News ArchiveFinal Chance to Apply for Funding03 December 2012 This is the last opportunity to apply for a small grant of up to £10,000. The funding programme comes to an end next year so apply now before it's too late! Send in an 'Initial Project Outline' as soon as possible to assess if your project is eligible. This is the first part of a two-stage application process. The final deadline for full applications is 28 January 2013 and projects should plan to take place between March and July 2013. Funding is available for business start ups, social enterprises, parish and town councils, voluntary and community groups and charities. A free workshop is being offered for people who would like to apply. Book your place by e-mailing the Making it Local team or tel. 01823 680626
Date: Tuesday 8 January 2012
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: East DevonBusiness Centre, Heathpark Way, Honiton, EX14 1SF
Funding programme re-opens for small grants!21 August 2012 Funding programme re-opens for small grants! Making it Local is offering new and existing businesses, charities, voluntary and community groups the chance to apply for a small pot of grant funding. Expressions of interest are invited from applicants in preparation for the 12 November deadline. Complete an 'Initial Project Outline' and we will offer you feedback on your project, if it is eligible for Making it Local, and other funding advice.
Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS) Round 218 May 2012 Round 2 of the 'Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme' Apply from 22 May 2012. Click here for more information.
Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS)02 April 2012 The FFIS is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and is a scheme of support, developed to help farming, forestry and horticultural businesses in England to become more efficient at using resources. This scheme aims to help make your business more profitable and resilient whilst reducing the impact of farming on the environment. Click here for more information.
Free Funding Workshops01 June 2011 Free funding workshops are on offer in Honiton and Dunkeswell to help businesses and communities looking for grants in the Blackdown Hills and East Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as part of the £2.4million Making it Local funding programme. The workshops will be run by Making it Local grant advisors Kate Tobin and Julie Fergusson, who will go through the application process, give project management advice where requested and point people towards suitable matchfunding. For the first time the workshops will be themed around special interests to help people develop contacts, pass on information and collaborate on good ideas. However any project will be welcome to attend since much of the session will be common to all applications. The first workshop takes place in Dunkeswell Village Hall on Tuesday 7th June at 10am. Dunkeswell Parish Council has recently received a grant for £5092 from Making it Local to improve their sports field for wider community use. East Devon Business Centre, in Honiton, will be the venue for a workshop on Tuesday 14th June at 10am. This session will focus on support for businesses and market towns, with a presentation by Honiton Town Council on how they have developed their exciting new Local Producers Market. The Town Council applied to Making it Local and, despite the application being pipped to the post by a recent suspension of approvals, they have launched the market this year. They will be sharing their experiences during the workshop. Recently, the Making it Local team received news that they could not approve applications for a few months while Defra review and reallocate spending. However they are still helping projects develop applications for a deadline on July 11th, leading to decisions in September, ready for the funding to be released again. Successful applicant BarrieCastle, of Axminster Heritage Centre Ltd, recommends others to attend the workshops, "We were warmly welcomed at the workshop we attended in May 2010, we applied for a grant in October and were approved in December. In the interim, the support we had from the Making it Local team in leading us through the process was invaluable. After grant support has been equally excellent; in the search for the last of the match funding, the Making it Local team has continued to be supportive with some innovative ideas, in helping us move towards achieving our total target." Places on the workshops are limited, so it is essential that you book in advance by emailing makingitlocal@devon.gov.uk or phoning 01823 680626.
Superfast Broadband12 April 2011 Devon County Council has joined forces with Somerset County Council to make a substantial bid to win Government funding for superfast broadband for the two counties. The internet and online services are vital in helping to support local businesses and our economy. Using them can be a frustrating experience because of slow broadband delivery and poor connectivity which we currently have in the region. This often causes browsers to grind to a halt and slows down online streaming. The Government has given Broadband Delivery UK a £530 million fund to help with the rollout of superfast broadband across locations that will not be served through an open network. A significant proportion of Devon and Somerset falls within this category, mainly in our rural areas. The bid needs to be submitted by 18 April and part of its success relies on demonstrating considerable demand for superfast broadband in Devon from both residents and businesses. Please support the bid by completing the short survey on the link below to register your views. http://www.somersetconsults.org.uk/consult.ti/connectivity/answerQuestionnaire?qid=1325603
2011 Dates for Free Funding Workshops19 January 2011 Making it Local are announcing the dates of their free funding workshops for the first half of 2011. Project Development Workers Julie Fergusson and Kate Tobin will go through the aims of the funding programme and give advice on making a successful application. Booking is essential for these sessions since places are limited. The dates and venues are as follows: Tuesday 1 February 10am - 12 noon: Wellington Community Centre Tuesday 8 February 10am - 12 noon: Whitford Village Hall Tuesday 29 March 10am - 12 noon: Yarcombe Village Hall Tuesday 5 April 2.30pm - 4.30pm: East Budleigh Village Hall Tuesday 7 June 10am - 12 noon: Dunkeswell Village Hall Tuesday 14 June 10am - 12 noon: Honiton Business Centre
Welcome Julie24 November 2010
Making it Local would like to welcome Julie Fergusson to their team as the new Development Worker for the Blackdown Hills area. Julie has experience of working with community transport projects for Devon. She will be replacing Nicola Buckingham who is leaving to work for Saville’s as a rural researcher.
