Government Holiday activities and food programme 2022

Holiday activities and food programme 2022 across London

The Government has provided local councils with some funding to allow them to fund free holiday childcare and food provision.

Full details about the program can be found here.

Around London each local council has spent the funding in different ways and supported different organisations so here at 4in10 we have attempted to gather them all together in one place.

 

Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Brent
Bromley
Camden
City of Westminster
Croydon
Ealing
Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea (linked with Westminster)
Kingston upon Thames
Lambeth
Lewisham
Merton
Newham
Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Sutton
Tower Hamlets
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth

by Maddie Henson

Levelling Up White Paper: Why using London as a yardstick risks children everywhere

Levelling Up White Paper: Why using London as a yardstick risks children everywhere

 

In February, this year, the government released their long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, a 300-page long publication covering everything from the history of the biggest cities in the world to twelve separate missions for the UK. By now, and a few months on from its publication, you may have read any number of analyses or opinion pieces on this unusual document.

At 4in10, London’s Child Poverty Network, amongst the myriad of missions and metrics, there were two key issues stand out as being of great concern:

  • Child poverty in London is completely absent from the paper (the phrase ‘child poverty’ does not appear at all).
  • London is used a yardstick for success for other regions, despite having the highest levels of inequality and poverty. The White Paper explicitly intends to replicate London’s economic model in other regions despite these facts. This risks the exacerbation of child poverty not just in London but in other areas identified as needing to be ‘Levelled Up’ (Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Newcastle, the Humber etc).

Child Poverty in London and Levelling Up

Although London is discussed in some sections of the Levelling Up White Paper, child poverty levels are not referenced. This is despite four in ten children in London currently living in poverty and nine of the ten local authorities with the highest levels of child poverty being located in London. If children in the capital, or elsewhere in the UK, are going hungry due to poverty – and the White Paper fails to mention – let alone address this – the phrase ‘Levelling-Up’ rings hollow. The White Paper does discuss the deprivation and lack of investment into many regions across the UK. However, it is possible for two truths to be present at once:

  • Vast areas of the UK have experienced chronic underinvestment.
  • London’s children are experiencing worsening poverty levels and increasingly deep levels of poverty.

It is true that some of London’s children do experience some advantages (but these tend to be limited to social mobility measures); a child on free school meals in London is twice as likely to attend university compared to those in the north of England. In London’s most deprived areas, nearly 90 per cent of secondary schools are either good or outstanding, compared with less than 50 per cent in deprived areas of the north. Transport spend per head has been higher in London for a decade (although this doesn’t always benefit poorer Londoners in outer boroughs); London transport spending per head was £864, compared with £379 in the north-west of England between 2009-2020. All of these facts are little compensation to the 12 children in a classroom of 30 who live in poverty in London. If one of the children in an East London classroom ends up going to Oxbridge, or gets a job at a top law firm, that is little compensation to the 11 others who still live in poverty. Similarly, the ability to get from Hackney (East London) to Thornton Heath (South West London), for as little as £1.65, means very little when the parent to the child pays (on average) £1,650 on rent per month in Hackney.

At 4in10, believe the Levelling Up agenda can, and should, address both regional underinvestment and child poverty rates in all areas of the country, including London.  We should not pit children in one area against another (as the White Paper states itself; page xiv)– any child growing up in poverty in the United Kingdom is an avoidable tragedy.

There is a real risk that the high levels of poverty and child poverty, experienced in London and elsewhere, will be overlooked by national policy makers in light of the White Paper.

Replicating London’s Private Sector Productivity Model

“Typically, differences within UK regions or cities are larger than differences between regions on most performance metrics” (Levelling Up White Paper 2022: p27)

A significant part of the reason child poverty is overlooked by the Levelling Up White Paper is due to the fact the main objective of ‘Levelling Up’ is to reproduce the London’s levels of productivity in other regions of the UK, through processes of agglomeration. It is consistently implied, in the White Paper, that living standards will increase once the rest of the UK’s long standing productivity problems are resolved. In London, both as a whole unit and at local authority levels, productivity metrics are higher than other regions. Across the measures selected by the government as indicative of a productive area, Gross Value Added per hour, median gross weekly pay, and proportion of population with a Level 3+ qualification – London scores highly in comparison to other regions. This leaves London’s true picture of poverty somewhat obscured.

