Community Chest a partnership initiative

Year Seven Report 2013 – 2014

Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14

More than 2,000 volunteers supported the 85 projects which were funded by the Community Chest in 2013-14

Front Cover: (clockwise) BBOWT Bernwood Forest, Sports Development, Community Group, Coffee Morning Club (deaf adults group) at the Healthy Living Centre, , Carers Bucks Young Carers Activity Programme, Scouts. Photographs in this report are either provided by the projects themselves, taken by Grants Panel members or by MJD Photography unless otherwise acknowledged. www.mjdphoto.biz

Above left: Working Together, 4th June 2014 – group photo of Community Chest Grant Recipients, Railway Centre, www.mjdphoto.biz right: Sustainability Workshop, 7th February 2014, taken by Luke Clark

2 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14

Contents

Chairman’s Report 4 What is the Community Chest? 4 2013-14 milestones 4 Grants panel membership 5 Project Grants 5 Microgrants 5 3YR grants (2011-14) 6 AVYFC Youth Cafés 6 Aylesbury Homeless Action Group 6 CAB 7 Chilterns MS Centre 7 Community Impact Bucks 8 Healthy Living Centre CIC 8 Horses Helping People CIC 9 Puzzle Centre 9 Young Carers Bucks 10

Working Together 2014 11 Map 13

Facts, figures and feedback 14 List of grants awarded in year 7 16

3 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 Report from the Grants Panel Chairman It has been an honour to be chairman of the grants panel for the past year. I have learned such a lot from the different organisations that come to us for funding, and I have enjoyed my time on the panel since 2007. I would like to thank the panel for this opportunity, and also to thank Sarah Rothwell, Grants Officer, for her support. Cllr Ranjula Takodra What is the Community Chest? In 2006, District Council (AVDC) transferred its housing stock to the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust (The Trust). Established as part of the transfer arrangements, the two organisations jointly manage this partnership fund. Under the agreement, value added tax (VAT) reclaimed on the Trust’s investment to refurbish their properties will be set aside to fund community projects for ten years. This is match-funded with reclaimed VAT by AVDC. Each partner contributes equally to the agreed budget of £500,000 (including administration costs) each year until 2017. Over the past seven years, the Aylesbury Vale Community Chest has supported community projects run by charities, community groups, clubs, societies, parish councils and social enterprises. During 2013/14, eighty five grants totalling £462,315 were awarded. Since the fund launched in 2007, 551 grants have been awarded, and a total of £3,146,956 distributed to benefit people in Aylesbury Vale. Applications are welcomed from charities, voluntary and community groups, parish councils  Cohesive and Strong Communities and social enterprises for projects taking place  Safer Communities within Aylesbury Vale which contribute to one or more of our five priority areas.  Thriving Economy A full list of 2013-14 grants can be found on pages  Sustainable Environment 16-17. Funding is awarded through three grant streams:  Health and Wellbeing

 Micro Grants up to £1,000 are assessed and awarded monthly using a scoring system. Fifty five organisations received microgrants in year seven, with an average value of £860.

 Project Grants up to £25,000 are reviewed three times a year by a Grants Panel (see page 5), which consists of three AVDC councillors and three representatives from the Trust. Twenty one grants averaging £11,858 were approved in 2013-14.

 Three Year Revenue Grants (3YR) – up to £20,000 pa. Nine grants averaging £18,444 per year were awarded by the Panel in 2010 for the funding period 2011-14. Recipients of the third and final round of 3YR funding from 2014-17 were decided by the Panel in November 2013.

Milestones 2013-14

The three millionth pound of funding was awarded to Joss Searchlight th Their ‘It’s Good to Talk’ support The 500 grant went to groups for families of children with Queens Park Arts Centre cancer, use play, art and talking towards costumes for their therapies, and provide a support community pantomime. network for parents and siblings

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Grants Panel Membership 2013-5

Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust Aylesbury Vale District Council

Barry Dale, Management Accountant (to Jan ’14) Cllr Janet Blake, Member for Penny Foulds, Head of Finance (from May ’14) Cllr Pam Pearce, Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Member for . Kate Russell, Director of Corporate Resources Cllr Ranjula Takodra, Grants Panel Chairman 2013-14 Masaud Subedar, Head of Community Services Member for Walton Court & Hawkslade Grants Panel Chairman 2014-15

