Nottingham City Council has begun the 2022-2023 budget consultation process and now is the time to ensure your voice is heard.

An online event for voluntary sector and faith partners is scheduled for Tuesday 7 December 2021 from 9am to 10am via Zoom. Register your place here.

NCVS isn't hosting this event, but we will be attending to help get your questions and concerns answered. If you're unable to attend this (or any other) planned consultation session and have a specific question, or you would like to discuss in more detail how the proposals affect your organisation, please contact Jules Sebelin, NCVS Chief Executive Officer. Email juless@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

There are other opportunities to participate.

You can complete an online survey (as an individual or on behalf of an organisation) until 10 January 2022.

A series of other in-person and online events are planned between 30 November and 20 December, including events specifically targeting Play & Youth and Children's Centre service users, as proposals would leave some of these services at significant risk.

16 Days of Activism is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. This year's global campaign theme is "Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now!"

Nottingham Soroptimists have organised major buildings in Nottingham to be lit up in orange. The Council House, County Hall, The Playhouse, the Theatre Royal, the Castle, and Green’s Windmill are just some of the buildings that will light up orange.

Today (25 November) at 11am, orange scarves will be put on the lions in Nottingham's Market Square. Many women have knitted a length of these which will be joined together.

NCVS regularly receives enquiries from individuals looking to set up a new community initiative and wondering how best to go about this. If you're considering setting up a not-for-profit business with a social purpose but want to explore and discuss what the right structure for your organisation should be, then this is the course for you.

Our two-hour online session, called Setting up a Social Enterprise, will explain your options and provide you with some useful tips to help you through the process of registration and beyond.

Our next session takes place online via Zoom on Wednesday 8 December, from 10am to 12pm. You can find out more about this course and meet our experienced trainer David Saunders by watching this video. The course cost is £20 per participant.

Deadline for applications: 5pm on Friday 14 January 2022

Small, grassroots organisations (with a turnover of less than £10,000) are invited to apply for a Gender and Sexual Orientation Partnership Small Grant Fund.

Women's community organisations and LGBTQ+ community organisations based in Nottingham City can apply. Grants are usually for between £500 and £750.

This small grant funding is part of the Nottingham City Council Communities of Identity funding stream to Nottingham Women’s Centre and partner organisations. Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel and not by Nottingham Women’s Centre.

Guidance, tips and advice are available to help with your application.

Over recent years, many more funders have recognised the importance of supporting the core costs of organisations – helping to make them more resilient and able to respond to whatever life throws at them. Far fewer, however, have made the next step to unrestricted funding – a genuinely ‘no strings attached’ contribution that funded organisations can use as they wish.

The powerful message from voluntary sector leaders is that now is the time to make
unrestricted funding widespread and permanent.

'The holy grail of funding: why and how foundations give unrestricted funding' is a new report from IVAR (Institute for Voluntary Action Research) which argues that, whatever the constraints, it is worth funders asking themselves: can we go further in offering unrestricted funding?
Download the report here

This research into unrestricted funding has been carried out as part of IVAR's work to support open and trusting grant making. Over 80 grant makers have signed up to their eight commitments to fund charities in an open and trusting way.
Read more about this movement

A free webinar has been organised on Tuesday 30 November 2021, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm, to discuss the research behind this report. If you would like to participate, register your place via Eventbrite.

With Black Friday fast approaching (Friday 26 November), easyfundraising is encouraging Nottingham charities and community organisations to register with them now, in order to take advantage of people's increased online spending. It's a way to turn Black Friday into Give Back Friday.

NCVS partnered with easyfundraising earlier this year to tell you about this simple and easy way to raise money for your group or organisation. The fundraising website enables community organisations to generate an income by turning online shopping into donations.

Don’t leave it too late to register; it really is the best time of the year to collect free funding when people are likely to be shopping online more than ever. Find out more about easyfundraising and sign up with them through our NCVS easyfundraising partner page.

