The Volunteers' Week 2023 Celebration Event took place on Saturday 3 June in the Arboretum, where 30 organisations came together in the sunshine to celebrate together.

It was a fine, but slightly chilly morning at 8am when the first Nottingham City Council and NCVS team members arrived to set up. The crew from the gazebo company were setting up the rows of stalls, the Portaloos were delivered and very soon the first of the stallholders arrived.

As the day drew on, the sun showed its face and stayed around for the whole day. By 11am, the stalls were full and there was a buzz as volunteers, Leaders of Volunteers, and other organisation staff put the finishing touches to their stalls.  

It was also great to see Leaders of Volunteers from several organisations that didn’t have stalls, and a number of City Councillors came along to join in the fun.

By 3pm when the party ended, most stallholders told us that they had enjoyed the day and had spoken to several potential volunteers.

Thank you to all. The NCVS team is proud to celebrate with you.

A request for feedback from all stallholders has gone out, but if you were there and would like to feedback about the event, please contact our Volunteering Development Officer, Dave Thomas with your comments. Email davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

You can see a list of organisations represented as stallholders in our full report on the NCVS website.

The next joint meeting of the Children and Young People's Providers Network (CYPPN) and the Vulnerable Adults' Providers Network (VAPN), hosted by NCVS, will take place on Thursday 15 June 2023, from 10am to 12 noon, via Zoom.

You will hear about:

• The new Culturally Specific Gambling Addiction Support Service provided by Al-Hurraya
• Updates on the latest developments within health and social care structures (the Integrated Care Strategy and 5 year Forward Plan, the VCSE Provider Alliance, the VCSE Barometer and the importance of data)
• Opportunities to feed in views and experiences to help shape the future of social prescribing.

There will also be time for general information-sharing.

If you would like to attend the meeting, please register to ensure you are sent the Zoom meeting link.

In our last e-bulletin we brought you news of all the workstreams you can now take part in to help shape the services around social prescribing. Ruthe Sawyer is leading on this work for NCVS and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

One of these opportunities is for voluntary and community organisations to book a stallholder place at the first face-to-face Social Prescribing Link Worker Conference for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. We want this to be an opportunity for link workers to connect with the VCSE sector, see all the fabulous work you do, and understand how to link people to relevant services and activities.

The event is at Notts County Football Ground, Meadow Lane NG2 3HJ on Thursday 29 June 2023. Stall holders are invited to setup between 11am and 11.30am, and the event will finish at 3.30pm.

We now have an online booking form you can complete to secure your stall.

Please email Ruthe at ruthes@nottinghamcvs.co.uk with any questions.

Expressions of interest are invited until Monday 7 August 2023

The Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Caroline Henry, is calling for innovators to apply to her new Make Notts Safe Innovation Fund. The PCC wishes to use this fund to support truly new and innovative project ideas which aim to make a real difference to local communities.

The fund will enable organisations to think differently and develop original solutions to
localised problems.

Information and guidance workshops are being held on Tuesday afternoons (3pm to 4pm) from 20 June to 18 July 2023.

Submit an expression of interest by 9am on Monday 26 June 2023

Charities, social enterprises and other organisations conserving historic buildings can now express interest in taking part in the Heritage Development Trusts programme. This three year scheme is being delivered by The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) through a £5 million partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

As part of this programme, 10 to 13 organisations across the UK will be supported to become financially sustainable Heritage Development Trusts through funding, advice and support.

The Architectural Heritage Fund is running an online session to help people understand the programme and learn more about how to apply on Wednesday 14 June 2023 from 10am to 11am. Register here.

Shortlisted organisations will be invited to submit a full application between July and
September 2023, with decisions expected in December 2023.

Boots Charitable Trust is an independent registered charity wholly funded by Boots UK. They have recently refreshed the application portal, and you can find updated information on their website.

They fund registered charities benefiting people who live in Nottinghamshire. They will also fund smaller voluntary organisations whose income and expenditure is less than
£5,000 per year and who are not yet required to register with the Charity Commission. Applications are only accepted via their online application process which must be accompanied by your latest annual report and detailed accounts.

Please read further criteria on the Boots Charitable Trust website.

Trustees meet quarterly to review applications and there are four application windows each year.

The next application windows are:

• 1 to 31 August 2023. The trustee board meeting will take place in October 2023.
• 1 to 30 November 2023. The trustee board meeting will take place in January 2024.
• 1 to 29 February 2024. The trustee board meeting will take place in April 2024.
• 1 to 31 May 2024. The trustee board meeting will take place in July 2024.

The size of each donation generally ranges from £100 - £10,000 (per year). Organisations can apply to the Trust for funding again if 12 months have passed since the date of the last funding or declined application.