£3.15million of Community Chest funding has contributed to over £25million investment in Aylesbury Vale projects run by voluntary and community groups, charities, parish councils and social enterprises

Project Grants Community Chest project applications for one-off funding up to £25,000 are considered by the panel three times each year. These can be for capital projects, for example a new clubhouse at Buckingham West End Bowls Club, or for revenue services, such as running costs for Aylesbury’s SPACE project, providing drop-in support for people at times of life crisis. Twenty one grants were awarded in 2013-14. The Community Chest will provide up to half the cost of a project. In many cases, our grants give a smaller, but still valuable contribution to much larger projects. The leverage on applications for capital projects tends to be higher than those for revenue costs. In 2013- 2014, for every £1 of project grants awarded, revenue projects generated £3.37 of local services, whereas capital projects generated £9.10 of investment in local facilities. 21 Project Grants Awarded £249,020 Total cost of these 21 projects £1,600,115

Revenue projects Revenue projects £116,250 £391,900 Capital projects £132,770 Capital projects £1,208,215

Microgrants These easily accessible grants are reviewed on a monthly basis, with a short application form, and fast turnaround on decisions. From 2014 onwards, the Panel have restricted these grants to applicants with annual income or expenditure under £100,000, who have not previously received three or more microgrants. This is to ensure that in the final three years of the fund, these small grants will remain accessible to new applicants and to small local groups who need this financial support.

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In 2013-14, microgrant applicants included sports, arts and social clubs, scout groups, parish councils, community building committees, local projects and small charities. Grants were awarded for a wide range of purposes: improvements and repairs, new equipment, materials, furniture, training sessions, support services and environmental projects.

Three Year Revenue Grants (3YR) 2011-14 The following extracts are taken from the end of grant reports received from the nine organisations funded over the past three years.

AVYFC youthcafe.info Our grant from the Community Chest has provided the organisation with funding to run and support 4 of our youth projects. The funding received over the 3 years has helped establish the projects and enabled us to engage with many young people in the areas. Each week around 125 young people attend the three Youth Cafés supported through the Community Chest. 32 volunteers supported the three café venues during the three years. Around 600 young people accessed Studio projects, either in person or online. The grant money was spent on employing key workers to run three youth cafés and also our recording studio project. The groups are run in , and Southcourt Aylesbury. The cafés offer free food and refreshments as well as games and activities to help young people build relationships. The groups run after school so that they have a safe place to be before parents get home from work. The studio is open in the evenings after school for young people to perform, practice and record their music. The online ‘café in a box’ resource pack is used by many more independent youth café venues around the UK, from Penzance to Perth, so this local project has a much wider reach. AVYFC ran an Olympic Café at during 2012, and that model is being used to run a Commonwealth Games café at a community hall in Airdrie near Glasgow in Summer 2014. Having the support from AVDC and VAHT has been really significant for us as it helps raise our profile. We have approached other groups for funding for equipment and projects to enhance the cafes and studio and these have often been awarded. We have also been invited along to meetings for networking and further funding information.

Aylesbury Homeless Action Group ahag.org.uk More than 350 clients assisted over the three year period. 24 volunteers support the Hub sessions and Winter Warmth emergency night shelter. The grant has enabled us to continue offering the Hub services on a twice-weekly drop-in basis. This is our initial meeting point for all new referrals and allows us to have a full diagnostic interview with clients. It ensures that we can fully risk assess each client before developing a bespoke support package. We are able to offer the Hub as a contact point for other support agencies, such as The Terence Higgins Trust, SMART and Connections Outreach, enabling them to access clients in a safe environment. The Hub has also allowed our night shelter clients a daytime point of contact with case workers. We are continuing to offer a year-round service ensuring that all new referrals are seen as soon as possible. This means that people in crisis are not kept waiting. This is what makes the Hub such a

6 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14 valuable resource. Since the beginning of January we have been able to employ a second case worker which has enabled us to ensure that each client has swifter access to advice and support. We continue to offer showers and laundry facilities to clients. Our Community Chest grant raises our professional status through being closely connected with and funded by both AVDC & VAHT “If it wasn’t for the likes of AHAG I wouldn’t be here. You’ve done everything - sorted my housing, sorted my paperwork, sorted with the doctors...you put a smile back on my face!”

