 |
 |
||
Bulletin Contents - 22 June 2010Listening to You: Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010 High Peak Women's Aid Services Vacancies Direct Services Manager Vacancy at Volunteer Centre Glossop VCS LAA Bulletin Issue 8 Out Now East Midlands Community Bank Social Enterprise Fund Delivering Learning Developing Skills New Government Changes to Vetting and Barring Scheme Coalition Government Plans and Policies for the Sector What's Behind the Big Society? Times of Change for Voluntary Sector The Cuts in Local Council Grants Opportunity for Small Charities to Get Films Made | ||
|
||
The Art of Tax!Two workshops have been lined up for High Peak artists and creative industries keen to ensure they do not fall foul of taxation laws. The first of the art and tax sessions takes place on Friday 2 July, offering a three-hour introduction to tax and National Insurance for people earning from their creative skills. Rated excellent by previous participants, the event will provide invaluable advice on issues including self assessment and maintaining accurate business records. The second workshop, on Thursday 23 September is a longer session offering a step-by-step guide to the completion of self assessment tax returns, calculation of tax deductible allowances and use of online forms. Both events are being organised free of charge by the Borough Council in partnership with High Peak Community and Voluntary Support (CVS), and HM Revenues and Customs. Said Tony Kemp, Executive Councillor for Regeneration: “Creative businesses and self-employed artists not only provide employment but also support tourism by adding to the cultural appeal of our area. However, working independently does bring pressures and we try to help by providing the sort of support that larger businesses would have in-house. For small businesses to survive and thrive they need to be aware of their tax responsibilities and avoid potential pitfalls. These workshops are the latest in a long series of free or low-cost events that underline our support for the entrepreneurs and small businesses that are the bedrock of our local community.” The first event runs from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm in the CVS offices at Whaley Bridge while the second workshop will take place in the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. To sign up for either event, call Louise at the CVS on 01663 736431 or send an email to louise@highpeakcvs.org.uk |
||
|
||
Listening to You: Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010Friday 16 July
10am to 2pm Free lunch included. Transport available from Glossop and Buxton. Have trouble making ends meet? We want to listen to your experiences as part of a national campaign to help find out what are the main difficulties people are facing and what is needed to help overcome them. Meet up with others and spend a morning sharing your experiences and talking about how you cope with some things, but other problems give you trouble. >> More information and booking form For further information contact Carol Evans, HPCVS, 1a Bingswood Industrial Estate, Bingswood Avenue, Whaley Bridge, High Peak SK23 7LY or at 07754 828570 |
||
|
||
High Peak Women's Aid Services VacanciesHigh Peak Women's Aid is a dynamic and evolving voluntary sector agency, providing the full range of domestic abuse services to women and children. They are now seeking to recruit a new Services Manager and have created a new post of Services Co-ordinator to work alongside her. Services Manager - 37 hours per week. The post holder will manage an ever-expanding team to ensure the delivery of high quality services. There is also potential challenge to develop the organisation further. Services Co-ordinator - 30 hours per week. The post holder will assist the Services Manager, have the ability to fundraise, mentor students on placement and develop a team of volunteers to enhance our existing services. Flexible working hours will be required to meet the needs of the post. For an information pack email gwa@f2s.com. If you require a hard copy, please send a LARGE SAE to: Closing date for completed applications is 12 noon on Thur 8 July. Interviews will take place week commencing Mon 19 July |
||
|
||
Direct Services Manager Vacancy at Volunteer Centre Glossop 21 hours per week Volunteer Centre Glossop seeks an enthusiastic manager to join their dedicated and creative staff team. You will be working flexibly to develop and drive forward our key services for people in the community. You will be supporting older people and people with disabilities to be independent and to access support. You will be customer focused, organised, have excellent communication skills and experience of working with vulnerable people. In addition you will have experience of managing people and meeting targets in either a paid or voluntary capacity. Application packs are available for download from www.vcglossop.org.uk or by telephoning 01457 865722. Closing date for applications is Monday 5 July 2010 at 12 noon. Registered Charity number 1067170. |
||
|
||