Using Gross Value Added (GVA), the favoured productivity measurement of the government, Tower Hamlets is the third most productive region in the country (ONS 2021). Therefore, Tower Hamlets has ‘Levelled Up’, right?

If you were to walk down in a street in Tower Hamlets, in the shadow of Canary Wharf, one in two families (55.8% – End Child Poverty Coalition: 2021) would be living in poverty; if you asked them how high GVA levels or the private sector productivity of the financial district has benefited them, they would struggle to give you an answer.

This gets to the heart of why we at 4in10 are alarmed that this model is being sought to be replicated elsewhere. Living standards, such as child poverty, in Tower Hamlets for example, would not be improved by a further increase in shiny new private sector buildings in the borough.

As a network organisation whose members have seen the impact of child poverty rising over the last decade, the use of London as a yardstick for success or model to be copied is highly concerning. It is not just concerning for children in London, but also for children in places like Leeds, Rotherham, and Middlesbrough, who are the primary focus of ‘Levelling Up’ narratives. Whilst ‘Levelling Up’ certainly means different things to different people, but we would all agree that an area has not levelled up whilst still having extremely high levels of child poverty.

The Equality Trust and New Economics Foundation have already flagged that the Levelling Up White Paper must focus on people, not just places. Research from the NPC (2022) shows that only 2% of the total levelling up funding is going on supporting social infrastructure so far, despite the public’s expectation that will Levelling Up tackle social issues. The public consider the most important aspects to an area being levelled up to be reduced homelessness (36%) and reduced poverty (36%).

However, the problems with the White Paper and child poverty levels in London run even deeper when contextualised against continuous unhelpful narratives:

How Can We Change The Narrative That London Doesn’t Need To Be Levelled Up?

After waiting a few months to see if these concerns would be addressed by policy makers, it is clear that we need an alternative narrative or frame to tell the true story of child poverty in London. Despite years of (sky) high child poverty rates in London, Westminster are simply not listening. No single statistic will provide a silver bullet to this problem, as:

 

  • People outside of London either aren’t aware of the scale of child poverty in London, or they simply don’t believe the scale of inequality and poverty in London when presented with evidence.
  • There is a sense of unfairness/grievance felt towards London from some parts of the UK; typically providing London with any public funding is unpopular.
  • London is no longer a major political priority for either the national Conservative or national Labour parties

In light of these factors, we need urgently to find an alternative way to make the case for the 700,000 children living in poverty in the capital.

We want to work alongside our members, and anyone who shares our concerns about child poverty in London to help us tell the true story of its impact and challenge the prevailing narratives in the White Paper that prevent us from tackling it.

 

by Emily Barker

London Infinity Elite

Poverty Reports and Data, Funding Opportunities and News

Dear All

This issue has information about the Mayoral elections, the Select Committee Enquiry into child poverty and a Spotlight Interview at the end with Little Village. A very happy 5th birthday to them. They have done so much to help families over their 5 years while exposing the root causes of poverty, we are proud to have them as members. Read on for new reports and useful data as well as funding opportunities and an interesting job vacancy.

But first, 4in10 have a new Strategic Project Manager starting on March 8th. Her name is Katherine Hill and she comes with a wealth of campaigning and policy experience.  She joins us after serving for several years as a clerk to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in parliament, and before that she has had a number of human rights policy and campaigning roles at Age UK, Scope and The Children’s Society. We are excited to welcome her to the team.

Other 4in10 staff news is that Keisha is expecting a baby soon and has decided not to return after her maternity leave.  We all wish her and the new baby the very best of luck and much love.