Deadline for applications: 5pm on Thursday 31 August 2023

The Lloyds Bank Foundation funding programme dedicated to d/Deaf and Disabled people's organisations is now open for applications.

Under this funding programme, eligible small and local charities with an income of £25,000 to £500,000 will be able to apply for a three year, unrestricted grant of £75,000 alongside capacity building support.

To be eligible for this funding, your charity will:

• be led by the communities you serve (d/Deaf or Disabled)
• provide advice and/or advocacy on social security
• deliver services that meet the individual needs of the Disabled people you support.

A webinar and live Q&A panel to discuss the eligibility criteria for this funding, the application process and more is being held on Wednesday 21 June 2023 from 10.30am to 12.15pm. Register here.

Deadline for applications: 12 noon on Friday 21 July 2023

Are you part of a community business and open to exploring tech-based solutions to meet some of the challenges your community or business face? Are you interested in a community tech approach, where you can work in the open to create technology that you have control over, which meets your organisation’s needs and aligns with your values?

You do not need to be a tech expert to apply to this fund. Running over six months, the Discovery Fund will provide 20 organisations with £10,000 each to undertake their own discovery work. To help them in this process, all organisations will be offered a
place on CAST’s digital design programme, ‘Community Explore’. Participants will be guided and fully supported through the process of working out their idea.

A webinar is being held on Tuesday 13 June 2023 from 6pm to 7.30pm to explain more. Register here.

The Community Ownership Fund Round 3 expression of interest (EOI) is open for applications until 11.59pm on Wednesday 12 July 2023.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has announced changes to the £150 million Community Ownership Fund, to make it easier for communities across the UK to take over local assets that are at risk of closure.

Previously only available to charities and community groups, the Fund is now also open to applications from parish councils.

The amount of funding all projects can bid for will be increasing to £1 million, and the requirement for match-funding is being reduced to as low as 10%, making it easier for communities to acquire assets such as sports clubs, music venues and historic buildings without raising additional private funding.

We have a new double-sided A5 flyer you may wish to share to explain the benefits of volunteering and encouraging people to get involved.

It guides people to the NCVS website where there are hundreds of volunteering opportunities to choose from in Nottingham and surrounding areas, hosted by many different organisations (including yours, we hope). Our contact details are also given for people who may not have digital access.

We'll be taking printed copies out and about. You can download a digital version now!

To celebrate Volunteers' Week, Improving Lives recorded a show with BBC Radio Nottingham, explaining how the charity started and telling the stories behind some of their volunteers.

You can listen to the recording online until 30 June 2023. (You will need to sign in with a BBC account - free to register.)

Events take place between Thursday 8 June and Sunday 25 June 2023.

Nottingham is celebrating the extraordinary contribution of the Windrush Generation to our city. This year is a significant time as it marks the 75th anniversary of the ship HMT Windrush coming to the UK in 1948.

This is a great opportunity  to thank the Windrush Generation for overcoming great sacrifice and hardship and celebrate their descendants who have gone on to lead the field across Nottingham’s public life, in business, the arts and sport.

Thursday 15 June 2023. 4.30pm to 6pm
Poppy and Pint pub, Pierrepont Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5DX

Nottinghamshire Disabled People’s Movement (NDPM) is a local campaigning organisation, consisting of members with any disability and from all areas of Nottingham or Nottinghamshire. They are inviting all who are interested to their Annual General Meeting (AGM). A Zoom link will be made available for those who are unable to attend in person.

Email info@ndpm.org.uk, or phone/text 07855 713241 for more information.

Wednesday 14 June 2023, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Online via Zoom, free to attend

This event, organised by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), is an opportunity for participants to learn about what they should be thinking through to identify and understand potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence (AI), and get past the hype to practical insight.

Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and machine learning, and whether they’ll revolutionise every field of human activity. Do they present opportunities or threats to the charity sector and philanthropy? Should we be readying ourselves to jump in and embrace their benefits, or working out how to avoid their harms?

Wednesday 21 June 2023, 10am
Online via Zoom, free to attend

The cost of living crisis is far from over, and millions of households are still reporting going without essentials, and falling into debt. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has been tracking the impact that the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have had on the financial position of low-income households over the past 18 months.

In this webinar and report, Senior Economist Rachelle Earwaker will provide an overview of both the financial and health and wellbeing impacts of the last six months for struggling households.

