£25,000 awarded to Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC) by Big Lottery Fund

Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC) has been awarded £25,000 to continue its application for £1.5 million on behalf of Cardiff and the Vale County Voluntary Councils (VCVCs) through the Big Lottery Community Voice programme. Entitled ‘Co-creating Healthy Change’, C3SC is bidding to develop a portfolio of projects that will ensure people in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan have a stronger voice in shaping the health and well-being services in their communities.

The £25,000 is a development grant to put together a detailed business plan that shows how the projects will be delivered across Cardiff and the Vale. The Stage 2 application bid has to be submitted by 31 July 2012.

Last summer, C3SC invited third sector organisations to express their interest and give ideas for projects that would increase community voice in health and social care. These ideas were submitted as part of the application.

As many as nine projects will be delivered through a consortium of third sector service providers. Many people will benefit, including:

• ·Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs)
• ·Carers and older people
• ·People with mental health needs
• ·People with long term conditions
• ·People with learning disabilities
• ·Vulnerable families
• ·People from minority groups
• ·People living in disadvantaged areas

Emily Forbes, Senior Officer at C3SC, who submitted the application, explains why she feels the initiative is so significant:

“This is a really exciting programme that has the potential to provide a huge sum of investment to third sector organisations across Cardiff and the Vale.

“As a County Voluntary Council (CVC), one of our core functions is to ensure the third sector voice is heard. But not only is this a great opportunity for the third sector, it will also empower local people to have the confidence to voice their needs, increase their skills and be involved in planning, designing and delivering services that have the potential to improve their health and well-being.

Jacqueline Bell, Chief Officer at C3SC, added “This initiative is a crucial move forward in developing the relationship between the third sector, Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board and both local authorities, and increasing people’s voice in public service delivery.”