Buckingham, Winslow & District CAB bacab.org.uk The grant has made a significant contribution towards the costs of resourcing our home visiting service. The service helps those in our community who face rural isolation and are often excluded from mainstream services because they are disabled elderly and frail, or live in a rural area without access to transport. As such it helps improve the health and wellbeing of those with moderate/substantial support needs. Approximately 1,300 people have been supported by the home visiting service over the past three years. 20 volunteers provide telephone support and advice at the Bureau, two give admin support and one volunteer works 12 hours each week as part of the home visiting team. More recently we have been helping people cope with the changes brought about by welfare reforms, including the spare room subsidy and changes to council tax benefit. Overall the service has ensured that its clients have been able to maintain a viable living standard, and stay in their own homes for longer. This in turn enables them enjoy a healthier lifestyle and remain an active member of their community Over the three year grant period the home visiting team has helped clients obtain around £1.03 million in benefits and helped people to manage in excess of £1.1 million of debt. The Community Chest Funding has allowed us to maintain one of our ‘flagship’ services, which is of immense value to the community. With this funding in place it has been possible to obtain additional funding to ensure the project ran to full capacity over the three year grant period from the Community Chest.

Chilterns MS Centre chilternsmscentre.org The £20,000 per annum for 3 years between 2011 and 2014 enabled the Chilterns MS Centre to continue providing physiotherapy to people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Although this was ongoing work, without funds from the Aylesbury Vale Community Chest and other grant-making trusts, we may not have been able to continue providing the number and range of treatments that we offered. In 2013-14 the physiotherapy team delivered 10,833 sessions including 2276 group classes. Around 300 different people were treated over the three year period, with 260 people treated each week. Our physiotherapy provision makes a huge difference to our patients. The NHS provides no long-term treatment for people with MS. This means the treatments, therapies and services we provide are a lifeline to many of our regular centre users. “The Chilterns MS Centre is a lifeline to me, not just a place for physical support I need but also the social support; I would be lost without it.” More than 70 volunteers support our service on a regular basis in a variety of roles: serving in our café and on reception; general repairs and maintenance; and a specially trained team of volunteers who operate our hyperbaric chamber for Oxygen Therapy.

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We used much of the information gathered for the Aylesbury Vale Community Chest funding application in applications to other grant-making trusts. It is always useful to build relationships with other charities and not-for-profit organisations in our area. The Community Chest networking events helped us get together and share experience.

Community Impact Bucks communityimpactbucks.org.uk The grant for the Opportunities for All supported volunteering project provided potential volunteers with access to an in-depth interview and assessment with the co-ordinator to determine a suitable volunteer role tailored to each individual's support needs, skills and interests. 533 enquiries were received, 433 people assessed, 313 placement interviews undertaken and 218 volunteers placed. Many volunteers were placed with external organisations, some volunteered in the gardening project managed by Community Impact Bucks, and two are volunteering within Community Impact Bucks own offices. People with a diverse range of support needs were assisted through the project: physical disabilities; mental health issues such as depression and low self- esteem; learning difficulties/special educational needs; language barriers; criminal convictions; historic substance abuse; poor educational attainment or long-term unemployment. With the confidence and skills developed through these volunteering placements, some have gone on to paid work or training courses which they would not otherwise have achieved. Others are sustaining long-term volunteering placements. The co-ordinator has worked with organisations helping them to understand how to support and involve volunteers with additional needs, enabling them to make a contribution through volunteering.

Healthy Living Centre CIC1 healthylivingcentre.com The Community Chest grant funding has enabled The Healthy Living Centre to continue making a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of residents and communities within relatively more deprived areas of the Vale, specifically within Walton Court and Southcourt. The funding has been vital in supporting the running costs of the Centre. It also supports our Outreach work, identifying needs within the local community and developing programmes of support and activities in response to this need to improve the health and wellbeing of this diverse community. An estimated 4,400 people made use of the centre’s facilities over the three year period. Centre staff are supported by 23 volunteers. The centre runs a wide range of training courses, activities for all ages and abilities, information and advice sessions, community café, catering service and has rooms available to hire for training courses, meetings and family celebrations. “I have been at the centre on a course and have visited several times. The food is very fresh, enjoyable and well priced. Staff are always welcoming. Good find!” The flexibility of the unrestricted funding has enabled us to use staff resources in the best possible way to support our user needs instead of being tied to one individual post. The general contribution to building costs has been vital in helping us secure other funders who may not be willing or able to cover these

1 CIC = Community Interest Company 8 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14 essential core costs. This has been a challenging period for HLC with the refurbishment of the Walton Court Shopping Centre within which the Healthy Living Centre is situated. In October 2014, we will be delighted to launch the newly renovated, improved and extended centre, which will continue to serve our community with a wider range of services, events, courses and activities.

