Caithness Partnership Newsletter Index

Welcome to another edition of the Caithness Partnership ebulletin. The bulletin was set to both circulate information that has come in to the Partnership office, and in order for the Partners to share information. If you have any items you wish to include in next month�s bulletin, or have information that you think might be useful or of interest to your Partners, please get in touch. If you have difficulty accessing any of the web links we can get you a paper copy. Please forward the bulletin within your organization if that would be useful.

Highland Renewable Energy Strategy

Deprived areas in Scotland, statistics update

Awards schemes

Funding news

Training

Events, including

The public is to be consulted on a draft renewable energy strategy and planning guidelines for the Highlands, which, when approved, will guide developers and local communities on the wide range of issues governing the industry. The Council aimed to start an 11-week consultation on 28th October, which will include six public meetings across the Highlands � no information yet on where these will be held. To see the Draft Strategy go to

http://www.highland.gov.uk/plintra/planpol/ren/ren-strategy-committee-draft-rev19.pdf

For all those of you who are working with regeneration projects, a new statistical analysis of Scotland's most deprived areas has been published by the Scottish Executive. 'The Social Focus on Deprived Areas' is based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 and reports on the spread of area deprivation across Scotland.

Celebrating excellence in community regeneration
Communities Scotland is sponsoring an award that recognises successful community regeneration. Hosted by the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, Excellence in community regeneration is open to all housing organisations including developers, local authorities, registered social landlords and community and tenant organisations. The closing date for entries is 9 December.

Local Government Chronicle and Health Service Journal in association with Defra are have announced the launch of a new set of awards designed to celebrate work across local partnerships which help deliver genuinely sustainable communities for all:

There are 8 categories to choose from:

Entry deadline is 2nd November � you can enter online, so still time to get a quick application in. http://www.sustainablecommunities2006.com/home.asp

Rural Development Small Award Fund � for community groups in areas with a population of less than 3,000. Funding can support project planning, community involvement, capacity building, consultation exercises, - 100% funding of �500 to �5000 available for each project. See http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Rural/rural-policy/16780/RDSAFForm for more details

The Baring Foundation has been reviewing its programme Strengthening the Voluntary Sector. The objective of this programme is to improve the organisational
effectiveness of voluntary organisations that are working to tackle disadvantage and discrimination. Currently their grant programmes do not cover Scotland but from January 2006 they are changing the geographical areas to include the whole of the UK.  Look at their website in early January for details of the new programmes. www.baringfoundation.org.uk

HM Revenue & Customs � Business Support Team is holding training sessions in Thurso specially designed for Employers Payroll and New and Small Businesses. Subjects to be covered include:

The Team are in Thurso on 22,23 and 24 November. For details of how to book a place or for more information go to:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/bst/scotlandtraining.htm

No Business like Social Business � a one day masterclass in Glasgow with Liam Black, previously with the Furniture Resource Network. Black is now working with Jamie Oliver to turn the successful Fifteen restaurant into a global social enterprise. The event is free. For booking details http://www.zealey.com/Socialbusiness/

Scottish Food and Drink Forum website � www.scottishfoodanddrink.com is well worth a look. It is sponsored by HIE and Scottish Enterprise and holds masses of information about and for the food and drink industry in Scotland. They have a couple of forthcoming events that you may be interested in:

15 November 2005, Inverness - Highlands Forum looks at Tesco in Scotland � at this event Sarah Mackie, Tesco�s Senior Buying Manager in Scotland will talk about Tesco in Scotland. 5.30pm for 6.00pm at the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stadium. See the website for booking details.

http://www.scottishfoodanddrink.com/view_item.aspx?item_id=23022&list_id=list1-17288&list_index=0

25 November 2005, Perth - Finishing lambs to meet seasonal demand � a one day seminar at United Auctions Perth. A joint event between the Soil Association and Scottish Food & Drink to encourage organic producers to finish lambs to match seasonal demand - In particular, the event aims to illustrate different management regimes to enable the production of marketable lambs between March and July. The gap in the market during these months, offers producers an opportunity to meet the shortfall and receive a price premium. For more info on this and other events for the food and drink industry see the www.scottishfoodanddrink.com

17 November 2005, Dingwall � Social Enterprise Day, an information day where you can find out all you ever wanted to know about forming a Community Interest Company. For more information email [email protected]

18 November 2005, Inverness - Learning journeys: Cultural diversity and Community Learning, a conference for practitioners. The highland Community Learning & Development Strategy Partnership are holding their annual conference at the Thistle Hotel and aim to explore how the achievement through learning of young people and adults can have a positive impact on the culturally diverse communities in Highland. Booking forms from [email protected]

25 November 2005, Edinburgh � Smart, Sustainable Scotland The Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) is holding it's sixth annual conference on 25 November in Edinburgh and are billing it as �the only Scottish based economic development conference�. Speakers include the hon. Jim Anderton, Minister for Economic Development New Zealand and Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive Communities Scotland. Register here � it is rather pricey so be sure to read carefully before you rush to register!

Scottish Centre for Regeneration continues its programme of events over the next few months aimed at people involved in regeneration projects. The Scottish Centre for Regeneration is part of Communities Scotland, the Scottish Executive's housing and regeneration agency, and works to help improve the effectiveness of people and organisations trying to achieve the Scottish Executive's Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives. The aim of the events is to support those involved in community regeneration to improve their effectiveness:

For more information on all these events have a look at http://www.zealey.com/SCR/