VCS LAA Bulletin Issue 8 Out NowAll the latest and most relevant news coming out of the Derbyshire Partnership Forum: Bringing People Together; Funding Forum; Frontline rep at the LAA; You said – 3D did!; LAA headlines; VCS Climate Change Network; LAA/CYP training dates |
||
|
||
East Midlands Community Bank Social Enterprise FundThe East Midlands has a loan fund of £197,000, very little of which has been allocated. If no-one applies for the funding then the pot of money will be returned to the government. However once the money has been lent to an organisation it will remain in the East Midlands and will be available for re-loaning in future. The application form has been slightly re-written and hopefully will be a bit more accessible and appealing. |
||
|
||
Delivering Learning Developing SkillsVoluntary and Community Sector Learning Provision and Partnerships Date: Monday 13 September 2010 The East Midlands Learning and Skills Partnership and the East Midlands Learning Support Network are hosting an event to promote the benefits of working with the Voluntary and Community Sector to deliver learning, skills and development opportunities. The event will include speakers and interactive workshops as well as opportunities for networking and partnership development. The presentations and workshops will give delegates the opportunity to find out and discuss more about a range of issues including:
Highlights will include the official launch of the East Midlands Learning Support Network and preliminary findings from the East Midlands VCS Workforce Development Project. For more information or to book places please contact jenna.shaw@consortium.org.uk |
||
|
||
New Government Changes to Vetting and Barring SchemeDespite headlines saying that the new Vetting and Barring scheme (VBS) – for England, Wales and Northern Ireland – has been halted, much of what the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has already started will go ahead, at least for now. This includes ISA's role in making independent barring decisions and maintaining the two constantly updated lists of those barred from working with children or from working with vulnerable adults. Employers are still legally obliged to refer information to the ISA if they have moved or removed an individual because they have harmed or there is a risk of harm to a member of a vulnerable group. Existing requirements concerning Criminal Records Bureau checks will remain in place, and those entitled to such checks can continue to apply for them. What has been stopped is the voluntary registration with the VBS for new employees and job-movers working or volunteering with children and vulnerable adults, which was due to start on 26 July. This is to give the government time to 'remodel' the scheme, so expect further announcements in the next few months. The mandatory registration of new employees and job-changes is still (currently) due to come in from end of October. The two current consultations on the scheme continue to 9 July, www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/ New CRB (purple) application forms prepared for the changes will still be introduced from 26 July. For more information, see Volunteering England summary at www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Policy/ISA+registration+halted.htm or ISA at www.isa-gov.org.uk One legal firm's views on the implications from Anthony Collins. Volunteering England has welcomed the review on the basis that the scheme can be "streamlined much further, reducing the unnecessary bureaucracy for volunteers", Home Office press release. Some news coverage: BBC news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10314055.stm and Third Sector www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/1010052/ and The Guardian. |
||
|
||
Coalition Government Plans and Policies for the SectorThe Government has started to provide more detail on plans which will directly impact on the voluntary sector (also now called civil society). The Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, has told Parliament that his department would work with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to reduce regulatory requirements. He said that "We are committed to clearing the thicket of bureaucracy that too often gets in the way of doing good", and is due to discuss this with the chief executive and chair of the Charity Commission (Third Sector news item www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1009038/ A new Structural Reform Plan for the Cabinet Office includes a section entitled 'Support the building of the Big Society', and summarised as "Encourage more Social Action and strengthen the voluntary sector through a programme to make it easier to run a voluntary sector organisation, get more resources into the sector and make it easier for the sector to work with the State". The plan includes announcing in September a "date for day to celebrate social action" and also inviting Parliament to create a Select Committee for Civil Society in November. The Plan can be downloaded (pdf, 217KB) at - The Futurebuilders investment programme to help voluntary groups bid for public service contracts is to end, with the repayment of loans going instead towards a new Communities First fund, which will support the creation of