Your valuable input is needed to help shape a new leadership development programme for the Oxfordshire voluntary and community sector. The Oxfordshire voluntary and community sector has responded brilliantly to the challenges faced over the past year. Yet this has also placed significant pressure on those stepping forward who themselves need and deserve support.
As of 23rd March 2021, we have given out £1,011,669 in grants to hundreds of grassroots charities and community groups across the county. This also marks one year since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020. We will be here for the local community to support recovery over the long term, whatever happens.
On 12th March 2020, local charity Oxford Hub launched Oxford Together, a volunteering programme to enable neighbourhood support during the COVID-19 pandemic. A year on, the project is still active and investing in creating a legacy that will keep people connected over the long term.
The project will help people experiencing homelessness who are not eligible for any public funds due to their immigration status – which effectively leaves them destitute. Oxfordshire Homeless Movement is raising funds to support these people to lead productive lives in Oxfordshire.
Households across Oxfordshire will be asked to take part in Census 2021 this spring. Census Day is Sunday 21 March 2021. By taking part and encouraging others to take part, you can help inform decisions on services that shape our community, such as healthcare, education and transport. The census is a unique survey that happens every 10 years, giving us the most detailed information we have about our society.
Our new report suggests that loneliness is driven by feelings of disconnection from civic life rather than distance from people, with urban residents most likely to feel lonely. It says charities are reporting increased demand for support.
Hundreds of local causes continue to benefit from Anglian Water’s community funding as Anglian Water unlocks second half of £1 million funding pot to help communities battle second wave, with funding available to Oxfordshire charities.
A new round of grants of up to £5,000 to support COVID-19 response and recovery is now open for applications. Priority will be given to projects that are responding to the latest lockdown. Applications will be assessed and funds allocated on a rolling, weekly basis.
After the initial shock of lockdown, families taking part in OCF’s Growing Minds early years programme are adapting to the ‘new normal’: social distancing, fewer face-to-face services, and rapid acceleration in the development of online services.
As the fallout of the pandemic becomes apparent, we have made three large grants from our Community Resilience Fund that aim to help local communities recover stronger.