Local Funding for Local Projects05 October 2010
Businesses and community groups within the East Devon and Blackdown Hills Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and surrounding areas are lucky to have a programme of £2.4million European funding from the Rural Development Programme for England, delivered through the South West Regional Development Agency. The funding programme, known as Making it Local, has now allocated nearly half its funding to 32 projects but there is still plenty more funding available. Projects will be supported if they focus on raising business performance, connecting communities or making the most of local resources.
Welcome to Mel29 April 2010  We would like to welcome Melanie Sealey who has just joined the team as new Programme Manger. Mel has been working for the Renewable Energy 4 Devon (RE4D) Programme at Devon County Council. Mel has a long experience in renewable energy and project management. She replaces Jenny Archard who has left to develop her freelance facilitation work.
Estonians Visit Making it Local Area07 April 2010
( Last Updated: 01-04-2010 )
Members of an Estonian Local Action Group, the West Estonian Islands Partnership, have visited the UK this week and to find out more about the work of Making it Local, the Local Action Group for the Blackdown Hills and East Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Local Action Groups (LAGs) are locally managed grant schemes, which are tailored to their geographical area. Incorporating funding from the EU, Defra, South West RDA and LEADER, they fund projects to strengthen the local economy, improve quality of life and enable rural communities to thrive. Making it Local aims to use the outstanding landscapes and local skills in its area as a springboard for healthy and lasting development.
Local film-maker, Justin Owen, has been commissioned to make a documentary of the visit and followed the Estonians to capture footage of the various businesses and projects, as well as many of the key points raised along the way. The film was premiered at the visitors' accommodation on their last night and they were able to take home copies on DVD. Parts of the film will be uploaded to the Making it Local and Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONB websites, as well as to social media sites.
Devon County Council Visit01 April 2010
On 1st April Senior Officers from Devon County Council visited the Making it Local offices. They came to see what we have been up to within the Programme. They also visited Wellington Monument where they had a look at the local landscape and met a Making it Local funded project called Working our Woodlands. The meeting went very well and it was good to get officers from Devon County Council to meet the Making it Local team, members of the Programme Management Group and AONB Managers.
Spring into Action with Making it Local!25 March 2010 Making it Local Spring Update Event 28th April
The Making it Local team would like to invite you to our Spring Update event at Bicton College on Wednesday 28th April 6:15-8:30pm. This event will give you the chance to ask questions, meet the projects we have funded, listen to what the Making it Local Team have been up to recently, take part in voting new members into the Programme Management Group, attend a funding workshop before the event and find out what RDPE means.  To find out more please the Events webpage
Comings and Goings25 March 2010 In April we will be saying goodbye to Jenny Archard, the Making it Local Programme Manager. Jenny has got the programme up and running and is leaving to develop her freelance facilitation work, forest school and bushcraft. Jenny will be replaced by Mel Sealey who has been working for the Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) programme at Devon County Council. Mel has a long experience in renewable energy, fudning programmes and project management.
Making It Local free funding workshops11 February 2010 We are holding 2 free ‘pre-application’ workshops for anyone wishing to apply for some of our funding. If you are a small business or community group in the Blackdown Hills or East Devon AONB area you may be eligible!!
We run 2 grants programmes- one will fund projects £1,000-£10,000 and one that will fund projects £10,000- £100,000.
If you think you may be eligible and would like to come along to talk to our Development Officers- Hattie Winter and Nicola Buckingham- about your project and how to fill in your application forms, please call the office to let us know you are intending to come on 01823 680626 or e-mail makingitlocal@devon.gov.uk
A Business Link Advisor will also be present for the last hour of each workshop to offer you advice and guidance too!
The dates, times and venues are listed below.
