A good number of partners attended the monthly meeting of Great Aycliffe Community Aid Partnership (GACAP) on Monday 6th March at DISC Offices near the Blue Bridge. The meeting was chaired by Ron Mitchie, Assistant Secretary, who welcomed all present. Dorothy Bowman and Joan Mitchie gave a presentation and overview of what it means to be a Dementia Friend. In 2012 David Cameron challenged the Alzheimer’s Society to enrol a million people to be a dementia friend as we are living longer. The government’s plan is to keep people at home longer, as we are now living in a society where some people, either living on their own or with their partners have dementia. Dorothy and Joan gave a passionate presentation to partners and Joan explained there were things that people living with dementia must contend with in every day life. They asked partners to invite them to their organisation/ charity/business to give further presentations. Helen Maynard and Joe Riley from TESCO Newton Aycliffe who have been active partners of GACAP for some time, presented the opportunity for significant funding from TESCO following the 5p levy paid by customers purchasing carrier bags.
“Bags of Help” is their local community grant scheme where the money raised from the carrier bags is being used to fund thousands of local projects in communities across the UK. This was initially for green project but that isn’t the case now and any organisation who helps the local community can apply. Geographical changes now include Newton Aycliffe with Bishop Auckland instead of Teesdale. There will be three prizes every month £4K, £2K, and £1K which is a significate amount over a year of £84K. Joe said it would be good to see some of the money going back into the Newton Aycliffe area. Groundworks are the environmental charity who work across the UK helping communities find practical solutions to challenges they face. To apply for a funding pack, which is quite easy, contact Leah Codner on 01642 2815663 or email her on leah. codner@groundworks.org.uk Liane Taylor treasurer of Gacap updated partners on the amount of money available for small funding projects. She reminded partners of the opportunity to get small grants for projects that are hard to fund. Copies of the grant application was available to partners, she would forward a copy to all who asked. The next meeting of GACAP is on 3rd April at DISC offices next door to Newton News. The AGM is on 24th April. All officer’s stand down annually and must be nominated and seconded for re-election. Ron advised partners that both the Chairman and Vice Chairman have indicated they are standing down, therefore there would be some changes to officers at the AGM and partners were encouraged to consider being nominated for office.
