We know this will have been a particularly challenging holiday period, not only for the people who use the services of our voluntary sector organisations, but for the organisations and people that work and volunteer with them too.

While the government has announced some new support packages, they simply aren’t enough and they aren’t targeted to those that need them most.

A new Energy Bills Discount Scheme will replace the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme. However, the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme had a package of £18.4 billion across six months and the new support scheme is capped at £5.4 billion across 12 months. NCVS will continue to work alongside our national organisations to fight for more resources for our sector to continue the critical work supporting society’s most vulnerable citizens.

NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) is holding some useful webinars in the next few weeks (details in the Events section below). You will also find resources addressing the cost of living crisis at the end of this e-bulletin. We are preparing a dedicated resource page on our NCVS website to gather support material in one place, as we did at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, and we'll promote that page link as soon as we can.

There is some good news amongst the gloom. To date, the Robin Hood Fund that launched with partners in November last year has raised over £25,000. In the week before Christmas we were able to release £20,000 to provide direct support to Nottingham residents and families. The first £10,000 was distributed to the foodbank network through Hope Nottingham. The next £10,000 was distributed to the Advice Centres to purchase supermarket vouchers for clients, through the St Ann’s Advice Centre.

Thank you to the generous people and businesses in Nottingham for making this happen! Special thanks to Simon Bristow for donating £15,000 of proceeds from his book Freed from Desire (Our Glorious Banners), a photo anthology of the Nottingham Forest promotion year. We would also like to thank Experian for a generous donation of £5,000. Keep in touch with news of the Robin Hood Fund on our website.

Please continue to tell us the challenges you are facing through this difficult period. The information you give us does help our national partners to give an accurate account to government when lobbying for more resources. It also helps our local partners understand the significant contribution you are making in supporting public services, to build a case for better investment.

Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board is considering a set of new saving and income proposals to deliver £29 million towards balancing Nottingham City Council’s budget for 2023-2024. There are a number of ways you can make your voice heard before the consultation period closes on Wednesday 25 January 2023.

In recent years, NCVS had hosted a joint event with One Nottingham to ensure that voluntary and community sector partners have a range of opportunities to engage with the proposals. The consultation period this year is quite tight - proposals were only announced publicly on 20 December 2022. So, we were unable to commit to host this time.

You may already have received an invitation to One Nottingham's in-person engagement event which takes place tomorrow, Friday 13 January 2023 from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, at Loxley House, Station Street NG2 3NG.

We encourage you to participate in One Nottingham's event, if you can. Please register here. If you have any difficulty registering, please email Lorel Manders, One Nottingham's Partnership Manager: lorel.manders@onenottingham.org.uk.

Alternatively, you can view the full engagement calendar of events on the Nottingham City Council website. There is a mixture of in-person and online events. There is also an online survey.

Thursday 2 February 2023, 11am to 12.30pm
Online via Zoom

Nottingham City Council is currently reviewing its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy. As voluntary and community sector organisations are key partners, NCVS is hosting this online engagement session to invite your essential and valued views.

Join us for a conversation with Saema Mohammad, Nottingham City Council's Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Lead, where there will be a presentation and a chance to share your views. Your input is needed to help shape the EDI ambitions for 2023-2028.

The current EDI strategy can be viewed online at
https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/media/3082686/equality-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2020-2023.pdf

It would be useful if you could give thought to the following in advance of the meeting:

1. What are the main EDI issues for the city and its communities?
2. Where could Nottingham City Council affect positive change in relation to these issues?
3. What EDI actions / issues should Nottingham City Council prioritise over the next four years (2023-2028)?

Please email ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk if you have any questions about this event.

A Memory Club has been set up following the well-received and well attended Dementia Awareness session that NCVS Community Engagement Coordinator, Kashmeera Gorecha, ran last year at The ICCA, supported by Alex Julian, the local Mental Health and Dementia Commissioner.

Sessions start on Tuesday 7 February 2023 and will run fortnightly from 1pm to 3pm at The ICCA, Hucknall Road, Nottingham NG5 1QZ.

