Latest News

The BEXHILL YOUTH ACCESS CENTRE at 8 London Roadis now open. Drop in times are:

Wednesdays: 12.00 – 3.00pm

Thursdays:  3.00 – 7.00pm

Fridays:  1.00 – 4.30pm

Fridays are dedicated to the Job Club where there is a Connexions Advisor who can offer interview skills, job search and applications.

There will be workers on hand to offer information, advice and guidance on issues that affect young people. They can help with housing. Breakfast is being run on Wednesday mornings from 8am – 10am. Facilities available are Pool Table, Music Equipment, Kitchen, Washing Machine and Internet Access

The Big Event  was held last year in December. They have now produced a  “Post-event report and useful resources ” guide.

It consists of information from the speakers, notes and comments from the workshops and a lot of useful names, links and addresses related to the discussions.

Please click on the link below to download the PDF copy

RVA is conducting a brief survey of voluntary and community groups in Rother. We would be extremely grateful if you could take the time to fill out the survey. It will take less than 5 minutes. We will publish the results in the RVA E-bulletin.  The survey is open until the end of February

Go to the survey by clicking on this link :  

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1DWEd5Z6aJ_2b356BSHceJ8g_3d_3d .

In order to ensure the survey is accurate we would appreciate only one response per group. Survey open until the end of February

Thank you in advance

The RVA Team

Now Closed

Louise South is doing some research for Hastings and Rother MIND into mental health issues for those living in rural Rother - starting with some mapping of existing services and activities and then a questionnaire getting as many views as possible on the issues and how we might address
them.

If you have information to share about your services please contact Louise via the RVA office. Alternatively please download and send her the attached questionnaire. You don't have to have mental health issues to complete - you could be a friend, carer, just interested or a professional working in this area though you do need to have a view about the rural aspects.

Ongoing training opportunities. For other opportunities click HERE

Train to Gain

The government’s ‘Train to Gain’ scheme has now been extended to
include the Third Sector and volunteers working for any organisation.
What this means is that volunteers and salaried staff can obtain first
(Skills for Life) or higher (Level 2 &3) National Vocational
Qualifications (NVQs) in the area of their work. Tel: 01273 720894
E-mail: pathyal@csv.org.uk or visit www.csv.org.uk

Nifty after Fifty

A new booklet providing information on physical activity opportunities
for people aged 50 and over in the Hastings & Rother area. For
further information Freedom Leisure Centres

An interim report from the Tackling Worklessness Review, of the contribution and role of local authorities and partnerships in areas of high unemployment, has been published. Commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Work and Pensions, and co-authored by Social Enterprise Coalition chair Claire Dove, Social Enterprise magazine reports that the role of social enterprise receives much more than a passing reference.

http://www.socialenterprisemag.co.uk/sem/news/detail/index.asp?id=766

Safeguarding Adults Review

A consultation on the Review of the 'No Secrets' Guidance (on keeping adults safe, issued in 2000) has been launched by the Department of Health, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. The review has been prompted by changes in the government's vision, identified weaknesses and to examine the case for legislative change. There are questions for a wide range of stakeholders, from lawyers and social workers to the public and service users.

Responses by 31st January 2009,

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_089098

Rother District Council

New “Consultation on Strategy Directions” document is now available to the public. It is also n the website to view at www.rother.gov.uk/corestrategy Available in all the Council Help Points - summary document is free, charge of £10 for the whole document.

The Core Strategy will form the heart of the Council’s Local Development Framework (LED) and will set out how the development in the District is to be managed. This will eventually replace the current Local Plan and is one of the most important documents the Council has
to produce.

This consultation closes on the 30th January. There are a number of exhibitions taking place in the Ddistrict which will all be fully supported by planning staff. They need as many comments as possible as they want this to be a genuine consultation. There is huge imprtance to get this first stage right as it will affect how Rother will grow and specifically affects your area. This is your chance to shape it.

The Big Lottery Fund

is urging organisations and individuals to engage in the debate on how its grant programmes between 2009 and 2015, expected to be over £2 billion, should be allocated. It has set up a Big Thinking web site at http://www.big-thinking.org.uk for the public consultation

Improving Social Fund Operation

Views are invited on a range of proposals to improve how the Social Fund operates, to
provide more effective help to allow more people to overcome financial exclusion. The focus is on partnership with third sector organisations such as Credit Unions to deliver the loans to Social Fund customers as well as financial advice and other financial services. 'The
Social Fund: A new approach' is in
pdf, 85KB at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2008/social-fund-new-approach.pdf
- respond by 23rd December.

The Big Event is coming!!

Join other groups from all over East Sussex on the 4th December for the “The Big Event: building stronger community organisations in East Sussex”. The event takes place at the Tennis Conference Centre in Eastbourne, from 12.30 till 4.30pm with a delicious free lunch.

There will be lots of information about the wide range of support services for groups and ways of improving communication about what you do. There will be networking opportunities and a choice of practical workshops. You will also get to know how you can influence many decisions at the county level and be able to share information about your own work with others. For more details and a booking form contact: speakup@southdowncvs.org.uk

The event is organised by the Councils for Voluntary Service in conjunction with the ChangeUp executive and will launch the new cross county Community Support Portal website : www.askcasper.org.uk

Download a short analysis of the 2007 Indices of Multiple deprivation for Rother.

The data shows that there is an overall decrease in Rother's overall IMD Ranking. This may suggest an increase in deprivation in Rother and/or Rother slipping behind other areas in economic growth and social investment. This is particularly noticeable in large parts of Bexhill and Eastern Rother (Rye).

Original data can be found at East Sussex in Figures.