Work and Pensions Select Committee Inquiry into child poverty – deadline for submissions 25th Feb. It is important that organisations make submissions if you can.  If you would like some guidance as to what could go in a submission, CPAG have put together a briefing based on the main questions posed by the Committee.

The London Elections are planned for 6th May this year for the London Assembly and London Mayor. People must be on the electoral register to vote. It is simple to register online and applications for postal votes are available but people must be on the electoral register before applying for a postal vote. This is a good opportunity to ask candidates questions about poverty and inequality in London. If your organisation is contacting candidates please let us know the questions you are asking them and if you get a response that we can share. (Questions suggested in the link below for the End Child Poverty campaign might spark ideas.)
Candidates are:
Sadiq Khan      Labour  Contact
Shaun Bailey   Conservative  Contact
Sian Berry       Green Party  Contact
Luisa Porritt     Liberal Democrats  Contact
Also standing are the Women’s Equality Party, UKIP and a number of Independents.

From members and friends:

  • ACEVO, NCVO and the Lloyds Bank Foundation have published their final report on Rebalancing the Relationship between small and large charities and how the culture of commissioning impacts on this.
  • Be Gamble Aware and Expert Link have joined forces to develop a user led network of those affected by gambling.
  • Big Issue reports that government is proposing a new strategy to help people on low incomes heat their homes, but warn that people will still struggle to stay warm without a stronger benefit system and help getting out of problem debt. The proposals will extend the £140 Warm Home Discount to an extra 750,000 households,  including working-age households earning less than £16,190. This would mean a total 2.7 million people paying £140 less on their fuel bills every winter.
  • Beyond the Box are looking for young people aged between 14 and 25 and living in East London to attend a series of workshops on cultural programming, leading to possible work on the Peoples Pavilion events and programming. Applications closing shortly.
  • The Bike Project is looking for a new Trustee with lived experience of the asylum system.
  • Bromley By Bow Centre the Working Well Trust and the Work Rights Centre have joined forces to run a free webinar on employment and employability in Tower Hamlets. 4th March from 1-2pm.
  • Centre for London is working with the Mayors Office and others to produce a ‘shared vision for London 2050’. They have created a survey with a wide variety of options as to what matters to you and for London. Please do share the survey with your networks and those who use your services.
  • Children England, Lloyds Bank Foundation and others are hosting a webinar on the government’s procurement green paper as it impacts on the voluntary sector. 25th February 2.30 – 4.
  • Debt Free London have extended their 24 hour a day service throughout February. For debt advice and support call  0800 808 5700. Video advice session online debtfree.london/video WhatsApp message on 0800 808 5700 or live web chat online at debtfree.london.
  • Digital Candle is a free service matching voluntary organisations up with a volunteer expert for an hour of free digital advice. Submit your question and within 48 hours you will receive an email matching you with an appropriate expert. No question is too broad or too niche; whatever you need to know, they will find someone who can help.
  • Doctors Of The World have published information on entitlement to the Covid vaccine.
  • End Child Poverty Campaign have a template email you can send to your local MP and ideas of questions to ask and how to phrase them. This can be linked to both the upcoming budget and the #NeverMoreNeeded campaign
  • Expert Link are recruiting a panel of people with lived experience of disadvantage and the benefit system to develop a strategy for long and short-term policy change, and lead monthly online forum with local and national influencers such as DWP Partnership Managers, national charities and Government officials. They are running a 2 part training session for anyone interested on Thursday 25th February (2-4pm) and Thursday 4th March (2-4pm).
  • Feeding Britain and Emma Lewell-Buck MP have published a briefing paper on Stemming the Rise of Child Poverty with some clear recommendations for immediate action.
  • Gingerbread and StepChange  have published a report on lone parent debt.
  • Homeless Link are running a survey until the 21st February for organisations providing homelessness services if they have used Homeless Link in any way.
  • Huffington Post have published a piece on the rise in Tuberculosis, a direct result of people living in poverty.
  • Juniper Education Dataset Report unsurprisingly shows it has been the youngest children whose learning has had the most significant drop during Covid, particularly those in last year’s Year 1, current Year 2s. Certain groups have been disproportionately affected by the disruption to their learning with disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs showing greater gaps than their peers.
  • Lime Bikes are offering all London key workers – from NHS and emergency service staff to carers, teachers and supermarket staff unlimited free Lime e-bike rides to help commuting in a safe and socially distanced way during lockdown.
  • Little Village have published their report on the rates, persistence and depth of poverty in families with young children. (See their Spotlight interview below)
  • Magic Breakfast are continuing their campaign to get the school breakfast bill through parliament. This is running until the end of February and there are many ways you can show your  support.
  • Maternity Action and the Women’s Budget Group are hosting a webinar on reforming shared parental leave. 19th February 1-2.15
  • Migrant Rights are running a series of workshops for migrants on NRPF and everyday rights each day from Feb 22nd to 24th from 1-3.
  • Money and Mental Health report the findings from the Mental Health and Income Commission that there is a significant gap in average income for those with mental health conditions and that this has worsened during Covid.
  • NCVO, Nottingham Trent and Hallam Universities have published their latest report on the impact of Covid on the voluntary sector. They welcome new participants in this ongoing study. It involves completing a survey and the information is important to evidence the fact that our sector is Never More Needed.
  • Refugee Council, Coram Children’s Legal Centre and six other organisations have written to the Children’s Minister calling for every unaccompanied child to receive the specialist care they need.
  • Revolving Door have compiled a collection of eight essays titled The Knot, that explore how poverty, trauma and structural disadvantage create and perpetuate multiple disadvantage. To launch its publication there is an event on the 25th February from 11-12.30 featuring contributors and those with lived experience.
  • Runnymede Trust have published a paper on ethnic inequalities in Covid 19 mortality.
  • Small Charities Coalition have launched a new mentoring service for organisations looking for peer to peer support. They also run events all year to support smaller organisations including governance issues, finance support and events in community languages on setting up a charity. The next ones are for health and wellbeing charities on the 22nd February from 10 – 11 and Poverty, Housing and Homelessness Small Charities Meet-Up with the ASA on the 23rd February from 10-11.
  • Sound Connections host the Music and Social Justice Network and welcome new members. Anyone working with children and young people in London through music is invited to join.

