It continues to be a difficult period for Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations. Traditional fundraising activities remain impossible and the sector must look to new and innovative ways to replace these. 

If your organisation would like support with financial resilience and/or sustainability, please visit the Covid-19 pages on our website. These include useful resources and tools, up to date grant information, and information on funding surgeries.

Written by one of our volunteers:

What makes people volunteer? Volunteers might say they want to connect to the community, feel involved and make a difference. During the pandemic, these people really have been making a huge difference in our communities, beavering away silently and regularly for months to provide care and much-needed support to the vulnerable.

Sport Birmingham, Tackling Inequalities Funding provides inclusive dance opportunities for over 300 disabled children & adults in Birmingham.  

Over 300 disabled children and adults in Birmingham were able to reap the amazing benefits of inclusive dance between June 2021 to September 2021 thanks to Sport Birmingham’s, Tackling Inequalities Fund. 

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused undeniable sadness and hardship for many, but amidst the pain you may have heard tales of kindness and selflessness that have lifted your spirits.

The Compassionate Community Connector programme (run by Communities 1st)  relies on volunteers to support vulnerable and isolated people in the local area. Volunteering is at its best when the relationship between volunteer and ‘client’ becomes a story of connections made, mutual respect and sharing without expectation.

Firstly, I’d like to wish you all a very happy new year.

Last year was difficult for all of us. We faced challenges that most of us had never imagined. 2021 will continue to ask a lot of us, but the beginning of the vaccination rollout means we can start to hope for the return of some normality.

This year has been particularly challenging for voluntary and community groups groups; we will continue to support local voluntary organisations with advice, local training and volunteer recruitment. If your group requires support please get in contact.

Happy holidays and warm wishes from the whole team at Communities 1st! 

Thank you to all our incredible volunteers, who have given so much of their time this year to help us get through this crisis. Amazingly, local people continue to rally together, allowing us to deepen and extend that support through the winter and beyond. Residents are still delivering food, medicines, and prescriptions, offering friendship to isolated people, and last week, volunteers started to provide stewarding and administrative support to local GP surgeries as they begin to roll out the vaccine.

Hertfordshire to Move into Tier 2

The government have announced that Hertfordshire will move into Tier 2: High Alert, in the Government's new system of Covid-19 Alert Levels. Communities 1st, in conjunction with Communities Help Hertfordshire partners, will continue to provide essential services to vulnerable members of the community as the county moves into this new stage.

As we’re approaching December and more talk about potential vaccines against Covid-19 it’s natural that we all start to think of this period as one of a new chapter.

More than ever, with the backdrop of Covid, there’s a real air of ‘next phase’ in our tentative steps forward the festive holidays. We all understand that it’s on us to think and behave differently.

This theme is at the top of my mind as I think about the way Communities 1st – and so many of our member organisations – need to move forward and structure our delivery for a changed world.

Having now completed the second week of lockdown 2.0, and as we approach the Winter months, it's more important than ever to look after yourselves, and your staff and volunteers. If there’s anything we can do to support your organisation, please let us know and we will do our best to help!

Over recent weeks, some member organisations, groups, and charities have told us they have planned to again accelerate their response, rejuvenate their delivery, and do whatever they are able to, in order to help the county through Lockdown 2.

Voluntary and community groups in St Albans District are encouraged to apply to a grants fund aimed at helping the most vulnerable people.

St Albans City and District Council is distributing up to £18,700 in this year’s second round of awards from its Community Grants Fund.

One priority is to fund schemes that help people recover from the impact of the COVID-19 emergency.

For the second round, the Council is encouraging applications that particularly benefit older people and the District’s BAME communities.