Rossendale Connected Meeting Summary

13/5/2026

This is a summary of the information exchanged at the meeting. Please do contact any of the presenters to find out more about their work if you are interested in getting more involved.

Hello Rossendale Connected network members,

Thanks to those of you that joined us at last Thursdays meeting. We hope you found it useful.

Where there are references to 'attached' materials, you'll find these available as buttons at the bottom of the page.

Carers Link Lancashire Activities and Fundraising: Contact Angela Bennet [email protected]
- Support for Unpaid Carers: Angela explained that Carers Link Lancashire, commissioned by Lancashire County Council, provides practical and emotional support to unpaid carers, including carers assessments, respite, home adaptations, and benefit checks, in line with the Care Act 2014.
- Charity Shop Expansion and Donations: Angela announced the upcoming opening of a new charity shop in Bacup and encouraged groups to organise staff donation drives, offering to collect items directly from organisations at pre-arranged times. Contact Angela if you would like to organise a collection.
- Silver Jubilee Garden Party: A free garden party on 11th June at their Accrington community facility to celebrate the charity's Silver Jubilee during Carers Week, with a focus on building carer-friendly communities and fundraising activities.
- Fundraising Challenges: Angela described various fundraising challenges being undertaken by staff, including a 25-hour sponsored silence which she is undertaking, contact her to sponsor her.

Filo Project Dementia Daycare Services: Liz Melvin is the area coordinator for the Filo Project. Contact her at [email protected] The Filo Project offers a small group daycare model for people with early to moderate dementia, Parkinson's, or social isolation. More information at The Filo Project | Award winning dementia day care and in the A5 attachment.
- Daycare Service Model: Liz described the Filo Project's approach, where hosts collect up to four clients for a day of activities and home-cooked meals, providing both social engagement for clients and respite for carers.
- Recruitment of Hosts: The project is looking to recruit more hosts in East Lancashire. Training and support provided for hosts.
- Referral and Funding Pathways: Clients can access the service through local authority or private funding, with referrals accepted from social workers, prescribers, family members, or self-referral, followed by a client assessment. Referrals can be made at www.thefiloproject.co.uk/make-a-referral
- Accessibility and Limitations: While the service can accommodate clients with walking aids, it cannot accept wheelchair users due to home adaptation constraints.

Lancashire Vision for Volunteering and DWP Partnership: Lisa Ross is the LACVS Volunteering for Health Lancashire-12 Lead and the LACVS LOCAL Place Coordinator - East Lancashire. Contact Lisa at [email protected]
- Vision for Volunteering Launch: Lisa Ross announced the launch of the Vision for Volunteering document on 1st June, summarising insights from community engagement and outlining best practices and support for volunteer managers, with a new website to serve as a one-stop shop for volunteering in Lancashire. A PowerPoint Presentation is attached. If anyone wants a conversation around this and the short term action plans in place contact Lisa
- DWP Volunteer Work Placement Scheme: Lisa Ross explained the expansion of the DWP's volunteer work placement scheme to the VCFSE sector, allowing for flexible placements over longer periods and covering volunteer expenses, PPE, and DBS checks. An event will be taking place on 4th June at BPR CVS in Burnley for organisations to sign up for the DWP scheme, with time slots bookable via QR code and opportunities for networking (information attached).

Family Hub Updates and Initiatives: Contact- Matthew Sutherland [email protected]
- Hate Crime Reporting: All Family Hubs are now third-party reporting sites for hate crime, allowing members of the public to report incidents at the centres, who will then liaise with the police for monitoring or action.
- SEND Roadshow Success: The recent SEND Roadshow was highly successful, with 30 partners and over 50 families attending, making it the largest event of its kind in Lancashire so far, and indicated plans to repeat the event next year.
- Partnership Meeting and Priorities: The next Family Hub partnership meeting on 20th May, 2-4pm at The Zone in Rawtenstall, aiming to establish five task and finish groups to address the 5 key priorities of the Family Hub:

Building resilience in families
Supporting vulnerable groups
Strengthening voice and influence
Working as a whole system partnership
Developing a strong early help culture and practice

This is your opportunity to:

Work alongside partners who share your commitment to early help and prevention
Ensure the voices of children, young people and families are at the heart of what we do
Influence how the partnership develops locally
Help shape real, deliverable actions

Who should attend?
We would strongly encourage attendance from all existing partners and new partners who:

Deliver services to children, young people and families
Influence commissioning, strategy or service design
Represent community, voluntary, faith or lived experience voices
Are passionate about prevention, early help and system change

- Building Works at Rawtenstall Library: Building works are planned at Rawtenstall Library over the summer and discussions are underway to use Rawtenstall Zone as an alternative venue for library activities during the estimated 20-week closure.
- Family Hub Newsletter: The May newsletter is attached.

Partner Updates:
- Crisis and Resilience Fund Launch: Jackie Flynn announced the opening of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund, with a focus on supporting long-term financial resilience and streamlined referral processes for partner organisations. For more information contact [email protected]

- New Team Member Introduction: Natalie Whitham has joined the Communities Team at Rossendale Borough Council. She will be working on anti-poverty initiatives and the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Contact Natalie at [email protected]

- Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Service: Tracey Noon highlighted the opening of the Eric Wright Charitable Foundation large grants and ICB social prescribing small groups funding, and promoted the new Get Volunteering website and Helping Hands Lottery for local groups. More information on the current work of BPRCVS in Rossendale is included in the attached update. Contact Tracey Noon for more information [email protected]

- Male Suicide Awareness Events: Tony Sheppard shared updates on the Rossendale project to raise awareness about male suicide, including upcoming events at Haslingden Community Link ( Poster Attached) and Whitworth Amateur Dramatic Society, with performances, discussions, and health checks. For more information contact Tony at [email protected]

- East Lancashire Communities Foundation Launch: Phill Mills announced the forthcoming launch of the East Lancashire Communities Foundation, focusing on sporting programmes and community connection, and provided information on ongoing walking rugby sessions for over-55s. Contact Phill at [email protected]

The next meeting is on Thursday 4th June, 9am using Teams. If you have any items for the agenda please get in touch.