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Social Business Wales Awards 2016 – spread the word!
Apply for the Social Business Wales Awards for your chance to win £1000 and be crowned a Wales social business champion. Open to Social Enterprise Businesses. The Social Business Wales Awards (previously branded as the Social Enterprise Awards Wales) celebrate the success and achievements of social enterprises and co-operatives in Wales. Now in their sixth year, the Awards recognise the most dynamic, entrepreneurial and ambitious social businesses in Wales – those which are expanding, diversifying, transforming and collaborating, and which are taking the sector forward through business growth. There two headline categories – Social Enterprise of the Year and One to Watch. For the first time, social enterprises can also enter five categories which are specific to the business sector they are trading in. The winners of all categories will be announced at an awards ceremony being held at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea on Wednesday 28th September. The winners of each category will then go on to compete against winners from Scotland, Northern Ireland and in the UK finals. The Awards application deadline is midnight on 8 July. For more information and to register for an application pack, just visit http://wales.coop/social-business-wales/awards/
Funding boost for Business Start-up Grant Scheme
Caerphilly County Borough Council has recently received funding to support their Business Start-up Grant Scheme, which is used to fund a variety of businesses starting out within Caerphilly County Borough. Tata Subsidiary UK Steel Enterprise has given £5,000 to partly fund the scheme, which is jointly funded by Caerphilly County Borough Council and UK Steel Enterprise. Cllr Ken James, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Sustainable Development said: Thank you to UK Steel Enterprise for their continued commitment to the Business Start-Up Grant Scheme. As a result of this, we are able to provide up to £500 of funding to brand new businesses within Caerphilly County Borough. I am looking forward to continuing to provide support to new businesses within the area, as we have done for many years. Andy Morris, Manager in Wales, UK Steel Enterprise said: We are delighted to be supporting the scheme and working with Caerphilly County Borough Council for a fourth year. In that period, 58 new businesses have been launched and 74 new jobs created. He continued: The quality of applicants has been very high and we are confident that the scheme has made an important contribution to the economic life of the area. This flexible scheme is designed to help residents of Caerphilly County Borough set up a full-time business for the first time, who are not able to access any other source of funding. The funding is a discretionary grant and can provide up to 50% of eligible project costs to a maximum of £500. Business start-ups from all business sectors may be…
Bees give pupils a buzz at Ynysddu Primary School
Pupils at Ynysddu Primary School have been given a sneak peek at a new bee keeping project based within their school grounds. Officially launching next month the project will provide pupils at Ynysddu and surrounding schools the opportunity to learn about the importance of pollinators and become bee keepers, learning all about the wonderful world of bees whilst doing so. Working with Lorne East from Sirhowy Valley Honeybee Company, a social enterprise based in Wylie, pupils will follow the lives of the bees throughout the year as they pollinate plants and make honey, all under the watch of their queen bee. Cllr. Derek Havard, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning said: The new bee keeping project at Ynysddu Primary School is a great example of Caerphilly County Borough Council working in partnership to deliver environmental and ecological educational opportunities to pupils. I am sure that pupils will learn so much from their experiences, both about the importance of bees to our Eco-system and the need to respect nature and wildlife. Cllr. Ken James, Cabinet Member for Member for Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Sustainable Development said: This is a brilliant environmental project, supporting the protection of nature and wildlife is hugely important to Caerphilly County Borough Council and I’m pleased to see so many partner organisations coming together for the good of the environment. I am sure the pupils will have a brilliant time learning all about bees and why they’re so important. The project is funded by Keep Wales Tidy ‘All Wales Grant’ Scheme, CCBC Greener Caerphilly…
Cwmcarn Forest recognised for top class TripAdvisor feedback!