This is a free session, open to adults with health issues that affect their memory, such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, post-Covid or menopause memory concerns. The partnership is between the Alzheimer’s Society, Trent Bridge Community Trust and the ICCA and the club is aimed at harder to reach groups, focusing on the South Asian community and other BAME groups. However, all are welcome, including carers.

There will be free refreshments, access to low impact physical activities such as board games, Carrom, playing cards, bowls and table tennis and an opportunity to socialise in a friendly and supportive place, all with the aim of improving mental health.

Please share this poster with your contacts.

Please contact Kashmeera at NCVS if you have any questions. Email kashmeerag@nottinghamcvs.co.uk or call her on 07933 136750. Kashmeera is helping to raise awareness of mental health services, particularly amongst South Asian communities in Nottingham.

A number of Nottinghamshire residents, including people well-known to the VCSE sector, have received awards in the King's New Year Honours.

Clive Daniel Foster, senior minister of the Pilgrim Church, The Meadows, and Patricia Jean Cargill, chair of the Patient Partnership Group, a Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) group, are among those to have been recognised, for services to the Windrush generation and NHS patients respectively.

Clive Foster has been awarded an MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire - for services to the Windrush generation and says he was "humbled" to be awarded. Clive has been instrumental in many community initiatives and NCVS recently partnered with him in support of a Nottingham Majority Black-Led Churches community health engagement project.

Trish Cargill, who gets a British Empire Medal, or BEM, has been a "driving force" at NUH, working passionately to improve health care for patients. Trish Cargill from Cotgrave is Chair of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) which works with the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust. She was volunteering with the Trust when her son Chris was born with severe, complex needs and required 24-hour care. Unfortunately, Chris sadly died four years ago.

You can see photos of Clive and Trish, and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire honours list in full in this Nottinghamshire Live news article.

The campaign group Excellence Not Empire is calling for the honours system to change so that Order of the British Empire changes to Order of British Excellence. It argues that this would make the honours system more inclusive, and be a move to acknowledging Britain’s colonial past.

Nottingham Arimathea Trust (NAT) and Host Nottingham are pleased to announce their merger from 1 January 2023.

The merged charity will retain the Nottingham Arimathea Trust name and identity, with Host becoming one of its projects but retaining the Host branding and identity to ensure the benefits of Host’s name and local profile are not lost.

Host becoming an integral part of the NAT organisational structure will create greater flexibility and connectivity between the hosting scheme and longer-term accommodation in shared houses. This will strengthen the support journey and move on options for the people the projects serve.

Crucially, NAT’s larger size provides greater flexibility and funding resilience and gives hosting a stronger voice in today’s challenging funding environment.

Deadline for applications: 11.59pm on Thursday 19 January 2023

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) mpox (monkeypox) and sexual health (STI and HIV) outreach and engagement fund is intended to support voluntary sector organisations to develop and deliver work to address inequalities in underserved LGBT+ populations. This includes maximising uptake of the mpox vaccine and increasing access to STI and HIV testing.

Voluntary and community sector organisations can bid for up to £30,000 per project to develop and deliver outreach and engagement projects for health protection interventions. This might include, for example, projects to:

• ensure under-served eligible populations can access vaccinations for mpox and for other sexually transmissible infections
• improve knowledge, understanding and access to STI/HIV testing, HIV PrEP and other preventative interventions
• reduce stigma associated with mpox, STIs and HIV and offer culturally competent ways of addressing sexual health within LGBT+ communities.

All projects and spend will need to be completed by 31 March 2023. A panel made up of representatives from UKHSA and Government Equalities Office will assess the bids.

Deadline for this round of applications: 5pm on Tuesday 31 January 2023 (or earlier - see below)

The MSE Charity is a grant-making charity, launched in May 2008 by founder of the acclaimed Money Saving Expert website, Martin Lewis OBE. It is dedicated to supporting UK voluntary groups deliver financial life skills, which make a lasting impact on the way people think, behave and manage their money. All grants are below £7,500.

