Support

It’s a great opportunity to gain important skills and accredited qualifications while cultivating a meaningful team experience– at a pace that works well for people with young children and busy lives!

FREE online course – Foyer Families is a 16-week fully funded programme created and delivered by Aberdeen Foyer which will help you to:

Achieve accredited learning and employability skills
Progress into further education and employment
Support your child’s development through learning and play
Improve the health and wellbeing of yourself and your family

FREE online Course dates
This course will run from the 24th of August 2021 to the 10th of December 2021
Every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
9.30am to 2.30pm

Aberdeen Foyer is working in partnership with North East Scotland College to deliver a City & Guilds Extended Level 1 Certificate in Employability skills. REHIS Food Hygiene and Pediatric First Aid certificates will also be available during the course. Child development workshops will also be delivered.

Additional support such as childcare provision and access to digital kit can also be provided during the course.

The course will be delivered online with access to course leaders and personalised support.

Is this course for me?

If you Are a parents/carer with children under 12 looking to do any of the following:

Develop personal confidence
Meet other parents and contribute to shared learning
Take part in a meaningful team experience
Obtain accredited qualifications
Learn how to further support your child’s learning and play in everyday life
Consider if further education, training, or work is a possibility for you

Then this FREE online course is for you.

As part of Foyer Families you’ll complete 5 City and Guilds units:

Building personal confidence
Contributing to healthy living
Effective skills and qualities for learning and work
Coping with change
Managing personal finance
A range of course related activities to boost productivity, team building and personal confidence
You will also gain a broader understanding of how learning and play contributes to child development.
Attend wellbeing sessions including: Mindfulness, Stretch and Tone and Tai Chi
Be invited to course-related talks from a range of external organisations and partners

FREE online course - Foyer Families — FREE online course

FREE online Course Content

Week 1/2: Getting to know you
A chance to get to know one another and set the foundation for an exciting journey with Foyer Families.

Week 3/4: Building personal confidence
Working together to understand personal confidence, while branching out into related activities to help build your own personal confidence.

Week 4/5: Contributing to own healthy living
Looking closely at what contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Guided cooking sessions and Food Hygiene will be used to support your learning along with a range of relevant activities.

Week 6/7: Effective skills and qualities
Working together to highlight and build upon existing skills to prepare you for the working and learning environment.

Week 8/9: Managing personal finance
Focusing on planning and preparation you will gain the skills to develop budget plans and financial inclusion sessions will help you to manage your finances.

Week 10/11/12: Coping with change
Encourages you to explore the different types of change, including the impact of change and strategies to help you to cope with change.

Week 13/14: Skills development
Helping you to build your CV for potential job opportunities and preparing you for mock interviews and build progression pathways.

Week 15/16: What’s next?
Reviewing 16-week programme with discussion about future steps and finally your graduation!

Katie Summers (Aberdeenshire) M: 07979 199 896
katie.summers@aberdeenfoyer.com

We can even help with childcare and digital kit if needed.
If you think this might be for you, or a family member/friend – then please get in touch by emailing

School clothing grant

Help with school clothing grant for uniforms increases.

Eligible families can apply for a grant of at least £120 to help with the cost of school uniforms.

The Scottish Government and local authority leaders have reached an agreement to increase the national school clothing grant to a minimum of £120 per eligible primary school pupil and £150 per eligible secondary school pupil. This will be supported by £11.8 million of additional funding to local authorities.

The announcement marks another commitment for the first 100 days of this Government.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“School uniforms can place a significant financial burden on families, some of whom are already facing additional hardship as a result of the pandemic.

“This school clothing grant will help to relieve some of that pressure for around 145,000 families and it will help to ensure that all children can go to school feeling comfortable, confident and ready to learn.”

COSLA Children and Young People’s spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said:

“Councils and schools are working to tackle the costs of the school day, ensuring that all children are able to fully participate in their education. Working with the Scottish Government, we are pleased that the national minimum school clothing grant has been increased and that families can get extra support as we continue on the road to recovery from the pandemic.”

Eligible families can apply for the school clothing grant through their local council.

Help with school clothing costs – mygov.scot

local business

Local Business SYMPOSIUM coffee house

local store

Local Store Community Champion Sheena

Morrisons Community Champion Sheena from Peterhead local store

Sheena has done a huge amount of fundraising for Young Lives vs Cancer reaching over £88,000 for the charity!

This whopping figure is a huge amount for one store alone, helping Morrisons collectively get to a total of £15 million for the charity so far.

What a fantastic achievement!

Well Done Sheena!

Also, Sheena and Morrisons Peterhead Community support local organisations like – Salvation Army Peterhead Corps, Peterhead Foodbank Centre, Buchan Giving Tree and etc.

Amazing community in Peterhead & surrounding areas.

Local company Strachans

Local company Strachans are sponsoring Peterhead based professional golfer

Strachans local company are sponsoring Peterhead based professional golfer Ross Cameron.

Strachans are sponsoring Peterhead based professional golfer Ross Cameron as he looks to build on his fantastic achievements in 2020!

In a very shortened golfing calendar in 2020, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, Ross won the Scottish PGA Championship, the PGA Northern Open and topped the PGA Scottish region order of merit.

