GRCC's Community Resilience Officer Lucy Eccles writes:

"Our community engagement work about Natural Flood Management for the River Churn is really in full swing now.

"We held our first Explore Your River Day on 26th September and we had a brilliant day, bringing volunteers together to explore the River Churn and carrying out river naturalness surveys, whilst learning more about the Natural Flood Management.

"Our next Explore Your River Day is on the morning of Friday 6th November at Woodmancote just north of Cirencester - more details on this flyer, and you can book a free place using this link.

"We're also currently running a River Churn Community Photo Competition - we'd love to see your photos by the deadline of November 14th - more details on this leaflet.  

"Then at the end of the month, on Saturday November 28th, we have a 'Discover the River Churn' drop-in event from 10.30am to 3pm at The Long Table in Cirencester. There will be free refreshments, activities, and a chance to chat with local organisations about how we can introduce Natural Flood Management (NFM), and how you can be involved.  More details on this leaflet."

"If you have any questions, do please email me via cdt@grcc.org.uk."

Esther Baker-Walsh has joined the ACORN Project team, helping to provide digital support to individuals and community organisations across Gloucestershire as part of our National Lottery Community Fund supported project.   

Esther will be helping Gloucestershire Voluntary, Community and Social Enterrprise organisations with issues such as improving their online presence, understanding cyber-security risks, drafting IT policies, creating digital resources, and improving their digital skills and knowledge.   

Esther will also provide digital support directly to individuals via drop-ins and home visits, as part of the project's digital inclusion mission - helping with setting up digital devices, using  the NHS app, setting up email addresses, and going online for job applications, education courses, and benefits claims.   

"I'm excited to work in and among our Gloucestershire communities, helping people get comfortable with being online, whilst keeping them safe," said Esther, who comes to GRCC after studying International Relations at university, and working as a part-time performing arts teacher.  

Pippa and Summer from our CASA Community Autism Support & Advice team recently ran a training session at Shire Hall for Gloucestershire Employment and Skills Hub staff. 

The topics covered included:

• foundations of autism
• autism and mental health
• autistic experiences, including masking burnout, shutdowns and meltdowns
• the mental health continuum, spiky profiles, and sensory processing
• advocating for systemic change and neuro-affirming practice.  

"We had really positive engagement from the Employment and Skills Hub team, with lots of lively questions," said Pippa.

"It was really wonderful to spend the time talking and sharing openly, reflecting on this important topic, and looking at how we can all develop our professional practice when supporting autistic individuals."

Our CASA team can offer training to  organisations and professionals on a wide range of autism-related topics. For more information, or to discuss bespoke training packages, please email infocasa@grcc.org.uk  

Our Community Development Officer for Stroud and the Forest of Dean, Steve Moore, recently helped a Forest of Dean organisation win a National Lottery Community Fund grant to extend their work.

Wilde Earth Journeys CIC provides outdoor, nature-based wellbeing activities in the Forest of Dean.  

"I was pleased to be able to help Wilde Earth Journeys with their lottery application wording after their first application was unsuccessful," said Steve.  "I was delighted when they were then awarded a significant sum of money!"

The grant enabled Wilde Earth Journeys to run a Walk Leader Training Programme. 

"The training has been about much more than learning how to lead a route," said Honey Wylde, co-founder of Wilde Earth Journeys.

"It has helped participants develop confidence, consider accessibility and inclusion, understand risk and safeguarding, and think about how to create walks where people feel comfortable, welcomed and part of a community.

"We are incredibly grateful to Steve and the team at GRCC for their support and guidance. Their input helped us navigate the funding process with confidence, and ultimately enabled us to turn our idea for community walk leader training into a successful programme."

We're delighted to receive a second year of funding from Electrical Safety First's Electrical Safety Fund, to support the work of our DAISI team in promoting electrical safety as part of their wider digital inclusion work.  

This funding enables us to continue taking practical electrical safety support out into communities across Gloucestershire, including awareness sessions, PAT testing, and repairs, helping people to identify unsafe appliances and reduce risks in the home.

“We’re delighted to have received renewed support for this work," said GRCC's Digital Equity Manager Daniel Gale.

"Electrical safety is such a practical but important part of supporting people in their everyday lives, and this funding allows GRCC and DAISI to keep taking that support directly into communities across Gloucestershire, helping people use their electrical equipment more safely and with greater confidence.”

Do you want to help communities secure the affordable homes they need in order to thrive?

We are seeking a proactive, enthusiastic, and community-focused Rural Affordable Housing Project Officer to help rural communities identify and deliver affordable housing solutions that meet local needs.

Working with communities, parish and town councils, landowners, housing providers, and public sector partners, including Homes England, you will help turn local housing aspirations into deliverable projects.  You'll do this by identifying needs and potential sites, exploring funding and development options, and building partnerships.

Part-time, 3-4 days per week, or a maximum of 28.8 hours per week worked flexibly.  Salary £30K-£35K pro rata, depending on experience.

In their November webinar, on Saturday 21st at 10am, the Gloucestershire Older Drivers Forum will be exploring what sharing the road means in later life and how greater understanding can help us stay safely mobile and independent.

They have brought the webinar forward by a week from their usual last Saturday of the month slot to support Gloucestershire’s activities for National Road Safety Week, which this year has the theme of "Safe People on the Move".

To contact the Gloucestershire Older Drivers forum, email odfglos@gmail.com, and you can register for the webinar using the button below.

As part of the UN's 16 Days of Activism on Gender-based Violence, the Hollie Gazzard Trust is inviting people from across Gloucestershire to join them for a free "Take Action" Bystander Training session.

Delivered by Sara Dillon, Training Manager at the Hollie Gazzard Trust, this practical session will help you:

• Recognise situations where someone may need support
• Understand the role we can all play when we witness inappropriate or harmful behaviour
• Explore practical and safe ways to take action, including direct and indirect responses
• Feel more comfortable responding to inappropriate or harmful behaviour
• Understand how individual actions can help create safe workplaces and communities

You'll leave with practical techniques that can be used in the workplace and in everyday life.
The event is open to all and is suitable for everyone.  Free, but donations welcome. 

Imagine it’s 2040 and your local area is now thriving. What’s the story of how it got there?

This is the question asked by the Local Government Association in its "LG2040" national conversation about what councils, communities and others can do to make sure our local communities thrive.

Taking part in the project and contributing your ideas and experience takes 15 minutes and can be done on a smartphone, tablet or computer.  Anyone over 18 can take part, and you can answer either as an individual or representing an organisation. 

The project is designed as a conversation not a survey - other participants can see what you write but not who you are. 

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 the 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 only 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? 

Please use this online form to let us know.  All feedback, good and bad, helps us to shape our services to better fit your needs.   

If you're able to support our work financially, you can donate online here, or find out about leaving a legacy here.