We're delighted to announce that we've added two brand new training courses to our programme.

Thursday 9 September 2021, 10am-11am, online via Zoom

Free to attend

This free online briefing contributes to safeguarding knowledge and awareness. Join us for an overview of sexual safety within the context of local and national developments and the publication of the Sexual Safety Collaborative standards and guidance.

Sexual safety refers to the respect and maintenance of an individual’s physical (including sexual) and psychological boundaries. This briefing will be of particular relevance to those within health and social care voluntary and community sector services, although the briefing will be of interest to a wider audience and is open to all.

The briefing will be presented by Julie McGarry, Associate Professor at University of Nottingham and Research Lead for Sexual Safety at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Wednesday 20 October 2021, 10.30am-12.30pm, online via Zoom

Cost: £20 per participant

Do you manage a space, office or building? This new two-hour session will take your Fire Wardens and/or Fire Marshall through the basics. As a result, they will be better equipped to carry out these very important roles.

This session is suitable for trustees, staff and volunteers, in fact anyone who has an interest in the role of Fire Warden or Fire Marshall. It is relevant for those new to the role or anyone looking to refresh and update their knowledge.

Find out more and meet our Trainer David Saunders by watching this video.

easyfundraising is a simple way to generate additional income for your voluntary or community sector organisation/group.

The online fundraising platform enables people to support charities simply by shopping online. It does this by turning everyday online shopping into free donations for a nominated cause of the customer's choice.

Learn more in our free webinar

To help Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector groups find out more about easyfundraising and get their questions answered, we've teamed up with Becky Coleman, Senior Partnerships Manager at easyfundraising, to run a free webinar on Zoom.

The next joint meeting of our Children and Young People's Providers Network (CYPPN) and Vulnerable Adults' Providers Network (VAPN), will take place on Thursday 26 August, from 10am-12noon, on Zoom.

If you are a member of either network, don't forget to book your place to ensure you're sent instructions about how to join using Zoom.

If you have any queries about this event, contact ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations are invited to apply to the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund 2021/22. Now in its third round, the fund's theme for this year is tackling paediatric respiratory infections.

The aim of the fund is for VCSE sector organisations to provide advice and support to families and children’s services in order to strengthen national and local response to potential increases in paediatric respiratory infections, during autumn and winter 2021.

The fund is run by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Round two of the Freemasons Fund is now open. The fund provides grants of up to £2,000 for capital spend only.

Community and voluntary groups in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who deliver projects under any of the following themes can apply: Children and young people, older and vulnerable people, healthier communities and sustainable communities.

Round two will close for applications on Monday 6 September 2021.

The Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme is designed for small charities in the UK, especially those working at grass roots and local community level, in any field, across a wide range of activities.

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, is all about improving people’s mental health. Green providers, social prescribers, voluntary organisations and community initiatives will help connect many more people with nature-based activities, helping everyone to feel better.

Thank you to everyone who shared their park pictures with us for Love Parks Week (23 July-1 August). You can see a selection of our favourite photos above.

Love Parks Week might be over but we'd still encourage you to make the most of your local green space, when you can. Being more connected to nature and, through this, connecting with other people can be really good for our mental health and wellbeing, helping us experience lower levels of stress, fatigue and anxiety, among lots of other benefits. With Nottingham's green spaces making up 25 per cent of the city, there are lots of parks, play areas and nature reserves to choose from.

Find out about some of the green spaces and nature-based activities available in Nottingham, by visiting our website.

In my last blog, I suggested that the language that we use to talk about volunteering is important in valuing volunteers and in making it clear that there is a difference between volunteering and employment. I also admitted that I sometimes struggle to make that clear distinction.

In this blog, I’d like to explore three very commonly used concepts in volunteering and ask whether we can come up with alternatives. By examining the purpose of each of these steps in our volunteer recruitment process, perhaps we can start to develop some different words and phrases to reflect the differences between their use in volunteering and their use in the world of work.