“Strachans contacted me towards the end of last year to congratulate me on my successes and to offer their help for the 2021 season. With tournament costs relatively high in comparison to prize money on offer, their help is invaluable to me and pretty much necessary to allow me to play these tournaments. It’s great to have a local company sponsoring me as I look to build on the successes of my 2020 season.”
Ross said

In 2021 Ross is competing on the PGA Europro Tour, a third tier development tour with the goal of gaining promotion to the second tier for 2022. This week Ross is competing at an Europro Tour event in Newbury and is currently sitting 3 shots off the lead.

Wishing you all the very best of success in your 2021 season ahead, Ross and we are proud to be sponsoring you this year.

04/09/2020

Ross Cameron achieved the biggest success of his career in winning the Loch Lomond Whiskies PGA Scottish Championship and in doing so experience some sunshine in an otherwise gloomy year.

Cancelled tournaments and shut down golf clubs due to the lockdown meant the 41-year-old from Peterhead had to take on a part-time job in a supermarket to supplement his income.

But those worries were temporarily cast aside at Deer Park Golf and Country Club as he won the Tartan Tour’s flagship event.

Self-Employment Income

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme 5th grant

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme a 5th grant covering May 2021 to September 2021 will be open to claims from late July 2021

The grant is taxable and will be paid out in a single instalment.

Guidance for claiming the grant will be available by the end of June 2021.

1. Who can claim

To be eligible for the grant you must be a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership.

1.1 When you must have traded

You must have traded in the tax years:

2019 to 2020 and submitted your tax return on or before 2 March 2021
2020 to 2021

You must either:

be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus
have been trading but are temporarily unable to do so due to coronavirus

1.2 Your tax returns

To work out your eligibility for the fifth grant, we’ll first look at your 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.

If you’re not eligible based on your 2019 to 2020 tax return, we’ll then look at the tax years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020.

1.3 Deciding if you can claim

You must declare that:

you intend to continue to trade
you reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction in your trading profits due to reduced business activity, capacity, demand or inability to trade due to coronavirus from May 2021 to September 2021

You must keep evidence that shows how your business has been impacted by coronavirus resulting in less business activity than otherwise expected.

HMRC expects you to make an honest assessment about whether you reasonably believe your business will have a significant reduction in profits.

2. How the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme fifth grant is different

The amount of the fifth grant will be determined by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.

We’ll provide more information and support by the end of June 2021 to help you work out how your turnover was affected.

2.1 How much you’ll get

Turnover reduction	How much you’ll get	Maximum grant
30% or more	80% of 3 months average trading profits	£7,500
less than 30%	30% of 3 months average trading profits	£2,850

3. When you can claim

The online claims service for the fifth grant will be available from late July 2021.

If you’re eligible based on your tax returns, HMRC will contact you in middle of July 2021 to give you a date that you can make your claim from.

Promoting Scotland tourism

Promoting Scotland Tourism

Promoting Scotland tourism, organisations will be able to apply for funding to promote key visitor destinations.

New £3 million fund to help industry rebuild, promoting Scotland tourism.

Tourism organisations will be able to apply for funding to promote key visitor destinations in a responsible and sustainable way, helping the sector to recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Administered by VisitScotland, the £3 million Destination and Sector Marketing Fund will support eligible groups develop strong visitor marketing campaigns that position Scotland as a year-round destination to the UK and Irish markets.

The fund opens for applications on 1 June and will be split into three tiers, focusing on city, regional and national tourism groups. It is part of the £25 million investment in the tourism sector and will help deliver the post-Covid recovery programme developed by the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group (STERG) and the Scottish Tourism Recovery Task Force.

Tourism Minister Ivan McKee said, about Promoting Scotland Tourism:

“It’s been an incredibly difficult year for our tourism and hospitality sectors but, as we begin to reopen the economy and domestic travel resumes, this new fund will help to promote some of Scotland’s most scenic beauty spots to our closest markets.

“The fund stems from the work of the Promoting Scotland Tourism Recovery Taskforce and demonstrates our commitment to getting the sector firmly back on its feet again – a commitment backed by £25 million investment. Scotland is one of the world’s most iconic destinations and we must work together to deliver a sustainable recovery.”

Director of Industry & Destination Development at Visit Scotland and Chair of STERG Riddell Graham, said:

“The Destination and Sector Marketing Fund has been designed to help accelerate the recovery of Scottish tourism in the immediate to medium term by focusing on the domestic market.

“By using the latest insights, groups across Scotland will develop and promote visitor experiences both sustainably and responsibly to help stimulate demand in the domestic market all year-round.

“VisitScotland is focused on the recovery of the industry, building a destination and visitor experience which allows tourism and events to flourish now and in the future. We’ll continue to work with, and support, businesses to ensure we rebuild this vital part of Scotland’s economy.”

Destination and Sector Marketing Fund guidance

£25 million for tourism recovery

The Fund will be split into three tiers: City Region Award Programme (with awards on offer between £50k and £100k);

Regional Destination Organisations and Pan Scotland Sector Groups (with awards between £40k and £80k); and Local

Destination Organisations, Marketing Groups and non-Pan Scotland Sector Groups (with awards between £10k and £20k).