You will be aware that, last month, Nottingham City Council's chief finance officer issued a Section 114 Report due to the council not being able to deliver a balanced budget for the current year. You can find latest updates to explain the Section 114 Report situation on the Nottingham City Council website.

A report to the council’s Executive Board on 19 December 2023 has now set out a range of initial proposals put forward by council officers to make savings needed to close the budget gap and balance the budget for the next financial year 2024/2025. This is a legal requirement for all councils.

Proposals include removing the council contribution towards Area Based Grants to the voluntary and charity sector and grants to arts organisations and the cultural sector. A public consultation will take place before any final decisions are made when the budget for 2024/2025 is set in February.

NCVS is meeting with Area Based Lead organisations before Christmas to assess the initial and longer-term impact on our local communities and citizens. We will be inviting a co-ordinated response from all voluntary and community organisations to emphasise the value of the essential and cost-effective services delivered by our sector.

Further updates will be shared as more information becomes available.

Pictured: NCVS Trustee Mike Khouri-Bent presents Maxi Leigh with the Black Achievers' Community Award

NCVS sponsored the Community Award at the 2023 Black Achievers Awards held in October. We reported on the event in an earlier e-bulletin, but we're delighted to now share a photograph of the occasion, alongside Maxi's reaction.

Maxi Leigh is founder and managing director of Support for Survivors, a Nottingham charity which supports men and women abused in childhood. Maxi is so deserving of this award - always moving forwards through challenging times and sacrificing aspects of her own life to support others.

Maxi said: "We started off as a talking group with the help of NHS and Self Help UK. It was most important that I contacted NCVS, for their expertise and guidance setting up, and this was around the year 2012. Looking back, I just wanted to create a safe space, for victims and survivors to come together. We are now working on our National Sexual Violence Standards."

Maxi continues to participate in networks facilitated by NCVS, particularly the Leaders of Volunteers Network (LoVN) and Nottingham Voluntary Sector Provider Network, and notes that Dave (NCVS Volunteering Development Officer) was "instrumental in helping with my volunteer training and recruitment process".

One of the messages she is eager to emphasise is that the voluntary sector must be recognised and acknowledged for supporting our communities where statutory services are not able to.

"I could not have possibly achieved this award without the support of NCVS, Self-help UK and former CEO Professor Mike Cooke NHS - you totally believed in me and mentored me. As a woman of colour, you never know how you are going to be received. Thank you NCVS for recognition and the years of support you've given to other voluntary sector organisations, Support for Survivors Charity and me."

All involved in Support for Survivors, including Maxi, are volunteers. It's no surprise that Maxi celebrates her win by taking time to praise the charity's other volunteers: "To my beautiful team of volunteers who work over and beyond to give back to others. They all came to me traumatised but are now empowered to give comfort and hope to victims and survivors suffering in silence."

We thank you, Maxi. Read more at https://supportforsurvivors.org

To help us all stay informed about the support services available during the Christmas holiday season and throughout the winter months, information is being collated and regularly updated by Glen Jarvis (Service User & Carer Involvement Officer, Nottingham City Council Public Health Department).

Google Drive is being used to host the master document this season. You don't need an account to access the document. To reflect Christmas opening times, it will continue to be updated up to Friday 22 December.
Access the latest version on Google Drive.

In the New Year, information specific to Christmas will be removed and it will be kept up to date as a winter information sheet.

The document aims to cover Nottingham city and Nottinghamshire county information.

Please send any information you would like to be included to glen.jarvis@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Many residents may be struggling this winter to deal with increasing household bills, as the cost of living crisis continues, and the days become colder.

Nottingham City Council, partners, community and voluntary organisations, have opened up a number of buildings as warm spaces for any resident to freely access and stay warm during their opening hours.

Information continues to be updated. Do you have a space to add?

View the latest details at https://www.asklion.co.uk/warmspaces

A list is being maintained and updated by the Domestic Energy Efficiency Fuel Poverty subgroup (DEEFP), working together with Community Partnerships Resident Development team to ensure the list is current.

To amend or add a location, please contact benita.stacey@nottinghamcity.gov.uk in the first instance who will liaise with ASKLION and colleagues.

The popular programme has increased the maximum that organisations can apply for from £10,000 to £20,000, and can also now support projects for up to two years.

Funding is available from £300 up to £20,000 to deliver a new or existing activity or to support your organisation to change and adapt to new and future challenges.

The programme doesn't have a deadline, but advises that you apply at least 16 weeks before you want to start the activities or spend any of the money.

Open for applications until 5pm on Tuesday 26 December 2023.

The Holiday Activity Fund is a £200 million country wide programme funded by the Department for Education. The programme aims to provide activities and food for children eligible for Free School Meals during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays, plus October half term.