Horses Helping People CIC horseshelpingpeople.co.uk Over the 3 years the grant has enabled 188 clients to attend Horses Helping People who would not otherwise have been able to benefit. Through the grant, Horses Helping People has been able to respond to needs in the local community, for example working with a special needs school and offering activity sessions for groups with low budgets such as Young Carers and Bucks Vision. We have been able to invest time in training volunteers, including basic training for new volunteers and further training for existing volunteers and now have an easily implemented training programme to be used in the future. The volunteer training benefitted the volunteers, who became more confident in their skills and so felt their input was more valuable, which means they are more likely to commit to regular attendance. It also benefitted the clients who enjoyed more activities that the volunteers are trained to assist with. 15 volunteers work at Sunrise Farm on a regular basis. Over a hundred other volunteers have participated through corporate volunteering days. We have also been able to pilot a supported volunteering programme for people that are unable to volunteer unsupervised. There had previously been no other way of funding this activity. The grant also covered the period that Horses Helping People moved to new permanent premises at Sunrise Farm. The grant was without doubt a huge factor in enabling the move to take place, as we could utilise the running costs to cover the period of the move. The Community Chest funding led to an article in the Aylesbury Vale Times. As a result of this, we now have links with Aylesbury prison, who launder our horse rugs for us, we have been approached to be beneficiaries of a legacy, and a reader nominated us as the chosen beneficiary of a fund raising club which she belongs to. “Horse Therapy sessions have been a fantastic opportunity for our students to work in a new environment, helping build their confidence in trying something new, overcome anxieties about being in unfamiliar surroundings and with animals they are not used to, alongside different adults and with the animals. All the pupils benefit from the outdoor learning experience, and we are able to draw on this when we are back in the classroom and make links with the curriculum for English, PSHE, science and humanities.” Teacher at Pebblebrook School

Puzzle Centre puzzlecentre.org.uk Puzzle Centre is a specialist preschool for children with ASD2 and continues to further develop and improve the service offered to children, families and practitioners. In particular, our adoption of the SCERTS3 educational model has enabled us to refine and improve our assessments of children and families

2 Autistic Spectrum Disorders 3 SCERTS – Social, Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support - www.scerts.com 9 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 and the programmes of intervention that we design for them. In this way, Puzzle Centre has led the way in pioneering an early intervention model which others wish to emulate. Over the past three years, around 950 people have benefitted from Puzzle’s nursery provision, training courses and outreach work. 50 volunteers have supported our activities. Over the last year Puzzle has been able to provide a very high level of support and expertise to families and children, visitors from outside organisations, researchers and the practitioners who attended our numerous training courses. For example: Around 35 children and families were supported by our Specialist Nursery and 'Play and Say' parent/child group. As well as attending the nursery, the children's families received home visits and training from our specialist team. Eight workshops were delivered for parents over the last year, on a range of topics relevant to supporting their child's development. We continue to host work experience students from local schools and colleges, including three students studying at universities across the UK. Puzzle Centre provides expertise at a national level on the Expert Reference Group for the Autism Education Trust (AET) and has provided training courses on Early Years autism for around 200 professionals from organisations around our region and across the UK. An Outreach Support Package has been launched recently for families or practitioners who want support outside of our centre. The Centre has benefitted from networking opportunities at Community Chest events and training courses as well as provision of stable funding over three years which helped strengthen our applications for other multi-year grants. “You would not believe (my son) is the same boy who first came to Puzzle. The staff have been marvellous - always so positive .... he has learnt to speak and family life has changed so much”