Wednesday 1 December 2021, 10am to 11am

This one-hour online session aims to share some ideas about how best to deal with the inevitable disagreements, personality clashes and conflicts that arise from time to time among a team of volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Tuesday 7 December 2021, 2pm to 3pm

A one-hour online session to help your volunteer role descriptions stand out, ensuring you attract enthusiastic volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 12 January 2022, 10am to 11am

This one-hour online session looks at methods that have proved to be effective in volunteer leadership, including the best ways to plan, involve, support and retain volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 26 January 2022, 10am to 11am

In this one-hour online session, we will identify some of the barriers that potential volunteers face to becoming involved in your organisation and share ideas to remove these barriers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 9 February 2022, 10am to 12.15pm

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

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 8 December 2021, 10am to 12noon

What is the right structure for your organisation? This new two-hour online session will explain your options and provide you with some useful tips to help you through the process of registration and beyond.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 25 January 2022, 10am to 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

Thursday 10 February 2022, 11am to 1pm

This two-hour online session covers the basic information for all trustees, whether you are new to the role or long-established.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 22 February 2022, 1pm to 3pm

This two-hour online session is intended for trustees who have completed our 'Being a Trustee' course and want to further develop their involvement and awareness of trustee duties.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 6 January 2022, 10.30am to 1.45pm

An online course giving a basic understanding of roles and responsibilities in the safeguarding of adults and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

The next course (19 January 2022) is now fully booked
Please look out for future dates or email ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk to be added to a waiting list.

An online course giving a basic understanding of roles and responsibilities in the safeguarding of children and young people and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 3 February 2022, 10.30am to 11.45am

An interactive online session for Trustees (or members of Management Committees) of organisations whose activities put them in contact with vulnerable adults or children.

Cost: £15 per participant

Thursday 24 February 2022, 10.30am to 1.45pm

An online course giving a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the Designated Safeguarding Lead Person.

Cost: £25 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).

Contact our coordinator Filipa Santos for more information by sending an email to enquiries@pdunottingham.org

Join our free online hub www.pdunottingham.org

Follow us on Twitter @NottinghamCVS #PDUNottingham.

Wednesday 15 December 2021, 4.30pm to 6pm
Free seminar from NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), online via Zoom

Deciding to close a service or a programme is hard. It can have a significant negative impact on the community it serves and the process can be emotional for all involved. It requires that charities take time to understand the needs of their beneficiaries, the impact their work has on them, and weigh these up against the costs of delivery and whether another organisation might be better placed to deliver them.

This free seminar, run by NPC in partnership with the Clothworker’s Company, explores what trustees will need to consider if they do decide to close one of their charity’s services or programmes, in order to minimise the impact of this closure on those the charity seeks to help. It is aimed at all trustees regardless of their experience.

Find out more and register your place via Eventbrite.

All sessions take place online and booking is via Eventbrite. For details of Equation's full training programme, visit https://equation.org.uk.

Safe Contact briefing
(free for Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County workers)
Thursday 2 December 2021, 1.30pm to 2.30pm
An overview of safe contact principles and practice when working with domestic abuse survivors.
Book your place here

Working with Men experiencing Domestic Violence and Abuse
(free for Nottingham City workers)
Tuesday 14 December 2021, 9.30am to 1pm
Book your place here

Raising awareness of so-called 'Honour-Based Abuse' and Forced Marriage
(free for Nottingham City workers)
Wednesday 5 January 2022, 9.30am to 1pm
Book your place here

Domestic Abuse in Same-Sex Relationships
(free for Nottingham City workers)
Tuesday 11 January 2022, 9.30am to 1pm
Book your place here

For 12 days this December – as part of their movement for good – the financial service company Ecclesiastical will be making £120,000 in donations to charities to help them deliver their vital work.

You can make a difference by nominating a registered charity or other eligible not-for-profit organisation. By nominating a charity, you will enter them in for the chance to win £1,000. Entry is free and must be made via the online nomination form. Each individual can only use the form once to make one nomination.

Ten winners will be drawn at random each weekday and nominations remain open until midnight the day before each draw. Draws take place each weekday from Monday 6 December to Tuesday 21 December 2021.