Share your experience, give and receive advice and network with people who understand volunteers and volunteering at our Leaders of Volunteers Network (LoVN) meetings.

The next session will take place online via Zoom on Wednesday 3 November 2021, from 10am to 12pm. To register your place, please visit our website.

You can find out more about the network here. Any questions can be directed to Volunteering Development Officer Dave Thomas at davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

Wednesday 18 August 2021, 10am-12.15pm

A two-hour online course for Leaders of Volunteers to start to develop an understanding of some of the legal requirements that relate to your volunteering programme.

The course is suitable for staff and volunteers working with teams of volunteers and anyone with an interest in volunteering. It will be helpful for those who are new to working with volunteers or those with some experience who are looking to improve their understanding.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 19 August 2021, 10am-11.15am

For organisations and community groups who are new to applying for funding, or for those in need of a refresher. Relevant for groups applying for Covid-19 funding and recovery support as well as other general funding.

Cost: £10 per participant

Tuesday 24 August 2021, 10.30am-11.45am

Safeguarding responsibilities should be a governance priority and trustees have a duty of care to those involved in, or affected by, their activities.

This one-hour online training will cover the trustee role in safeguarding and reasonable steps to protect from harm those who are accessing services.

Cost: £15 per participant

The 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 multiple disadvantage (understood as a combination of mental ill-health, substance misuse, homelessness, offending and domestic abuse, among other issues).

Join our free online hub www.pdunottingham.org

Follow us on Twitter @NottinghamCVS #PDUNottingham.

Tuesday 21 September 2021, 10am-11.30am
Online via Zoom

Join us for a free online event exploring key learning on supporting people facing multiple disadvantage effectively through prison release.

This event will reflect on how the process of prison release can be improved to give the best chance for people experiencing multiple disadvantage to effectively transition and re-settle into the community. 

Audience: This webinar is aimed at professionals and volunteers from all sectors who support people facing multiple disadvantage with experience of the prison system. It may be of particular interest for those working in the criminal justice sector.

Tuesday 28 September 2021, 10am-11.30am
Online via Zoom

Join us for a free online event exploring the role of small community and faith based organisations in supporting people facing multiple disadvantage.

People facing multiple disadvantage experience a combination of issues including homelessness, substance misuse, domestic violence and abuse, offending and mental ill health. The complexity of their experiences means they often fall through the gaps between mainstream services and systems.

This event will reflect on the distinctive features of small community and faith based charities and what makes their responses effective in developing trusting relationships of support with vulnerable communities.

Audience: This event is aimed at any professionals or volunteers who are interested in good practice around supporting people who face multiple sources of disadvantage.

A new government backed pilot programme will fund 12 local areas across England, including Nottingham, to provide accommodation and expert support for victims of violence and abuse who rough sleep.

The £3.7 million Respite Rooms Trial Programme will create 140 bed spaces and support an estimated 1,100 people at risk of sleeping rough over a 12 month period. Single gender safe spaces will be included. 

Advocacy and support charity POhWER is providing a new mental health service for the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The organisation's role is that of a Community Mental Health Link Worker and they aim to deliver a wraparound service in the form of a social prescribing model that will add vital support for patients on discharge and transition between inpatient mental health settings and community or care home settings.

Pro Bono Economics has launched a Charity Tracker survey to uncover how your charity is feeling about lockdown lifting and how things have changed for your beneficiaries. Your contribution will help economists assess the health of the sector and understand what the path towards recovery looks like for charities.

The deadline for responses is this Sunday (15 August).

Following the changes brought forward by the new Domestic Abuse Act, The Home Office has opened a consultation on statutory guidance to be provided for implementing the revised definition of domestic abuse.

This guidance is intended to support the work of frontline professionals and institutional responses to domestic abuse.

The consultation closes at 11.45pm on Tuesday 14 September 2021.