International Women’s Day (IWD) is a day to celebrate the women of the world, past and present, and their achievements, as well as act as inspiration for future generations. On the note of inspiration, this year's theme is Inspire Inclusion. People are invited to use #InspireInclusion and #EmbraceEquity to honour this theme. 

To celebrate, Nottingham is playing host to a variety of activities, workshops, and events. Click the button below to see how you can get involved!

Deadline has been extended to Sunday 10 March 2024

NCVS recently informed you that City Place-Based Partnership (PBP) is seeking expressions of interest for two programme leads to take on joint leadership of the Race Health Inequalities programme. The time commitment is estimated to be approximately 1-2 days a month. The deadline for expressions of interest has been extended to Sunday 10 March 2024.

 Full details of the role and how to apply are available here.

Thursday 14 March 2024, 10am to 12 noon
Online via Zoom

This is the new name for the combined networks which used to meet as the Children and Young People's Providers Network (CYPPN) and Vulnerable Adults' Providers Network (VAPN).

NCVS will be hosting and facilitating a varied agenda, with presentations, collaborative workshops, and time for networking.

Topics on March's agenda include:

• Hot topic: Impact and response to funding cuts
  This will involve a JamBoard exercise to give all the opportunity to contribute and to assist group discussion.
  
  
• Homeless Health Network
  Presentation by Katie Hall, Practice Development Unit (PDU) Programme Manager at NCVS. 
  
  
• Thriving Nottingham (growing the social economy)
  Jules Sebelin, Chief Executive Officer at NCVS will introduce a new collaborative partnership between Nottingham Trent University’s (NTU) National VCSE Data and Insights Observatory and NCVS, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). 
  
  
• Working Well East Midlands
  Presentation by Stacey Foster, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) Health and Work Partnership Manager, based with Nottingham City Council. 

Please register to ensure you receive the Zoom meeting link. If you have any questions about this event, please contact ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk 

In our last e-bulletin we announced two further sessions on Building Resilience in Ethnically Diverse Communities. It is not too late to book onto one of these sessions.

This training is fully funded for Nottingham organisations. Our priority audience is paid members of staff, trustees, and volunteers from Nottingham VCSE sector organisations, particularly those that serve ethnically diverse communities.

• Wednesday 17 April 2024 at Broadway Cinema, Broad Street, NG1 3AL. The session is repeated so please choose either the morning or afternoon session.
  • Morning session - 9.30am to 12.30pm. Register here.
  • Afternoon session - 1pm to 4pm. Register here.
    

If you have any questions about this training or have a booking query, please call 0115 934 8400 or email ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has outlined the government's tax and spending plans. The plans include amendments to gift aid legislation and a continuation of the Household Support Fund for another six months. 

Click the button below to read more on the report, as well as responses from Civil Society organisations.

Nottingham Canal and River Trust has received new funding from Sport England for its new initiative to help women from the Black community in Nottingham feel more confident around water. The programme is running for twelve months and will be a great opportunity for Black women to learn to swim.

For more information, please contact Carol Burrell, Community Wellbeing Coordinator, at carol.burrell@canalrivertrust.org.uk or on 07586 969753.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 2 April 2024, 12 noon

McCarthy Grants has launched its Spring Grants programme for 2024, which is aimed at organisations supporting the elderly. With grants of up to £7,500 available for organisations providing direct person-centred interventions for people aged sixty-five and over.

McCarthy Stone Foundation has recently updated their guidance notes, and although they will accept applications from organisations working outside areas of deprivation, they will prioritise organisations that do. 

To apply, please click here. It is advised to read the updated guidance notes carefully before making an application.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday 26 March 2024, 12 noon

The Re-Rooted Fund provides organisations that specialise in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK with grants of up to £20,000, available for three to five years.

Organisations should align with the following priorities:

• Services and support for refugees and asylum seekers.
• Influencing and advocacy focusing on safer routes and improved outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers.
• Or a combination of both.

Re-Rooted will consider funding applications that include legal advice and support; however, this should not be the sole focus of the organisation.

Comic Relief predominantly funds charities; specific information can be found in the eligibility questionnaire; and proposals can be made by single organisations or a partnership of two or three organisations. Organisations are welcome to include collaboration with government organisations, but Comic Relief does not fund government organisations.

Application guidelines can be found here; to see a list of FAQs, please click here.

Check your eligibility here; completing the eligibility questionnaire will lead to the online application form.

There are no deadlines for applications, however, decisions will be made on a quarterly basis in March, June, September and December.