Monday 22nd March Ottery St Mary Institute 2-4pm
Wednesday 24th March Combe St Nicolas Parish Hall 1.30-3.30pm
For more information about the programme please look at our website www.makingitlocal.org. If you have any further queries please contact us on the above.
We look forward to meeting you!
Hattie and Nicola
Thanks for your project ideas!!03 February 2010
Here in the office at Making it Local it has been a busy January!
Update February 201001 February 2010
Working our Woodlands04 January 2010 Are you a Woodland Owner or Contractor?
Advice for Market and Coastal Towns Projects16 December 2009
Making it Local Market and Coastal Towns Paper
If you have a project idea for a market or coastal town please read our Market and Coastal Towns and the Rural Hinterlands: ‘collaboration’ priorities paper. This paper will help potential applicants plan their projects and understand our priorities for market and coastal towns. Download this paper from our Useful Links webpage or contact us for a copy.
New Small Grants Fund in the Blackdown Hills and East Devon05 November 2009
Do you have a community project or business idea that needs funding? Making it Local has just launched its Small Grants Fund. Grants are available for between £1,000 and £10,000 for projects based in East Devon and Blackdown Hills which focus on:
The first deadline for Small Grant applications is 18th January 2010, but we are inviting people to submit their initial project ideas to us now. If you have an idea for a small project, please contact us, as we can help you develop your idea.
Making it Local Programme Manager Jenny Archard, says ‘experience shows that small amounts of money can make big differences to local businesses and communities. Making it Local wants to help make the most of what we have and develop exciting new ideas.’
Since Making it Local was launched earlier this year it has approved six projects within the Main Grants Fund. A forestry apprenticeship programme, digital mentor scheme, community shop improvements, a business support initiative, a local woodland project and the construction of an interpretation centre will all benefit from funding from Making it Local. The Small Grants Fund will provide funding for smaller projects.
If you would like to get involved with Making it Local, you could train to become a volunteer project appraiser on 28th January 2010 or attend our Spring Update Event on 29th April 2010. For further information please visit www.makingitlocal.org email makingitlocal@devon.gov.uk or phone 01823 680626.
FREE - Workshops for new and established social enterprises Sep-Dec 0902 September 2009 FREE - Workshops for new and established social enterprises Sep -Dec 09 from Business Link
August 2009 Update - find out what we have been up to!25 August 2009  New staff!It has been a busy few months for the Making it Local team. We now have a complete team! The final staff member to join us is Development Worker Hattie Winter who has experience of working with community projects at Taunton Deane Borough Council.
Events!
Other recent activities include attending the Honiton Show (6th August) where we had stands in both the Blackdown Hills Business Association Marquee and East Devon AONB Marquee. The show was a great success, despite the rain! We talked to lots of people and hope that we inspired some people to submit some projects to us.
Our first project!
We have funded our first project called Digital Mentors. This project aims to offer digital mentoring (ICT help) to organisations and businesses in the Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONB areas. It will do this by offering training sessions and advice to local organisations and businesses. In addition it proposes to train volunteer digital mentors to help deliver this work. For further information please visit http://digitalmentors.ning.com/
We need more projects!
We are still looking for more projects to fund, so if you have a project idea for your community or business please contact us!! We are a friendly team and encourage people to contact us about their ideas.
We need more appraisers for submitted applications!
We are looking to recruit more volunteer appraisers to help us evaluate submitted applications. So if you have experience of working with businesses and community projects we would like to hear form you. The benefits of becoming an appraiser include gaining an understanding of the European funding system, helping projects to develop and developing new skills. If you are interested in becoming an appraiser the next training session for new appraisers will be on Thursday 8th October. Please contact us for further details.
We need more people to join our Consultative Advisory Group!
We are also looking for more members to join our Consultative Advisory Group (CAG), particularly representatives of organisations and individuals from the area covered by the Programme. The CAG is an important group for the Making it Local Programme because it helps to steer the process and develop the 2010 delivery plan for the Programme. The CAGmeets twice yearly and the next meeting date is 22nd October . So if you are interested in joining this group please contact us.
Please contact us if you are interested in any of the above.
Appraiser Training Date - 26 May 200926 May 2009
Date change21 May 2009 Please note that there has been an amendment to the Full Application Deadlines. The Application Submission Deadline of the 1/9/2009 has been changed to 25/8/2009. This in turn changed the Programme Management Group decision date to 15/9/2009. We apologise for the inconvenience.
New Staff Members are here01 January 1970 We are pleased to announce that two new staff members have now joined the team.
Appraiser Training01 January 1970 Watch this space for the next Appraiser Training Date coming up soon
|
