then be working round the clock to carefully piece all of that vibrant footage together into a 10-hour online spectacle featuring over 250 performers! Taking part in Bath Carnival 2021 they have local schools, community groups, charities, community centres as well as professional drummers, dancers, costume makers, DJs and live bands. Soon they will be launching our Crowdfunder, but in the meantime if you'd like to show your support then you can make a small donation to their Local Giving page here: https://localgiving.org/charity/bathcarnival They want to say thank you for all the supportive messages they have received over the past few weeks.

St John’s has opened applications for the Summer Holiday Activities Fund. The grant programme offers registered charities up to £3,000 for the provision of activities for children, aged 0-12, from families that are vulnerable, at risk or isolated during the summer holidays. This funding is available as part of their Foundation Fund, which improves outcomes for under 12s across Bath and North East Somerset. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Thursday 15th July 2021. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application in the week beginning Monday 26th July. For any questions about the fund or the application process, please get in touch by emailing grants@stjohnsbath.org.uk Apply now Holiday activities are so important for reducing social isolation and helping children to stay happy and healthy. This funding will support the positive work done by so many charities across Bath and North East Somerset so that children don’t miss out this summer as we begin to emerge from the worst of the covid crisis. – John Thornfield, Funding Manager at St John’s Foundation

As we start to slowly emerge from lock down and see a desire to return to ‘normal’, there is increasing concern around the impact lock down has had on older people’s physical and mental health and how this may impact in their ability to re-engage with society. The St Monica Trust is interested in how their charitable contributions can have the best impact on the lives of older people across Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset. There is already a lot of good work being carried out to help older people to re-engage with their community, however organisations supporting older vulnerable and isolated people tell us that a more immediate challenge is to support older people who are suffering with mental health issues developed through lockdown including anxiety, depression and loss of confidence. They are pleased to be able to release ‘Mental Health & Older People Fund’ that will provide five organisations with up to £45,000 for eighteen months to deliver a project supporting older people and addressing issues around mental health. Organisations applying must have been constituted for a minimum of 12 months and be able to provide financial accounts. Please read their application guidelines and monitoring impact overview and complete their application form, returning the completed form via email to communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk by the closing date of midday on Friday, 13 August 2021. - Application Guidelines - Application Form - Monitoring Impact Overview If you have any questions regarding the Mental health and Older People Fund, please contact communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk

On Friday 9th July at 12 noon the Future Bright Team are running a FREE webinar as part of WECA's Skills Summit. The webinar will give details about the career coaching, support and advice available through Future Bright (www.futurebright.org.uk) to help residents take the next step in their careers. During this session there will be a chance to hear from professional career coaches, ask questions and arrange a follow-up meeting to find out more. Click on this link on the day to join: https://zoom.us/j/96008067405 The webinar is suitable for anyone who wnats to find out more.