Young Carers Bucks youngcarersbucks.org Our grant was used to fund a co-ordinator for our Young Carers Activity Programme. The money provided has enabled the Programme Co-ordinator to plan and deliver clubs, groups and activities that have way exceeded the agreed target. Consequently this has enabled in excess of 300 young carers and their families to benefit from hundreds of sessions away from their caring responsibly. The regular clubs provide a supportive network that promotes friendships as well as the opportunity to talk to a trusted adult. Many young carers have been given the opportunity to take part in sports and activities that otherwise would have been denied them and have access to activities such as those provided by Horses Helping People. To meet the needs of an increasing number of young carers in Aylesbury Vale aged between 6-9yrs an extra young carers club for this age group has been set up to run from the Sports Centre. During this year the emphasis of our work has moved to the provision of group work that not only provide respite from caring but also meet an identified need i.e. reduce anxiety by providing ‘Worry Workshops’, promote the development of self-esteem via ‘Boost’ groups, specialist support to sibling carers via ‘SibShop’ and to support young carers who look after someone with poor mental health via ‘Fused’. Many young carers remain socially isolated and we have set up a ‘Get Out There!’ group where we ensure that children are given the opportunity to undertake activities in the community, especially during the school holidays, that are based on fun, being a child and having the same opportunities as their peers.

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We have raised the profile of young carers which has attracted donations from a wide source of funders. Awareness sessions in schools have promoted fundraising as well as an increase in referrals and requests for support from teachers and school staff. On behalf of the team and the young carers themselves I would like to officially record our thanks to the Community Chest for its support. The impact of this funding has been substantial and life changing. It has improved the quality of life for many young people. It has also enabled us to develop a robust service, which helped us to successfully tender for a new three year contract for the carers support service by Bucks County council. The work that had been delivered via funding from the Community Chest has been an integral part of the service which means that it has now been commissioned and will be supported by core funding from Bucks County Council. This is the best possible outcome for ensuring the continued support of young carers in the Aylesbury Vale and across the whole county of Buckinghamshire.

More than two million beneficiaries have been reported for the 551 Community Chest grants awarded so far - that’s around eleven opportunities for each person in Aylesbury Vale to benefit from a funded project

Working Together 2014 A wide range of very different projects were represented at this year’s event, held at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton. bucksrailcentre.org The Railway Centre was awarded a project grant in 2012 as the third-party contribution so that the Centre could secure a larger grant from WREN’s landfill community fund to repoint and replace rainwater goods on the Centre’s depot which forms their main museum building. The flexibility of the space in the Rewley Road station building enabled Quainton Crafternoon, Queens Park Arts Centre, ’s ‘Young Enterprise’ project and Haddenham in Transition to display their work, from craft examples to air-tightness testing equipment. Youth Concern Aylesbury’s Youth Share Music Project made the most of the acoustics with a live set on the station platform, and showed a film about their work with young people in the cinema coach. Volunteers from the centre gave guided tours of their museum exhibits and industrial transport stock, then a brief networking session including a short train ride gave attendees the opportunity to discuss what they are doing through their projects to benefit Aylesbury Vale Residents. Around eighty people attended, representing grant recipients from the past year, the two partners to the fund (AVDC and Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust), other local funders and service providers such as Community Impact Bucks and New Futures Buckinghamshire. Andrew Bratton, one of the founding trustees of the centre, gave us some background to the set up and running of the Railway Centre over the past 45 years and the range of sources for their stock acquisitions. We then heard from Michael Lewington, Chief Executive of Calibre Audio Library, a national charity based in , which supplies talking books and newspapers to people who are blind, visually impaired or unable to 11 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14

read due to difficulties such as dyslexia. Michael told us about the challenges faced by the organisation’s volunteers in adapting to changes in technology, moving from cassette to CD to MP3 files and downloads so that they can continue to give an effective and efficient service to their members. Mary Cloake gave us an overview of the work of Young Enterprise in Aylesbury Vale, and the valuable transferable skills that the young people participating in the programme gain through developing ideas, products and setting up trading companies while still at School. Our microgrant supported the involvement of Mandeville School and Furze Down School in their ‘team’ and ‘company’ programmes. At Furze Down School, the Young Enterprise group have a wood turning project, making beautiful bowls, sturdy toy trains, bird houses and insect homes to sell direct to customers and through local outlets. Phil Francis and his students brought their mobile display stand to demonstrate the lathe and show their products. Greg Smith and Alison Watt explained the progression of the work of Haddenham in Transition, getting the local community to think about its carbon footprint, reduce environmental impact and save money. As well as encouraging cycling/walking and reducing food miles, a couple of years ago, the group purchased a thermal imaging camera, to help local householders identify where they were losing heat from their properties and then working with them to improve insulation. The next step more recently was to purchase air-tightness testing equipment, so that insulation and draft proofing can be made even more effective. Haddenham in Transition are very interested in speaking to other villages who may want to undertake training or hire the equipment from them to do their own local testing. A networking session for participants to share their experiences and look at potential for future skill sharing and partnership working had a great atmosphere, and a light buffet was provided by the centre’s catering team led by Laura. A special thank you to Eric Miller, VP and Honorary Fundraising Officer at Quainton for his contribution to the success of the event. Outgoing panel chairman Cllr Ranjula Takodra welcomed guests to the event. Masaud Subedar’s closing address encouraged new groups to apply to the Community Chest in the future.