neighbourhood groups. Third Sector news item on the closure news at www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1009030/ and on the new fund at www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1008987/. According to the SRP, the Communities First fund should be in place by December 2010. Nick Hurd also said that the Capacitybuilders (helping sector support bodies develop) and v (youth volunteering) programmes were under review: "With v we want to be clear what we are funding and what we are getting back.” Civil Society Media www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/6766/ A Big Society Bank, "to provide new finance for social enterprises, charities, neighbourhood groups" with its money coming from dormant bank accounts, is due to make its first funds available from April 2011. This could provide working capital for voluntary organisations, presumably answering one issue around moving more to 'payment by results' while increasing the proportion of public services that are delivered by the third sector – see Regen Daily www.regen.net/bulletins/Regen-Daily-Bulletin/News/1009064/ on speech by Cabinet Minister Francis Maude. 3SC, the consortium set up to help put joint contract bids together, has highlighted that charities providing public services will need to develop new methods of financing to avoid major cash-flow problems, www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1009721/ |
||
|
||
What's Behind the Big Society?The Policy Team at umbrella body NCVO has produced a briefing on the government's Big Society concept, giving a short background, a summary of the key elements of the Big Society agenda and a short discussion of some of the emerging themes. Download in pdf, 123KB. In The Guardian's Public publication, an article 'Civic involvement needs more forward thinking' is about the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts (RSA) Citizen Power project. The two-year partnership between the RSA, Peterborough city council and Arts Council England is "to explore how citizen activism and community action might improve pro-civic outcomes and services for local people in Peterborough" and might be an example of Big Society thinking in action. www.guardianpublic.co.uk/civic-involvement-rsa-comment-mclean |
||
|
||
Times of Change for Voluntary SectorCarol Lawton of Chesterfield Links CVS reports from a national conference "Leading your charity through a time of change" organised by Action Planning on 9 June with 600 attenders. Francis Maude (Cabinet lead on voluntary sector) spoke on the "Big Society". He said three times "there is no money". He wanted to counter the argument that the model would only work in affluent areas. He said the fund would target deprived areas. He wanted "more resources for the voluntary sector" but not from the government. He wanted to foster "philanthropic giving" and "neighbourhood groups in deprived areas". On contracts, he said the new government was in favour of paying by results not on cost, working capital through social investment, and full cost recovery. Good evidence re outcomes was the key but accepted that competition will be fiercer. There will be undoubted new opportunities in education, crime and the environment. Suzi Leather, Chair of Charity Commission, followed, saying the next few years were going to be very tough. The cuts would be "quick and deep". The Charity Commission surveys are already showing the effects of the recession. By Sep 08 40% affected, by Mar 09 60% affected. She said "It is questionable whether the voluntary sector can fill the gap left by cuts". |
||
|
||
The Cuts in Local Council GrantsThe Department for Communities and Local Government has announced details of the cuts in its grants to local authorities. NAVCA, the national body for local sector support, has links to key spreadsheets and documents at www.navca.org.uk/news/cutsdetailforcouncils.htm |
||
|
||
Opportunity for Small Charities to Get Films MadeThe sixth series of the Media Trust's Volunteer Film-making scheme is open for applications, up to 26 July. It matches professional film-makers with small charities (up to £2 million turnover) to create short promotional films at a fraction of the normal cost. See www.mediatrust.org/volunteerfilmmaking or get an application form via 020 7217 3628 or volunteerfilmmaking@mediatrust.org From Community Newswire item at www.communitynewswire.press.net/article.jsp?id=6845941 |
||
|
||
Ideas and Guidance on Planning for the FutureThe Management Centre has created a website where sector experts can contribute their vision of how the not-for-profit sector might look in 2020. They hope this 'scenario planning' will stimulate discussion about the opportunities and challenges to come in the next decade and get organisations doing their own. The site also gives some guidance on undertaking scenario planning, which should be an effective way of anticipating and adapting to future uncertainty. At www.scenariosforchange.com (Source: UK Fundraising) |
||
|
||
The Big Lunch 18 JulyThe Big Lunch is calling on all neighbourhoods and communities across the UK to come together on Sunday 18th July.- www.thebiglunch.com |
||
|
||
|
||
 |
||