The themed grant in this round is for projects focused on building financial capability skills assisting groups who support children, youth and families. This includes:

• Schools-based work
• Migrants
• Lone parents
• Victims and survivors of domestic abuse
• Family outreach services

This grant round opened on Tuesday 3 January 2023, and will close at 5pm on Tuesday 31 January. Or earlier if they have already accepted 40 applications. Each grant round is limited to the first 40 accepted applications, so please apply early in the month to ensure your application is considered.

First deadline for applications: Sunday 19 February 2023

This is a new pilot fund at The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) aimed at grassroots social movement groups working on transformative change. It aims to put more power into the hands of those working to address inequality and injustice, and create new systems that put equity, justice and peace first.

The work and leadership of grassroots social movements to challenge the profound and connected inequalities in our society is vital. But movements suffer from a lack of funding, infrastructure, and access to resources and networks. JRCT’s Grassroots Movements Fund has been created in response to these gaps to support the sustainability of movement work.

The Fund has around £1 million which they aim to redistribute over two funding rounds in 2023. The Fund will make grants of between £10,000 and £70,000 to every successful application. Grants can cover up to a two-year period.

To apply, groups must meet these five criteria:

1. Be based in the UK with work primarily focused in the UK.
2. Be a not-for-profit organisation.
3. Have systems for making decisions and managing money.
4. Be able to demonstrate they are part of a grassroots movement.
5. Be able to demonstrate they are working towards transformative change.

Deadline for applications: Sunday 26 February 2023

The Community Action Fund exists to support grassroots campaigning and community organising in the UK. It will provide one-off grants between £2,500 and £20,000. These grants are available to grassroots organisations that are building the power of their community and campaigning for long-term change.

The Community Action Fund is open to UK-based organisations that are:

1. Rooted in and accountable to their community.
2. Hoping to achieve long-term change on issues affecting the lives of their community.
3. Addressing injustice by building the power of their community. For example, through community organising, campaigning, or democratic engagement.
4. Lacking the resources to take their vision to the next level.
5. Seeking to build a larger us and resisting the politics of division.

The Community Action Fund prioritises organisations led by people with lived experience of the injustice they are trying to overcome.

Deadline for applications: Friday 30 June 2023

The Sport England Small Grants Programme aims to support local community sport projects that encourage people to feel able to get involved in sport and physical activity.

Grants of £300 to £15,000 are on offer for a twelve-month period.

Applicants do not have to be a sports organisation to apply and a wide range of organisations are eligible including sports clubs, community groups, charities, CICs, schools and local authorities. Sport England is particularly interested in the applicants’ knowledge of and track record in the community that will benefit from the project.

The fund will support projects delivering recognised sports and physical activity and can cover costs such as:

• Coaching
• Volunteer training
• Service alterations
• Additional equipment.

Applications should consider how the project adds value to services currently available in your local community, and work collaboratively with other groups to maximise the impact of the project.

The East Midlands Railway (EMR) Community Fund is available to apply to throughout the year. Projects should take place within 15km of an EMR managed station.

Charities, community groups, sports and youth organisations are eligible to apply. Please read the full activity goals and eligibility criteria on the EMR website, where you will also find examples of previously funded projects.

Volunteer Local places volunteering at the heart of local communities. Through regular drop-in sessions in local community venues, NCVS promotes volunteering and volunteer development and provides opportunities to talk to our team in-person.

Individuals can come and talk to us (no appointment is necessary) about their interests and skills, and be guided through the full range of volunteering opportunities that are available locally. We're also happy to meet colleagues from local groups and organisations during these sessions, to discuss issues you may be facing.

We have some changes for 2023.

• The Bulwell session is now on a Tuesday afternoon, from 1.30pm to 4pm, still at Bulwell Riverside, Main Street, Nottingham NG6 8QJ.
  
  
• The St Ann's session continues on a Wednesday afternoon, from 1.30pm to 4pm, but has a new venue. You can now find us at The Chase Neighbourhood Centre, Robin Hood Chase, St Ann's, Nottingham NG3 4EZ.

By taking our team and our wealth of information about how we can support volunteers and voluntary / community groups into the heart of local communities, we want to encourage many more people to take up volunteering and help groups get the support they need to run, grow and develop.

