Information provided by: Central HIVE Hub
December 31, 2025
December 22, 2025
Grantham: Shine Connect Winter Support 2025
The magazine brings together a wide range of key services from health, care and community VCFSE partners, all in one place.
It includes information on local support available over Christmas and New Year, warm and welcoming spaces for those who need them, free phone helplines offering a friendly voice, and community services that help people connect with others and reduce loneliness and isolation during the holiday period.
Information provided by Grantham HIVE
Grantham: Carers UK Winter Magazine
Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy
Defence sets out commitments to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a new cross government strategy published on 18 Dec.
To view the Strategy documents, please go to: Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy - GOV.UK
Celebrating the Success of SSAFA’s Togetherness Overseas Parenting Programmes
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SSAFA are delighted to share the success of their Togetherness (Solihull NHS) online parenting programmes, since launching in April 2025.
Togetherness is available to the Service community living overseas, including UK-based extended family members of Service families assigned worldwide. The BF1 postcode linked to the overseas location where the serving family are based will be needed to access.
What is Togetherness?
Togetherness is designed to support parents at every stage of their journey from pregnancy through to adolescence. These courses empower parents to:
- Understand their child’s brain development and emotional health.
- Decode behaviours and respond effectively to foster positive interactions.
- Develop strong communication skills to nurture confidence, kindness, and emotional awareness in children.
Royal Navy Sailing Association: FREE sailing courses for 8-17 year olds – 2026 dates now launched
December 18, 2025
Wiltshire: December recycling newsletter including Christmas tree collections in January
Welcome to the special Christmas edition of Wiltshire Council’s waste and recycling e-newsletter!
This issue is packed with jolly tips and clever ideas to help you reduce waste, recycle right, and keep your celebrations green and bright. Let’s make this Christmas magical for you and sustainable for our planet!
This festive edition includes:
Please click here to read this edition online
- Household waste, recycling, and garden waste collections over Christmas
- Garden waste collections pause over Christmas
- Recycling centre opening times over Christmas
- How to recycle your real Christmas tree
- Still shopping? Sustainable shopping tips for last-minute buys
- Make sure you’re on the nice list by recycling right this Christmas
- Let’s sort advent calendars
- Festive monthly myth buster
Information provided by Colerne & Lyneham HIVE
New Awards Made under The Armed Forces Families Fund: The Early Years Programme
Speaking at the SciP Alliance conference in November, Minister for Veterans and People Louise Sandher-Jones reminded attendees that “Service is rarely an individual act. It’s a collective commitment shared and shouldered by a wide network of people who themselves have to develop the same qualities of strength and resilience that we ask of those family members serving in the military.”
But how does this translate to our youngest service children aged 0-5 years?
In the latest round of the Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme, The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has awarded 11 projects a share of just over £600,000 to tackle this challenge.
From SEND support and sensory spaces that build emotional wellbeing, to creating stimulating outdoor spaces that extend the learning environment for young service children at childcare settings. The Fund has once again shown the breadth of work taking place to ensure service children get the best start, despite the challenges of being part of a military family.
Getting out and active
Supporting service families at various sites across the country including RAF Valley, RAF Honington and RAF Shawbury, RAFAKidz is the largest provider of early years childcare to the RAF. They’ve received three awards in this latest round of funding to transform the outdoor learning environment at their settings - something they have recently received a National NMT Nursery Award for their Medmenham site in High Wycombe.
Josie Mapes, Executive Director of RAFAKidz, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the AFCFT and the MOD for awarding us these generous grants. We’re dedicated to creating environments where the children we care for can grow, play and thrive, and this funding will help us do that. We know from our other settings that having access to outdoor spaces is vital for children’s development and for teaching them about the natural world. RAFAKidz Valley and Shawbury are relatively new to the RAFAKidz family, so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to enhance the outdoor spaces at these settings, giving our children space to enjoy outdoor play.”
Supporting military families ‘needs
Scotland: Poppy Scotland Cycle Challenge
Your challenge is to cycle between different War Memorials in Scotland.
There's an incredible 4,900 to choose from!
You set the distance, the pace and the difficulty level and decide whether you want to cycle the physical route or complete the distance on a gym bike.
For more information visit www.poppyscotland.org.uk/get-involved/poppy-cycle-challenge
Information provided by Leuchars HIVE
Gloucestershire: Christmas Treecycling - register now!
Gloucestershire Longfield Community Hospice
Innsworth
Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice
Information provided by Lyneham HIVE
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