The Strengthening Communities fund provides grants of between £20,000 and £70,000 per year for projects running for up to three years (for projects that run for less than three years, clear reasons must be given). Whilst The Henry Smith Charity primarily fund charities, they will fund non-profits like Community Interest Companies (CICs) or constituted community groups if they can explain how they would use the funding for charitable purposes. The fund can be used for running costs such as rent, overheads, salaries and small capital items. 

To apply, organisations must:

• Be grass-root, community-led and work in, or immediately next to, an area within the top 10% most deprived areas in the UK. To see if you're eligible, please click here.
• Have an annual income of between £20,000 and £500,000.
• Be established with a track record of at least eighteen months in their local area.

The application process can take up to six months. To read the full funding guidelines, please click here.

There are multiple deadlines for applications:

• Thursday 14 March 2024, to be considered in June 2024
• Thursday 4 July 2024, to be considered in October 2024
• Thursday 14 November 2024, to be considered in February 2025
  

The Weavers' Company has two grant streams available for charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs), and in exceptional circumstances Community Interest Companies (CICs). Small grant funding is capped at £5,000, while their main grant funding is uncapped (applicants are advised to research typical grant sizes previously made, these can be found here). There is no minimum or maximum restrictions on the size of your organisation, although the Weavers' Company recognise that it may be easier for smaller organisations to demonstrate impact.

The Weavers' company have the following priority areas:

• Supporting Offenders into work.
• Helping specific groups within the criminal justice sector.
• Supporting young people (secondary area).
  

The grant can be used for pilot projects, general funding, core costs, continuation funding, etc. 

For further advice and information about the company’s charitable grants or if you would like an application form to be sent to you by e-mail, please contact the Charities Officer, Mrs Anne Howe, either by phone on 020 7606 1155 or by email at charity@weavers.org.uk.

Volunteers' Week serves as a platform to celebrate, promote, and support volunteering, recognising it as a fundamental pillar of social cohesion, community resilience, and positive social change. This year, for the first time, it runs from Monday 3 to Sunday 9 June. In this blog post Dave looks at ways organisations can celebrate Volunteers' Week effectively and within budget! 

Wednesday 20 March 2024, 10am to 12 noon, via Zoom

Manage, support or lead volunteers? Join Dave, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, for our next online networking meeting designed for people to share experiences, give and receive advice and network with people who understand volunteers and volunteering. 

If you have any questions about LoVN or this event, please contact Dave Thomas at davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

Green social prescribing is a way of connecting people to nature-based activities and green groups, projects and schemes in their local community for support with health and wellbeing. Often this will be through a referral from a Link Worker based at a GP practice or another primary care professional.

Our scheme in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, called GreenSpace, was one of seven government Green Social Prescribing Test and Learn sites.

While the National Test and Learn may have ended, NCVS continues to embed green social prescribing into health systems to make nature-based/outdoor activities an intervention of choice to support people to improve and maintain their mental and physical health and wellbeing.

The latest GreenSpace bulletin is available to read.

You can view it in your web browser now. If you would like to receive future issues directly to your inbox, please email greenspace@nottinghamcvs.co.uk with a request to be added to the mailing list.

If you wish to share any events or stories happening in your organisation, or relating to green social prescribing or nature-based activities, please get in touch with the GreenSpace team. The deadline for submissions for the next bulletin is Monday 25 March 2024.

Sunday 24 March 2024, 11am to 3pm
Formal Gardens in Wollaton Park, NG8 2AE
There is a booking fee of £1.10 per person for entry

National Asian Arts Council (NAAC), is bringing communities together to celebrate the Festival of Colour 2024.

Through the use of coloured powers, the festival honours fertility, a bountiful harvest, and the triumph of good over evil.

Visitors are not permitted to bring their own coloured powders into the park due to its historic status and for the safety of all attendees and the animals. On the day, appropriate coloured powder will be available for purchase, with the proceeds going to charity. Alternatively, guests are welcome to bring flower petals—as long as they are made solely of naturally dried flowers and not powdered.

The event is hosted in partnership with the Sanskriti Association of Nottingham, BollyTunes, and Tandav Events. The music will include performances by the academy and NAAC students.

Friday 17 May 2024, 8.30am to 4.30pm
The Atrium, 99 Hucknall Road, Nottingham, NG5 1QZ

Nottingham University Hospitals is hosting a free to attend Mental Health Integrated Care Conference, with a specific focus on health inequalities.

