Community Futures invites you to the: Launch of Village Halls Week 2026 in West Lancashire24/2/2026
 One month to go…
As our upcoming event is fast approaching, we wanted to remind you that free tickets are available, and we’d be delighted to see you there. Throughout our communications, we will use the term hall to include village halls and community halls  From Thursday 26th February, the programme will be rebranding as Active Recovery. This change will bring the project’s name and visual identity more closely in line with our parent organisation, Active Lancashire, while continuing to deliver the same core support for individuals affected by substance misuse.
 For me this newsletter should be titled “reasons to be cheerful”. It has been a funny old start to the year – with international politics, UK politics, local politics all bringing their own brand of disbelief at various points; and the rain, which has just not stopped; and the dark evenings, which don’t feel like they are getting less dark yet.
But, amidst all that there is hope. We had an energising network session yesterday with members focusing on guidance on community cohesion which has been published to support local authorities Common Ground: building cohesive communities. There is plenty in there about how to engage, and potentially a tool to get an “in” with your own authority. I’m really proud of the allyship programme bringing people together to develop their practice, and the new EEDI framework has a clear focus for LIOs, identifying strengths and areas to develop to be stronger in our actions. And the Million Acts of Hope campaign lifts me just thinking about it and its potential, to really amplify the good that there is. So I hope like me you read this newsletter and feel inspired to take action, no matter how big or small, and to engage in conversations with others about what you are doing. We can’t control the big politics, but we can definitely make a difference to those around us and our communities. Who knows, maybe even tomorrow it will stop raining.  Welcome to your NAVCA events update - where you can find out more about what's happening for NAVCA members over the next few weeks. You can book your space at all NAVCA events via the NAVCA website.
 Welcome to the Get Grants February 2026 Newsletter!
We’re excited to share this month's lineup of Fundraising Training Courses and FREE Events! Join Core Costs Applications MASTERCLASS, led by Get Grants Director John Ellery, exploring the popular topic of securing core cost funding! We’re also running Donor Journey Mastery MASTERCLASS, designed to help you optimise every stage of your donor engagement. If you missed our Launching Legacy Fundraising MASTERCLASS with David Page, you can now catch it on demand via our website. This month's free events include an Introduction to Legacy Fundraising Workshop, Bid Writing Workshop and our Virtual Fundraisers Networking Event, where you can learn, connect and grow alongside fellow fundraisers. Keep reading to explore all the opportunities waiting for you this February!  You're invited to our Members' Conference
Tuesday 28 April 2026, 9.30am–4pm Join us at Woburn House, or from home via Zoom Events  DWP Business Updates
LA Welfare Direct bulletins: F(link is external)ebruary 2026(link is external) Guidance: These LA Welfare Direct bulletins provide information that affects Housing Benefit and other areas of DWP, to local authority staff. Update include:
Universal Credit for the self-employed(link is external) Guidance: How Universal Credit works if you are self-employed and how to report your self-employed income and expenses to Universal Credit every month. Update: Clarified what is counted as a room in your property.  Hello Neighbours,
And happy February! Valentines Day is around the corner; it fills me with dread. I worry that Royal Mail won’t cope with the quantity of cards being sent to me and lose them all… it happens every year. I’m joking, I do get one card (from the cat). But this time of year, romance is marketed very aggressively. It’s natural to want to show people we care. But there are individuals out there who exploit that generosity. Our Romance Fraud pages have useful information if you are worried about a relationship that doesn’t feel quite right. Also, we need to make an apology. Last week we sent out a message with a special offer for members. But we got a lot of negative feedback. We’ve listened and decided not to send individual alert messages relating to offers from partner and sponsor organisations. As a charity we rely on sponsors to help fund our work, keep membership free and provide value for our membership. So, in future, we’ll be sharing offers in our newsletter and on our website. In this issue
 Readers are invited to enjoy the latest news from VIC (Veterans In Communities). Further updates and information are shared regularly on VIC’s Facebook page and group.
For those who require hard copies of the newsletter, the VIC team can be contacted on 01706 833180. Copies of all newsletters and the latest news are also available for download from the VIC website. Both the website and Facebook page are regularly updated, providing more information on VIC’s services and activities. VIC thanks everyone for their continued support.  You'll already know that last year, Government set out plans to replace Lancashire’s existing councils with new unitary councils, each responsible for delivering all local services. To support this, councils across Lancashire were asked to put forward ideas for how reorganisation could work.
 We are pleased to invite you to attend the KETA-WHAT? Conference, taking place on Wednesday 18th March 2026 at Invisibles Lounge, Blackburn Rovers Football Club (BB2 4JF).
This conference will explore the use of ketamine in Lancashire, its impact on individuals, communities and services, and how we can work together to prevent harm and raise awareness of associated risks. The event brings together professionals, community organisations, educators, health services and people with lived experience to share insight, challenge misconceptions and strengthen local responses.  This month's edition includes:-
· ELCAP Ltd awarded £5,000 grant. · Funding will support work on a radio advertising campaign. · PAT Testing day will be held at the radio studios.   Interwoven Histories: Urdu, Persian and the Raj, developed in partnership with Folkloristan at Nelson Library on Wednesday 4th February 5.30-7pm, the launch event will include a chance to chat with Komal Salman from the Folkloristan project via a zoom link and also feature a spoken word performance by Ayman J Sabir!
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has published its Male Suicide Prevention Engagement Report, sharing powerful insights gathered from men and communities across the region. Why this matters Male suicide remains the leading cause of death for men under 49 in the UK. This report highlights the urgent need to tackle stigma, rethink how support is promoted, and recognise that men do communicate — just differently.  |
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