These resources have been developed to support you with your community project. Some are specifically for groups involved in Community Exchanges, Emergency Planning etc. whilst others can be useful for all types of projects. Further guidance is available in Guidance Sheets.
Funders guide for village halls and other community groups. Lists many funders supporting community projects in Cumbria.
Updated January 2024. Warm Spots are warm and safe places to be this winter. They are places in the community that give people a warm space and a warm welcome. This toolkit is for people who are thinking about setting up a Warm Spot in their community. It gives you information on what a Warm Spot needs to offer, how to register your Warm Spot, tips for running a welcoming and safe Warm Spot.
First produced in October 2022 in response to the cost of living crisis, the Warm Spot Toolkit has been revised and updated for January 2024.
This web-based Toolkit brings together information, signposting and suggestions, building on grassroots work to improve water quality in Windermere. Much of it has wider application, but it is focused on the Windermere and Leven Catchment area. It's for you if you are interested in taking local action to improve water quality, from getting involved in taking water samples for testing, to setting up a local volunteer monitoring group, to letter writing and campaigning, on your own or with others. The Toolkit has been funded in part by the Environment Agency, who wanted to share resources from the Rethinking Water Citizens Panel, and partly by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, who support activities that strengthen community voice.
This toolkit aims to help village hall committees consider the main risks for their hall and to access further information to help manage these risks effectively. Risk is often a topic which focuses on Health and Safety, or a crisis situation. This toolkit takes a more holistic approach to the range of risks for halls, and categorises these under four key headings of: Law and Governance; People; Money; and Buildings.
A Good Neighbours Scheme is a community-run initiative linking people who are in particular need with community volunteers who are willing to help. The Good Neighbours Scheme Toolkit will assist and guide you through setting up a scheme. Please also see accompanying template documents that can be used in conjunction with this toolkit.
A set of template documents for use in conjunction with the Good Neighbours Scheme Toolkit.
Community Exchanges are regular community-led events that bring people together, provide services and information and reduce social isolation. This toolkit brings together a series of guidance sheets and video interviews from Crosthwaite Exchange, 'The Vic' Community Cafe in Culgaith, and Bolton Exchange, to support other communities looking to start their own Exchange or Community Cafe.
Being able to put together a survey which is easy to understand, and will give you the information you need, is a useful skill for any community group, particularly those doing Community Led Plans. This guide provides an introduction to writing questionnaires, the types of questions to avoid, how to ensure your survey is accessible to all, and how to analyse the results.
A discussion tool to help assess your community's sustainability and plan for the future.
Many communities in Cumbria are dependent on oil to heat their homes and by setting up a community oil buying group residents can save money on their bills. This toolkit explains what a community oil buying group is, how to set one up and what you need to consider as well as tips and ideas on how to run and manage your group when it is established.