Cwmcarn Forest has been awarded the 2016 Certificate of Excellence by TripAdvisor. Now in its sixth year, the award celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveller reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include attractions and tourist destinations located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience. The Certificate of Excellence accounts for the quality and quantity of reviews submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Cllr. Ken James, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Sustainable Development said: This is a much deserved award for Cwmcarn Forest. The staff all work hard to ensure that visitors receive great customer service, and I’m pleased to see that this has been recognised by the visitors themselves who leave positive feedback on TripAdvisor. Original Article
Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience – Kickstarter Campaign
“Two men, in a shed, in Risca” have launched a crowd funding campaign to get their BAFTA award winning BBC TV series Rhod Gilbert series out on DVD. In an “it won’t happen without you” venture the local video production team Rhys Waters and Nathan Mackintosh from Zipline Creative are hoping to join with fans and release the DVD box set complete with exclusive extras & limited edition backer rewards. You can check out the project and what’s on offer here. Rhys said: It’s a bit of a valleys underdog story, since we are two men, in a shed, in Risca, trying to compete with the likes of Universal and 20th Century Fox. From their Kickstarter campaign: Without your help there is a very good chance Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience will never be available to fans to own at home in any format. Some of the episodes include Series 4, Episode 2: Scout Leader If anyone’s a role model for children, it’s not Rhod Gilbert. Using a total lack of navigation skills, non-existent wilderness awareness and general ignorance of anything outdoors, Rhod puts on his woggle and leads a scout camp. Series 3, Episode 1: Primary School Teacher (*Producers Series 3 Favourite!) Rhod takes charge as a primary school’s newest teacher. Featuring arts, crafts, English, maths, and desperately funny kid based chaos. Check out their Get Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience on DVD + bonus features Kickstarter project to see the full episode listings.
Applications open to bag a share up to £12,000 for community projects
Tesco are inviting local community groups and good causes to apply for their share of a £12 million carrier bag charge fund. The supermarket teamed up with Groundwork to launch its Bags of Help initiative, which sees grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p bag levy – being awarded to environmental and greenspace projects. For more information click on the link below. http://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/tescocommunityscheme/pages/applications-open-to-bag-a-share-up-to-12000-for-community-projects
Green scheme brings community benefits
Community schemes across South Wales will be able to tap into a £50,000 funding pot every year over the next 25 years thanks to a new green partnership. Viridor, the firm working with the ‘Prosiect Gwyrdd’ council partnership, have announced the launch of a new Community Fund to support projects across Caerphilly, Cardiff, Monmouthshire, Newport and Vale of Glamorgan. The 25 year scheme represents the term of the Prosiect Gwyrdd contract, which will see Viridor handle the treatment of residual (non-recyclable) waste from the 5 council areas at Trident Park in Cardiff. Charities, and properly constituted not-for-profit groups, will be able to apply for funding (up to £3,000) to deliver projects that positively impact their local community. Funding of projects is awarded on a set of criteria based around sustainability, local need, community involvement value for money and education. A panel will meet quarterly to review eligible applications and make the final decision on how money from the fund will be distributed. Cllr Nigel George, Caerphilly Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services said, “We welcome the launch of this new funding stream and look forward to the benefits it will bring to communities across South Wales. We are also pleased to be a key partner in Prosiect Gwyrdd, a collaboration which will provide a sustainable solution to the region’s residual waste for many years to come.” Funding criteria and the application forms can be found at https://viridor.co.uk/our-operations/energy/energy-recovery-facilities/cardiff-erf/community/ Original Article
Charity Easter Collection is a Massive Success
A local butcher’s shop is celebrating this Easter after a fantastic charity campaign. Howard, Sue and Christopher Powell of Howard’s Butcher on Commercial Street, Pontymister have been collecting Easter Eggs for children at Velindre Cancer Centre for the last 15 years. However, the last few years have been so successful that Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice has also benefited. This year, over 230 eggs were collected – the highest number yet – meaning that children at the Royal Gwent Hospital (Bluebell Ward) in Newport also received some eggs. Commenting on the success of this year’s appeal, Howard Powell said: Thank you very much to our customers for donating these eggs. Their generosity gives pleasure to all of these children.
Launch of £1 Billion Support Programme for UK’s Co-operative Businesses – ‘The Hive’
Launched by Co-operatives UK, the Hive is a £1 billion business support programme designed to enable growth among the UK’s £37 billion co-operative economy. The initiative will help people who intend to start or grow co-operative or community enterprises, using various online resources, training and advice. http://www.uk.coop/the-hive/