ESFVON
European Social Fund Voluntary Organisations Northern

EXTENTION OF THE OBJECTIVE 2 ESF DEADLINE TO DECEMBER 2000

It has now been officially confirmed by the Department for Education and Employment that the Objective 2 ESF deadline has been extended from June 2000 until 31st December 2000. This is for all four Priorities and is for both existing and new projects. This does not apply to Objective 3 ESF which has been extended only until 30th June 2000.

If you have an existing project and wish to extend your project beyond June 2000 then you should speak to your Package Manager about taking up remaining resources. You will however, re-submit a full application form for the total life of the project, giving it a new name. This name need only be slightly different and is to avoid confusion for Government Office-North East computer system.

If you are a new project sponsor you will only have to complete one application form for the entire period. If you need any assistance in completing the form or would like to discuss your ideas for a project or advice on deadlines then please contact either Sue Mason or Victor Ottaway at ESFVON who will be pleased to help.

It should be noted the project must start before the end of 1999 for both existing and new applicants. Also this deadline in no way affects the ERDF deadlines currently in place for having committed spend by the end of 1999 for projects running up to 31 December 2001.

The ESF deadline has been extended so to allow underspends to be committed and which will have the added value of the new Objective 2 Programme, which will be an amalgamation of the current Objective 2 and 5 Programmes, being in place.

At present maps are being decided upon for the new Objective 2 areas. The whole of the North East may not be covered in the new Programme areas. Transitional arrangements will be available for areas which no longer are eligible, until the end of 2005. They will however only be able to apply for ERDF projects under Objective 2. The ESF projects will be funded under Objective 3.

When there is greater detail of exactly what is likely to be funded under Objective 2 and where, ESFVON will be informing you through this bulletin and other events as matters arise.

NEW OBJECTIVE 3 ESF 2000-2006

ESFVON's recent events on the new ESF Objective 3 held at the St. Mary's Centre, Middlesbrough and Northumbria Training, Newcastle were attended in total by over 100 voluntary sector representatives. ESFVON would like to thank all those who attended and gave some very interesting views in response to the DfEE Policy Framework document. These views were put forward in our response to Government Office-North East, and informed the region response to the DfEE.

When more details are available, ESFVON will run similar events to inform you of developments so that project proposals can be progressed.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY'S REGIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY

As many of you will know, the Government as part of its process of devolution introduced eight Regional Development Agencies in England. The RDA, or ONE-NorthEast as it is called in this region, has responsibility for improving the economic and social regeneration of the North East.

As part of its early duties, the RDA must produce a Regional Economic Strategy (RES). A number of Task Sub Groups containing "key stakeholders" and guided by the EDAW Consultancy were held between April and July 1999 to look at broad areas of interest the Strategy is seeking to address. The "key stakeholders" came from all parts of the Region and from all sectors, with ESFVON staff attending the Regenerating Communities group meetings. The RES will set out the priorities for the social and economic regeneration of the region and be based on the results of these Task Sub Groups and the economic audit of the Region undertaken earlier in the year. The nine questions it will be seeking answers to are:-

  1. What is the role of the North East in the global economy?
  2. What actions and innovations will rapidly raise the Region's aspirations and employment prospects in the future.
  3. How can the Region harness the capacity within the Universities and Colleges to make a significant contribution to economic growth.
  4. What are the best ways to retain, and capture further investment from the global businesses that have already invested in the North East and attract further mobile investment to the Region?
  5. What are the best ways to improve the business birth rate, strengthen the competitiveness and growth of indigenous SMEs, and accelerate the rate of high value added product and service innovation in the Region?
  6. How does the Region address social inclusion and build the capabilities of individuals to drive forward economic regeneration?
  7. What are the most effective ways to build a life-long learning culture?
  8. What should be the criteria and priorities for urban and rural regeneration?
  9. How can the Region exploit its natural resources and move towards more sustainable patterns of development, production, consumption and investment?

An initial draft document is currently under consultation and the RDA have asked all interested parties to put forward their own views on what the North East should be doing in the next 10-20 years to address these issues. ESFVON will be making its own representation and would welcome any views which the voluntary and community sector would like to include.

If you would like to have your views included please contact ESFVON via fax, e-mail or post by the 23rd July.

REGIONAL FORUM LAUNCH

On Tuesday 28 September 1999 ESFVON will be launching a Regional Forum for the North East of England voluntary and community sector. The Forum will be a regional, sectoral consultative body that can be brought together to discuss issues key to Objective 2 European Structural Funding and the North East voluntary and community sector.