Local Authority and Health Statutory Updates:

Funding Opportunities:

Job vacancy at Save the Children:
Senior Policy Adviser and Advocacy Adviser (UK Child Poverty), will lead Save the Children’s UK child poverty policy work targeting the UK government.

Keep an eye out for announcements about 4in10’s new website. The plan is for test runs to start on the 22nd February with the site going fully live on the 1st March. The site is planned to be very interactive and to include the work started during London Challenge Poverty Week, creating a searchable and useful list of the many wonderful voluntary organisations working directly with child poverty in London. We still welcome your photos or videos to share on the site, which we intend  will visually reflect our members work. All material will be credited.

Finally, thank you to Little Village for their Spotlight interview below and if you would like to be our Spotlight organisation in March or April or if you have information to share with our network, please do get in touch.

Very best wishes and stay safe.
Liza

by Liza Dresner

Resources for Autism

Great Job Opportunity, News, Funding, Reports and More

Dear All

We hope you are well and coping with where we all find ourselves.

You may have seen that sadly, Laura Payne is moving on from 4in10 to a great new post at the end of January. This means we have an exciting new vacancy for our team leader. Can you see yourself running our amazing 4in10 network, championing London's diverse and tireless anti-poverty organisations, maintaining, creating and developing contacts with decision makers and those who influence and inform them while leading a small and diverse team? Do you have excellent people skills and experience of campaigning and collaboration? Job description is here and the closing date is midday on the 18th January. Please do share as widely as you can.

As before a return to full lockdown means the danger of yet another increase in Domestic Violence. This is an updated list of the help available:

From our members and friends:

4in10 and a group of our frontline medical members are planning a Webinar on the impact of poor housing on children's health and safeguarding and what practical steps that can be taken to change this from a health practitioners perspective. The provisional date for this is the 29th March 1 – 2.30. If you feel you have something you would like to contribute please get in touch. More details will be available next month.

