In this newsletter

What we've been doing!

We met with Scraptoft and Houghton-on-the-Hill Parish Councils, Houghton Field Association, and young people's charity HCYC to talk about how we can work together to increase activities for young people in rural areas. There are no easy answers but HCYC helped everyone to think through what might be needed and we've got a list of actions to investigate further.

We welcomed our new team member, Gemma Finan, whose role as Community Development Officer will focus specifically on building the capacity of organisations to support people in the district who are most in need due to issues of disadvantage, poverty, poor health or wellbeing, mobility issues and isolation etc. We are really pleased to have her join us! Get to know Gemma below.  We are really excited about this new area of work, and would love parishes and community groups to get involved to make it a success.

Home-Start South Leicestershire is also delivering a UKSPF project to increase volunteering in the district, and we met with them to hear more about it.

This month's newsletter

This month we're sending a shorter newsletter than usual focusing on some key items. Our full newsletter will be back in September. Let us know if you have anything you'd like to share - we're always happy to receive news that's relevant for parishes and community groups such as good practice that could be picked up elsewhere.

Isolation and loneliness, poverty, poor health and wellbeing, unemployment

These are some of the issues that we know that residents are facing in our district. The communities engagement team has started a new district-wide project to support vulnerable people in our communities thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

We know that many parishes and community groups are already doing great work to support residents, but you also tell us that you don’t always have the resources, relationships or capacity to respond to everything, and there are gaps in the district, either geographical or in types of services.

Meet our new team member, Gemma!

We're excited that Gemma has now started to work with us on some of these things. This is what she says about her motivation for the role,

"I’m Gemma and I'm the new Community Development Officer in the HDC communities engagement team. I’m really excited about the project I am working on, I was previously a Social Prescribing Link Worker in the district supporting patients from GP practices with their non-medical needs.  This involved a lot of varied work and taking an approach that supported the patient with what mattered most to them.

Gemma's work will include identifying how HDC and others can better meet the needs of people including those experiencing:

• Mental or physical health conditions.

• Poverty.

• Mobility and transport issues.

• Digital exclusion.

• Loneliness and isolation.

We’ll be working with parish councils, community groups and other local organisations to:

• Map areas of greatest need across the district, helping to focus resources where they’re most needed and providing evidence for groups to apply to external funders.

• Link up parish councils and meetings with community groups who are looking to reach more people in rural and hard-to-access areas.

• Develop funding opportunities to bring more resources into the district to grow and sustain community-led projects.

• Share good practice and ideas, helping groups to learn from each other, avoid reinventing the wheel, and help people feel less alone in the issues that you face.

• Improve connections with district council services, identifying where we can do more to support you locally.

How can you be involved?

If you’re part of a parish or town council or parish meeting, local charity, voluntary group, other local service, or anyone else who wants to be involved, we’d love to hear from you, for example:

• What are you already doing that other areas could learn from?

• What are some of the unmet needs that you’d like to address and what support or resources do you need to better help residents?

• What relationships and networks would help you to achieve your aims?

Email Gemma for a chat, to tell us about what some of the issues are in your area, or to arrange a visit.

Harborough District Community Awards 2025 - nominations now closed!

The team have been busy promoting and encouraging nominations from all across the district. Last year’s Community Awards Young Person of the Year (11-18yrs) winner, Natasha, who is now also part of the Harborough District Youth Council, kindly shared what winning meant to her and encouraged others to make nominations in a promotional video.

Community Grant Updates

***Community Grant year one final round closes***

The fourth and final round of the £1 million Community Grant is now closed, with decisions to be made by the Cabinet Sub-Committee Grants on 24 September. A further £1 million will be made available with the launch of the grant’s second year which we are planning to announce this autumn. Updated guidance will be published on our webpages, and Grants Officers will be available to support you with applications and answer any questions you have.

Please continue to share your project ideas with us — we may be able to advise on eligibility and how to apply for the new Community Grant, or suggest alternative sources of funding. Your ideas also help us shape future development.

***Autumn grants surgeries***

Ahead of the launch of Year 2 of the Community Grant, we have arranged some grant surgeries to discuss potential projects and funding ideas in general. 

Community Grant funding is for capital projects that create lasting assets across the Harborough District, such as improvements to building, facilities, or purchasing and installing equipment. The surgeries are open to constituted, not-for-profit community organisations and parish and town councils and parish meetings.

The surgery dates and locations are:

• 9 September      1.00pm – 4.00pm     Market Harborough Council Chamber
• 17 September    9.30am – 1.00pm     Lutterworth Churchgate Community Centre

There will also be the opportunity to book a session with Home-Start South Leicestershire who can offer guidance around various aspects of volunteering.

Please fill in your details to arrange an appointment at one of the surgeries and a grants officer will get in touch to confirm.

***For more information***

Download the guidance for full information about how to apply and contact Claire and Serretta at communitygrants@harborough.gov.uk to talk through your project.

Councillors' Ward Improvement Grant

The new Councillors' Ward Improvement Grant Scheme is available to groups and organisations in the Harborough district. Each ward councillor has been allocated £5,000 to support initiatives of their choice within their ward which will benefit residents and/or improve the environment. The funding can be for capital or revenue projects.