12 Distribution of Grants Awarded in Year 7 April 2013 – March 2014 A1 – by Aylesbury Vale ward area

£0

£0-£1,000 £1,000-£10,000

Buckingham £10,000 - £25,000 North Buckingham South £25,000+ Newton Winslow Longville

Marsh Gibbon Stewkley

Wing Quainton

Grendon Underwood Weedon

8 5 Bierton 4 Brill Waddesdon 3 1 7 Aston 9 6 2 Clinton 10 1. Aylesbury Central 2. Haddenham 3. Coldharbour 4. Gatehouse Wendover 5. Elmhurst & Watermead 6. Mandeville & Elm Farm 7. Oakfield 8. 9. Southcourt Projects covering more than one ward: 10. Walton Court

Multi-ward projects £58,033 Aylesbury Town-based £50,000

A2 – by Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust Regions £ Vale Wide projects 42,900 N = North area 134,416 E = East area 159,236 W = West area 81,720 East and West (Aylesbury Town) 30,000 North and West area 14,043 £ 462,315

Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 Facts, Figures and Feedback

B1 – Breakdown of the three grant streams for year 7 (2013-14)

% Total Cost of £ Investment Applications Grants £ Total Funding success Funded Projects for every £1 Received Awarded Awarded rate £ granted4 Microgrants 62 55 89% 47,295 355,696 7.52

Project Grants 28 21 75% 249,020 1,600,115 6.43 Three-Year Revenue 22 9 41% 166,000 pa 1,260,925pa 7.60 Grants average average Total 112 85 £462,315 £3,216,736 76% £6.96

B2. Capital/Revenue split for all three grant streams in year 7 Capital costs include building work, fixtures, fittings and equipment purchases. Revenue costs include salaries, running costs, consumables, events and activities

Number of Amount Total cost Leverage for Grant Stream grants granted £ £ every £1 granted Microgrants 33 28,100 242,410 8.63 Project grants 10 132,770 1,208,215 9.10 Total capital funding 43 160,870 1,450,625 9.01 Microgrants 22 19,195 113,286 5.90 Project grants 11 116,250 391,900 3.37 Three-year revenue grants 9 166,000 1,260,925 7.60 Total revenue funding 42 301,445 1,766,111 5.86 Grand Total 85 462,315 3,216,736 6.96

In B3 and B4, some applications contributed B3. Grants Criteria – one or more priority Number in more than one area. areas met under the following headings of Grants All applications must meet at least one of the Cohesive and Strong Communities 85 grants criteria priorities. Safer Communities 51 Thriving Economy priorities include projects Thriving Economy 80 delivering services within areas of relative deprivation according to the National Indices Sustainable Environment 37 of Deprivation, and projects which support Health and Wellbeing 84 families and vulnerable people. Total Number of Grants Awarded 85

The grants criteria are taken from priorities identified in the Sustainable Community Strategy for Aylesbury Vale, available online at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/community-living/community- planning-partnerships/aylesbury-vale-community-plan

4 This leverage generated by a grant is measured as part of the application assessment, see page 5 14 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14

Some organisations or projects have a Number of B4. Equalities Focus (2013-14 grants) specific focus on one particular grants beneficiary group. Disability 19 Every grant applicant must have an up-to- Older People 17 date Equal Opportunities Policy and demonstrate that they understand how to Women 4 implement their policy to give equality of Race/Culture/Language/Ethnic Origin 4 access to facilities, activities, services, Children and Young People 24 volunteering and employment opportunities and membership of their Non-specific wider community involvement 73 management committee or trustee board. Total number of grants awarded 85

