We were thrilled to receive an award from CPRE Gloucestershire this month for our part in helping to create Churnbridge Row, an affordable housing development on a Rural Exception Site in North Cerney, near Cirencester.

The award, one of six given out at this year's CPRE Gloucestershire awards event, was "for actioning and delivering an exemplar of much needed rural affordable housing, in a manner that works well for the residents, incorporates high standards of building performance and blends into its rural setting."  

Receiving the award on GRCC's behalf was Martin Hutchings, who was our Rural Housing Enabler at the time of the project, prior to his retirement from GRCC.  We received the award jointly with our partners in the project: North Cerney Parish Council, Cirencester Housing (now Cottsway Housing), architects Quattro Design, and builders J Harper and Sons.

Do you have any time available to support our Affordable Housing team as a volunteer?  See our Affordable Housing volunteer roles advertised later on in this newsletter.  

Karen Price, our Social Prescribing Link Worker for Children and Young People, writes:

"Using some NHS funding allocated to Children and Families in the North Cotswolds, I recently recruited the specialist skills of Sadie Brewin, a local holistic therapist, to set up some groups for primary school children to start thinking about their wellbeing."

"In the sessions, the children explored what was good and bad for wellbeing in their lives, and had time and space to explore their feelings and identify emotions that they found challenging. We used guided meditation and explored several alternative breathing techniques to help cope with situations where emotions become challenging."

"The feedback from the children was very positive! Many were able to identify elements of the sessions that they would take forward and use at home and school.  Due to the success of this initiative so far, Sadie and I are hoping to set up further sessions based on what the children found most useful."

Our DAISI team continues to work to improve digital accessibility, equity, support and innovation throughout Gloucestershire.  Here's a few snippets of DAISI news:

• DAISI in-person workshop 1.30-5pm Thursday 30th January - topics include AI, Cyber Security, Demystifying Data, Low-tech solutions to Digital Barriers, and many more.  Free event for members of the DAISI Partnership - existing members book here, new members contact digital@grcc.org.uk if you'd like to join the partnership.
• Our Data Bank project, which provides free pre-paid SIM cards to people who struggle financially, has now distributed more than two million pounds worth of help, making it one of the largest schemes in the UK.
• Welcome to our new DAISI Partnership members Cheltenham Central Primary Care Network, and Adult Education Gloucestershire!
• DAISI have recently been working with domestic violence support organisations including The Nelson Trust and GDASS  to help them find innovative ways to publicise their services and deliver support.
• Our DAISI volunteers contributed 185 hours in the last 3 months, of which 104 hours were spent directly supporting communities.

If you'd like to find out more or get involved in the DAISI Partnership, email digital@grcc.org.uk

Next year's Village Halls Week will be March 17th -23rd, and the theme will be volunteers. It's a great chance for your village hall or community building to run a range of fun events to celebrate and thank the current volunteers in your community, and recruit more, especially to join your village hall committee or trustees. 

Village Halls Week is organised by ACRE -Action for Communities in Rural England, which is represented in Gloucestershire by GRCC.

If you'd like to run an event linked to Village Halls Week, register using the button below, and if you register by December 10th you can order free colourful badges, posters, and bunting to support your event.  You can also click on the thumbnail on the left to download a poster to print.  

We are running a series of courses for Volunteer Managers 

• Developing a Volunteering Strategy and Policy, 30th Jan 2025 10am - 1pm
• Volunteer Recruitment and Improving Diversity, 5th Mar 2025 10am - 1pm
• Support, Retention, and Recognition of Volunteers, 28th April 1:30 - 4:30pm
• The Role of the Volunteer Manager, 22nd May 2025 10:00am - 1:00pm

You can book all 4 sessions or only the sessions that you need.  There is a subsidised rate of £25 per session for VCS organisations in Gloucestershire, or £60 per session for other sectors or VCS outside of Gloucestershire. 

Use the button below for more details and booking, or email cdt@grcc.org.uk

GRCC staff are encouraged to do some volunteering in work time, to give back to the community and help good causes that they support.  We can also help other organisations put into place their own Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) policies as part of our work with the Gloucestershire Volunteering Collaborative.  