Speakers include: Anthony May, CEO Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; Ifti Majid, CEO Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust; Dr Derek Tracy, Medical Director, West London NHS Trust and Senior Lecturer Kings College, London and others. The day will include talks on mental health collaboration, the relationship between art and trauma and fostering empathy, civility and well-being. An Indian buffet will be provided along with tea and coffee. A full agenda is available on the Eventbrite link below.

Al-Hurraya will also be providing a bite-sized session at the conference about cultural competence and mental health. NCVS is partnering with Al-Hurraya to provide training sessions separate to the conference on Building Resilience in Ethnically Diverse Communities on Wednesday 17 April 2024. You can register for one of the two sessions here.

Sunday 10 March 2024, gates open at 9am

Nottingham's annual 10K run will be held this Sunday. Runners will leave Old Market Square and finish at Nottingham Castle. The run will be a great opportunity to donate to the many charities running to fundraise. For more information, including information about the route, road closures, and travel information, please click here.

Thursday 11 April 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding adults and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Wednesday 24 April 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and young people and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Tuesday 28 May 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the role and responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead Person for an organisation working with vulnerable children and young people.

Cost: £25 per participant

Tuesday 14 May 2024, 6pm to 7.15pm

This online training explains your safeguarding responsibilities as a trustee for an organisation working with vulnerable adults or children and young people.

Cost: £15 per participant

Wednesday 17 April 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training covers the basic information that all trustees should know.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 15 May and Wednesday 22 May 2024, 10,30am to 12.30pm

This online training, delivered across two (two-hour) sessions, will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become the meeting chairperson you want to be. Your booking will automatically register you for both sessions on 15 and 22 May 2024.

Cost: £40 per participant

Tuesday 21 May 2024, 10am to 12.30pm

This online training will give you the opportunity to practice your skills and receive supportive and constructive feedback, helping you to develop your ability to write successful funding applications further.
Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 19 June, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training takes you through the basics of being a Fire Warden/Fire Marshal and will prepare you to carry out this very important role.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 4 June 2024, 6pm to 8pm

Learn the basics of taking effective minutes in this online training – and make note taking easy.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 11 June 2024, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training will teach you the basics of health and safety, and explain the process of carrying out a risk assessment in your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 21 March 2024, 10am to 11.30am

Learn our top tips for writing funding applications for your organisation or community group in this online training.

Cost: £10 per participant

Tuesday 9 April 2024, 6pm to 8pm

This online training will refresh your knowledge as a trustee, update you on current issues, improve your personal skill set and help you develop your role for the benefit of your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 28 March 2024, 10am to 11am

Identify barriers to volunteering and develop ideas to minimise and remove them during this training, to ensure your organisation isn’t missing out on great volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Thursday 23 May 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training, previously called “How to be a Better Leader of Volunteers”, takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will explore some of the real-life issues that you’re facing as a Leader of Volunteers.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 12 June 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will challenge you to consider the difference that volunteers make to your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 23 April 2024, 10am to 12 noon

In any group of volunteers, there’ll be occasional disagreements, personality clashes and conflicts. Although these are hopefully rare events, this updated, online training will prepare you for when they occur.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 2 July 2024, 10am to 11am

Start your journey into the exciting and rewarding world of volunteer leadership with this online training that explores the volunteer journey from start to finish.

Cost: £10 per participant

Thursday 9 May 2024, 10am to 12 noon

Although the law has little to say about volunteers and volunteering, what it does say is important. This online training will help you develop an understanding of some of the legal requirements that relate to your volunteering programme.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 10 April 2024, 10am to 11am

Are your volunteer opportunities struggling to attract people, or people with the right interests and skills for your organisation? This online training will teach you how to enhance your volunteer role descriptions and make them stand out.

Cost: £10 per participant

The Practice Development Unit (PDU) aims to promote and facilitate collaborative learning and the sharing of good practice among professionals and volunteers from all sectors, in Nottingham and neighbouring areas, who work with people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD). This is understood as a combination of mental ill-health, substance misuse, homelessness, offending and domestic abuse, among other issues.

Contact Katie Hall, our PDU Programme Manager, for more information: enquiries@pdunottingham.org

Join our free online hub www.pdunottingham.org

Follow us on Twitter @NottinghamCVS #PDUNottingham.

Wednesday 13 March 2024, 10am to 12 noon

An online forum for professionals, volunteers and people with lived experience of severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) who are passionate about employability, skills led recovery and resettlement, or new to this area and curious to learn more.

The theme for this session is 'Ask the Experts - DWP'.

For a poster to share with your networks, please click here.

