Get involved in Challenge Poverty Week
Organisations are being invited to take part in Challenge Poverty Week.
With Covid-19 highlighting the inequalities in Scottish society, the Poverty Alliance is planning for the annual event – which runs from 5 to 11 October – to be the biggest one yet.
Several ‘Get Involved’ meetings are being held over the next few weeks to help give information on how to take part.
Voluntary organisations can find out specific information for them on Thursday 30 July between 10am and 11.30am. Sign up for the online session here.
Survey for arts organisations
Arts organisations are being invited to take part in a survey on how they have been affected by coronavirus.
The research is being run by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, with the Cultural Sector Network and the RAISE programme, in partnership the University of Sheffield. The findings will help to inform the institute’s future support for the sector as well as its asks to government.
You can access the survey online.
Donations for bereavement charities
Two Edinburgh-headquartered charities that provide services and support for the bereaved across Scotland, have received a welcome boost following a donation from a Scottish funeral care provider - to the sum of £10,000.
Scotmid Funerals, part of the Scotmid Cooperative which exists to serve the communities in which it operates, made the donations as part of its Covid Community Fund, which has seen more than 300 organisations benefit from financial support since lockdown began earlier in the year.
Cruse Scotland, which offers support for around 5000 bereaved people every year, via a helpline and one to one counselling sessions, has received a £7500 donation from Scotmid Funerals which will be used to support the many people who have found themselves grieving in isolation or not being able to attend funerals due to lockdown.
The funding will go towards the cost of running Cruse Scotland’s helpline and one-to-one services, which are available to everyone who has faced the passing of a loved one, regardless of the cause of death, anyone who is bereaved in lockdown or has been affected by the impact of the pandemic.
The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC), which works to enable communities and individuals to support each other during hard times, has received a £2500 donation from Scotmid Funerals in the wake of Covid-19, which has resulted in many people finding themselves either experiencing declining health, without the usual family support or grieving the loss of a loved one in isolation.
The funding will go towards Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief (GLGDGG), a Scotland-wide alliance set up in 2011 which works collectively to raise awareness on ways to cope with dying, death and bereavement.
Interactive workshops for children
The National Theatre of Scotland, in association with children’s arts organisations Starcatchers and Imaginate, has been connecting creatively with families at home during the Covid crisis. Launched in May 2020, the digital Play Dates programme of arts workshops and activities has been developed specially for this ongoing period, offering children and young people, parents and carers educational inspiration and theatrical home entertainment.
From Tuesday 28 July, a new series of interactive workshops made by freelance creative practitioners and artists will be released online, extending the existing Play Dates weekly programme and providing fun, entertaining activities for younger children and families during the summer holidays.
That’s Not Your Spoon/ Chan E Sin Do Spàin is a new series of animated storytelling videos for younger children at home, presented in both English and Gaelic, from creative practitioners Ruth Hamilton and Laura Haylock. The series will encourage and inspire imaginative play through the re-use of bits and pieces that can be found around the house, transforming everyday objects into fantastical props for stories and play.
On 10 August a new project from lead artist Mamoru Iriguchi and musical director and dramaturg Greg Sinclair, titled World Jam, will bring the summer Play Dates season to a close, and celebrate the return to school for children in Scotland. Premiering online, World Jam will be a special international musical event, involving children from Scotland and across the world singing Auld Lang Syne in their own language.
