Lockdown Business Grants: Latest
Nottingham City Council is working on delivering a series of grants to businesses, charities, social enterprises and community organisations to support the city during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The announcements from government for funding for businesses have come quickly while guidance and funding has followed sometime after, Nottingham City Council has been working, and will continue to work hard to distribute this funding to eligible businesses. Work to date means most businesses will be paid automatically without the need to reapply for the funding you are entitled to.
Swift response to COVID vaccination effort...
'Designed by midwives for mothers' Nottingham-based Lotus Maternity founder, Olivia Swift, is playing a fundamental role in the COVID-19 vaccination programme across Nottinghamshire care homes.
Lotus Maternity creates sustainable, Nottingham-made and multi award-winning products, including super soft bamboo baby blankets and beautiful nursing tops that enable women to breastfeed in public with confidence and complete discretion.
Swift was planning to diversify the service side of the brand at the beginning of 2020 to offer her postnatal services at corporate level. This all changed however in March, when the pandemic was surging through the UK.?She made the decision to park business growth, to return to clinical practice in Nottingham?s hospitals to help the NHS in their hours of need.
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Swift has been working full-time through the pandemic and in December joined the roving vaccination team whose role is to vaccinate care home residents and staff throughout Nottinghamshire. The team launched the service on New Year's Eve and since then have administered over a thousand vaccines.
Olivia reports, ?I feel very proud to be part of a programme of such grave need. The task we are faced with is immense, we have 280 care homes to vaccinate just in this county and even when we have covered them all, we will have to return to give second doses. I am grateful to have the clinical skills and experience to help with both making up and
administering these incredibly important vaccines.?
As all of us feel, Swift is equally keen to administer these vaccines as fast as her team are able to provide, with a hope for a return to normality in sight and therefore a return to her pre-pandemic business operations. Visit www.lotusmaternity.co.uk
 This series of online events will feature panels of business leaders sharing their own experiences of tackling key challenges with audiences of businesses owners and managers looking to grow.
The free Accelerating Growth seminars?will examine three key challenges associated with:
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Diversity in business?? building workforces which reflect your markets and harnessing the potential of creativity and change
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Talent for growth?? how to attract, develop and lead the talent you need to become an employer-of-choice
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Finance that fits?? identifying funding options which fuel growth and accommodate your business needs
The next event will be on Wednesday 24 February.
It pays to be green
Support for businesses to reduce costs and improve environmental performance.
Businesses have a vital role in transforming Nottingham into a sustainable city with a thriving economy that can support good quality jobs and attract investment. How you operate, how your staff get to work, what you buy, and what you sell are all important factors.
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Many organisations are already taking great steps forward to be more sustainable and reduce carbon, and in the process reducing their costs, accessing or attracting new customers, increasing productivity and having a healthier and more motivated workforce.
You can take action by:
- Allowing more flexible working and online meetings for staff where possible to reduce travel
- Making buildings energy efficient to cut costs and carbon, and to provide a more productive and comfortable space for staff
- Reducing water usage through behaviour change and simple interventions
- Creating wildlife friendly green space wherever possible
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Monitoring and measuring energy usage and carbon emissions, and switching to renewable energy tariff
Funding opportunities:
UFO (Small Flying Objects)
UFO is seeking collaborative projects (of 2 or more SMEs) to develop innovative products and services by integrating new embedded technology solutions in the Small Flying Objects (SFO) area i.e. Smallsats, Drones and High Altitude platform systems. Six emerging industries are specifically mentioned: Mobility technologies, Climate, Environment, Blue Growth, Digital Creative & Gaming and Finance & Insurance industries.
Participation is open to all SMEs based in one of the UFO partners' countries (Bulgaria, France, Greece, Romania, United Kingdom).?Funding of up to ?60,000 per SME involved is available, and the deadline is 18 February 2021.?Click here for details.
Measurement for Recovery (M4R)
Measurement for Recovery (M4R) is offering up to 20 days free of charge access to specialist scientific expertise and facilities at NPL and National Measurement Laboratory partners. M4R is matching world-leading measurement science experts with digital solutions focused UK companies to aid innovation, drive growth and help solve challenges across a range of sectors and digital applications. With a quick, non-competitive and simple online application process, why not apply today?
NIHR:?Artificial Intelligence Health and Care Award
The Artificial Intelligence Health and Care Award supports solutions addressing the strategic aims of the NHS Long Term Plan across the whole development pathway, from initial feasibility to clinical implementation. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health and Care Award is run in partnership with the?Accelerated Access Collaborative?and?NHSX.? It is part of the?NHS Artificial Intelligence Lab?announced by the Health Secretary in 2019, and will deploy ?140m over three years to accelerate the testing and evaluation of the most promising AI technologies that meet the strategic aims set out in the?NHS Long Term Plan.
The award?will support AI technologies across the spectrum of development, from initial feasibility to evaluation within clinical pathways in the NHS and social care settings, to the point that they could be nationally commissioned.?Key areas of focus include screening, diagnosis, decision support and system efficiency.?Read more.
Make the switch to electric vehicles
 With the Government ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles brought forward to 2030 Nottingham?s Electric Van Experience (EVE) is supporting businesses to make the switch. Not only are they more environmentally friendly, but they?re cheaper to run and maintain too.
The popular EVE project offers businesses, as well as voluntary and public sector organisations in Nottingham City, the chance to try one of 50 electric vans to suit their needs, including provision of a funded charge point at the business premises. This will give businesses and organisations the chance to experience first-hand the financial and environmental benefits of greener vehicles, and provide operational confidence to make a permanent switch.
Chris Plumb from Highways England will give an overview of the nationwide electric van projects they are supporting and Peter Saunders at Nottingham City Council will provide details about how businesses and organisations can get involved locally.
Exciting funded opportunity for care homes
Infused Learning's ?Inter-Generational Unity? pilot project will gather small number of schools and care homes from across Nottinghamshire to share learning and fun on virtual platforms.
Their mission; to combat loneliness and many other social barriers caused and magnified by COVID-19.
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A small group of young people aged 9 to 16 will be selected to create a set of online themed resources for activity sessions that will be delivered to elderly residents in different care home settings. Coordinated by mentors and academic tutors, the themes will include art, local history, theatre, singing, story-telling, mindfulness, games and physical exercise.
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