Community News 2022 09

Tackling the cost of living
Do you know of any groups or projects that are helping people in your community as they struggle with the cost of living?

A fund that means our councillors can support their local community is being doubled so that they can help people tackle the rise in prices that we're all facing.

All 64 of our councillors get funding through the members' Community Leadership Scheme to give to communities and organisations in their area.

And from 1 October the amount will double from £3,860 to £7,720.

So, if you belong to or know of any groups that make a difference in your community please contact your local county councillor.

You'll need to explain what the project, activity or event is about, the amount of money you'll need, what other funding may be available, and how it will benefit your community. To find out more please visit the Derbyshire County Council website

Derbyshire Grants - making a difference

A wide range of community groups, clubs, local charities, and non-profit organisations have had a cash boost thanks to our Derbyshire Grants scheme since we launched it back in January.

Grants have helped the hire or purchase of equipment, to train staff and volunteers, to refurbish premises, to launch sports and fitness projects, to create gardens and to support green initiatives. The money has also been used for events like summer holiday activities, discos for children with special needs, activities for Brownies and Scouts, fetes, and local celebrations of the Queen's jubilee. And much more.

There's still money in the pot. So far 75 grants totalling just over £283,000 have been allocated. This leaves nearly £1.25 million still to be awarded by the end of 2023. Grants range from £1,000 or less to potentially more than £50,000 and help fund projects and events that support one or more of the council's five main priorities and help local communities to thrive.

To find out more visit the Derbyshire County Council website.

Bus contracts awarded
If you're a bus user, you might be interested to know that we're continuing to help support 60 local bus services in Derbyshire to keep them running.

The services, covering all areas of the county, are typically routes and times that wouldn't be commercially viable without our help and can be first thing in the morning, extra trips during the day, or rural or evening services.

Fuel and operating costs have risen and, along with driver shortages, this has pushed the contract prices up significantly, which we're meeting.

We'll be paying £6.498m to support the routes, an increase of £1.848m on previous years.

Bus passenger numbers nationally haven't yet returned to pre-Covid levels, so we hope that by supporting local buses we'll encourage you to use buses on a more regular basis too.

To find out more please visit the Derbyshire County Council website

Beware of cold callers
If cold-callers and doorstep sellers appeared at your door, would you know what to do?

Our trading standards officers are warning residents to be wary and to remember – if you're not sure, don't open the door.

Cold callers or doorstep sellers rely on you to engage with them, so if you don't open your door you can't be persuaded to buy something you don't need.

If you're cold-called by builders offering to carry out roof repairs, drives and gardening at a special price don't make an instant decision. If you do need work doing get three quotes from reputable firms, like those on our Derbyshire Trusted Trader webpage.

If cold callers appear official check them out by calling the company or agency using a telephone number you can verify. You can do all of this without opening your door. Genuine callers won't mind.

You can get advice from Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 11 33. Report incidents to the police on 101. And the Think Jessica website has lots of tips and advice on scams.

To find out more visit the Derbyshire County Council website.

Secondary school applications are open

Applications for secondary school places for September 2023 are open for Year Six pupils living in Derbyshire.

The deadline to submit applications is midnight on Monday 31 October 2022 and places will be confirmed on 1 March 2023.

Applying online is quick and easy and it enables our admissions team to effectively receive and process the information it needs to allocate places.

To find out more visit the Derbyshire County Council website.

Free Training & Tea events for community groups
Community Chesterfield are offering free online training sessions for community, voluntary or third sector groups in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire. Sessions run from 9.30am for 45 minutes and cover various topics such as working styles & preferences, building and developing an exceptional team, managing difficult conversations, and facilitation skills.

To find out more please visit the Community Chesterfield website