Ministry of Defence Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme

Wiltshire is one of the first local authority areas to agree an Armed Forces Community Covenant.  This means that organisations in the county could be eligible to apply for funding through the Ministry of Defence Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme for projects which meet the criteria.  The scheme is intended to provide financial support to projects at the local level, which strengthen the ties or the mutual understanding between members of the Armed Forces Community and the wider community in which they live.  For more information follow this link.

My best friend

What happens if illness, injury or just the fact that we all get older eventually, starts to get in the way of how we can look after our four legged companions?  What if we can’t walk them anymore?  What if their health and wellbeing becomes compromised because we just can’t do as much as we used to be able to?

A lot of elderly and ill pet owners become very depressed and worried about the fate of their beloved animals and feel that the best thing they can do for them is to rehome them.  This fortunately is not true.  The Cinnamon Trust is the only specialist national charity for the terminally ill and people in their later years and their much loved, much needed companion animals.

A network of 15,000 volunteers “hold hands” with owners to provide vital loving care for their pets. We keep them together - for example, we’ll walk a dog every day for a housebound owner, we’ll foster pets when owners need hospital care, we’ll fetch the cat food, or even clean out the bird cage, etc.

Unfortunately not every area in the UK is filled with volunteers.  We have a lovely little boy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in the Melksham area whose owner is struggling to walk him.  We desperately need some  additional volunteers in the area, even if they can only offer an hour a week to this lovely dog, it will improve his quality of life so much, plus it will give the owner peace of mind.  

If anyone can help call Sally on 01736 758 707 or via email volunteer@cinnamon.org.uk  Please also check out our website for more details www.cinnamon.org.uk

Wiltshire’s Flame

To celebrate the Olympic year Wiltshire Council and Arts Award South West are collaborating on a project to celebrate the creativity and energy of young people within Wiltshire. The aim of the project is to enable hundreds of young people to take part in dozens of projects all across the County inspired by the Olympic Flame. 

If you work with young people and are interested in supporting them to be more creative, develop leadership skills and gain a nationally recognised qualification then this may be the project for you. Wiltshire Council Arts Service and Arts Award  are working together to provide subsidised training for people to become Arts Award Advisers - which means you can deliver the award with any young people aged 11-25. Training usually costs £140 but under this scheme you only pay £65. The Arts Service will also provide five free bursaries for freelance artists. If you are interested in taking part in the project please register your interest by e-mailing  arts@wiltshire.gov.uk

There will be two training days led by Ruth Jones, Arts Award South West Regional Coordinator and Senior Trainer. The training course will give you all the skills and knowledge that you need to deliver Arts Award at Bronze and Silver levels. The first one day course is Thursday 3rd of November 2011, and the second date will be in the New Year. The project will culminate in two awards ceremonies, the first will be timed to mark the journey of the Olympic Flame through Wiltshire and the second will be timed to coincide with the closing of the Olympic Games. At these ceremonies a panel of judges will select the best three projects to be awarded a Bronze, Silver and Gold commemorative coin.

Community Arts Training

The arts service runs a 4-day community arts training course for anyone who would like to develop the skills and knowledge to set up and manage an arts project that will benefit their local community – it may be of interest to any community group including those with no experience of the arts or an arts practitioner who wants to run community arts projects.

Community groups, or those organisations that work with the socially excluded, can really benefit from running arts projects, but they often don’t know where to start. Our aim is to give them the skills and knowledge to take their ideas forward

Using the skills and knowledge of expert trainers, the course is designed to cover all the elements of running a project including pre-planning, fundraising, partnerships, publicity, marketing and managing community arts projects.

Participants need to be based in Wiltshire. Statutory and voluntary organisations with paid staff will be charged £40 per person,  whilst voluntary groups, individuals and artists will pay £35 per person. The next 4-day course will take place on 4/5 and 11/12 November 2011.

Deadline for applications is Wednesday 5^th October 2011. For more information and an application form, please visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/arts or email arts@wiltshire.gov.uk or telephone arts development officer, Meril Morgan, 01249 705531