2016 Vale of Usk LEADER Funding Application Form Title of your Project: Llanover Ward village halls training hubs for community, business and friends. (T5006 Llanover Halls Digital Cluster) Section 1: Information about your group or business Main Contact Details Name: Andrew Nevill Telephone Number: 07702799156 Your role in the Co-ordinator Email address: [email protected] Group: About your Group Group Name: Llanover Community When was it established? Current committee Council April 2015 Your Group’s To support the local Do you have a bank Yes main purpose: community in the account? Llanover ward Section 2: Details about your project – please see attached score sheet to see how your project will be scored. 2a Project Post Code Project Start Date Project End Date Four village halls in the Llanover May 1st 2017 April 30th 2020 ward: The Bryn village hall, The Bryn: NP79AP Llanfair Kilgeddin village hall, Llanfair Kilgeddin: NP79BD Llanddewi Rhydderch village hall, Llanddewi Rhydderch: NP7 9TS Llanover village hall, Tre elidyr, Llanover: NP79HB Please give a detailed description of your project. AIM: To trial the digital exploitation of community hubs by focusing on four villages within the Llanover ward of Monmouthshire. (To complement and enable the LEADER application, we have completed an application for RCDF capital funds to equip each hall with broadband, all halls internal building modifications for disabled access, improved digital environment and Wi-Fi equipment. The RCDF application will bring superfast broadband to the four village halls in the Llanover ward. Currently none of the halls have broadband. The RCDF element will be managed and delivered by Monmouthshire County Council. The LEADER element will be managed and delivered by the Llanover Community Council. The delivery of the RCDF and LEADER will be overseen by a steering group consisting of representatives of the Llanover Community Council, halls representatives and officers from MCC. This will be a new partnership approach for the community) The internet facility in each hall will provide doorstep opportunities for the local community to access high quality ICT for training (e.g. computer clubs, office, Skype, coding), social activities (e.g. films, music events, sport, shared experiences), economic benefit (new activities in the halls, business forums and training opportunities), community cohesion (joint activities for all ages, wider range of offers from the halls, clustering to boost facility profiles) and improved communication (marketing and media training, access to community council meetings) This application will support some elements of the project such as equipment (printers and consumables), hall hire for Digital inclusion activity, mini bus hire to enable local rural access for all abilities, notices and noticeboards, generic stationery, insurance surcharges, publicity and booking support. The project will seek to include all sectors of the Llanover ward community in its development and delivery and operation wherever possible which includes any involvement from volunteers in the community. We will design a project that is simple, easy to manage and generates a sustainable and reliable income that will be used to enable the project to continue after the end of the pilot period. The project will have a regularly reviewed business plan and activity programme with continual monitoring of use, uptake and feedback from users and user groups. There will be an emphasis on the sustainability of the project to ensure the project continues and grows beyond the funding deadline. This will be included in the delivery plan. The project will use tried and tested systems and methodology for procurement, delivery and sustained use. We will incorporate a new and different approach to ICT use and engagement, not previously seen in the Vale of Usk region such as access to community council meetings for local residents via Skype or similar who are remote from the meeting location or are unable to drive but still wish to raise issues face to face with their local community council. 2b Please describe the objectives, benefits and priorities of your project Objectives Our project seeks to reverse the digital exclusion within our rural community and to address the needs of the community in response to the Llanover village community led plan. We will do this by starting with one hall as a kick-starter and mentor. The hall will become a digital hub with the added facility to provide a resource and space for training and complementary activities. We will engage with training providers, community support and business support providers to develop and signpost to a complementary range of training and awareness raising on-line courses and opportunities. The offer for access to the hubs will extend beyond the Llanover ward to neighbouring communities such as Llanvapley and Goytre The principle objectives are to: Utilise the superfast broadband facility set within a new and appropriate environment with supporting equipment and improved access within each of the four village halls. Create a new resource for the community to use and share Create a new resource that attracts training providers to support all age groups, all abilities and that complements job seekers initiatives, national educational and adult education services Create a new resource that attracts small businesses to use the facilities Create a facility that attracts the less able and sectors of the community that are harder to reach and engage with. Create a sustainable ICT facility, support sustainable training programmes that people need and to encourage greater use of the village halls The principle benefits to the community will be: To address issues relating to social inclusion i.e., encouraging greater interaction between villagers, businesses and age groups through training activities, social initiatives and shared cultural experiences To help to reduce poverty both financially, intellectually and socially e.g., by increasing opportunities for locally delivered training such as free open university courses, easy access to the internet, seeking online job opportunities, online benefits claims and enquiries, online services and facilities To encourage economic development in the ward by providing access for SMEs and part time start up businesses to online business training courses, improved access to banking and marketing, faster connectivity and more secure systems. To provide additional opportunities to those that have limited scope to change their circumstances e.g. improved disabled access in the village halls to reduce barriers for the less able to attend training classes, computer clubs. To provide a platform and facility that is currently not available to enable residents and businesses in our rural community to develop the resilience and capability to be able to cope with and adapt to change i.e. keeping abreast of new technology through over 50s ICT training, ICT security awareness training, additional early years educational training and classes The superfast connectivity through the hubs will also provide access to vital services within the area such as: o Access to on-line training and learning facility such as the Open University, other distance learning, webcasting, Skype and video conferencing; o Access to on-line reporting of crime, fly tipping, anti-social behaviour and flooding; o Access to social services and banking, on-line payments such as for farmers or for use of credit union, on-line banking, child care advice; o Access to on-line job opportunities and applications; o Access to download and upload large files for business, manage large file graphics, CAD and media with improved distribution through Dropbox and the cloud. Broadband speed and bandwidth is a major constraint for small firms working from home or rural locations. Improved connectivity gives improved competiveness and reliability; and o Access to healthier lifestyle options including on-line self-improvement, dietary advice and control, NHS direct and opportunities for volunteering. We envisage that the direct beneficiaries of the project will be members of the four communities and nearby rural settlements. The members of the community who will directly and immediately benefit will be young adults and teenagers, the elderly, newly retired, the less mobile, young mothers, young families, job seekers, farmers, SMEs, part time workers, volunteers, external service providers and the village halls themselves. The project will aim to increase both social interactions and capacity building within the community and generate an increase in economic activity through improved opportunities to consolidate and explore entrepreneurial opportunities through focused training programmes. The Welsh Government has highlighted the need for a significant improvement to the digital infrastructure across Wales to be able to compete as a nation in the 21st century and recognises that the sustainability of the rural communities will increasingly rely on fast broadband capability, upskilling, increased rural economic activity and robust community infrastructure. The Vale of Usk Local Action Group through the RDP LEADER programme has focused on digital inclusion as a key theme recognising the need for improved capability. Our project will also seek to improve the opportunity for educational and skills attainment through a local facility for local people. This will improve opportunities for employment, business development, creation