In Nottingham, the local programme is branded as “Free Fun and Food”.

Nottingham City Council is looking for lead organisations to run mass engagement programmes, providing high quality enrichment and sporting activities over Nottingham’s four main school holidays - Easter, summer, October half term and Christmas in 2024. Delivery will be a week at Easter, three weeks in the summer, a week in October and a week at Christmas.

Successful organisations will work collaboratively, strategically and operationally with other Nottingham based providers to embed a joined up approached to the delivery of the Holiday Activity Fund. Lead organisations should act as supporting mechanism for smaller Holiday Activity Fund providers.

There is also an opportunity for smaller deliverers to apply to the open funding round.

Please email declan.barker@nottinghamcity.gov.uk if you have any questions relating to the programme.

Applications must be submitted by 11.59am (before noon) on Wednesday 31 January 2024.

The government is providing funding over four years (ending in March 2025) to support community groups in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets and amenities at risk of being lost, such as community centres, parks, pubs and post office buildings.

Eligible community projects should do at least one of these five things:

• increase feelings of pride in, and improve perceptions of, the local area as a place to live
• improve social trust, cohesion, and sense of belonging
• increase local participation in community life, arts, culture, or sport
• improve local economic outcomes – including creating jobs, volunteering opportunities, and improving employability and skills levels in the local community
• improve social and wellbeing outcomes – including having a positive impact on physical and mental health of local people, and reducing loneliness and social isolation.

Based on feedback, some changes have been made to this bidding round. Please read the eligibility guidelines in full.

Bookings are open for our next Leaders of Volunteers Network (LoVN) meeting on Tuesday 23 January 2024, 10am to 12 noon, via Zoom.

Register your place to ensure you are sent instructions about how to join the Zoom session

If you want to get something on the agenda for this, or a future LoVN, please email davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

Wednesday 24 January 2024 from 9.30am to 11am
In-person event: venue now confirmed as Nottingham Business Venture, 6 David Lane, Nottingham NG6 0JU
Free to attend

NCVS is collaborating with Key Fund to hold a free in-person event, where you will hear how Key Fund can support your social enterprise or charity to tap in to non-traditional forms of finance.

Are you curious about social investment? This event will be particularly beneficial for those who have responsibility for developing funding and income streams within a finance or business development role.

Key Fund has been investing in social businesses and enterprising charities across the East Midlands and the North since 1999, and has a special interest in helping small community based businesses thrive and grow.

Social Investment can include loans (sometimes blended with grants) to help you achieve your social purpose. Alongside a good business model, the ability to demonstrate your impact will be considered to determine your eligibility for investment.

Please read client stories from Key Fund which demonstrate amazing impact.

If any of these stories resonate with you, come along to hear more.

Friday 19 January 2024, 10.30am to 12 noon
Bulwell Riverside Centre, Main Street, Bulwell, Nottingham, NG6 8QJ
Free to attend

This event is organised by Alex Norris MP for local groups in his Nottingham North constituency. It is an opportunity for local organisations, such as community groups, local voluntary groups, schools, Tenants and Residents Associations, nurseries and religious organisations to meet with larger organisations and funders to seek advice on applying for funding and other kinds of support.

A number of national and local funders have agreed to attend, including The National Lottery Community Fund, Postcode Places Trust and Arts Council England.

NCVS will be there to explain how we can support local groups, so please come and say hello.

If you are interested in attending, please email alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk for more information, or feel free to stop by on the day.

Thursday 11 January 2024, 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

Thursday 25 January 2024, 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 28 February 2024, 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

Tuesday 13 February 2024, 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

Tuesday 6 February 2024, 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

Thursday 22 February 2024, 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 24 January 2024, 12 noon to 2pm

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 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

Tuesday 20 February 2024, 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

Monday 8 January 2024, 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 23 January 2024, 1pm to 2.15pm

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 28 March 2024, 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 13 March 2024, 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 10 January 2024, 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 21 February 2024, 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 8 February 2024, 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

Wednesday 17 January 2024, 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 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 31 January 2024, 12 noon to 3pm
This is a hybrid event. Attend in-person at Cleaves Conference Hall, 6 Castle Gate, Nottingham NG1 7AS or view a live stream of the event online via Zoom.

Existing approaches to categorising severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) do not seem to be inclusive of or sensitive to the forms of disadvantage experienced by ethnically diverse communities.

This event includes two sessions exploring experiences of SMD and homelessness in ethnically diverse communities. You can register to attend one or both sessions.

Join us for an interactive session to discuss an ongoing exploratory study by the University of Nottingham and Al Hurraya which examines SMD in ethnically diverse communities in Nottingham (12 noon to 2pm). Followed by research findings from Pathway Housing Solutions on the interconnection between race, homelessness and housing (2pm to 3pm).

