EVOC News - EVOC

Grants to Combat Vaccine Inequality & Hesitancy

21 April 2021 By Esther Currie Leave a Comment

Thanks to Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation we’re offering micro-grants of up to £500 to community organisations based across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The funding is to support groups working with people who may be experiencing vaccine inequality – carers; black, Asian and minority ethnic communities; homeless people; people with mental health conditions; SIMD areas (amongst other groups of people, this is not an exhaustive list). It can also be used to help reduce vaccine hesitancy. You can apply for funds for a range of activities and ideas, some of these are detailed on the application form, but we are open to hear about your ideas too!

Applications open on Mon 26 Apr and will be considered on a first come first served basis.

Download an application form

Submit completed applications and get more information by emailing us: funding@evoc.org.uk

You might also be interested in…

COVID-19 Vaccine Info Seminar / Q&A: Tue 11 May, 6pm – 7pm
with Professor Eleanor Riley (Professor of Immunology & Infectious Disease) & Dr Carey Lunan (GP)

Thriving Local & 2021 Election Candidates

19 April 2021 By Esther Currie Leave a Comment

As we countdown to the Scottish Election on Thu 6 May 2021 Bridie (our Chief Executive) has reached out to all of the candidates standing in Edinburgh and the Lothians looking for a response to vital themes and issues for our Sector and citizens and communities across the City. As we hear from individual candidates we will share their responses here and on our Twitter and Facebook channels.

Dear Candidate,

We wish you all the very best in your campaign for a seat at the Scottish Parliament in 2021. The election comes just over a year after the start of the pandemic. I am certain that you will agree with me, that citizens of the City, social enterprises, community and voluntary organisations of Edinburgh, have been outstanding in their role at the heart of the response to COVID-19.

From looking out for their neighbour, to volunteering to get food to people in need, to making sure that older people in localities were not left isolated and alone – this is what drove the response that energised communities. From established local organisations to many local groups, the people who led this are visible in our wider research, Mind the Craic and the evidence from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission.

There are vital themes (below) that we would like to hear your response to and more importantly share with our members and the wider sector. We would be delighted to receive your response by video or in writing so that we can share across our digital communications channels*.

We would therefore like to draw your attention to key policy areas:

An Enhanced Role for the Community and Voluntary Sector
EVOC has a strategic partnership with Volunteer Edinburgh and Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network and this makes up the ‘TSI’ in Edinburgh. In our national manifesto created with the 31 other TSI across Scotland we ask for an enhanced role for the third sector – community and voluntary organisations and implementation of place-based approaches.
A structural change in the further integration of Health and Social Care
EVOC fully endorses the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care including the formation of a National Care service.
An Accelerated Pace in Systems Change
There is a clear and coherent need to empower communities further to mitigate the ongoing impact of the pandemic. However, this can only be achieved with the right support and resources: ‘If not now, When’, Social Renewal Advisory Board Report Jan 2021
A National Plan for Universal Family Support
We call for a transformation of Scotland’s investment in children and families, shifting spending from dealing with the consequences of failure and inequality to preventing these and enabling children & families to thrive, and an emphasis on wellbeing: Children in Scotland Family Support Campaign & Manifesto 202

Finally, in coming to EVOC I have deliberately wanted to take a listening approach, to understand better the state of the community and voluntary sector now. In particular I am focused on what it means to have a thriving local community and voluntary sector in the city – what are the conditions for communities to be resilient and more than that, to thrive – and have launched a Thriving Local campaign to support this.

I would be very interested in your response and to start a conversation on this and the four key policy areas identified above.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Bridie Ashrowan, EVOC Chief Executive

^{* We will share your responses through our social media channels, website and a range of e-communications.}

Community Mental Health & Wellbeing Funding Awards

1 April 2021 By Ian Brooke

We are delighted to be able share the final report on the distribution of over £329,000 of grants to children, young people & families organisations in Edinburgh to support and improve mental health and emotional wellbeing in our communities: Mental Health & Wellbeing Funding Report 2021

This investment of Scottish Government money through City of Edinburgh Council is fully detailed, providing a guide to funded additional services in the city during 2021.

Over £1million of applications were received from 65 organisations, with 24 grants being awarded by the funding panel based on the Community Mental Health & Wellbeing Support and Services Framework.

