Look out in the press and on social media on Wednesday, 5th February, when we'll be unveiling full details of our Village of the Year 2025 competition.  Our CEO Barbara Piranty will kick-off the launch live on BBC Radio Gloucestershire at noon. 

We'll keep the full details for the launch announcement, but here are a few snippets to hopefully spark your interest in this exciting competition which celebrates and supports community action in Gloucestershire's villages.

* The competition will be divided into four themed categories, and each category will have a £2,000 first prize, and £1,000 for the runner-up.

* There will also be another £2,000 for the overall winner, and £1,000 for the overall runner-up.

* All entries will also be entered in a Grand Prize Draw with exciting community prizes.

* Shortlisted communities and GRCC guests will be invited to attend the award ceremony at Highnam Court on the evening of 17th July.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, or Instagram to make sure you'll be one of the the first to read full details of the competition on launch day!

This year's Village Halls Week runs from 17th to 23rd March, and the theme is "Celebrating, Encouraging and Supporting Volunteers".

It's a great chance for your village hall or community building to put on an event to acknowledge and thank current volunteers in your community, and potentially recruit more, perhaps including new people to join your village hall committee or trustees if you need them.  

Village Halls Week is organised by ACRE - Action for Communities in Rural England, our umbrella body, and represented in Gloucestershire by GRCC. You can download colourful posters, graphics, and templates to help with your publicity, and/or register your event on a national Village Halls Week map, at the ACRE website here.

GRCC's Community Development team will be running a free half-day event during Village Halls Week on 20th March (AM).   If you run a village hall, keep the date free and look out for more information and booking details next month!

In December BBC Gloucestershire interviewed Daniel Gale and Lauren Woods about all of our work to relieve digital poverty and digital exclusion through the DAISI Project - noting that we've now given out over £3m worth of free pre-paid SIM cards and refurbished IT equipment to those in need in Gloucestershire.

In January, BBC Radio Gloucestershire visited one of Lauren's digital support groups in Gotherington and recorded interviews with enthusiastic members of the group - some of whom are in their nineties - who have been learning to use smartphones and the NHS app.

For a full update on the DAISI Project, you can also read the December DAISI Newsletter here.  

Our ESHO Coordinator Sarah Brooks will be running this free six-week course on Mondays from 3rd February to 10th March, noon to 2pm, at Churchdown Community Centre, GL3 2JH.

Sessions will include writing CVs and covering letters, job searches, job applications, interview preparation, and practising mock interviews. 

To be eligible for the free course, participants can live anywhere in Gloucestershire, but do need to be currently classed as "economically inactive", which includes people on ESA, PIP, and Universal Credit (if not required to job-search due to a sick note) or not working and not claiming benefits. 

For further information or to book a place, please contact Sarah Brooks via SarahB@grcc.org.uk or 07310 078723.

If you live in the parishes of Toddington or  Gotherington please keep an eye out for our Affordable Housing Needs surveys which will be posted to every household in the week beginning 10th February.  Please do return your form, either by Freepost or by completing it online, and encourage your neighbours to send their forms in too. 

Affordable Housing Needs Surveys are vital for mapping affordable housing needs throughout the county, and can be the first step to creating much-needed affordable housing in your community.

GRCC is the leading provider of Affordable Housing Needs Surveys for rural Gloucestershire.  We carry these out as coordinators of the Gloucestershire Rural Housing Partnership (GRHP), which includes Tewkesbury Borough Council, and Stroud, Cotswold, and Forest of Dean District Councils as members.    

Our monthly Moreton Community hub, which we run as part of our North Cotswolds Connecting Communities Project, will be running on Monday 3rd February. 

Our Social Prescribing Link Workers and all the usual range of staff and volunteers from support organisations will be there to chat to people and offer advice and help, and there will be the usual socialising and refreshments.

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 info@grcc.org.uk or call us on 01452 528491.

Rural community-led organisations can apply for up to £25,000 from the Royal Countryside Fund for projects to:

• Keep young people in the countryside
• Power-up rural communities
• Increase environmental sustainability
• Build emergency resilience in rural areas

Applicants will initially just need to send a three-minute mobile phone video outlining their project idea, and complete a simple expression of interest form, by 21st February.

The UK Government is planning a COVID-19 Day of Reflection on Sunday 9th March, to mark approximately five years since the start of the pandemic.

People and communities are invited to come together to mark the day in ways that feel meaningful to them, via small family events, workplace events, or community events.

One Gloucestershire will be running Dementia Awareness sessions at Tetbury Library on 17th February 1.15-2.45, and Wotton Library on 24th March 10.30-noon.  Topics covered include

• What is dementia, and common types of dementia
• Prevention, and reducing your risk of dementia
• How to get a diagnosis, and who to contact for support

Use the button below for more information and online booking. 

The HEAT service supports households impacted by fuel poverty. They provide services and advice via the telephone, as well as a home visit service for the most vulnerable.

They offer a mentoring service when people need a helping hand to:

• Develop skills and confidence to manage their home energy
• Pay their bills
• Deal with accumulated/unexpected fuel debt
• Address complex, historic billing issues
• Access suitable and affordable home energy systems

The service is designed to integrate with Warm Home Discount Industry Initiatives, as well as align with the Vulnerability Commitment from Energy UK

For support, call HEAT on 0800 092 9002.

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.