After more than a year of delivering emergency support to residents across Bath and North East Somerset during the Covid-19 pandemic, third sector organisation 3SG is stepping down from providing volunteer support for the Community Wellbeing Hub. Since the start of the first national lockdown, 3SG and its 2000 volunteers have provided a shopping and medication service for vulnerable residents, completing more than 5000 tasks and delivering shopping worth more than £100,000. However, with restrictions now easing and referrals from the Community Wellbeing Hub significantly reducing, the service is being wound up to enable 3SG to focus on its core mission of supporting a network of 200 charities and social enterprises across the area. Kate Morton, Chair of 3SG, said “Whilst it was a difficult decision to step down the service 3SG has offered, it was only intended to be temporary. We feel very confident that there are many other options for people going forward and the time is now right for us to step back. I’d like to thank all the team for their hard work over the last 17 months. The Hub will continue to offer support to people in need across Bath and North East Somerset and we are working closely with all partners to ensure that everyone who has received help in the past can find a suitable solution going forwards.” The Community Wellbeing Hub, which is a unique partnership of public, private and voluntary sector organisations, will continue to offer support to residents by signposting people to other services, such as NHS Volunteer Responders. It will also continue to provide direct food support through emergency food supplies, advice on weight management and healthy eating, ‘Cook It’ classes, and referrals to foodbanks and other organisations offering support. Jo Scammell from Virgin Care said: “The service has been extremely valuable to many people during the pandemic and we are incredibly grateful to the 3SG team and all the volunteers for all the work they have done. The Hub will continue to provide support for people’s food needs and our key priority over the coming months will be focused on people’s health and wellbeing, building their confidence and resilience to support them in the future.” Councillor Alison Born, cabinet member for Adult Services added: “I am extremely proud of the support that our community has shown by stepping forward during a national emergency to help others. We are hugely grateful to the 3SG team and their volunteers for all the work they have done. I look forward to continuing to work with Virgin Care, its partners and local community organisations to build on the success of the Hub”. Many of the volunteers who have provided support to local people are now volunteering at the vaccination site at Bath Racecourse. Volunteers who have expressed a wish to continue to volunteer in other roles are being offered support through the Volunteer Service to find other opportunities. The Hub continues to work with its partners and welcomes the opportunity to explore further links with parish councils and community and voluntary sector organisations, who play a vital role in building strong and resilient communities. The Community Wellbeing Hub can be contacted on 0300 247 0050, Email: BATHNES.thehub@virgincare.co.uk, alternative format by text: 07870 868368.

Somerset Skills & Learning free July courses and workshops are open to anyone living in B&NES, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Somerset. Learn about personal development, mental health, child development and much more. On offer this month is: 02/07/2021 Applying the 5 Ways to Wellbeing 06/07/2021 Improve Your Memory 12/07/2021 Introduction to Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools 14/07/2021 Music and Movement (Early Years) 14/07/2021 Holistic Activities to Support Children’s Development 15/07/2021 Fun Phonics Please feel free to share this with your service users or anyone who may benefit from our free courses and workshops. Do you work within a school, charity or organisation which would benefit from free personalised workshops or courses? Send them a message to see how they could work with you in order to support the residents of Bath & North East Somerset! Contact Lucy – lhill@sslcic.co.uk

Expert Impact accelerates the impact of social enterprises and charities by connecting them with world-leading business experts for free advice and mentoring. Their USP is access to Expert mentors who have started and scaled significant businesses. (see ‘Who are our Experts? below). To find out visit their website here or continue reading to view their frequently asked questions. What do we do/How does it work? We provide social entrepreneurs with free, one-to-one “spark sessions” with one of our Expert mentors, to help them solve challenges and accelerate growth. More than 260 social entrepreneurs have benefited from Expert Impact to date. They created £58 of growth for every £1 we invested. And 98% would highly recommend us. A lot of other information about Expert Impact can be found in the frequently asked questions section of our website. Who are our Experts? Our Expert mentors span the business world from tech, retail and marketing, to public relations, publishing and more. They include the founders of Pret-a-Manger, The White Company, Carphone Warehouse and Mumsnet. Most of our Experts have specific experience of starting and scaling businesses successfully. Some of our Experts are serial entrepreneurs, having started, scaled and sold several companies. Why do we do what we do? / Why is our work important? We believe organisations that operate with positive social or environmental aims can help create a more equal and sustainable world. And we want to help accelerate the impact of these sorts of organisations.