Grants were awarded to the following organisations and partnerships:

Big Hearts Community Trust
Canongate Youth
Citadel Youth Centre
Collaborative Partnership: City of Edinburgh Council, LAYC, NHS
Cyrenians
Deaf Action
Firsthand Lothian
Granton Youth
Multi-Cultural Family Base
NHS Lothian Psychology Adding Value: Epilepsy Screening (PAVES)
NHS Lothian Training in Psychological Skills-Early Intervention for Children (TIPS-EIC)
One Parent Families Scotland / Family Journeys
Richmond’s Hope
Safe Families
SCOREscotland
Space & the Broomhouse Centre
Stepping Stones / Circle
Tailor Ed Foundation
The Junction North East
The Speech Language Communication Company
The Yard
Wester Hailes Youth Agency
With Kids
YMCA / Pilmeny Development Project

Towards a Thriving Local Community and Voluntary Sector

26 March 2021 By Esther Currie

Days after the 1 year mark of lockdown, we can be sure that the community and voluntary organisations, and social enterprises across Edinburgh have been at the heart of the response to COVID-19 in 2020/21. In the City and across Scotland, you have been active in your communities, keeping people’s physical and mental well-being in tact, so much so, you and I know, it has saved lives and the evidence is there in many reports now being produced.

In coming in to EVOC, I have deliberately wanted to take a listening approach to understand better the state of the sector now, and to capture what we and others learn can for the future. The things that have been important in this crisis have also got incredible value for early intervention and future challenges, whether that be other pandemics or the consequences of climate change.

As part of that, we want to launch a listening exercise on what it means to have a thriving local community and voluntary sector in the city: what are the conditions for communities to be resilient and more than that to thrive? What are the conditions for individual citizens to thrive, and be resilient, from the older person to the young, the person from our BAME families or a person with a disability, a carer or a long-term condition?

EVOC had the opportunity to take a paper to the Edinburgh Partnership and also the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board this week. There is excellent work going on at City Council level (New Business Plan) and EIJB work on the Edinburgh Pact which will help bring a great focus and opportunities for communities and individuals. There is in both a discussion of community anchors – both organisations and networks – and we need to work in a way that means there is no wrong door.

EVOC Paper

As part of EVOC’s advocacy and leadership role, being committed to doing the right thing rather than the easy thing, it is important to invert the pyramid and for major anchor institutions like NHS, Council, Universities to be at the service of Edinburgh’s communities. We also hope to do more with our partners, Volunteer Edinburgh and Edinburgh Enterprise Network, and others, whose folk have like you, been at the heart of this… for decades.

In April we will launch a number of initiatives, on-line and off-line, to start a conversation about this and hear from you on what does it mean for our sector to thrive? Above all, what does it mean for the citizens of this city to thrive?

In the meantime my door, and those of the EVOC team, are open to start that conversation.

Bridie Ashrowan, Chief Executive

A Message From Bridie

11 March 2021 By Esther Currie

Black and white photo of Bridie Ashrowan, new Chief Executive at EVOC At a historic time for the city of Edinburgh and country, and as we still live with the pandemic that started one year ago, our community and voluntary sector has responded with great agility and inspiring compassion, enabling people to stay out of crisis and cope better. Many reports have now evidenced that.

In coming into this role, I want to say that it is one where I take seriously a deep commitment to listen to you, to our members, our sector and our partners. This is what will inform what I aim to do, to provide a passionate and informed leadership that will result in greater recognition of your work. My goal is to champion it, and with the EVOC team and board, to enable you to do it well, and help remove barriers for the on-going success of this sector.

Your work – the people of the community organisations, social enterprises and wider voluntary sector – staff, volunteers, boards and partners, has been of great human value at the time of this pandemic. Equally, you are frequently at the cutting edge of prevention, which as we recover from Covid, is essential.

The right support is the place we live and work diagram from the Poverty Commission report The publication in late 2020, of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission recommendations, the first after the start of the pandemic in the UK, and the journey committed to now by the Edinburgh Partnership* and City of Edinburgh Council, to ending poverty in Edinburgh in the next 10 years, is highly ambitious. Where do we already play a major part in that and how can we do more now?

We would like to suggest that the systemic changes that are suggested in the recommendations also help us look at what we can do to improve this together, across all groups, from those with dementia, or those disabilities, to the young folk whom this time has cruelly affected.

The current work of the Edinburgh Climate Commission is hugely interesting for the city too – we believe that a nature friendly city is a people friendly city, and are committed to playing our part in that.

I would like to thank Ella Simpson for her work, invisible and visible, and I hope you’ll join in the thanks for her. We are planning a celebration later in the year when we can gather together for a proper celebration on Fri 24 Sep (more details will follow).

Finally, I am interested in radical kindness, from policy making to championing the work that you do which exemplifies that in every corner of the city, and when it is allowed, I hope to get out to those corners.

Bridie Ashrowan (Chief Executive)

^{* The Edinburgh Partnership is the community planning partnership for the city. It brings together public agencies, third and private sectors with local communities to improve the city, its services and the lives of people who live and work here.}

Supporting People in Crisis

6 January 2021 By Esther Currie

We are working with the City of Edinburgh Council, Caring in Craigmillar, Cyrenians, Pilton Equalities Project and Space to deliver food to those who need it. The City of Edinburgh Council is following a cash first principle in terms of supporting those in crisis, and this has currently kept demand very low. We are aware that this could change very quickly given a new lockdown and the programme will evolve according to need. (You can read an overview of this approach from the City of Edinburgh Council below.)

