The Online Funding Database is available to individuals, community and voluntary groups in Midlothian.   It covers a wide range of funders, including information on Midlothian Council grants.

This is an excellent FREE resource for community groups and voluntary organisations, however, please note that some of the additional information may apply only to England and Wales – if in doubt about information, e.g. relating to charity law, contact Midlothian Voluntary Action, e-mail margaret.nisbet@mvacvs.org.uk, tel:  0131 663 9471.

Midlothian Profile 2009

The latest Midlothian Profile was published by the Community Planning Research & Information Group (CPRIG) on 5 November 2009. This is a very useful publication with a number of statistics referring to Midlothian - particularly useful for service planning and backing up funding applications.

Midlothian Profile 2009 (1.9 mb .pdf)

Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) 2010 - 11

At present there is an opportunity for the voluntary sector in Midlothian to contribute to the development of the 2010-11 SOA.

The Midlothian Community Planning Partnership are keen to get input from the public, community groups, and the voluntary sector, therefore we would encourage the voluntary sector to take advantage of this opportunity to feed into the SOA 2010-11.

It would be useful if we could submit a joint voluntary sector response and to facilitate this this will be a major topic of discussion at the Voluntary Sector Forum meeting on 29 October, 10 am on Thursday 29 October at Midlothian Voluntary Action,  4/6 White Hart Street, Dalkeith, EH22 1AE (note change of venue from Loanhead Miners).  All proposals have to be in with Midlothian Council in week commencing 30 November.   It is therefore proposed that MVA would then pull together a response, following the meeting on 29 October, and that further discussion could take place by e-mail.  Alternatively, if there is enough interest, a sub-group could potentially be set up to finalise submission.

We would be grateful if, to prepare for discussion at the VSF, organisations could feed their initial comments to Margaret Nisbet, MVA, by Friday 23 October.   This will give us the opportunity to produce a draft response to be discussed at the meeting on 29 October.   However, if you wish to feed in an independent submission, please do so – we would be grateful however if you could please send us a copy.

If you want a copy of the draft SOA, please telephone Margaret Nisbet, 0131 663 9471.

MVA Training Questionnaire

MVA are currently consulting on training requirements of Boards and Management Committees in Midlothian to help us plan future training - a copy can be downloaded from here, alternatively, contact Margaret Nisbet, Information Officer, tel: 0131 663 9471.

Small Grant Funding for Midlothian Community Groups

Small grants of up to £1,500 are available for projects that will benefit Midlothian residents. This grant has been made available through the Small Projects Regeneration Fund (SPRF). Grants are available for projects tackling poverty and disadvantage, community-led development and regeneration activities.

For an application pack or for further information please contact Dorothy Wright, Midlothian Council, on 0131 271 3199.

The closing date for this round of applications is: NOON ON FRIDAY 6 November 2009.

Further information is available to download here.

Midlothian Voluntary Action – Temporary Staff Changes

Lesley Kelly is now on maternity leave.  Her post is being filled by Shona Maguire (previously SEAM Development Worker).   To make life simpler, Shona can be contacted on Lesley’s e-mail address:  lesley.kelly@mvacvs.org.uk.

In turn, the new temporary SEAM Development Worker is Stuart McCallum.  Stuart can be contacted on Shona’s previous email address seam@barimaproductions.com.