Big Event 2013 - resources available online

East Sussex Benefit Helpline – (0333 344 0681

Healthy Eastbourne Campaign

• Get Active 
• Eat Well 
• Health in Mind 
• Find Support 

Anyone wishing to contact the Campaign group can email us at healthyeastbourne@eastbourne.gov.uk

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Local groups helped to bid for over £1.5 million!

3VA, the council for voluntary services in Eastbourne, Lewes and Wealden, supports valuable community activity taking place near you by helping groups to do what they do. A look at a few of 3VA’s achievements from the last year reveals just how the organisation supports community action locally. 3VA:

• helped local groups make strong funding bids. As a result of 3VA’s support, £758,000 was awarded to local groups in the last year alone (contributing to £1.6 million in funding to date).
• helped 27 new groups to start up last year. These groups supported a range of issues, including groups to help young people, art societies, health and wellbeing organisations, patient forums and lots more.
• gave one-to-one support to 266 groups last year. 3VA also ran 26 training courses in subjects ranging from workshops in applying for funding to first aid courses and Twitter training.
• support the sector to share information and expertise. 
• act as the voice of the sector 3VA has enabled issues to be championed with local decision makers during the last year.
  

So if your group is in need of support call 01323 639373, email info@3va.org.uk or visit www.3va.org.uk, to find out how 3VA can support your organisation.

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East Sussex Drink Debate
 

During April to June this year, the East Sussex Drink Debate asked people their views about alcohol - the problems, the good things and any suggestions for dealing with problems linked with alcohol. We know that most people who drink do so responsibly, but some will end up in hospital because of alcohol misuse and local communities often suffer from alcohol related anti-social behaviour and crime.

The East Sussex Drink Debate was launched by the Safer Communities Partnership and consisted of an online survey, in-depth focus groups and we also spoke to people in supermarkets and shopping centres around the county.

Many people voiced their concerns about how alcohol impacts at an individual, family and community level. People also gave ideas about how the damage caused by drinking could be prevented, and these responses will help shape our future plans for dealing with alcohol related issues.

Later this summer we will be publishing the draft Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy and we’d like to hear what you think. From the end of August you can give us your views on the draft strategy at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/drinkdebate The final version of the strategy will be published in autumn 2013.

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East Sussex signs fibre broadband deal with BT 

East Sussex County Council signed a contract with BT to bring faster broadband speeds to thousands of homes and businesses in East Sussex. The deal between BT and the County Council builds on BT's on-going commercial fibre roll-out which means that 96 per cent of homes and businesses are expected to be able to access superfast broadband services (24 megabits per second and above) within the next three years.

Overall, the project will deliver fibre broadband coverage to 99 per cent of premises meaning that speeds will be much improved. The £34 million project is the culmination of two years' work led by East Sussex County Council in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, which saw it secure £10.64 million of Government funding last year - one of the highest allocations received in the country. This was matched by £15 million from East Sussex County Council's capital programme which is aimed at supporting economic development. In addition to covering the on-going costs of supporting and maintaining the network, BT will make a £5 million contribution towards the cost of installing the fibre infrastructure.

With the contract signed, Openreach, BT’s local network division, are now beginning work on planning and will be carrying out surveys over the coming months. This will enable the company to draw up definite plans for roll-out, which it and the County Council will work on together.

 

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Wave Leisure wins awards

Wave Leisure Trust swept the board with three awards at the Seahaven Business Awards, organised by Newhaven Chamber of Commerce in May.

Wave Leisure Trust were also delighted to be able to collect an award from SPARK Network on behalf of the Newhaven Integrated Summer Holiday Programme for 2012.

More news from Wave Leisure is available here.

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SPARK Update

East Sussex Council for Voluntary Youth Services (ESCVYS) is now known as SPARK – a network for young people's organisations. We provide support to voluntary and community groups working with young people aged 0–19 in East Sussex and have over 140 member groups across Lewes, Wealden, Eastbourne, Hastings and Rother. 

Have a look at our new website – www.sparknetwork.org.uk – to sign up to receive our free bulletin and to find:

• low-cost training, including free coaching and training bursaries
• funding and networking opportunities
• advice on setting up and running your group

We are free to join and love to promote our members' events and achievements.
Please call us on 07921 485813 with any questions or email info@sparknetwork.org.uk

Completion of the Lewes to Ringmer cycleway

Changes to bus services

Lewes District Council - Talking and Working Together

• Tell us your priorities and find out about how you can work with Lewes District Council
• Find out about support available for community groups
• Tour Newhaven Fort
• Hear from local community groups and celebrate success

East Sussex Assembly Annual Conference

Brighton Housing Trust Training

• Motivational Interviewing – 3 & 4 July (Hastings)
• Sexual Health & HIV Awareness – 9 July (Brighton)
• Needs Assessment & Support Planning – 10 July (Brighton)
• Developing High Performing Teams – 17 & 19 July (Brighton)
• Managing Difficult & Aggressive Situations – 9 August (Brighton)
• Safeguarding Adults at Risk – 14 August (Brighton)
• Equality & Diversity – 21 August (Eastbourne)
• Professional Boundaries – 21 August (Eastbourne)

Community groups and businesses invited to Give and Gain

A free ‘Give and Gain’ event will be held at the Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne on Wednesday 10 July from 6pm to 8.30pm to allow representatives from voluntary groups and businesses to introduce themselves and begin building mutually beneficial relationships.

The simple idea behind the event is that all participants bring one example of something they could give and one example of something they would like to gain. In traditional ‘speed dating’ style, a mixture of businesses and community groups will be seated at a table and each participant will have two-minutes to explain who they are, what they do, what they could give and what they are looking to gain.

During the evening groups of people from each table will move and repeat the process so that a maximum number of connections can be made. There will also be informal networking opportunities after the ‘speed dating’ part of the evening.

Carole Dixon from the Education Futures Trust attended a recent ‘Give and Gain’ event held in St Leonards: “‘The Give and Gain event enabled the Trust to make a number of new links with local businesses. We are very grateful for the support that has materialised, including bursaries for young people for a summer school and backstage tours of the White Rock Theatre.”

This is a structured evening rather than a drop-in event and organisers 3VA would appreciate people arriving for registration at 6pm. There will be refreshments available at the beginning of the event as well as tea and coffee throughout the evening. 

If you would like to attend, please email Helen Meade via helen.meade@3va.org.uk with your name, the name of your organisation, and your contact details.

The ‘Give and Gain’ event will be facilitated to enable connections to be made with light refreshments provided and free parking nearby, so why not come along and find out how your business or community group could benefit from making a new connection.

East Sussex Strategic Partnership Board Meetings

To view papers and minutes of previous ESSP Board mettings, see the meetings page of the ESSP website. 

East Sussex in Figures (ESiF) is the local information system (LIS) for the county.  It’s a website that provides access to essential data, information and analysis. For further details contact 01273 482030 or email esif@eastsussex.gov.uk