Wednesday 12 July 2023, 10am to 12.30pm

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

Wednesday 26 July 2023, 10am to 12.30pm

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

Wednesday 30 August 2023, 10am to 12.30pm

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

Cost: £25 per participant

Wednesday 16 August 2023, 6pm to 7.30pm

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 5 July 2023, 6pm to 8pm

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 18 July 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

Monday 12 June 2023, 6pm to 8pm

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

Tuesday 7 November 2023, 6.30pm to 8.30pm

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 16 January 2024, 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 21 June 2023, 10.30am to 12.30pm

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

Monday 3 July 2023, 6pm to 8pm

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 19 September 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 cost of living funding and recovery support as well as other general funding.

Cost: £10 per participant

Thursday 29 June 2023, 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 14 June 2023, 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

Wednesday 5 July 2023, 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

Thursday 21 September 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

Tuesday 5 September 2023, 10am to 12 noon

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.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 20 July 2023, 10am to 11am

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

Cost: £10 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 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 held a full day workshop earlier this week, kickstarting a further Gambling Related Harms learning series that will be delivered via the PDU as monthly one-hour online workshops.

These will deep dive on topics that began to be explored in the day workshop. You can register for these events now at the links below:

• Cost of Living - Wednesday 5 July 2023, 10am to 11am
• Screening - Wednesday 2 August 2023, 10am to 11am
• Affected Others/Women - Wednesday 6 September 2023, 10am to 11am
• Cultural responsivity - Wednesday 4 October 2023, 10am to 11am

We welcome individuals with lived experience of Severe Multiple Disadvantage (SMD) to attend, as well as professionals and volunteers from all sectors.

Though attendance is free, advance booking is essential.

Download our events poster to share within your networks.

Free to all voluntary sector staff in Nottinghamshire
at My Sight Notts, 26- 28 Heathcoat Street, Nottingham NG1 3AA

This training will help you engage more effectively with clients who have visual
impairments, providing effective support for patients and ensuring your information and services are accessible. It will also raise awareness of the Low Vision equipment, advice and support currently available and introduce some of the new technology providing essential support for people with sight loss.

The interactive and informative session will involve group work, presentations and
personal experiences of living with sight loss.

Available dates:

• Tuesday 13 June 2023, 6pm to 8.30pm (registration from 5.45pm)
• Friday 16 June 2023, 1pm to 4pm  (registration from 12.45pm)
• Wednesday 21 June 2023, 6pm to 8.30pm (registration from 5.45pm)

More dates will be offered later in the year.

Training is funded and supported by Health Education England’s LTCP Innovation Fund and is available free of charge to all health care professionals and voluntary sector staff practicing within the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) footprint.

Places are limited. For more information and to register your interest, contact
My Sight Notts. Tel: 0115 970 6806. Email info@mysightnotts.org.uk.

Free access is available online until 23 June 2023

Nottinghamshire-based healthcare professionals and voluntary sector staff can now access a free eLearning course to develop their knowledge of visual impairment and give them the practical skills and confidence needed to effectively assist people with sight loss.

‘Seeing Beyond the Eyes’ has been developed by Visualise Training and Consultancy in partnership with My Sight Nottinghamshire, funded and supported by Health Education England’s LTCP Innovation Fund.

Topics include: sight loss facts and myths; eye conditions and their effects; emotional impact; certification and registration; accessibility; assistive technologies; communication mobility and sighted guiding.

The course also highlights how to refer patients for vital support in Nottinghamshire and the surrounding areas.

To access the course, go to:
https://visualise.thinkific.com/courses/notts-seeing-beyond-the-eyes-cpd-for-optical-and-healthcare-professionals
Click on the ‘Click here to access’ button and follow the instructions to enrol.

Wednesday 21 June 2023, 9.30am to 11.30am
Online via Microsoft Teams, free to attend

Do you work with survivors or perpetrators of domestic abuse? Are you a social worker, strategist, manager, or just want to learn more about technology and domestic abuse? This session will aim to equip you with information, knowledge, and guidance on the use of technology as part of domestic abuse, known as ‘tech abuse’.

Technology is driving new forms of domestic abuse with the countless ways it can facilitate a perpetrator’s coercive and controlling behaviours. This is a practice and tech-focused network event that will help you to build skills for supporting survivors or working with perpetrators of domestic abuse.

The session is hosted by Equation and will be led by guest speaker, Dr Julia Slupska, who will present her research on “networks of care” based on interviews with advocates who support survivors of technology-enabled abuse. The session will cover:

• Best practices for supporting survivors in tech abuse cases
• Establishing trust, safety planning, empowerment, and demystification
• Supporting evidence collection and making referrals.

If you have anything you would like to share during this network meeting in relation to tech abuse then please email techabuse@equation.org.uk by Monday 19 June. This can be anything from an upcoming event or a helpful tech abuse tool you have found to be useful in your line of work.