B5. Total Community Chest grants awarded to local projects over the past seven years, 2007-14 Total Cost of £ Investment Applications Grants £ Total Funding Number of Grant Stream Funded Projects for every £1 Received Awarded Awarded Beneficiaries £ granted Microgrants 413 393 334,517 1,856,751 5.55 354,157

Project Grants 186 140 1,819,439 15,141,904 8.32 557,344 Three Year 39 18 993,000 8,661,203 5.55 1,089,137 Revenue Grants* Total 638 551 3,146,956 25,659,858 8.15 2,000,638

*3 year revenue figures include funding awarded for the first round, 2008-11 and the second round, 2011-14.

Feedback comments from applicants Three-year Revenue Grant recipients: ‘The Community Chest has provided much needed support for various community groups throughout Aylesbury Vale, improving the lives of so many people. The Grants Panel are to be commended on their commitment, support and hard work ensuring that the funding available reaches many different communities throughout the area.’ ‘As always, the Community Chest remains the easiest funder to deal with, from the level of funding available, through the application process and monitoring, with excellent support from the grants officer. With some funders, a disproportionate amount of time is spent with complex procedures, but the Community Chest allows us to get on with what we do. We like working with a local funder.’ Project grant recipients: ‘Thank you so much for your helpful feedback. I really like the system you have at AVCC of giving feedback prior to submission.’ Microgrant recipients: ‘The Community Chest funding was a great encouragement to all the volunteers as it showed that what they are doing is so well worthwhile and has been recognised by an organisation such as yours. Recognising volunteers in this way is so important.’ ‘Our application was dealt with very quickly and efficiently. Excellent help and support from supporting staff.’ ‘The application process is very clear and straightforward to complete’ ‘It was fantastic - from advice right through to the wonderful news that we had been awarded funding - thank you’

15 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 List of Grants Awarded, April 2013 – March 2014 Name of Organisation £ Purpose

1 AVYFC 20,000 Youth Cafés Co-ordinator Aylesbury Homeless Action Group 20,000 'The Hub' drop in centre, core costs Buckingham, Winslow & District CAB 17,500 Home Visiting Project Chilterns MS Centre 20,000 Clinical Staff Salaries (OT, Physiotherapists etc) Community Impact Bucks 14,000 Supported Volunteering Programme Healthy Living Centre 20,000 Core Costs Horses Helping People 20,000 Client Sponsorship The Puzzle Centre 14,500 Specialist PreSchool for Children with ASD Young Carers Bucks 20,000 Young Carers Activity Programme 3YR Grants (year 3 payments) £166,000

Aylesbury Motor Project 15,700 Here Comes Summer Aylesbury Youth Action 10,000 Generate Konnect (Buckingham Area) BBOWT 13,143 Bernwood Forest signage and interpretation boards Buckingham West End Bowls Club 20,000 Clubhouse Rebuild Dinton Cricket Club 10,000 New two-lane cricket nets Parish Council 7,000 Play Area Improvements Great Brickhill Tennis Club 20,000 Sports Development for Great Brickhill Haddenham Cycle Training CIC 7,000 Cycle Skills and Road Awareness Islah 5,000 Children, Youth and Community Development Joss Searchlight 8,000 'It's Good to Talk' Support for families of children with cancer Long Crendon Bowls Club 5,000 Refurbishing gents WC, disabled toilet and storage area. Medical Detection Dogs 10,000 Volunteer Co-ordinator Multi-Cultural Centre 5,000 Office and Music Studio extension - fitting out Outdoor Culture CIC 9,550 Woods for Us Padbury Parish Council 22,476 Springfield Sports Ground - MUGA and Tennis Courts Pitstone Memorial Hall Charity 15,151 refurbishment of toilets, kitchen and main hall Queens Park Arts Centre 15,000 Limelight Theatre Refurbishment SPACE 20,000 Core Costs Springhill Farm and Gardens 11,000 Farms and Gardens Project Talkback 10,000 Independence Unlimited Young Foundation 10,000 The U Aylesbury Project Grants £249,020

