We were thrilled to be awarded the prize for the "Community" category of the Open UK Awards, the "Oscars" of open-source software, at an award ceremony at the House of Commons in December.

Our Digital Equity Manager Dan Gale represented GRCC at the ceremony.

"I was honoured to receive this OpenUK award for our community impact," said Dan. "This is a testament to the incredible work happening across the DAISI project and partnership."

"This award highlights the many ways we're helping communities access, capacity-build, and benefit from digital and technology opportunities."

The award category was for organisations using open-source and open-data solutions in "solving unique challenges, emphasising transparency of opportunities, mentorship, coaching, and nurturing the creation of diverse, inclusive and neurodiverse communities and more."  

To find our more about the DAISI Project or to join the DAISI Partnership, email digital@grcc.org.uk

Do you want to

• Plan community-driven activities, but are unsure where to start?
• Collaborate with local organisations and individuals with relevant knowledge, skills and resources?
• Achieve a realistic climate action plan for your parish/town council and community to deliver together?

If so, GRCC’s new Community Climate Action Plan Toolkit is for you!

This toolkit is designed for parish/town councils and communities across Gloucestershire who are looking to work constructively with groups and individuals in their community under the following principles:

1) With the community, for the community
2) Environmental and ecological integrity
3) Social justice
4) Sustainable local economy

“It’s not about writing a document to sit on a shelf, it’s about setting up a practical plan for a community to put their ideas into action,” said Sabrina Dixon, one of GRCC's two Community Development Officers.

Find out more details at our 30-minute online information sessions: 

• Wednesday 4th Feb, 1pm: Book Here  
• Thursday 5th Feb, 6.30pm: Book Here

Email cdt@grcc.org.uk if you'd like to find out more but can't get to one of the online information sessions.  

A growing number of employers encourage their staff to do some volunteering during their work time, and this "Employer Supported Volunteering" or ESV, is something that we promote as part of our work with the Gloucestershire Volunteering Collaborative.   

Our VCSE Support Officer Guy Dobson (pictured left at his record decks during the reggae event) used his yearly two days of paid volunteering in one big chunk to organise, set up, and run a Reggae Night at Stroud's Trinity Rooms.  The event, including catering and a bar also organised by Guy, brought in artists from Gloucester and Bristol, sold 220 tickets, and after match funding raised nearly £2000 for the Trinity Rooms Community Hub's fundraising appeal to purchase the freehold of the building. 

Guy's colleagues in our Community Development Team have also been busy recently doing ESV in many and varied ways: Steve Moore did photography for Guy's reggae event, Lucy Eccles spent a day  helping with the Wiggly Charity's Community Christmas Lunch, and Sabrina Dixon helped out at the Cirencester History Festival.

Use the button below to find out more about ESV, or email cdt@grcc.org.uk for any other support or policy questions you have around volunteering, including membership of our Volunteer Managers' Network.    

Steve Moore has joined GRCC as our new Community Development Officer for Stroud and the Forest of Dean Districts.  Steve has many years of experience in the NHS and the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, most recently as a Community Facilitator at Gloucestershire Carers Hub.  

"In my new GRCC role, I'm supporting town and parish councils and VCSE organisations, including halls and community buildings, right across the Stroud and Forest of Dean Districts," said Steve. 

"I can help town and parish councils with  community engagement, consultation, community-led planning, developing parish priorities, setting up and running community projects, grant funding advice, and a lot more."

"For VCSE organisations, I can give support with all aspects of organisational development including governance, funding, and community consultation.  I'll also be facilitating GRCC's VCS Network meetings in each district."

Steve is a member of our Community Development Team - email cdt@grcc.org.uk or call 01452 528491 to get in touch.  Find out more about all of GRCC's teams on our website here.

Pippa Baker-Walsh and Emma Royer from our Community Autism Support and Advice (CASA) team recently delivered a training session on “Neuro-affirming Practice When Working with Autistic Adults” for Gloucestershire County Council’s Occupational Health staff.   

The session looked in detail at

• What it means to be neuro-affirming 
• Understanding neurodiversity 
• Honouring lived-experience
• Replacing compliance-based goals  
• Promoting empowerment and advocacy

Pippa and Emma were able to give lots of real-world examples and practical tips, including guidance about Reasonable Adjustments,  and they supplied links to resources which the Occupational Health staff would find useful in future, such as our Autism Passport. 

The training is available for other professional groups – do get in touch with the CASA team if you think your organisation would benefit from a similar session - email infocasa@grcc.org.uk or call 01452 317460. 