Appropriate break times will be scheduled into the final agenda, meaning you can comfortably attend both sessions if you wish to.

Whether you work with survivors, deliver services to vulnerable people or you're an employer wanting to support your colleagues, Equation's skilled training team can equip you with the tools to understand and respond to domestic abuse.

There is a range of free courses for Nottingham City workers.

View upcoming courses for city workers on Eventbrite.

If you're working beyond the city, Equation has created a Rural Abuse campaign, to raise awareness and improve access to support in rural areas of Nottinghamshire.
Read more here.

Harmless is continuing to offer free training to workers and volunteers in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The training is funded by Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and NHS Nottingham & Nottinghamshire ICB.

Training is delivered via Zoom or Microsoft Teams and is available on the following topics:

• Mental Health Awareness
• Suicide Prevention & Intervention
• Self Harm Awareness
• Suicide Bereavement.

See all training opportunities via Eventbrite or speak to a member of the
Harmless Academy team for more information or advice: training@harmless.org.uk.

Monday 8 January 2024, 10am to 11am or Tuesday 6 February 2024, 9.30am to 10.30am
Free to attend, online via Microsoft Teams

This training is part of the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) prevention work to Stop Loan Sharks.

Have you heard or Credit Unions or a CDFI, but aren’t sure exactly what they are or how they might be able to assist those you work with? These organisations provide services to some of the most financially excluded members of society.

This session will give you an introduction into these financial organisations, allowing you to determine if or when it may be appropriate to signpost your customers and service users to them.

His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is moving many services online to increase efficiency and speed of case progression. It's important that people are provided with appropriate support to access these online services.

We Are Group is working in partnership with HMCTS to provide digital support for people who need help in filling out online court forms. They have noticed an increasing number of referrals from in and around Nottingham, and are actively seeking partners who can support individuals from local communities with assistance in filling out these forms.

Funding is available for local partners who can support these efforts.

The types of forms include:

• Appeal a benefit decision
• Make a plea for a non-imprisonable offence
• Making or responding to a small money claim
• Apply for probate of an estate
• Apply or respond to a divorce
• Applying for help with justice fees.

If you can help, or you would like to find out more, please contact George Hall, Partner Manager at george.hall@wearegroup.com. Tel: 0247 525 4801.

Deadline for submissions extended to 12 noon on Tuesday 6 February 2024

The Charity Governance Awards celebrate outstanding governance and trusteeship in charities across the UK, allowing large and small not-for-profit organisations to inspire and learn from one another. These are the only charity awards that are designed to celebrate trustees, free to enter (with a free awards ceremony), and do not generate profit for the sponsors or partners.

Boards demonstrating outstanding governance and trusteeship are urged to share their own examples of best practice.

The shortlist will be announced in April 2024, and in May shortlisted charities will be invited to a complimentary awards ceremony in central London, where the winners will be revealed.

The winner of each category will receive a £5,000 prize (as an unrestricted grant). Runners-up will receive prizes of £1,000, and each shortlisted charity will be offered a paid one-year membership to the Association of Chairs for its chair or vice-chair as well as a complimentary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new or inexperienced trustee.

Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network is a network of thousands of grassroots organisations that are all working to deliver digital inclusion support in their local communities.

Joining the network is free and is open to any organisation that is delivering or wants to deliver digital inclusion support.

The National Databank is giving free mobile data to people who can’t afford their internet connection. By signing up to the network, organisations will be eligible to join and start giving data vouchers to their community members.

The Ingenuity Programme is a national innovation programme that directly addresses the UK’s major social, health, and environmental challenges through the creation of impactful new start-ups.

It provides start-up skills training, mentoring, networking, experiential learning and entrepreneurial development opportunities, plus routes to funding for early-stage impact driven businesses. The most impactful ideas are awarded top prizes and receive a share of £75,000 in prize funding.

Run from the University of Nottingham, registration for the Ingenuity Programme 2023/24 is now open. Register here.

Local aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs from identified social groups who historically have faced distinctive barriers to engagement can attend in-person events at the University's Jubilee Campus in January 2024 to find out more about the opportunities, support and funding available. Sign up to attend a free event.

This survey will close at 11.59pm on Tuesday 19 December 2023

NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is currently reviewing the services provided to children and young people (up to the age of 25) around Speech, Language and Communications needs and would like to hear from parents and carers who have experience of accessing these services.

The current services offered across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are varied and the ICB is keen to gather views and feedback to understand how these could be improved and what is already working well. The feedback you provide will help inform the new service which would start from April 2024 in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County (excluding Bassetlaw).