Local Authority and Statutory Updates:
Many London Local Authorities have developed an elibrary service. This gives access to online books, magazines, comics, homework help and more. Examples below of what is available from some individual boroughs but do check your own borough's library website for more details:

  • Barnet
  • Brent
  • Croydon
  • Ealing
  • Kensington and Chelsea
  • Waltham Forest
  • Hounslow have launched a swop shop for residents for children's clothes and toys and have created a way for families to give away items and request things they need. Send an email with the items to give away or needed.
  • The Department of Culture, Media and Sport are hosting webinars on Winning Central Government Contracts and the New Social Value Model from 2pm-4pm, on the 20th January 2021, 3rd February and the 17th March.
  • The Department for Education has confirmed it will go ahead with previously announced plans to increase the number of free laptops and 4G routers made available to disadvantaged children.
  • Ofcom estimates that 9% of children in the UK (between 1.1 million and 1.8 million) do not have access to a laptop, desktop, or tablet at home and that more than 880,000 children live in a household with only a mobile internet connection.
  • ONS state that only 51% of households earning between £6,000 and £10,000 have internet access.
  • The DofE also updated their guidance on safeguarding children on the 30th December. It now includes homelessness or potential homelessness as a safeguarding concern and requires public bodies to refer families to a housing authority.
  • GLA have a London Learning from Home resource site for parents and children to access resources and help.
  • London Boroughs Faiths Network, the GLA and London Plus are running the pan-London Volunteering Summit 14th January 1.30 – 3.30. Free and online, this will address ways to support volunteers and volunteering in London.
  • The Prime Minister stated that children eligible for free school meals would now receive supermarket vouchers similar to those provided during the first lockdown and during the summer and Christmas holidays. There is currently no information on how this is to be administered while schools are closed. Check individual local authority websites for updates.

Funding Opportunities:

Very best wishes and as always please keep sharing information with us so we can share on...

Laura, Keisha and Liza

PS: Did you see the Member Spotlight in our last newsletter? Do let us know if you'd like to feature your work here too.

by Liza Dresner

Sufra NW London

2021 Mayoral Election

Election for London Mayor and Assembly 2021

The election will be held on 6 May 2021 to elect the Mayor of London. It will be held simultaneously with elections for the 25 London Assembly members and other local elections. The position of Mayor of London is currently held by Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party and he is standing again as the Labour candidate, Shaun Bailey is the Conservative Party's candidate, Siân Berry is standing for the Green Party and Luisa Porritt is representing the Liberal Democrats. A number of other smaller parties are also standing.

Why does that matter to our sector?

The GLA also known as City Hall is London’s governing body and is responsible for implementing the Mayor’s Policies. Although limited in many ways by central government legislation and by financial constraints, these policies cover how London is policed, housing and house building, transport (TFL), the environment, health, culture and sport, fire services and London’s economy. They also support London’s Youth Assembly.

The Mayor is responsible for setting budgets and deciding on the GLA priorities for the four years they are in office. That includes how and if they will attempt to tackle poverty and inequality in our City. 4in10 try to influence these decisions and hold them to account where necessary to ensure low income, inadequate housing, equality of opportunity and of outcomes are on every agenda and at the forefront of the Mayor’s thinking but that can only be effective if you make your concerns heard.

It is worth noting that the Mayor is not responsible for the NHS, council housing, schools, social services, rubbish collection, street cleaning, parking permits and taxation all of which are governed either at local authority or national government level. However, they do have a voice in all these areas and provide a London wide representation.

How can we gain influence?