The next Leaders of Volunteers Network (LoVN) meeting takes place on Zoom on Tuesday 24 January 2023 from 10am to 12 noon.

This is an online networking meeting for anyone with an interest in managing, supporting or leading volunteers.

Please ensure you register to attend so that you are sent the Zoom meeting link.

You have probably seen the news that bus fares are being capped at £2 for a single journey. This could be a good time to remind your volunteers to take advantage of the lower price by buying separate tickets to travel to and from their volunteering instead of the all-day ticket. This benefits your organisation's budget as well as the volunteers' initial outlay.

Please remember that you should always get receipts or tickets for volunteer expenses and only pay the expenses they have actually incurred. Paying more than this can affect volunteers' benefits, tax and potentially their employment status.

If you want to know more, please call Dave Thomas, our Volunteering Development Officer, on 07564 040767 or email 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, is one of seven government Green Social Prescribing Test and Learn sites. It's 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.

If you didn't see the latest GreenSpace bulletin (issue 11) before the Christmas break, you can catch up with the latest news now. The GreenSpace team round up some of the significant events during 2022 and say a big thank you to everyone who is contributing to green social prescribing.

Take a look inside the latest bulletin for details of a green social prescribing network event on Monday 23 January 2023.

There is still time to register to attend this free NCVS event on Monday 23 January 2023, from 1pm to 3pm.

This face-to-face networking opportunity will take place in 03 Committee Room on the Ground Floor of Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG. Full instructions about accessing the venue will be sent to all registered participants.

Join us to meet representatives from The National Lottery Community Fund, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Severn Trent Community Fund and more.

This is your chance to: 

• hear presentations about the latest funding strategies and calls for applications
• ask questions and provide feedback on the funding needs of the VCSE sector
• network across the sector, meeting new organisations and people
• learn about the group development and funding support which NCVS may be able to offer your organisation / community group.

You must register to secure your place so that we have an up to date list of participant names, as you will be required to sign in at the venue.

If you have any questions, please email ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) is holding a series of online webinars (via Zoom) to help voluntary and community organisations navigate their way through the cost of living crisis.

These events are free for NCVO members. There may be a charge for non-members, so please email networks@ncvo.org.uk if you need to check your eligibility to attend.

Working effectively with funders during the cost of living crisis
Tuesday 17 January 2023, 12.15pm to 1.30pm
Join NCVO and the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) to hear how UK foundations and grant makers are responding to the cost of living crisis. You’ll also come away with practical tips to help you work effectively with funders.

Managing your charity's finances through the cost of living crisis
Tuesday 7 February 2023, 2pm to 3pm
Kick start your financial management review by joining this webinar with the Charity Finance Group (CFG). You will be provided with some tips on managing your charity’s finances through the cost of living crisis.

How to manage rising energy costs, what next for charities?
Thursday 9 February 2023, 11am to 12.15pm
Following the government’s review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, join NCVO and their trusted supplier Utility Aid to understand what this means for charities and keeping costs down in the face of the energy crisis.

Friday 24 February 2023, 10.30am to 2.30pm
Atrium Corridor, Bulwell Riverside, Main Street, Bulwell, Nottingham NG6 8QJ

Family Fund is the UK’s largest charity providing grants for families raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people.

They provide grants for a wide range of items, such as washing machines, sensory toys, family breaks, bedding, tablets, furniture, outdoor play equipment, clothing and computers. It can be a struggle financially, emotionally and physically for families raising a disabled or seriously ill child, and these grants help break down many of the barriers families face, improving their quality of life and easing the additional daily pressures.

Drop in to learn more about a range of support services, grants and information available to you, your disabled child or young person and wider family. Meet Family Fund and other local and national charities and get guidance regarding making a Family Fund application.

Let Family Fund know you’re attending, or simply turn up. For any questions, please email events@familyfund.org.uk or see more on the Family Fund website.