Grants must be for values between £1k to £5k and grants must be paid to the organisation by 31 March 2026. Organisations must be constituted and have a bank account in the name of the organisation. 

Organisations must contact their ward councillor directly to discuss their project proposal.

See our website for an overview of the grant and some of the things that might be funded.

Youth Council activities 

We will begin to appoint to the roles in the new academic year and the Youth Council members have designed the process they would like to take for this.

The Youth Council has been allocated some UKSPF funding which they can choose how to spend, in line with the funding criteria. Some Youth Council members have also put themselves forward to be on the judging panel for the Young Person of the Year (11-18) Community Award, and they will meet in early September to shortlist nominees. 

Design a logo for the Youth Council!

We are excited that The Speak Out project run by HCYC is running a logo design competition for the Harborough District Youth Council.  Anyone 11-18 from the Harborough District can enter. The logo can be hand drawn, painted or designed on a computer and the closing date is 14 November 2025.

See the brief for guidance and how to enter, including a word cloud designed from Youth Council members' thoughts.

Join the Youth Council!

We are really keen to welcome new members in the new academic year and have been promoting our Youth Council over the summer holidays, with some potential new members getting in touch. 

Monthly meetings will start again in September with the first meeting on Thursday 18 September at Lutterworth College 5.30pm-7.30pm. The meetings alternate between Lutterworth and Market Harborough on Thursdays each month. We provide transport through Lutterworth Community Transport and Market Harborough Community Transport to make the meetings as accessible as possible.

Although we have participants from across the district, we would also like to make sure young people from all secondary schools and colleges in the area are equitably represented, particularly in areas around Kibworth Mead Academy and Thomas Estley Community College. So get in touch with Becca if you can help with this or know young people in those areas who would like to get involved.

Support available for your volunteer recruitment and development

The Home-Start South Leicestershire volunteering development project, run in collaboration with HDC, funded by UKSPF, has completed its first quarter and made a busy start!

Emma Pickering, project lead, is offering practical support to parish councils and meetings, community groups, and other volunteer-involving organisations across the Harborough district to help develop your volunteer base.

What support is available?

Emma can help your group in several ways:

• Finding more volunteers - discussing the best places to look for new recruits and how to attract them.
• Improving volunteer management - sharing best practice around volunteer wellbeing, training, and creating positive volunteer experiences.
• Advice on how to match volunteer roles to commitment levels - whether you need ad hoc support with tasks such as maintenance, IT or gardening, or require more regular, longer-term commitment to sustain your organisation.

What challenges is your group facing?

We'd love to hear from you about the volunteer roles you find hardest to fill.

Taking on a new voluntary position takes dedication and hard work from volunteers, so doing your research first will help you find the perfect people for your roles. Understanding what motivates different volunteers - whether making a positive impact, learning new skills, connecting with others or enhancing their career - can be a valuable resource for your organisation to target messages and how you reach people.

Companies wanting to build employer-supported volunteering can also get in touch, as this helps meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets and could provide a new source of volunteers for local groups.

Act quickly - limited time offer!

It's worth remembering that this is a short-term project only running until March 2026. With promotional events in the planning stages, it's best to book in your support session with Emma quickly to benefit from this free support.

Contact: Emma Pickering - emma@home-startsouthleics.org.uk

Emma will also be available at our grants surgeries for people to book a slot with her - see the form for more details and to book an appointment.

Help Shape Harborough District Council’s Community Wellbeing Plan 2026–2028

Harborough District Council is developing its new Community Wellbeing Plan 2026–2028 – and we want to hear from town and parish councils, parish meetings, organisations, community groups and residents.

The plan sets out the Council’s priorities for the next two years and will directly affect how the council works with you to strengthen and support local communities.

Why it's important

The plan focuses on five pillars:

• Enhancing youth activities and engagement opportunities – supporting groups working with young people.

• Empowering communities – creating more opportunities for local ownership, decision-making and influence.

• Affordable and sustainable housing – ensuring homes meet community needs and are fit for the future.

• Green initiatives and climate resilience – helping local groups play a part in tackling climate change.

• Transforming council services – making sure services are responsive, inclusive and easier to work with.

How you can get involved

We want your views on the draft plan – particularly how the priorities align with the needs of your parish or community group, and what support or resources you might need.  You can:

• Complete the online survey.

• Come along to a consultation event - the next one is at The Coplow Centre, Uppingham Road, Billesdon - 10 September 3-6pm and further events will be announced shortly.

• Get involved through outreach sessions with town and parish councils and meetings, and the Youth Council (information will be sent separately to the relevant contacts).

See the consultation page and news item for links and more information.

Section 106 

Getting further support

The following organisations also provide free funding resources that may be useful to groups:

• Leicestershire County Council

• Rural Services Network

• Active Together

• East Midlands Funding Forum

• Charity Excellence Framework

Previous newsletters

See previous editions of our newsletter for good practice resources and funding suggestions.

Get in touch

Let us know what you're doing! We welcome information that is relevant to community action and voluntary and community groups

communities@harborough.gov.uk | communitygrants@harborough.uk youthvoice@harborough.gov.uk

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