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We are pleased to share a brilliant new blog from our member, Bath and North East Somerset Carers'​ Centre, who gathered data and insights from partners (as opposed to beneficiaries) & what they learned: Over the past few months we’ve been listening to some of our 3rd sector partners to better understand how we can work with them as part of the wider community who support carers in Bath & North East Somerset. Here’s what we did and what we heard! Having conversations Often the go to action in the Carers’ Centre if we want to find something out has been a survey. Death by survey in the voluntary sector is, I think, a common issue! Yet more recently we’ve been doing a lot of work understanding the best ways to undertake user research and the value of deeper, more meaningful, conversations. So rather than rely on a survey we sought out key partners to ask if they’d be willing to give up their time to talk to us. A variety of people took part in these conversations, from different levels within organisations, and we’re incredibly thankful they did. Their contributions have given us a valuable picture of support for carers in B&NES as well as thoughts on what we can do to improve this together. Keeping it neutral As humans, I think we often want to make people happy and find it difficult to criticise people face to face. But we wanted to hear the honest thoughts of partners, warts and all. So rather than undertake the interviews ourselves we used a trusted colleague who has a long history in stakeholder engagement in the area. She was already known to many, and was a safe, neutral sounding board. Everyone participating knew Martha would feed the information given back to us, I think it’s still easier to say things to a 3rd party, and for that 3rd party to probe without getting defensive! This helped to get some brilliant feedback which was humbling and in some ways difficult to hear, but necessary for our journey. We may have still had the same conversations if we’d spoken to the organisations directly, but maybe not. Martha has also added real value as a different voice and perspective in the room when we’ve been turning these conversations in to insights. Seeking themes The beauty of a form is it’s very easy to analyse the results. It’s often quantifiable. Conversations, or user interviews, are a little more tricky. However, using transcripts from the interviews, our core research team set about individually looking for what we felt were the key themes coming through, as well as key quotes which captured out attention. We shared these on a Miro board so we could see the similarities and differences in what stood out to us all, and used this to identify the top learnings and themes. It was a great way to share learning from the interviews with the wider group and ensure everyone was on the same page. What we learned It was really clear from talking to partners that they understand a lot about the challenges & barriers that carers face. That carers struggle to identify the role they play; the need for carers to take time for themselves; the impact caring has physically, emotionally and financially. There was also a definite desire to support more carers either directly or through greater collaborative working with the Carers’ Centre. The question now is how might we make it easier for partners to collaborate to improve services for carers. What does that look like? How does that become a reality? Alongside this challenge, there was a real challenge posed to us directly. Many who were spoken to were confused by what the Carers’ Centre does and what we offer to carers. Some also felt the same was true for carers themselves. Partly this may be down to the hiatus of the pandemic and how services have changed. But it felt deeper than that. Although internally we thought we were good at explaining what we do, it was evident that we weren’t getting this message to the right place or the right people. Maybe we’d assumed our partners would know what we do. Maybe the way we express ourselves isn’t clear. Or maybe we haven’t been in the right spaces, talking to the right people. For whatever reason, what we heard is that to support carers well, we have to change this. We have to improve our communication and strengthen our relationships with our partners to make sure we hear what carers need and can deliver this collaboratively across our eco system. What we now need to look at is how we might do this! We’re still keen to listen to partners and see if they agree with what we’ve heard and work with them as we develop tools and ideas to transform how we work to be more effective. Get in touch if you’d like to talk, or watch this space over the coming months!