1st Stewkley Scouts 700 Camping Equipment 1st Wendover Scouts 1,000 outdoor play area and integrated storage facilities Aston Clinton Bowls Club 1,000 storage garage replacement Aston Clinton Community Group 730 display panels for local history exhibitions AVYFC 900 Youth Café Equipment Aylesbury Festival Choir 900 Soloists for Spring Concert Aylesbury Vale out of School Network 900 Play in the Park Youth Area, 7.8.13 Aylesbury Youth Action 900 Mini and Messi - Toddler Holiday Club Bafa - Buckingham Art for All 820 Portable display boards for exhibitions Beacon Villages Community Library 930 Beacon Lit Festival Buckingham School 900 community ICT project Bucks Army Cadet Force 1,000 Tents Bucks Play Association 900 under 5s area at Play in the Park, National Play Day 7.8.13 Parish Council 900 Petanque Pit Chandos Park Bowls Club 1,000 refurbishment of ditches - laying slabs Community Care North Bucks 1,000 hospital car service with volunteer drivers Community Unity Projects 1,000 Pool/Snooker Table, Table Football and Sunshine Rally 16.6.13

1 Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ 16 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14

Grandparents Support Group 800 running costs, publicity and printing Great Brickhill Parish Council 1,000 Pond for Poors Acre Pocket Park Great Horwood Football Club 900 Training Equipment for Juniors Football Tournament Haddenham in Transition 900 air tightness testing equipment Haddenham Parish Council 485 Groundwater survey for allotments (borehole feasibility) Hardwick Parish Council 300 Goal posts and nets Parish Council 825 Village Notice Board IQRA - Bucks Women's Association 900 Support group for Asian Women at Elmhurst School Joss Searchlight 900 Play therapy sessions for children with cancer Kingswood Allotment Society 800 New allotment plots Long Crendon Bowls Club 900 refurbishing ladies WC MacIntyre Care 740 Wingrave Youth Club MAD About Waddesdon 1,000 Programmes for MAD about Waddesdon 29-30th June 2013 Village Hall Committee 1,000 Conversion of attic room Sports Association 1,000 Cricket Net Project North Bucks Bat Group 990 Bats in Woodlands Village Hall 1,000 Children's chairs, tables and soft play equipment Oakley Bowling Club 900 Indoor bowls mat and storage reel PACT - Parents and Children Together 780 FACTS Fostering and Adoption Consultation and Therapeutic Support Quainton Crafternoon 640 Venue hire for craft club Quainton Memorial Hall 440 Loft storage facilities Quainton Monday Day Centre 900 running costs - venue hire Quainton Railway Centre 1,000 Rooflight repair on station building Queens Park Arts Centre 1,000 Community Pantomime Parish Council 800 Millennium Green Play Area refurbishment Stewkley Recreation Ground Association 630 new internal door for pavilion The Artfully Reliable Theatre Society 1,000 Set of wireless microphones Tingewick Scouts 400 repair and relocation of storage shed + solar powered lighting Twyford Cricket Club 1,000 Sight Screens Wednesday Club, Waddesdon 900 Venue hire for older people's day centre Weedon Old School Room 750 Dishwasher Westcott Cricket Club 900 Cricket nets Wing Parish Council 1,000 Long Spinney access improvements Wingrave Bowls Club 675 Recladding clubhouse and additional storage Wingrave with Archive Association 860 Heritage Website Winslow Bowls Club 900 Green path and backboard renewal Village Hall 1,000 Replacement window and car park resurfacing Young Enterprise 900 Company/Team Programme, Mandeville and Furze Down Schools Microgrants £47,295

£462,315 Total Grants Awarded 2013-14

The Community Chest is still open to new applications for microgrants and project grants. 35% of the grants awarded this year went to organisations who have not previously received any funding from the Community Chest. Could your organisation benefit in 2014-15? Get in touch!

Oving Village Hall, a modern, efficient, but traditionally styled and built community building, was only the fifth project to receive a maximum £25,000 project grant back in September 2012. A snowy ground-breaking ceremony was held in January 2013. Pictured here, the finished building was officially opened in June 2014. 17 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14

More information about the Community Chest is available online aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/communitygrants or from the Grants Officer Community Chest Grants Officer Community Engagement Team The Gateway, Gatehouse Road Aylesbury, HP19 8FF [email protected] 01296 585634

www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk www.vaht.co.uk

This report can be made available in large print or audio format

Please phone 01296 585634 220814SMRR 18