Friday 23 June 2023, 10am to 2pm
Marcus Garvey Ballroom, Howitt Building, 221 Lenton Boulevard NG7 2BY
Free to attend

This Conference is organised by Mojatu Foundation in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University and other organisations tackling female genital mutilation (FGM) globally.

It will bring together local, national and international speakers and delegates comprising of FGM survivors, FGM campaigners, members of the practicing communities, religious leaders, local authorities, health and education specialists, women’s organisations, the police, journalists, and other multi-disciplinary professionals. The conference is a fantastic network opportunity for the above groups and also an opportunity to learn from others.

Dates are available from now until the end of August 2023
Delivered online via Microsoft Teams, free to attend

Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) have commissioned Harmless to deliver a range of funded CPD accredited, evidence based training courses in:

• Mental Health Awareness
• Suicide Prevention / Intervention
• Suicide Bereavement
• Self Harm Awareness

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is offering free trauma-informed training to community groups working with forcibly displaced people.

This three-part training series will explore the causes, consequences and ways to support refugees (at the individual and organisational level) to cope and overcome trauma and toxic stress and rebuild their lives in the UK. The training also covers practical tips on how to embed community building and social emotional learning (SEL) in organisational activities and ways of working.

A maximum of two people per organisation can register their interest for this online funded training. Dates in June and July 2023 - register interest asap.

AXA and Business in the Community are partnering to deliver fully funded Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion training.

This is a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England course, provided for free to voluntary sector organisations, funded through a partnership with AXA. Typically, the course would cost approximately £135 per person.

AXA’s Head Coaches programme aims to support youth leaders working with small community-based voluntary sector organisations, with approx.50 employees or under, to develop a greater knowledge of common mental health issues. This Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion course will be delivered over two half-day sessions online.

Do you have an hour a month to meet online and help shape mental health services in our local system?

People with lived experience of mental health issues are being asked to join the co-production journey to help expand the successful NottAlone.org.uk website for all ages. They would like to hear your views on content, design and accessibility to make sure it is the best it can be.

For more details, please contact Carrie Lambert-Smith, Mental Health Commissioning and Transformation Manager for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB). Email carrie.lambert-smith@nhs.net.

Pride Month is a vibrant and inclusive celebration that honours the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, history, achievements, and the ongoing struggle for equality.

Every June since 2008, people from across the UK have celebrated Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month. Through celebration, education and raising awareness, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month helps to tackle prejudice, challenge myths and to amplify the voices of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in wider society.

This year the theme is “Weaving Journeys: A celebration of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller lives, histories and cultures”.

The theme focuses on patterns of travel, spanning across the past, and leading to the future. It will ask and feature where Romany Gypsy, Roma, Irish Traveller and other nomadic communities have travelled before, and where people would like to travel next, as a celebration of cultures and traditions.

To help you get involved, resources are freely available on the Friends, Families and Travellers website.

Inspired by the late Jo Cox MP and her message of unity, twice a year people are encouraged to come together in their communities and make new connections.

On the weekend of 23-25 June 2023, Great Get Together events around the UK will celebrate what unites us and reject division.

If you'd like to get involved, an organiser toolkit can be downloaded from the website.

Applications / nominations close on Friday 30 June 2023

Applications are now open for the UK Social Enterprise Awards – the biggest celebration of the leading lights in the social enterprise movement.  

As well as the award for overall Social Enterprise of the Year and the ‘One-to-Watch Award’ recognising a pioneering start-up business, there are categories for social enterprises leading the way in particular fields, from education and training to public services. The awards will also recognise social enterprises tackling the climate crisis as well as those working to promote equality, diversity, inclusion and justice. 

For the first time, there is a specific award recognising the 'Social Enterprise Innovation of the Year', shining a spotlight on creativity in the sector. 

The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony taking place at the Roundhouse in London on 30 November 2023.

The survey is open until Monday 3 July 2023

Leaders of small and medium-sized charities are encouraged to share their views on the sector’s management training capacity. Cranfield Trust’s research project follows the recent closures of sector infrastructure bodies the Small Charities Coalition (SCC) and the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI).

Survey findings will contribute to a publicly available research report that assesses voluntary sector management and leadership training. Findings will also be used to inform the development of training that meets the sector’s needs.

Deadline for responses: Monday 14 August 2023

The Home Office has issued a call for evidence on the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse. They are keen to get responses from voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and charities working with children and young people.

Questions of particular importance to the VCSE sector include:

• Should mandatory reporting apply only to individuals, only to organisations, to both, or to all adults?
• Should mandatory reporting extend beyond child sexual abuse to all types of abuse and neglect?
• What impacts might this have on individuals / organisations with this reporting duty?