If you are aware of people in crisis please encourage them to call 0131 200 2388, or apply online.

This short term crisis work does not replace plans to bring organisations together across Edinburgh to develop a partnership approach to addressing food insecurity in the longer term, particularly in light of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission’s call to action.

“City of Edinburgh Council, EVOC and local organisations must continue to fund, co-ordinate and operate services to provide quality fresh food to citizens who experience food insecurity, avoiding a return to reliance on food banks. Our call to improve income security is key to replacing the need for food provision, combined with action to develop place-based approaches to bring together healthy eating, sustainability and community development.”

You can also read our most recent blog by Roisin Hurst (Development Worker) which reflects on 2020 and COVID-19 Food Fund Project.

City of Edinburgh Council and EVOC Partnership Approach: Support for Citizens
As a result of Scottish Government funding the City of Edinburgh Council has recommenced a range of activities to support people facing financial hardship over the winter months. The Scottish Government has again emphasised the principles of choice and a cash-first approach, and this approach is endorsed by the Council.

Similar to earlier initiatives, requests for support will be coordinated through the Council’s Contact Centre (0131 200 2388) to establish whether direct financial support is available e.g. Isolation Grant, Crisis Grant, compensatory payments for the loss of Free School Meals etc. Citizens will also be signposted to alternative areas of support to address additional issues they may be experiencing to offer a holistic and tailored solution to service users.

Where direct financial support is not available, or not required, arrangements have been put in place to support a network of food deliveries across the city. The Council worked successfully with EVOC, supported by local partners, throughout the first months of the pandemic to deliver food packages across the city. Building on this experience, a targeted food delivery service has now restarted for those in need of support.

Given direct financial support is available the predicted level of food deliveries is expected to be lower than at the start of the pandemic. As a result, the system has been streamlined, and the Council will be working with EVOC and key hub organisations. Food deliveries will be made for up to 2 weeks, and citizens will be asked to make contact again if further support is required. These are challenging times and there are many changes ahead, including Brexit, and while there is no broader funding for food provision across the city at this time, the funding allocation will be kept under review.

Any individual identified as in need of support due to hardship, should be referred to the Council’s Vulnerable Support Line on 0131 200 2388 or the Scottish Welfare Fund on 0131 529 5299.

Family Support Services Mapping Report

17 December 2020 By Esther Currie

The final report (and appendices) from the Family Support Services Mapping Exercise conducted by the Parent and Carer Support Team and Locality Operational Groups (LOG) on behalf of Jackie Irvine Chief Social Work Officer and the Children’s Partnership is now available.

Family Support Mapping Report Dec 2020
Appendix A: Services Who Offer Family Support
Appendix B: Wider Exploration of Family Support Gaps
Appendix C: Services who May be able to address some identified gaps
Appendix D: School Community Feedback Summary

The full mapping exercise and consultation gathered 145 responses from organisations who support families and 50 responses from school staff and the Locality Operational Groups (LOGs) have now done a further exploration of the highlighted gaps. This provides valuable information on the strengths and gaps in the support available for families in Edinburgh.

NEXT STEPS
Following the mapping exercise a Parental Consultation was carried out with the support of the Parent and Carer Support Collaborative resulting in 2,424 responses from parents and carers across the City. The full report from the consultation will be shared once this is collated.

Introducing Our New Chief Executive

3 December 2020 By Esther Currie

We are delighted to announce that Bridie Ashrowan will be stepping into the role of Chief Executive at the end of March 2021, when Ella Simpson retires after leading EVOC for more than twelve years.

Bridie has over thirty years’ experience in the community sector, having worked in start-ups, social enterprise and business, including her most recent position as Chief Executive at Space & Broomhouse Hub. In fact, she successfully headed the £3.2 million capital investment programme to open the Hub – a local community development trust in an area that has some of the highest child and in-work poverty in Scotland – towards the end of 2019.

Bridie commented:
‘I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead EVOC and to take up the reins from Ella Simpson. Across the communities of Edinburgh, there will be many who will face hugely challenging circumstances. I look forward to working with partners, this talented team and the folk of Edinburgh in building a future together that we can be proud of.’

Ella Simpson (Current Chief Executive) said:
‘I’ve had the most amazing time working for EVOC. It has been an absolute privilege to work with such an incredible team and dedicated Board. It’s in our DNA to work WITH people, partners and all our stakeholders and I know that Bridie will build on that strong heritage. It would always have been bitter sweet to leave EVOC and this has been a particularly difficult year for everyone. However, I know the strength and courage of EVOC and our sector and I’m convinced that with Bridie’s leadership and the dedication of the EVOC team, peoples’ voices and the sectors’ value will be heard and understood.’