Message from National Lottery Community Fund: Advance notice of small grant programme for up to £5,000 per project to improve community spaces and deliver sustainable activities for communities across the UK We recognise some groups would like to apply for funding but are not as experienced as others. We are contacting networks and organisations to explain our eligibility criteria and support those who may not have applied to us. We believe this will help some groups to reach the same starting point as those who are already familiar with how to apply for our National Lottery funds. On 30 June, we will open a new funding programme called Places Called Home which is a partnership between The National Lottery Community and the world’s largest home furnishing retailer. Places Called Home will offer eligible groups funding awards of between £1,000 and £5,000 for activities and equipment that meet at least two of the following criteria: Build on the relationships created during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase community activity and the number of people taking part. Encourage people to work together, creating opportunities for communities to live in a sustainable and healthy way. Raise awareness amongst the public of the importance of connected households, neighbourhoods and resilient communities. Develop a new idea, activity or way to come together that has emerged in response to the pandemic. Revive or redesign community and common spaces to encourage shared community activities. Places Called Home opens for applications on 30 June 2021, and will close to applications when we have received 1,500 applications or on 14 July 2021, whichever comes first. You can apply online from 30 June, following this link https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding or you can email placescalledhome@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk to request a pdf form to complete offline if you’d prefer. If you’ve not applied for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund before, you’ll need to ensure that your group or organisation is eligible to apply to us. If your group or organisation is NOT eligible, even if we love your idea we cannot award a funding. What is an eligible organisation? You must be one of the following to submit an application: voluntary and community organisation constituted group or club registered charity charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) not-for-profit company community interest company (CIC) school (as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school) statutory body (including local authorities, town, parish and community council) community benefit society. We cannot accept applications from: individuals sole traders organisations that are aimed at generating profits primarily for private distribution organisations based outside the UK one individual or organisation applying on behalf of another people under the age of 18 In addition: You must have a UK bank account or building society account for your group or organisation. It needs to be in the legal name of your organisation, with at least two unconnected people who are able to manage the account. It must be with a UK based bank or Building Society which is covered and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. They must also be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The account must require at least two unconnected and unrelated signatories to authorise all withdrawals and transactions. You will need to submit a bank statement that is less than 3 months old with your online application. Your organisation should have at least two unconnected people on the board or committee. By unconnected, we mean not a relation by blood, marriage, in a long-term relationship, or people living together at the same address. You will need to give the details of a main contact (usually the person completing the application form) and a senior contact (usually someone on your Board or equivalent) – their full names, date of birth and their home addresses (not the address of the organisation) You will also need to consider how your project will keep people safe and confirm that you have an up to date safeguarding policy in place. For more info on safeguarding please take a look at our website. You will also need to make sure your project is addressing any potential barriers for people to take part, including communities experiencing ethnic or racial inequity, discrimination or inequality, disabled people, Travellers, LGBTQ+ people, and people who are seeking asylum or who are refugees. We can only contact those who we already know about and this is not an exhaustive list. In order to reach as many organisations as possible who may not have applied to the Fund before, please share this email with other groups and organisations who you think might benefit from this advanced notice. However, we ask that you do not share this on public forums (such as social media, websites etc) before 30 June 2021. For more information about the Fund’s commitment to equality of opportunity please see our website https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/customer-service/equalities Anyone interested to contact the team directly by emailing placescalledhome@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

On 18 June lead representatives from the Voluntary Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) infrastructure organisations in each of our three places (B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire) and Healthwatch met with Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) Partnership system leads to consider how we further develop voluntary sector engagement and participation at both place and system level. In attendance were James Carlin, Director at 3SG in B&NES, Lynn Gibson, CEO at Community First, Amber Skyring, CEO from Wessex Community Action, Kate Morton, Chair of Trustee of 3SG, Kevin Peltonen-Messenger, CEO at the Care Forum (for Healthwatch) and Pam Webb, CEO Voluntary Action, Swindon. Attending on behalf of the Integrated Care System (ICS) were Independent Chair Stephanie Elsy, Senior Responsible Officer and CEO of the Clinical Commissioning Group, Tracey Cox and Tamsin May, Deputy Director of Communications and Engagement at BSW CCG. We were also joined by Abdul Mulla, senior manager personalised care, at NHS England and NHS Improvement (South West Region); part of his remit feeding into the national NHSEI team is working across the South West to ensure that the VCSE has a voice within the developing ICS systems in the region. Stephanie and Tracey began by recognising the critical role played by the VCSE sector during the pandemic and thanking everyone for their ongoing support to our communities. They then gave a presentation setting out how ICS arrangements are developing and confirmed their commitment to working closely with the third sector as a strategic partner in developing and delivering services and tackling inequalities. Representatives at the meeting agreed to work together to build on the involvement of VCSE partners already happening at place to make sure VCSE partnership working is also embedded in the decision-making processes that are developing at a system-level across BSW. This will include involving the sector in governance structures and system workforce, population health management and service redesign work, leadership and organisational development plans. It was acknowledged that these arrangements will require time and resources to help the VSCE actively participate. A number of themes emerged including streamlining of contracting and procurement processes that can be an impediment for smaller organisations, funding streams to support development activity, access to public health data and insights and making best use of shared resource. The group agreed to meet again to co-produce plans for VCSE involvement in our developing ICS. For more information about the BSW Partnership which was designated by NHSEI as an ICS in November 2020, visit www.bswpartnership.nhs.uk

