Strategic Grant Funding for Women’s Centre

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A STANLEY safe haven for women who have mental health issues, been subjected to abuse/trauma, or may be suffering long-term unemployment is celebrating a funding windfall to bolster its burgeoning business ambitions.

Just for Women received £620 from Stanley Town Council’s Strategic Grant Fund to buy machinery and materials to support the Crafting to Wellness group.

The new strategic small grants pot, worth £35,000, was launched in 2019 and supports smaller projects via a simple bidding process, administered by Stanley Town Council.

The award will help the not-for-profit organisation, which moved to its HQ St Joseph’s House in 2018, commercialise craft products, that include dolls, bedding and a host of other soft furnishings, produced at its Stanley base.

Just for Women director, Lestryne Tweedy, said: “Stanley Town Council has been an incredible source of support for Just for Women since we were established, most notably last year when it paid £190,000 for the St Joseph’s House building to allow us to continue delivering the vital support we do to vulnerable people in and around the town.

“This money from the Strategic Grant Fund will allow us to further develop the quality products being produced by the Crafting to Wellness group, which has helped many women and men unearth talents that many didn’t know they had.

“This fund is exactly what Stanley needs – it’s quick and easy to apply, very little bureaucracy and, once approved, the funding arrives amazingly quickly.”

Just for Women has helped countless women, and some men, find their feet following abusive relationships, mental illness, homelessness and other issues impacting negatively upon their lives.

Overseen by former social worker, Linda Kirk, who started Just for Women in 2011, the charity has grown from a support organisation to incorporate a business arm and is providing life skills training to people.

Using “crafting” as a form of therapy, it is now a cottage industry for the centre, which sells quilt & cushion covers, soft furnishings and teddy bears to help reduce the need for external funding for its support and training services.

Stanley Town Mayor, Cllr Carole Hampson, said: “For eight years, Just for Women has helped the most vulnerable people in and around Stanley not only find a safe haven, but provide access to training that has created jobs, improved mental health issues and given people a purpose in life.

“Hopefully, this new equipment and material will help Crafting to Wellness continue to develop this fantastic small business and contribute towards making more money that Just for Women can then re-invest in its support services.”

To find out how to apply to the Strategic Grant Fund visit: www.stanley-tc.gov.uk/grants/

Stanley Funding Panel – Expressions of Interest

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The Town Council has recently announced that the new Stanley Community Fund is now open for applications. The County Durham Community Fund which is administering the fund will oversee an independent funding panel comprised of local people to review applications for funding and make the grant awards.

Applications are now sought from local residents of the Stanley Town Council area who wish to contribute to the area by participating in the funding panel.

The panel will meet locally 3 or 4 times a year to assess applications to the fund, to assess them against relevant criteria and prioritise and agree which projects are funded. Panel members will also participate in monitoring outcomes of the funded projects.

APPLY TO JOIN THE PANEL

 

Stanley Community Fund Open for applications

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The Town Council took the decision to use its grant funding budget to establish a community fund in partnership with other local funders 1n 2019. The partners include the Stanley Area Action Partnership, Police & Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg and local MP Kevan Jones. 

Applications for funding from the Stanley Community Fund can be between £2,000 and £10,000. A total of £120,000 in funding will be awarded in 2019/20.

Applications will be assessed in a rolling 3 month application window, with the first awards due to be made in June 2019.

The fund is open for applications NOW. For more information and to apply, please visit the County Durham Community Foundation’s webpage HERE

The Town Council’s own Strategic Fund is also open for applications for small grants of between £250 – £2000. Find out how to apply on our grants page

Stanley Strategic Fund open for Applications!

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The Town Council’s new strategic grants fund has been established to provide small cash grants to local community groups, sports clubs and organisations to help them cover their running costs or deliver specific projects. The first application window will open on the 1st April and is open to all relevant groups in the Stanley parish area. For full details and to get an application form, check our Grants page.

Annual Town Meeting – 22nd March 2019

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The Annual Meeting of electors will take place next Friday, 22nd March 2019 at The Venue, Tyne Road, Stanley. There will be tea and coffee served from 6pm for a 6.30 pm start. The Council will be launching the new Stanley Community Fund at the meeting, which is a new source of grant funding to support local groups and organisations which will provide £100,000 of support for local community organisations in the year from April. The fund is a true partnership and will see every pound invested by the Town Council matched from contributions from other funders, including Kevan Jones MP who will be speaking at the launch. All local community groups who rely on grant funding or would like financial support should come to the meeting to get full details of how and where to apply for funding. The Council will also give an overview of the work it has done in the last year and our plans for next year.

Full Council Agenda Uploaded 26-2-19

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Next week’s Full Council meeting will see the Council considering proposals for a new Community Funding strategy for the Town, discussing a new ‘Miner’s Sunday’ Event to be held on the August Bank Holiday weekend together with other mining heritage initiatives.  The meeting starts at 6.30pm on Tuesday 26th February 2019.

Agenda

Background Papers

All Town Council meetings are open to the public and the public are encouraged to attend.

Full Council Agenda and Papers 22nd January 2018

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The January meeting of Stanley Town Council is the meeting where the budget will be set for 2018/19, which is the main item of business. Other business to be discussed includes Stanley in Bloom and the Policy working group.  All STC meetings are open to the public. The meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22nd January 2019 at Stanley Civic Hall.

‘-Full Council Agenda 22nd January 2019

Item 6 & 7 – Minutes of previous meetings

Item 9 – Payments & Bank Rec

Item 10 to 13 – Reports

Finance Committee 12th December – Agenda and Papers

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The Agenda and papers for next week’s Committee Meeting are linked below.

At the meeting Inspector Dave Stewart will speak to members about current policing priorities in Stanley. There will be an update from the Community Led Local Development Fund Officer about projects locally which are being funded through European Strategic Funding, an update on the activities of the STC Wardens service and a discussion about the budget for 2019/20.

The meeting starts at 6.30 pm, Wednesday 12th December at the Civic Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

‘-Finance and General Purposes Agenda 12.12.18

Background Papers Finance December 18 [PDF, 32.3 MB]

 

Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

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The agenda and papers for next week’s Full Council meeting are linked below. It will be a busy meeting, featuring presentations and feedback from Stanley Events on the Fireworks Display, an update from the STC Funded Advice Partnership which provides 5 day a week, face to face advice in Stanley and from County Durham Community Foundation in relation to a proposal to set up a new community fund for Stanley. There will also be a review of the town’s Remembrance Sunday events, proposals for the Civic Hall, Funding of local theatre groups and other business discussed.

All of our meetings are open to the public and residents are welcome to attend and may ask questions relating to the business on the agenda. Please notify the Clerk in advance of the meeting if you wish to ask a question.

The meeting will be held at 6.30pm in the Civic Hall.

‘-Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

FC November Combined Papers [8.8 MB, PDF]