Earlier this year EVOC committed to a three-year strategic plan, informed by their deep understanding of the practice, priorities and pressures in communities, the voluntary sector and the public sector and Bridie’s extensive experience will ensure she can steer the organisation to the successful delivery of that strategy through the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Jan-Bert van den Berg (EVOC Chair) commented:
‘I am looking forward to working with Bridie on the many challenges that communities and voluntary organisations in Edinburgh face over the coming years. She, our depute CEO Ian Brooke, and our amazing staff will make a formidable team and provide the best possible leadership, advocacy and support to the sector over the coming years. Although Ella won’t leave her post until the end of March 2021 I would like to thank her for leading EVOC with so much energy, dedication and skill over the last 12 years.’

Bridie will officially take up the role of Chief Executive for EVOC at the end of March, but will be doing a phased handover with Ella in the coming weeks and months, as the organisation continues to be a leader and catalyst of social change to support inclusive communities, working with the voluntary sector.

Re-focusing the Older People’s Service Providers’ Forum

1 December 2020 By Esther Currie

We are reviewing the direction of the Older People’s Service Providers’ Forum, to refocus the group and ensure that ALL service providers across the City are represented. We really want to identify our shared priorities and key actions for the year ahead, so are running two facilitated sessions to bring as many service providers together as we can.

SESSION 1: Thu 14 Jan, 2pm – 4pm

Why we do the work we do?
What are the challenges we face in our work?
How do we tackle these?

SESSION 2: Tue 26 Jan, 2pm – 4pm

Our aspirations for the forum & how we get there
What our priorities should be
Agree set of actions

We are keen to ensure a broad range of older peoples’ service providers are involved in these sessions so we can take this opportunity to shape the future direction of the Forum.

To register for the sessions please get in touch: roisin.hurst@evoc.org.uk

Attendance at both sessions is requested, but if you are unable to attend please get in touch to discuss how you might still contribute to this process.

TSI Network Scotland launches Manifesto for Change

25 November 2020 By Esther Currie

If the pandemic has shown us anything as a nation – our neighbourhoods and communities are alive and kicking with third sector organisations and volunteers ready to respond and step up in a crisis. That is the view of the Third Sector Interface (TSI) Scotland Network who have launched their first ever Manifesto for Change as a Network ahead of the 2021 elections.

TSI Manifesto For Change 2020

There are 32 TSIs in Scotland one for each local authority areas and they cover strands of work – supporting volunteering, charities and community groups and social enterprises. In the majority of local authorities, they combine all the functions of the TSIs’ work under one roof and in larger urban and geographic areas they are partnerships. As well as working to support their sector they collaborate and represent the sector with partners in councils, business community and health and social care partnerships across Scotland. They are in the enviable position of having a foot in many corners of our daily lives – and yet they are often not recognised for the work they undertake – until now.

The TSI Scotland Network organisations have often had much variance in their roles locally but Covid-19 has brought them closer together as they all sought to implement emergency supports: coordinate lifeline responses, funnel funding and place hundreds of volunteers to local roles. Now their leaders share an aspiration to find new ways to create a fairer future for Scotland. They have set out an inspiring agenda for change that puts the emphasis and call for resources and investment, to move with more pace to communities and grass-roots organisations. They are seeking to gain further investment to ensure each community has a community organisation or partnership of organisations with the capacity, opportunities and skills to meet the local needs.

Ella Simpson our Chief Executive is among the leaders involved in developing this manifesto, “Community-led organisations and volunteers responded to COVID-19 magnificently, helping to mitigate the worst effects of lockdown. As we move forward we need to capture the spirit of that and use it to build a fairer future”.

The Network is also asking to be connected in to more of the Scottish Government directorates so they can help inform and shape the right policies for communities – helping to ensure that better coordination and funding gets to the people who need it most. As they were the organisations who took the lead role in placing volunteers through Covid-19 and maximising the community responses – they rightly are asking for the investment for that to continue. They are also looking to link and support new employability programmes to community wealth-building and the third sector in better ways in the future.

The TSI Scotland Network recognises that national third sector organisations have a role to play – but they are adding that if we really want to protect our communities and the people in them and tackle inequalities – then action and change is needed. These proposal in essence also push for a shift of power away from statutory government promoting greater devolution and decision-making, community empowerment and participatory budgeting, enable citizenship and voices to be heard, to allow communities to make the choices and decisions they want.

The Network leaders see this is a cliff-hanging moment where more investment in the right parts of our country’s fabric could have overwhelming benefits and protect the most vulnerable. What the TSI Scotland Network has never done before – is say this collectively, with assurance and knowledge, learnt through the tough moments of the last few months and with a confidence that they can play a singular and lasting role in achieving this.