Getting the attention of the Mayor matters even in areas of government where they don't have direct control. They are regularly contacted by the media for stories and for comments on policy and can raise the profile of issues that may otherwise be ignored. Providing them with the information and detail they need to do this can only come from those of us who see first hand what the main difficulties are for our children and their families and why they matter. In other words, it is up to us to give them that detail in advance, when they are writing their policy documents and to ensure they understand what really matters to those they serve. It is also up to us to challenge broad statements they may release, asking what they see as the solutions to the impact of child poverty and how they will prevent this getting worse during their tenure if elected.

You can write directly to candidates to invite them to talk to groups online. You can look at candidates’ websites and see what they are saying. You can tell us what issues you would specifically like us to raise with candidates and we can try to do so on your behalf and you can ensure your service users know about the elections, are registered to vote and understand that, despite the limitations, who governs London matters to us all.

by Liza Dresner

ATD

News, Funding Opportunities, Mayoral Elections and Members Spotlight

Dear All,

Thank you for sharing your work, your energy and your service information with us this year. We’ve have been grateful to share so much of your great work with the hundreds of organisations in the network, and to see so many of you at our online events. A particular warm welcome to the 52 members who joined our network during 2020.

There is no doubt that food poverty hit the headlines in a big way this year so we have pulled together here some work from national players as sources for useful campaign and food provision information:

Looking ahead to next year we are mindful of the upcoming London Mayoral Elections and what these might mean to London. We have written an explainer for why they matter to our sector and how you can influence policy for the next four years.  We will be lobbying the candidates ahead of the elections, if you or any of the families you support would like to raise issues with us – please do let us know. It is worth noting that many of London’s citizens are not registered to vote and unless they are registered they will not be able to take part in this or any election.

We will also be running London Challenge Poverty Week again later in the year, so do confirm if you’d like to be involved in any of the planning or creative projects for the week.

From our members and friends:

  • Acting Out in partnership UCL, Pempeople and The Ubele Initiative are looking for young people aged 18 – 25 living in Peckham, the Old Kent Road or Brixton to take part and help create film and creative content that expresses how young people feel about their neighbourhood, changes that are happening and their hopes for the future. The next workshop is on 13th January from 6.30 – 8.30pm. To reserve a place on the workshop please contact Kelsea Sellars.
  • ATD4th World and Just Fair have produced a video to mark World Human Rights Day and they are hosting a webinar  on January 21st from 11-1.30 with Amnesty UK to illustrate how human rights are a ‘Bridge out of Poverty’.
  • Article 39 and a number of other organisations working in the youth criminal justice field have produced a report calling for an end to child imprisonment.
  • Children’s Rights Alliance for England have led on and produced a new report from 90 organisations, a submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child warning the many ways that children’s rights are “worryingly low” on the UK government’s political agenda. 4in10 contributed.
  • CPAG have released another Poverty in the Pandemic report highlighting the impact Covid has had on already low-income families.
  • Early Years Sector Coalition have launched a new campaign Birth to Five Matters to develop guidance for the sector, by the sector.
  • Health Foundation and the Institute of Health Equity have published Build Back Fairer the Covid-19 Marmot Review on Health Inequalities not just in light of Covid but highlighting how inequalities that were already present have just been exacerbated by the virus.
  • Ipsos Mori poll showed that 62% of the public support the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.
  • Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published a new report on Destitution in the UK and made the slides of their webinar on the topic available online. Their annual report, UK Poverty 2020, will be launched by a Zoom webinar on January 15th at 11am.
  • Maternal Mental Health Alliance has commissioned member the Centre for Mental Health to produce a report on the challenges the voluntary sector is facing and witnessing as a result of Covid. Please complete this 10-minute survey. Deadline 8 January but pre-Christmas would help.
  • Renters Reform Collective is a new coalition of 19 organizations dedicated to housing issues; who have come together to campaign for a second reading of the renters reform bill to ensure that legislation improves the safety, security and condition of privately rented homes.
  • Revolving Doors have launched a survey looking at the experiences of 18-25 year olds’ experiences of policing. The aim is to inform the National Police Chief Council to develop their strategy for policing and young people. The survey should take participants about five minutes to complete. They will also have the option to enter a prize draw for a chance to win one of four £50 Amazon vouchers. Deadline is 1st January.
  • Scope have released new figures showing how families with disabled children have been ‘pushed to the brink’ during this pandemic.
  • Shaw Trust has partnered with the DWP to manage JETS (Job Entry Targeted Support). This is a new initiative backed by a £238 million government investment and is dedicated to supporting those left jobless due to Covid-19.
  • Young Roots have been chosen to be the recipient of Aoife Hinds participation in BBC1’s Celebrity Mastermind on the 9th January. We wish her the best of luck.