Below is an important BaNES, Swindon & Wiltshire system briefing on the BaNES Getting Help Team service pressures. Current Pressures The Bath and North East Somerset Getting Help Team (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service) is currently experiencing considerable service pressure. This is due to vacancies in a small team (over 45% - 10 Whole Time Equivalents) and increasing complexity (20% increase in Eating Disorder referrals, 10% increase in liaison and 10% increase in urgent and emergency referrals compared to last year). Recovery Plan A service recovery plan will be in place, forecast to last approximately 3 – 6 months. The focus will be on re-building capacity and addressing the backlog. Actions include: Trying to recruit temporary staff (including bank staff and agency) Offering additional hours to existing staff / former employees An enhanced focus on recruitment to substantive posts, including recruitment fairs and flexible job creation Temporarily ceasing school consultation to secondary schools (x 2 hours per month). Schools have been briefed about this change, provided with supplementary resources and there is no change in support provided to them from the Mental Health Support Teams. We will continue to deliver x 2 liaison staff per day (compliant with contractual requirements), but broader Multi-Disciplinary Team in-reach will not be routinely possible. We will mitigate this by offering virtual Multi-Disciplinary Team consultation on a case by case basis. Infant Mental Health Cases being supported by the In-Reach team, who have more capacity to take on this caseload. Risk management A harm minimisation plan is in place to ensure clinical safety. All cases will be risk stratified and all rated ‘green’ will be contacted to alert them that they will be waiting longer than usual. All red and amber cases will be seen within the usual response times (same day or within 5 days). Clear information will be provided about how to contact us to alert us of a change in need. All green waiters will also be provided with advice and guidance, signposting and self-care information. Key messages for schools Close partnership working with the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Partnership to develop and continually review the impact of these actions. We are continuing to accept referrals in Bath and North East Somerset. If you have a concern about a child or young person, please contact us as usual. The Bath and North East Somerset Mental Health Support Teams are operating as normal. Children and young people with urgent and emergency mental health needs will continue to be seen promptly in line with our usual practice. We will continue to prioritise early intervention for children and young people presenting with eating disorders. Waits will be longer than usual for low-risk children and young people. It would be helpful to work with schools to look at how we can jointly meet the needs of children and young people with low levels of need during this period. There are useful self-help resources on the Oxford Health NHS website, which can be found here: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service My wellbeing | Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (oxfordhealth.nhs.uk)

Sheila Bluer has retired as the ILC Benefits Advisor after 12 years, and enjoyed a socially distanced celebration with colleagues. The ILC established the benefits advice service in 2009, to help those with long term disabilities to access the support they need and are entitled to. During this time, the service may have helped as many as 5,000 people access Personal Independence Payments and other benefits. These can be essential to help people live independently, for example, by providing help with items such as meals, taxis, mobility aids and domiciliary support visits. The ILC is a charity and has had to fundraise to support this specialist service, which has often taken referrals from Citizens Advice Bureau, MP’s, GP surgeries and social workers. We have been particularly grateful to the Herman Miller Care Foundation, Wiltshire Community Foundation, and the Local Area Boards, who have contributed funding. Nigel Harris Chair of the Trustees said ‘Applications for Personal Independence Payments can be a complex and difficult process, and it will be difficult to replace Sheila’s experience and expertise. However, we realise that this can be a real lifeline for people with complex disabilities and we will do all we can to resume the service.’ The ILC would love to hear from you if you have any stories you'd like to share about how Sheila has helped you, or if you would like to know more about how you can support the future of the centre. Please email Chantelle at information.ilc.semington@gmail.com or phone 01380 871007.

