Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Eildon Area Partnership held in person at Eildon Housing Association Headquarters.  The Chair expressed her thanks to Mr Nile Istephen, Chief Executive of Eildon Housing Association, for hosting the meeting.  Mr Istephen welcomed attendees and explained that future meetings of the Area Partnership could be held at Eildon Housing Headquarters. 

Copy attached.

There had been circulated copies of an additional information document with the agenda. 

Minute of Meeting held on 22 June 2023. (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the meeting of the Eildon Area Partnership held on 22 June 2023 had been circulated and was noted. 

The Chair explained that attendees were invited to undertake a 10-minute speed introduction session.  Attendees introduced themselves, discussed the capacity in which they were attending the meeting.  Following the session, attendees shared one interesting fact they had learned about another attendee, which ranged from an interest in learning Italian to having written a TV series. 

Introduction, Future Plans, New Strategy, Funding

5.1       The Chair welcomed Ms Juliana Amaral to the meeting to provide a presentation on the work of Borders Community Action (BCA).  BCA were a newly formed organisation that was focused on co-ordinating the work of third sector partners in the Scottish Borders. A draft strategy which had been prepared was being consulted upon, the results of which would form a 3-year plan.  Ms Amaral explained that third sector interfaces were commissioned by the Scottish Government and there were 32 across Scotland.  Work was focused on grass roots positive changes, empowering communities to deliver projects by providing leadership and representation at local and strategic level.  The National Outcomes Framework set by the Scottish Government stipulated what third sector interfaces such as BCA had to fulfil.  Particular focus was on the capacity in the sector and fostering connections across the whole of the third sector.  The regional shared outcomes, such as reducing poverty were linked in with Scottish Borders Council priorities.  The 3-year plan had been presented to Scottish Government in June and was currently in its engagement phase.  From January 2024 to March 2024 feedback would be captured and then the Plan presented in April 2024.  Ms Amaral acknowledged that since Covid-19 there had been a drop in the number of people volunteering, and that new ways of connecting with people needed to be put in place.  It was important to acknowledge that people were the most important part of volunteering, and that respect and recognition underpinned all actions taken.  Given the resource challenges it was key that work in the sector was not duplicated, and the efforts of BCA were focused on filling a gap.  BCA were focused on capturing quantitative and qualitative data to assist them in their plans. 

5.2       Attendees thanked Ms Amaral for her presentation.  In response to a question regarding effective communication, Ms Amaral acknowledged that some communications may have been going straight to junk email folders and encouraged people to check if previous emails had not been received as a result.  Ms Amaral confirmed that current staffing levels were 6 full-time equivalent staff members, and that a grant was received from the Scottish Government.  In response to a question regarding how BCA would operate in what was a potentially cluttered landscape, Ms Amaral explained that conversations with SOSE were ongoing to try and avoid the duplication of work.  Attendees expressed some concern that SBC and other organisations were yet to fully empower communities to take real action and derive real benefits.  Concerns were expressed regarding the number of volunteers in communities, and Ms Amaral highlighted that it would be very important to engage young people to ensure that people continued to volunteer.  The Chair highlighted that volunteers needed to be treated with respect and that those responsible for managing volunteers needed to be properly trained.  Attendees thanked Ms Amaral for her presentation. 

MEMBER

Councillor Linehan left the meeting during the discussion below.

The Chair explained that copies of a map of the Eildon locality were present in the room. Attendees were placed into groups and asked to identify third sector organisations that they were aware of that operated in the locality.  Attendees were particularly encouraged to share the names of organisations that were not expected to be members of the Borders Community Action network.  Following the task, the papers were collected by Mr Coltman and would be used to help and support BCA register groups across the locality.  

Copy attached.

There had been circulated copies of the Eildon Funding Table 2023/24 with the agenda. 

Eildon Assessment Panel to present funding recommendations for the following NSF applications:

·       Lauderdale Youth Football Club

·       Selkirk Bowling Club

·       Interest Link Borders

·       Lauderdale Community and Leisure Centre

·       Lauderdale Initiative

·       TD1 Youth Hub (additional supplementary document attached.)

(Copy attached.)

8.1       There had been circulated copies of the Eildon Assessment Panel’s recommendations with the agenda. The Chair welcomed Ms Jenny Mushlin of the Eildon Assessment Panel to provide an overview of each of the recommendations. 

8.2       Lauderdale Youth Football Club

Lauderdale Youth Football Club had applied for £10k of funding to help upgrade the existing natural grass main pitches and training pitches.  The pitches were in poor condition.  The land was owned by the Lauder Common Good.  Ms Mushlin explained that the Panel had expressed concerns regarding the use of community funding to deliver the project due to the need to renovate the pitches in 10 years’ time.  There also needed to be more community engagement for the project evidenced.  The panel had recommended that Lauderdale YFC continued to seek alternative funding and had recommended not to fund the project.   It was unanimously agreed not to fund the project. 

8.3       Selkirk Bowling Club  

            The application from Selkirk Bowling Club had been for £9,024 which would be used to repair the roof of the club building.  The repairs were essential so that the club continue to offer a safe space of members and volunteers.  The Panel had felt that they were unsure whether the NSF was the most appropriate Fund for a project of this type.  It had been recommended that the group consider exploring energy efficient upgrades to the roof rather than undertake the planned repairs.  The Panel had recommended not to fund the project and recommended that the Club consider submitting an enquiry to the CARES fund administered by Local Energy Scotland.  Attendees discussed the application, unanimously agreed with the recommendation of the Panel not to fund and encouraged the Club to contact Local Energy Scotland. 

8.4       Interest Link Borders

            An application of £10k had been received from Interest Link Borders. The grant applied for would allow Interest Link to deliver 12 1:1 sessions for its members.   There would be ten befriending groups which would benefit a large group of people with learning disabilities across a range of ages. The Panel acknowledged the efforts to secure funding for the whole project and had recommended to fund the project in full.  Attendees welcomed the application, and it was unanimously approved. 

8.5       Lauderdale Community and Leisure centre  

            Lauderdale Community and Leisure Centre (LCLC) had applied for £7985.54 to cover all regular and one-off costs during lower income periods so that it could remain open during winter when usage was higher.  Significant steps had been taken to reduce monthly costs however significantly increased utility costs remained a problem.  The Panel considered that the application aligned with the criteria of the NSF and would support an organisation whose future was at serious risk.  Extensive discussions regarding the risk associated with providing the level of funding applied for had taken place, and the Panel had recommended to approve the application in full.  It was agreed that should the application be granted that LCLC be required to speak to Borders Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The link to the Menti evaluation of the meeting was provided on screen.  The Chair encouraged attendees to share potential themes for future meetings of the Area Partnership. 

The Chair explained that plans for the Tweedbank Care Village were progressing, and that the proposed plans were groundbreaking and forward thinking.  Drop-in sessions were being held, and attendees were encouraged to visit them if possible. 

Thursday, 16 November 2023. Agenda Issued: Thursday, 2 November.

The Chair advised that the next meeting would be held via Microsoft Teams.