Community-led projects give everyone the opportunity to socialize and take part in regular enjoyable and meaningful activities. Many of these projects and services are volunteer-led and begin with someone identifying a need in their own community and deciding to act.
You don’t need to do anything differently to access support from these projects, but the community-led approach means that support will be more easily accessible to you in your local area.
Support for Organisations
The Partnership’s Community Resource Pack provides information and tools to help community-led groups get started, including how details of our small grant scheme which can help with start-up costs. The pack contains sample policies and templates to support local groups or organisations, which can be adapted to suit. The resource pack contains:
- Support and guidance on recruitment of volunteers
- Volunteering policy
- Health and Safety policy
- Risk assessments, including a Covid-19 risk assessment
- Links and examples of existing community resources
If you require a paper copy of these materials, please contact integration@falkirk.gov.uk.
Funding Opportunities
Give your big idea or project a boost to get off the ground
A range of funding programmes and grant opportunities are available to organisations providing services and support in the local area. The information below will be updated with the latest funding opportunities from Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership.
Community Choices is the name of Falkirk’s participatory budgeting programme, run by Falkirk Council and Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership, investing £3m in local communities.
Through a public vote, participatory budgeting offers a democratic way for residents to have a direct say in how public money can be used to address their priorities and invest in local, community led projects.
This is a new fund introduced for the 2024-2027 period, supporting one of the four priorities of the Partnership’s Strategic Plan and the findings of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.
We know that many people’s first experience of health and social care comes following an immediate need or health crisis. The support they receive mostly focuses on what the person can’t do at that time. The result can be a cycle of admission and re-admission caused by repeated health crises or as ability or health reduces. However, an alternative approach is possible – one which offers a supportive network before the need for immediate care.
Over recent years, we have been working to rebalance provision. Further effort is being made to shift our current model of care from institutional settings to support available within the community. Funding available for prevention and early intervention will support people within communities to live independently and improve their health and wellbeing to prevent immediate needs arising.
The fund aims to develop community-based projects, interventions, and services that improve people’s health and wellbeing and minimise health and social inequalities within Falkirk and support the implementation of health improvement as a priority within the Strategic Plan as well as the Public Health Priorities for Scotland.
To achieve the fund’s outcomes, projects must support at least one of Falkirk’s HSCP Strategic Plan priorities and must also support at least one of the Public Health Priorities for Scotland:
- Priority 1: A Scotland where we live in vibrant, healthy, safe places and communities.
- Priority 2: A Scotland where we flourish in our early years.
- Priority 3: A Scotland where we have good mental wellbeing.
- Priority 4: A Scotland where we reduce the use of and harm from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
- Priority 5: A Scotland where we have a sustainable, inclusive economy with equality of outcomes for all.
- Priority 6: A Scotland where we eat well, have a healthy weight and are physically active.
Organisations and local groups can access advice from CVS Falkirk, the third sector interface for Falkirk and wider district area.
CVS Falkirk supports the development of a vibrant local third sector – providing advice to charities, social enterprises, community, and voluntary groups
Use the CVS online grants portal to find funding opportunities and get in touch with the team for hints and tips when developing applications – including one-to-one surgery sessions.
For more information, visit the CVS Falkirk website.