"I've recently completed a diploma in Emotionally Based School Avoidance, often referred to as EBSA, which might still be an unfamiliar term to a lot of parents and guardians of school age children," writes Karen Price, our Social Prescribing Link Worker for Young People, based in the North Cotswolds. 

"EBSA is an emotional response to the school environment - it's not a deliberate action to avoid school, and EBSA can manifest as anxiety, depression or phobia. The avoidance behaviour is a coping mechanism for the young person to manage their overwhelming feelings of fear at the thought of attending school."

"Possible signs of EBSA include chronic absenteeism, physical illnesses, changes in behaviour patterns, social withdrawal, academic decline, issues around sleep, appetite changes, emotional outbursts and perfectionism.  In many cases EBSA can be closely linked to diagnosed or undiagnosed neurodiversity."

"You can find a useful explanation of EBSA here on the Family Action website, and there's good advice on the National Autistic Society website, and really useful sources of support at Let's Talk Well and through the Lumi Nova app."

Karen can be contacted by email via kprice@grcc.org.uk, or use the button below to find out more about all our support for individuals and families.

Our monthly Moreton Community Hub, which we run as part of our North Cotswolds Connecting Communities Project, will be happening again on Monday 2nd February. 

This month Kate Holland from Active Cotswold will be doing a short chair-based, resistance band workout that everyone can join in with, and Kate will be happy to answer any of your health and fitness questions.

Our Social Prescribing Link Workers and a range of staff and volunteers from local support organisations will also be there to chat to people and offer advice and help, plus there will be the usual time for socialising and free refreshments.

You can download an A5 flyer here.  

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.

Like other charities, GRCC's work is governed and directed by a board of trustees.  Without the skills, experience and generous volunteering time of our trustees, we simply couldn't function!  

We're looking for one or two new trustees to join our board, to help us carry out our work of positive community action in Gloucestershire. 

We'd love to hear from people who have experience in the NHS, Voluntary and Community Sector, Local Government, Digital, Rural, Housing, Planning, Mental Health, Social Care, Business, and many other areas!

Please do get in touch by emailing info@grcc.org.uk.  We'd love to start a conversation with you about the possibility of joining our board of trustees.  If you'd like to view the profiles on our website of our current trustees, just click the button below. 

The Gloucestershire Volunteer Awards are organised annually by GoVolunteerGlos, part of Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance. 

This year there are eleven categories:  Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Organisation to Volunteer With, Community Group Award, Trustee of the Year, Rising Star, Neighbourhood Champion, Children and Young Person's Support Volunteer, Volunteer Impact, Corporate Volunteering, Sports Volunteer, and overall Volunteer of the Year.

Nominations close at 5pm on 27th February, and the awards Ceremony will take place on Friday 5th June at Hatherley Manor Hotel and Spa.

For full details, and to submit your nominations online, use the button below. 

The RAU will be hosting a drop-in evening aimed particularly at local professionals and organisations who may be interested in continuing professional development (CPD), or exploring part-time and flexible postgraduate study alongside work.

At the event there will be the chance to

• Chat with staff from courses in Business, Agriculture, Land & Property, Cultural Heritage, Research, and the Environment
• Speak to admissions staff 
• Meet current students
• Explore how post-graduate study could support career progression or professional development
• Enjoy refreshments and see the campus

The event is from 5pm-6.30pm, Wednesday 11th February, at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, GL7 6JS.  Book online using the button below, or call 01285 889912 or email opendays@rau.ac.uk for more information.

Gloucestershire Older Drivers Forum (ODF) has had a very busy start to the year with the publication of the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, leading to lots of enquiries to the ODF from the media and the community.

At 10am on Saturday 28th February the Older Drivers Forum are hosting a webinar on the subject of "Mature Drivers and the New Road Safety Strategy"  -  you can register at https://tinyurl.com/2rk37y39

Before that, on Saturday 31st January at 10am, the Older Drivers Forum webinar topic is what to do if you are concerned about an older driver - how to start and sustain a conversation with someone about whether they should still be driving.  You can register for that one at https://tinyurl.com/y23c9s75

To contact the Gloucestershire Older Drivers forum, email odfglos@gmail.com 

GRCC has teamed up with Access Social Care , a charity that specialises in legal advice for people with social care needs, to help you access easy-to-understand health and social care information at the click of a button.

AccessAva is an online tool that helps you to understand the law governing social care in England. With AccessAva, you can find out about your rights or those of a family member, friend, or neighbour, and you can complete template letters developed by expert lawyers.

Use the button below to visit our AccessAva page on our website, then you can either learn more from some short explanatory videos, or start a conversation with the AccessAva chatbot.

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.