Earlier this month our receptionist and social media wizard Izzie used one of her ESV days to join the fantastic folks at the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust at Crickley Hill Country Park near Birdlip. 

After some hard work brush-cutting and coppicing trees, Izzie helped to create a clear path for cows to roam through their beautiful habitat.

“Today was all about giving back to nature," said Izzie.  "I had a had a blast while helping plants and wildlife thrive!"

If you are interested in setting up ESV for your organisation, or would like to find out more about it, get in touch with our Community Development Team via cdt@grcc.org.uk or call us on 01452 528491.

We're working with NHS Gloucestershire, running a short pilot project called "Connect & Prevent" aimed at helping people stay independent and connected to their local community.

You should be a great listener with broad life experience, and previous experience of volunteering.  

For further details please click the button below to download our flyer about the project, then please give us a call or email us if you think you might be able to help.

We've set up a pilot project jointly with Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust to explore ways to better connect NHS mental health services with Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and faith-based services. The aim is to strengthen partnerships and make it as easy as possible for individuals to access the most appropriate support.  

Richard Burdon (pictured left), who was previously one of GRCC's Social Prescribers in the Cotswold Community Wellbeing Service, will be working on the project which will initially run for six months.  Richard will help clients with mental health needs to connect with NHS, VCS, and faith-based support, and will help statutory and community-based services to be more aware of each other.

"I'm confident that my background as a Social Prescriber, with its emphasis on partnership-building and person-centred support, will stand me in good stead as I develop this exciting new role in Gloucester," said Richard.

Our monthly Moreton Community hub, which we run as part of our North Cotswolds Connecting Communities Project, will be focussing on reducing energy bills and keeping warm, with a visit from an adviser from Severn Wye Energy on Monday 2nd December.   

All the usual range of staff and volunteers from support organisations will also be present to chat to people, and there will be the usual socialising and refreshments, with mince pies and carols this time too of course!

Come along to Jameson Court, GL56 0EW at 10.15am for a short wellbeing stroll, or 10.30am for the drop-in, refreshments and services.  For further information, please contact Vivvy Maddocks, VivvyM@grcc.org.uk or 07738 106534.   

The Gloucestershire Stay Well This Winter campaign has expanded in 2024 to include health and wellbeing advice, links, and resources covering nine topics: 

• Boost Your Immunity
• Think Pharmacy First
• Prioritise Mental Health
• Stay Warm and Well
• Look Out For Others
• Stay Active
• Eat Well
• Cost of Living Advice
• Get Connected

Gloucestershire Nightstop has produced a moving Christmas Advert to rival John Lewis this year, thanks to winning a competition to have an advert professionally made by Cheltenham-based video production company Nomadic UK. 

Gloucestershire Nightstop is a charity offering emergency accommodation for 16-25 year olds, in people’s homes.  The charity has been supported by our Community Development Team and is a member of our Gloucester VCS Network.

You can watch the one-minute-long Christmas advert on YouTube here, and to find out more about Gloucestershire Nightstop use the button below to visit their website.

Families eligible for benefits-related free school meals can register now for the winter HAF activities and support.

Thanks to extra funding, the County Council is now also able to offer the fun, enriching holiday activities to all children and young people, through the new Holiday Activities Programme (HAP).

Most activities will be taking place between 21st December and 5th January.

Families can check their local district HAF webpages to find out what’s happening near where they live, via the button below.

How can SANTA help protect you from messages from scammers this Christmas?  According to the BBC you should remember

• Suspicious link
• Anonymous sender
• Need for immediate action
• Typos and errors
• Asking for a response

There's a fantastic set of resources on the BBC's Scam Safe Week website here to help people learn about, avoid, and deal with scams, including a great A-Z of Scams and an 8-point guide to What To Do If You've Been Scammed.

How to protect your organisation from scams is just one area that our DAISI Project digital equity team can help you with  - email digital@grcc.org.uk to contact them.

If you've had contact with us, or support from us, or just visited our website to try to find information, we'd really love to know how we're doing!  Were we brilliant, just OK, or not very good?  All feedback, good and bad, helps us to shape our services to better fit your needs.