SFiCE Foundation is taking part in the National Emergencies Trust (NET) Local Action Fund. We reported on the funding opportunity in an earlier NCVS e-bulletin (30 September), where NET pledged to match fund every donation of up to £250, up to a maximum of £10,000, for successful applicants running a Crowdfunder campaign.

Any donations made as part of this campaign will go a lot further due to the match funding, so SFiCE is appealing for your support now. The SFiCE Crowdfunder is open until 12 noon on Monday 10 January 2022.

All funds raised will support people in need in the Nottingham area, whether they are experiencing food poverty, physical/mental health issues, unemployment or homelessness.

Nottingham Playhouse is reminding local audiences to get involved in discounted theatre events and a range of participation programmes.

The Hothouse scheme offers discounts to charities, not-for-profit organisations and services across Nottingham for selected 'Hotnights'. Eligibility for the Hothouse scheme is based on your organisation’s charitable objectives. Membership is free and gives you the chance to book tickets for just £7.50 each.
Apply for Hothouse membership here

From theatre groups to classes and workshops, Nottingham Playhouse offers a wide range of programmes for adults and community groups. This includes Theatre of Sanctuary, Nottingham Queer Arts Project, Nottingham Playhouse Choir and much more. Read more on the Nottingham Playhouse website.

Frontline is a social work charity working to ensure that all children in England have a safe and stable home, and that their life chances are not limited by their social or family circumstance. Frontline creates social change for children and their families by developing excellent social work practice and leadership.

Do you want to qualify as a social worker, or know someone who does? Nottingham placements are currently available through the Frontline programme, to start in July 2022.

The two-year, salaried social work training programme offers a unique opportunity to work directly with children and families, helping them make positive changes in their lives.

On the Frontline programme, you will qualify as a social worker and complete a fully-funded master’s degree. Intensive training and support will develop your skills in leadership, conflict resolution, analysis and relationship building, which will help you drive social change inside the social work profession and beyond.

Find out more and apply here. You are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as applications may close sooner than the national deadline of 16 December 2021.

The British Heart Foundation has linked up with ambulance services including East Midlands Ambulance service to set up a national database. This means that if anyone phones 999, the ambulance service knows where the nearest defibrillator is.

The Circuit is the name of the new online database run by The National Defibrillator Network which allows the ambulance service to access essential information about defibrillator locations across the whole of the UK.

Please register with the scheme if you are the site owner for a defibrillator. It is important that everyone takes part.

If you had registered a defibrillator previously with East Midlands Ambulance Service, you will be able to 'claim' this device and check the registered details are correct on The Circuit website.

The Advisory Committee deals with the recruitment and recommendation for appointment of Magistrates and may also investigate allegations of misconduct by Magistrates. Each Advisory Committee consists of both Magistrate and non-Magistrate members and should reflect the community it serves.

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Advisory Committee is currently seeking to recruit one non-Magistrate member.

Successful candidates will have good interpersonal skills and good judgement of character, and will possess the ability to interview candidates for the Magistracy.

These roles are voluntary, although travel expenses may be claimed, if appointed. Applicants must have time available to attend at least one full committee meeting per year, plus taking part in the sifting of applications (which may be done online) and at least 12 full-day interview sessions. Successful applicants must attend a two-day training session before they can take part in the work of the Committee.

Due to Covid-19, all interviews will take place online via Microsoft Teams.

For further information or to request an application form, please email:
NT-LegalAdminSupportTeam@justice.gov.uk

The deadline for applications is 12noon on Tuesday 7 December 2021.

Your views are important. If you missed reading information about the consultation process, please scroll up to the top of this bulletin. Details are in the first news item.

Nottingham Women's Centre is researching women’s perception and experiences of the police in Nottingham. A report will be written based on the findings, published on the Centre's website and shared with Nottinghamshire Police in January 2022.

Feedback is being collected through this anonymous survey and two focus groups. One takes place in-person at the Women's Centre (Monday 6 December from 11am to 12.30pm) and another one on Zoom (Tuesday 7 December from 7pm to 8.30pm). Please register for the focus groups.

More information is available on the Nottingham Women's Centre website.