Member Briefing – COVID-19 – August 14th 2020

Funding & additional financial support

Department for Communities Funding Boost
The DfC has announced a further £10.8 million of funding to assist recovery from and prepare for any possible second wave of Covid-19. The grant funding will be available from October 2020.
Read more

DfC has also pledged an additional £3.2m for community support, access to food and financial wellbeing. 
Check the DfC website for more details

New Needs Fund
The deadline for this Community Foundation for Northern Ireland fund is approaching so be quick!
Grants up to £15,000 available.
Click here for more information

Charities Fund
The Charities Fund continues to be available for charities that have exhausted all other avenues of support and are facing imminent closure.

It will provide financial support to charities that are unable to cover unavoidable costs until September 30th 2020.

For more information, check the DfC website
 

The COVID-19 Charities Fund

This fund re-opened last Monday and remains open until Monday 24th August. If your organisation has lost income due to the impact of COVID-19 and is not able to cover unavoidable costs until 30 September 2020 you can apply for up to £75,000.


Communications

Charlie Fisher, Programme Manager – charlie.fisher@dtni.org.uk – 07595979642
Stevie McGirr, Communications Officer – stevie.mcgirr@dtni.org.uk – 07793865620
Kathleen Smyth, Community Asset Transfer Project Officer – kathleen.smyth@dtni.org.uk – 07450954349
Margaret Craig, Creating Resilient Local Economies Project Officer – margaret.craig@dtni.org.uk – 07764185318

We can also be contacted on Twitter @devtrustsniWebinars & Online MeetingsAfter the Pandemic – Returning to WorkBridget Rippey of BridgeHR Consulting presents a webinar on Tuesday 18th August that explores the issues facing employers as they plan for and implement a return to work.

During this live Zoom webinar and Q&A session we will discuss:

  • staff anxiety;
  • contract renegotiation;
  • short and long term business, finance and human resource planning;
  • working from home;
  • employee/employer responsibility for activity outside of work.

Join us for this live webinar Tuesday 18th August, 11am-12pm

Facebook
A new private DTNI Member Facebook group has been created as a forum where we can share ideas, links to resources, or just have a chat. For our part, we will keep you posted with relevant news from the sector and share the emerging practice from our sister networks in England, Scotland & Wales.

Join the DTNI Member Facebook GroupNICVA Community Hub
NICVA has set up a community information hub at the Community NI website where you can find out how to get help in every council area. The resource is intended to be a centralised source for all services across NI.

The reliability of the hub will depend on the quality of information it is populated with, so it’s important that the entire community sector is aware of it and feeds into it, and we would recommend that DTNI members do likewise.

Follow the link https://www.nicva.org/article/share-your-covid-19-support-service-information to add your contribution. You will be able to amend any information at any time. If a particular service ceases, please remember to remove the listing from the website.

Susan Glass from NICVA has also offered to help you complete the form or, if necessary, complete it for you. You can contact Susan on 028 9087 7777 (ext 217).


Information for EmployersHuman Resources
This week’s HR update includes:

  • the legal position on redundancy payment calculation;
  • creating a return to work culture;
  • helping staff who’ve been shielding to have confidence in returning to work;
  • and exploring alternatives to job losses.

Download the latest HR update here

If there are specific issues for you, your colleagues or board that you wish to discuss, please get in touch with DTNI and we will endeavour to support you directly. If you need detailed HR support, we will coordinate your query and link you in with BridgeHR.

IOSH – Returning Safely to Work
The Institution of Occupational Safety & Health has a tonne of free resources regarding Covid-19 and returning to work safely.
Visit the IOSH website to check them out


Other InformationMoney Advice Service

Redundancy consultation periods are sensitive in nature as employers adhere to employment law practices and workers await the outcome. After the consultation period, it is important to provide your staff with support tailored to their individual needs.

The Money Advice Service offers free, impartial and confidential money matter advice and can provide resources to support your staff prior to leaving the organisation. This includes:

  • redundancy pay calculator;
  • Universal Claim Money Manager;
  • pension calculator.

For details of these and much more besides visit the Money Advice Service website.Other services can be tailormade for your business needs by contacting Partnership Manager Margaret McCloskey: Margaret.McCloskey@maps.org.uk; 07766775753.