The topic for the launch will be the final draft of the North East of England's First Regional Economic Strategy. Mr Phil Shakeshaft from the Regional Development Agency, ONE NorthEast, will be outlining the content of the RES and the Regional Forum launch will act as a voluntary and community sector's consultation on this document. It will be a free event at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland with attendance initially limited to one representative per organisation to allow for the greatest diversity possible from within the sector. Approximately 100 delegates will be attending. It is also hoped that a representative from the European Secretariat at Government Office North East will attend to discuss developments on the new 2000-2006 Objective 2 programme to add an extra dimension to the day. Information will be distributed shortly concerning this and other forthcoming ESFVON events.

ESFVON QUESTIONNAIRE REPORT/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Enclosed you will find either an executive summary or a copy of the report of ESFVON's questionnaire results. The full report has only been sent to those organisations who completed the Objective 2 and/or Objective 3 sections. This is due to the cost factor of printing and sending over 600.

As stated in the report/executive summary these findings will be included in submissions ESFVON makes to relevant bodies who will be deciding the new programmes for both Objective 2 and Objective 3.

We would like to thank all those organisations who returned any of the relevant sections as without their co-operation the work would not have been possible.

NEW 1999 ERDF FORMS

There are now new 1999 ERDF applications and claims forms available from Government Office. These forms have a number of changes from 1998 and must be used when either submitting a new application or making claims against expenditure from 1st April 1999. Originals of these forms must be used as photocopies will be no longer accepted. These are being distributed through your partnership but if you require any copies contact Gary Patrick at Government Office on 0191 202 3880.

WHO ARE ESFVON?

In recent months we have had many new organisations join our mailing list. So for their benefit, and the benefit of longer standing organisations who many have new members in post, here is a little piece about who we are and what we do.

ESFVON is the North East voluntary sector's regional resource on European Funding, and was established in 1991. A registered charity, ESFVON serves the whole region from Berwick upon Tweed to the Yorkshire border.

Our role is to provide advice and support to voluntary and community organisations applying for, or running a European funded project under either Objective 2 or Objective 3. With a network of 700 organisations and an established track record, voluntary and community groups are having increasing success each year. We help voluntary organisations achieve this through:

Since 1991, when there were only two employees we have now grown to a staff of five. The five staff are:

Donald Dempsey - Director. Donald has worked for ESFVON since it was formed and represents the sector on a number of committees including the Objective 2 Programme Monitoring Committee and Regional Steering Group, and the Objectives 3 and 4 Regional Committees. Concerned with the development of the sector in utilising the European Structural Funds, he is particularly involved in the European Social Fund.

Alan Payne - European Projects Officer. Alan works exclusively with Objective 3 voluntary sector organisations in assisting them obtain European funding. Once achieved he also monitors them and provides other assistance or guidance they may require. Alan is also an assessor/scorer of non-voluntary sector applications.

Sue Mason - European Funding Officer. Sue works in Objective 2 in Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland for all 4 Priorities. She is also currently sitting on Government Office-North East's Single Programming Document steering committee sub-group on Social Inclusion for the 2000-2006 Programme and the Regional Development Agency's task group on Regenerating Communities.

Victor Ottaway - European Funding Officer. Victor works in Objective 2 in Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Gateshead for all 4 Priorities.

Carole Dempsey - Secretary. Carole has worked with ESFVON since it first started and is particularly involved with Objective 3. Supporting Alan and Donald throughout the year, she takes a lead role in the organisation of surgeries, seminars and conferences, and being one of the first to master the infamous "interactive disk", her telephone support to applicants is always in demand.

Further to these five, ESFVON also has a partnership with Teesside Council for Voluntary Service for a similar service for Objective 2 in the Tees Valley area. Sue Featherstone is the European Funding Officer, carrying out similar duties to Sue and Victor.

If you would like further information about ESFVON or anything in this bulletin please don't hesitate to contact us by either telephone, fax, e-mail or post, details at the front page of this bulletin.

If you know of other voluntary or community organisations who may be interested in applying for European funds then please let them know about ESFVON as we are here to help the voluntary sector achieve results.

ESFVON WEBSITE

Don't forget to keep an eye on ESFVON's website at www.esfvon.org.uk for latest developments. You can also contact us by E-mail. The address is info@esfvon.org.uk

GOVERNMENT OFFICE-NORTH EAST WEBSITE

Government Office-North East has also started its own European Secretariat website. It has changed its address to home.freeuk.net/neeps.

If you have any difficulties in printing out from the GO-NE website then click the right hand button on the mouse when over the page you wish to print, then select print.

ONE NORTHEAST WEB SITE

The RDA has a website specifically devoted to its Regional Economic Strategy which will explain in greater detail what this is all about. Its address is www.onestrategynortheast.co.uk.

The main ONE NorthEast website which seems to have been primarily set up to "sell" the Region to other parts of the country and the world can be accessed via www.onenortheast.co.uk though it does take rather a long time for information to download as there are lots of pictures and hyperlinks.

Last Updated: June 1999
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