The Small Charity Week Challenge kicked off today (Thursday 17th June) and will run until Wednesday 23rd June, so make sure you're encouraging as many of your donors and supporters as possible to help you in the challenge! In case you haven't heard of this already, read on for more information... Small Charity Week is taking place between 14th-19th June 2021. Localgiving is hosting the Small Charity Week Challenge which will start on Fundraising Day Thursday 17th June and run until Wednesday 23rd June. This challenge is a competition where all organisations on the Localgiving platform can participate (providing your annual income is under £1m) and all one-time donations to organisations during this time will be counted towards the leaderboard. All types of pages are eligible to participate in this challenge - charity, project, fundraising and appeal. If you have an active membership with Localgiving you're automatically included within the challenge - all you need to do is promote your page to get as many donors as you can! Similar to their previous campaigns, there will be a leaderboard with every donation received from a unique donor through any of your pages scoring one point. Their live leaderboard will count all unique donors between 17/06/21 at 00:00:00 and 23/06/21 at 23:59:59. You will be able to keep track of your donations in the leaderboard and the winners will be announced on Thursday 24th June. All you need to do is encourage your supporters to donate to your Localgiving page between 17th - 23rd June in order for their donation to be counted in the challenge - so make sure you spread the word far and wide! The charities on the leaderboard in the top 20 places will each be awarded prizes and we will be awarding £2000 in prizes overall. You can share your challenges on social media by tagging @Localgiving and using the hashtag #SCWChallenge. We'll be sharing and re-tweeting your posts! Login & Set Up

A decision on whether to progress and fund priority Liveable Neighbourhood schemes, which aim to create connected, healthy, inclusive communities across Bath and North East Somerset, is being considered by cabinet. Liveable Neighbourhood schemes involve reconsidering road space to create pleasant outdoor spaces where people can relax and want to spend time. A range of measures, including vehicle restrictions, traffic calming, residents’ parking zones and electric vehicle charging, will be used to reduce the dominance of motor vehicles in residential areas, although people will still be able to access their homes by car. The schemes are an important part of a wider programme of works aiming to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, enhance road safety, and promote healthy lifestyles, by encouraging the use of sustainable transport. A report to cabinet, on June 23, says that the council has so far received 48 applications for Liveable Neighbourhood schemes across the district. These have been assessed and proposals that include low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and school streets/safe routes to school (SRTS) have been prioritised for provisional funding and delivery. Councillor Sarah Warren, deputy council Leader and cabinet member for Climate and Sustainable Travel said: “Liveable Neighbourhoods will breathe new life into residential areas by creating nicer spaces to socialise in, and increasing social interactions between neighbours. They are also an important part of our plan to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies by reducing car use for short trips, and will improve health and wellbeing across the area. “The idea is to provide fairer access to residential neighbourhoods, creating healthier outdoor spaces for everyone to share, as well as vibrant local high streets where people want to spend time and money. “Communities are really getting behind the idea and it’s great news we’ve received so many applications.” Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, approved in October 2019, recommended a major reduction in car use, and Liveable Neighbourhoods are an important element, which will not only tackle the climate emergency, but also improve the quality of the public realm. The report says that many of the LTN applications, particularly in Bath, are adjacent to similar proposals. Therefore, some schemes have been linked to deliver area-wide benefits. Cabinet is recommended to approve an initial 15 schemes be progressed and provisionally allocate £2.2m funding for their development and delivery over the next two financial years. Phase One schemes to be considered are: Mount Road (Southdown); Great Pulteney Street/St Johns Road area (Bathwick); Whitchurch & Queen Charlton (Publow with Whitchurch and Saltford); Circus/Lower Lansdown/Marlborough Building/Royal Victoria Park/Cork Street area (Kingsmead & Lansdown); Oldfield Lane & First/Second/Third Avenues; Walcot Phase 1: London Road, Snow Hill, Kensington Gardens and adjacent roads (Walcot); Church St & Prior Park Rd (Widcombe & Lyncombe); Chelsea Road (Newbridge); Entry Hill (Widcombe & Lyncombe); Southlands (Weston); Morris Lane/Bannerdown (Bathavon North); New Sydney Place (Bathwick); Edgerton Road/Cotswold Road (Moorlands); Temple Cloud; and Lyme Road/Charmouth Road (Newbridge) If approved residents, businesses and local organisations will be consulted and encouraged to work with ward members to help inform the development of schemes with preliminary designs prepared in the autumn. These will then be subject to further public consultation before detailed designs are drawn up and the schemes implemented. To read the report visit: https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=5971 To view the Liveable Neighbourhoods strategies at https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/liveable-neighbourhoods-consultation