Thursday 18 April 2024, 10am to 12 noon

An online forum for professionals, volunteers and people with lived experience to consider ways for services to more effectively meet the needs of their neurodiverse clients. While not considered a core tenet of severe multiple disadvantage (SMD), a significant percentage of beneficiaries supported across the Changing Futures programme are neurodivergent.

The theme for this session is 'Navigating Vulnerability: Understanding the Increased Risks for Neurodivergent Individuals'.

Children's Bereavement Centre is pleased to announce new training dates for professionals working with children experiencing bereavement or grief. 

There are the following sessions available:

• An introduction to childhood bereavement and grief.
• Working creatively with bereaved children to support difficult emotions.
  
• Understanding childhood bereavement and grief.
• Communication through play.

There is a charge for the training sessions, starting at £95. For more information, please email Kate Baxter at kate@childrensbereavementcentre.co.uk.

Free training for parents and carers is available free of charge and can be accessed through this link.

Be U Notts is offering free online children’s sexual exploitation training. Participants will learn how to recognise the signs of abuse, understand child safety, create strategies for effective communication, and understand the legal framework surrounding child protection.

• Wednesday 13 March 2024, 2pm to 3pm. Register here.
• Wednesday 13 March 2024, 6.30pm to 7.30pm. Register here.

Equation is looking for Early Years Practitioners in Nottingham City and County interested in free training on how to identify and respond to domestic abuse. The training will explore the links between domestic abuse and trauma, identifying domestic abuse in children, responding to domestic abuse, supporting survivors of domestic abuse, among other topics. 

Please contact training@equation.org.uk to find out more. Equation has also produced a booklet with useful information, further research and contacts that practitioners may find useful.

Wednesday 13 March 2024, 12 noon to 1pm
Online via Teams

On International Bystander Awareness Day, join Communities Inc for an afternoon of Stand by Me Bystander Intervention training and learn how to be a better ally. The training is fully funded and free to attend.

Stand by Me empowers people to tackle hate and assist victims through safe bystander interventions. The training session will help you identify what you can do to help others so that no one has to suffer from hate alone.

Everyday Plastic is joining with Greenpeace UK to run The Big Plastic Count, the UK's largest investigation into household plastic waste. Participants will be asked to count their plastic waste from Monday 11 March to Sunday 17 March 2024, and submit their results online. The results will highlight the urgency and scale of the plastic problem and convince UK ministers to lead the way in phasing out plastic pollution. 

There is a page of additional information for groups as well as resources to be used throughout the week. You can sign up here. 

Pro Bono Economics (PBE) is able to provide charities with pro bono support from a dedicated volunteer economist to help them with their ad hoc data needs. 

Charities can fill out a submission form with all their data needs; this will be checked by PBE, who will then (if suitable) advertise the request and match it with a volunteer economist who will then work with the charity to fulfil their needs.

PBE can provide between one and five days of support over a period of five months for any charity, community group, or social enterprise.

Nottingham City Council has pledged £15,000 capital funds to help create a Wellbeing Hub at the Lenton Centre. 

The funding is part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to improve venues, facilities or premises that will be used to support economically inactive and long-term unemployed residents to progress into work (Employment Support fund) or support the development community engagement activities (Community Development fund). If you would like to support this project, donations can be made on the Spacehive website.

To discuss your own ideas for a project, please contact Danny Goodwin at ukspf@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is looking for organisations who might be interested in offering a real-life business related challenge to our postgraduate students.

Do you have an area of work that would benefit from some fresh thinking? 

The students can apply the most current business theories to real-world challenges such as: 

• How to effectively attract and retain a robust volunteer team?
• Delivering services in another area and wanting an assessment of the area and a review of the risks and benefits.
• Support related to the financial aspects of organisational change.
• What are other similar organisations doing well and what can be learned from them?
• Review HR practices with a focus on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

However, they are also happy to tailor a project to your needs if they feel it is something that the students could do well.

For more information contact Caroline at nbsstudentprojects@ntu.ac.uk  or visit the NTU webpage for more details and case studies of previous projects.   

The Renewal Trust is asking people to complete the RT Big Survey to help them plan for the future and improve their spaces. They would like to know what is important to you, regardless of whether you have used Renewal Trust services or attended their events.

Closing date for the survey is Friday 26 April 2024, 11.45pm

Nottingham City Council has made a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2028. As part of their ambitious work to become more sustainable, they are making changes to their procurement strategy to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the items they buy.

To help them plan their future contracting activity and the support they offer to suppliers in the area, the Council is asking current or potential suppliers to provide information regarding their businesses' carbon emissions and carbon reduction plans. 

The survey should take five to ten minutes to complete.