Tuesday 31 January 2023, 10.30am to 12.45pm

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

Tuesday 28 February 2023, 10.30am to 12.45pm

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

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 16 February 2023, 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

Wednesday 25 January 2023, 10.30am to 12.30pm

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

Wednesday 22 February 2023, 10am to 12.15pm

A new interactive hands-on workshop for organisations and community groups who want to practice their skills and would welcome constructive feedback to further develop their skills in writing successful funding applications.
Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 15 March 2023, 11am to 1pm

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

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 18 January 2023, 10.30am to 12.30pm

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

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 7 February 2023, 10.30am to 12.30pm

Are you acting as secretary or note taker, or do you need to record meetings? Learn how to take effective minutes and make your task easier. This two-hour online session replaces our previous face-to-face three-hour course and will take you through the process of producing a 'minute'.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 15 February 2023, 6pm to 8pm

This new two-hour online session will explain the basics of health and safety, then take you through the process of carrying out a risk assessment in an organisational environment.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 21 March 2023, 10:30am to 12:30pm

What is the right structure for your organisation? This 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 17 January 2023, 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

Wednesday 8 February 2023, 10am to 12 noon

For some time, we’ve been asked about training that goes beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers. In this new two-hour online session, we’ll explore some of the real-life issues that you are facing.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 26 January 2023, 6pm to 7pm

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

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 multiple disadvantage (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.

We are always looking for new members to join us and increase the range of voices making a difference with us. Would you like to get involved in shaping the activities and direction of the PDU and our learning offer?

The PDU is supported by a Steering Group, attended by a range of representatives from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire based services, as well as experts by experience. This group provides invaluable advice and perspective to ensure the learning offer provided by the PDU is relevant, innovative and reflective of the best practice available around working with people who experience multiple disadvantage.

It's very important that our Steering Group membership is representative of the wide system and diverse workforce that supports people experiencing multiple disadvantage, in particular its five key domains: homelessness, substance misuse, mental health, domestic abuse, and criminal justice.

If you would like to talk about joining the PDU Steering Group, or other ways you could get involved with us, please contact our PDU Programme Manager, Katie Hall. Email enquiries@pdunottingham.org or call 07483 449557.

Our next session is on Zoom on Tuesday 17 January 2023 from 1pm to 3pm.

Do you have a passion for, and commitment to, empowering people who experience severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) through employment and skills led recovery and resettlement?

This session will focus on strengths-based approaches to delivering employability.

Come together with local practitioners and volunteers with lived experience in a vibrant but informal space, to work through issues with peer support and gain new ideas.

Email enquiries@pdunottingham.org to be added to the invite list.

Our next session is on Zoom on Thursday 9 February 2023 from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.

This session will focus on increasing understanding of the diagnostic criteria used to identify autism, specifically DSM-5.

Autism criteria can be confusing. It describes autism in terms of deficits which cause many people to misunderstand what autism is. It also fails to recognise areas of opportunity and strength. Because of the ways in which it is written, the DSM description of autism may not resonate with people who are autistic. In this session we will be discussing each of the criteria points and what this might look like for a person who is autistic.

This session hopes to give participants a better understanding of what autism actually is and debunk common misconceptions often associated with people who are autistic.

Email enquiries@pdunottingham.org to be added to the invite list.

Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council have announced their new training offer in partnership with Harmless to provide free mental health awareness, suicide prevention and self harm training.

Suicide prevention and self-harm training is available to people working/volunteering for organisations/groups in Nottingham City or Nottinghamshire County.

Mental health awareness training is currently only available to people working/volunteering for organisations/groups in Nottinghamshire County.

Booking is open for the first series of training events between January and April 2023. More sessions will follow from April 2023.

Visit Harmless Let's Talk Training on Eventbrite to view all dates and book your place. Places are limited and some course dates are already full, so do book early to ensure you get a place.

If you think your organisation needs more bespoke training or you would like to organise specific sessions for your organisation, please email suicide.prevention@nottscc.gov.uk for an initial discussion.

Thursday 26 January 2023, 1pm to 2pm
Free to attend (you will need to register as a user of the Charity Digital website)

Since 2001, Charity Digital has been committed to helping UK charities and non-profits unlock maximum impacts through digital tools.

Join Charity Digital's Head of Marketing, Chris Hall, who will simplify everything you need to know, providing a step-by-step guide to the perfect digital strategy.

Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board is considering a set of new saving and income proposals to deliver £29 million towards balancing Nottingham City Council’s budget for 2023-2024.

There are a number of ways you can make your voice heard before the consultation period closes on Wednesday 25 January 2023.

Don't forget to sign up to attend this online engagement event which is being hosted by NCVS on Thursday 2 February 2023, from 11am to 12.30pm. More details are in the News and Views section above, or click below to read more and register now.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Nottinghamshire is a public body working on your behalf to ensure your safety – by holding the police to account and commissioning third sector organisations to help prevent crime and support victims.

To improve the user experience, the OPCC wants to refresh the website at https://www.nottinghamshire.pcc.police.uk. If you can help, please fill out this survey to share what your priorities are.

No deadline is stated for responses. Please share your views at your earliest convenience.

Charity Digital has launched a survey to better understand where charities stand on climate change in 2023. The findings will inform Charity Digital’s latest campaign aimed at improving sustainability in the charity sector and will help identify steps charities can take to tackle climate change in the future.

All data will be processed and published anonymously.

No deadline is stated for responses. Please share your views at your earliest convenience.

Deadline for responses: Wednesday 1 February 2023

2022 was quite a challenging year. If you haven't yet taken the SMK Annual Campaigner Survey there is still time. Have public attitudes shifted? Has your relationship with decision-makers changed? Has your confidence to campaign increased or declined?

For this survey, SMK is interested in any activity designed to create social change, whether to policy, law, attitudes or behaviours. SMK is interested in campaigning by civil society. This includes all kinds of non-profit-making groups (including charities, community groups, social enterprises), and volunteers, who act collectively or individually to press for change.

The SMK Annual Campaigner Survey is the only research to track how things are shifting for people involved in social change. The results have been covered in the Guardian, offered as evidence to Select Committees, and form an important part of work defending civic space.

Closing date for applications: 12noon on Friday 10 February 2023

These services are being commissioned by the Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Violence Reduction Unit (NNVRU) – part of the Nottinghamshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). The objective is to support children and young people who may be at risk of involvement in serious violence with improved mental health and wellbeing and improved behaviours, thus reducing the risk factors associated with violent crime and helping to build community resilience.

The tender process is led by Blue Light Commercial and registration will be required to access the full tender application and also to ask any clarification questions.

View the tender information here.

Further tailored support for providers with the application is available via https://go4growth.co.uk and https://go4growth.net-positive.org.

Named contacts:
Gillian Askew – gill@go4growth.co.uk or 07534 114271
Lauren Siddons – lauren@go4growth.co.uk or 07557 773837

Closing date for applications: Friday 3 March 2023

The application process is now open for this year's scholarship. Nottingham Roosevelt Memorial Travelling Scholarship (NRMTS) is a Nottinghamshire based charity, established in 1946 by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Francis Carney, and US President Dwight Eisenhower in recognition of the contribution made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in ending World War II.

Open to individuals living and/or working in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, the scholarship exists to unlock the potential of 21-35 year olds by immersion in American society, industry and culture, so they can realise their aspirations and benefit the wider Nottinghamshire community.

Successful applicants will be funded to spend six weeks in the USA investigating a project of their choice.

Closing date for applications: 5pm on Friday 27 January 2023

nfpResearch is a leading market research agency in the not-for-profit sector. They have launched this new award to help one small charity in the UK achieve its research goals.

This is an opportunity for a charity with an income under £1 million to receive a £10,000 research project for free. The nfpResearch team will work closely with the successful charity to design a research project to fulfil your charity and research objectives.

As an example, £10,000 could cover:

• A survey with supporters and 10 in-depth interviews
• 3 to 4 focus groups with supporters
• A survey with the general public
• A stakeholder perception project.

Are you looking for some "Data First Aid"?

Pro Bono Economics (PBE) can provide charities with pro bono support from a dedicated volunteer economist to help with your ad hoc data needs. This might include data analysis or visualisation, spreadsheet tasks or short pieces of research.

Any charity, community group or social enterprise with a presence in the UK can apply for the help of PBE’s volunteer economists in this way. Charities can receive approximately 1-5 days of support over a period of up to 5 months.