Local Authority and Statutory Updates and Participation Opportunities :

  • All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty is meeting on Zoom on Thursday 14th January at 2pm – 3:30pm. They are calling for submissions on the impact of ending the temporary £20 uplift in universal credit and tax credits in April 2021, as well as the impact of not extending the uplift to legacy and other benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are asking organisations for short written submissions of the key points the APPG should consider to inform its representations to Government. Please send these on email by the 10th January stating whether you would be available and willing to give evidence at the meeting. The Zoom link is here. But you must let them know you plan to attend.
  • Barnet Council has received just over £986,000 from the government’s COVID Winter Grant Scheme. Working in partnership with the Young Barnet Foundation, the grant scheme supports families and other households financially affected by COVID-19 to meet food and heating bills. The fund will provide vouchers through a range of local partners, additional supplies to foodbanks and grant awards through the Barnet Community Response Fund.
  • Employment allowance scheme. If your National Insurance bill was less than £100,000 in the last year you now need to claim your £4,000 discount. It is no longer being automatically applied.
  • Equalities and Human Rights Commission have published their report on how Covid has affected equality in the UK.
  • Hackney Have your say on how the borough allocate homes and support people in housing need. Read the proposals in full, find out what they would mean, and give your views. You can also speak to Council officers at Q&A sessions being held on the following dates and times: 12 January 2021 7-8:30pm; 27 January 2021 12 noon-1:30pm; 9 February 2021 6-7:30pm; 24 February 2021 4:30-6pm. You must  pre-register to attend one of the sessions. If you would prefer to speak to someone on the telephone, you can call 020 8356 2929.
  • Havering Adult Education College are offering a number of free or for £1.00 courses and provide a free laptop loan service for Havering residents taking online courses.
  • Tower Hamlets are providing support for children in need during Christmas and February school holidays. Providing vouchers worth £25 to spend on food over the Christmas period. Any child who is eligible for statutory free school meals during term time will receive support. It is worth checking other Local Authority websites to see if they are doing the same or similar.

Funding Opportunities:

  • Bailey Thomas have opened a new grant round to support organisations serving those with severe learning disability.
  • Family Fund and BBC Children in Need are running an Emergency Essentials Funding Programme to fund items for individual families such as cookers and washing machines. They will also supply toys and other items where needed.
  • Justice Together has launched a new strategy and grant rounds to ensure people who use the immigration system can access justice fairly and equally, so that they can get on with their lives. There are funds available for National level influencing projects that connect lived experience, front-line advice and influencing strategies to create lasting change.
  • National Lottery Community Fund and The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport have announced a new fund to reduce loneliness by helping people feel more connected. To be eligible, charities and community groups will have to have an income of £50,000 or less. The Local Connections Fund will be split into two rounds of funding – each with its own application window.  The first application window will open on the 5th January 2021 and close on 26th January 2021. The second applications window will open in the summer.
  • Youth Covid-19 Support Fund, open to grassroots youth clubs, uniformed youth groups, and national youth and umbrella organisations, to help to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure services providing vital support can remain open.

To end a difficult year on a positive note, we are delighted to feature member organisation Magic Breakfast in our Spotlight feature below. If you would like to be the next organisation to be featured please let us know.

Thank you to all our great readers and remember this network depends on what you would like to share so please do keep information and knowledge coming.

We wish everyone a peaceful, happy and healthy 2021 and we are looking forward to working with you in the new year.

Laura, Keisha and Liza

by Liza Dresner