NCVS e-bulletin - Thursday 28 November 2024

The Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service (NCVS) e-bulletin will be back in a fortnight. The deadline for contributions and comments is Monday 9 December 2024. Email communications@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Did you know we keep an archive of past NCVS e-bulletins? View the archive here.

Helen Oparinde, NCVS’s Group Support Coordinator (Broxtowe), and David Saunders, NCVS’s Group Development Officer (Training), have been discussing the withdrawal in September of the Charity Commission’s guidance, How to set a reserves policy for your charity. With a helpful, downloadable template, up-to-date information and advice, plus how to take advantage of specialist support, this really is well worth a read-through!

Thursday 12 December 2024, 10am to 12 noon
Online via Zoom

An opportunity for members to come together via Zoom to network, discuss current work, develop wider partnerships, and hear from speakers.

NCVS will be hosting and facilitating a varied agenda, with presentations, collaborative workshops, and time for networking.

Proposed agenda:

• Presentation on J9 Domestic Abuse Initiative: Nikki Fish (Project Coordinator, Equation)
  
  
• Hot Topic: Training and development opportunities you'd like to see for the sector in 2025
  
  
• NCVS 150 birthday celebrations
  
  
• Festive Quiz
  
  
• General information sharing 

Please register to ensure you receive the Zoom meeting link. If you have any questions about this event, please contact ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

Earlier this week, the This Girl Can Nottingham Awards celebrated women's achievements in sport and exercise, with some very special women having their achievements highlighted. With local group Epic Partners shouting about their recent wins. 

Another big win for the city was Small Steps Big Changes' (SSBC) Family Mentor service, which picked up a win at the prestigious Health Service Journal Awards. The event was hosted by Dara O Briain, who looked very dapper in his suit, and it looked like a very fun night! Special mention to Nottingham City Place-based Partnership, who was shortlisted for the Place-Based Partnership and Integrated Care Award. Our very own Katie Hall, Practice Development Unit (PDU) Programme Manager, and Changing Futures also attended on the night to represent the PDU.

We've enjoyed seeing local groups celebrate their finalists and winners on social media!

The deadline for applications is Monday 9 December 2024, 4pm

Rosa’s Voices from the Frontline fund has grants of up to £10,000 over 18 months to not-for-profit women’s and girls' organisations to support campaigning and influencing work that enables women and girls to use their voice to achieve change. Rosa defines a women's and girls' organisation as being run by, for, and with women and girls. This means that your organisation will be governed and led by women. It will have a Board of Trustees (or similar) where the Chair is a woman and the majority of members are women. The majority of your organisation’s employee leadership team will be women. Your organisation will have the principal objective of working with women and/or girls, and the majority of your organisation’s beneficiaries are and will always be women and/or girls.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 23 January 2025, 5pm

Lloyds Bank Foundation is welcoming applications from small specialist charities with an annual income between £25,000 and £500,000 working with people facing complex issues. Successful applicants will receive an unrestricted grant of £75,000 alongside a breadth of tailored support aimed at helping strengthen charities and building the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of their staff and trustees.

There is no set deadline, applications are accepted on a rolling basis

The Youth Endowment Fund’s Open Call funding round invites proposals from delivery organisations that work to reduce young people’s involvement in violence and are ready for rigorous evaluation.

As a What Works Centre, their aim is to build strong evidence for practices and approaches in areas where clear gaps exist. They will only fund the delivery of services in order to evaluate them and identify what works to reduce young people’s involvement in violence.

This grant round is an open call for proposals, and potential funding is expected to cover 20% of delivery costs.

We're regularly updating the funding news on our website, so click the button below and find the fund for you!

Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, continues his series of articles in support of Leaders of Volunteers.

With many of you getting ready to start your Christmas shopping (or maybe you've finished already, you eager beaver!), Dave has been looking into the potential issues that could arise from treating your volunteers to a well-earned Christmas gift. Looking for ideas? We've got you covered. 

Tuesday 17 December 2024, 10am to 12noon
Online via Zoom

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

Share your experience, give and receive advice, and network with people who understand volunteers and volunteering. This is a great opportunity for you to meet your fellow Leaders of Volunteers, to share good practice, ideas and celebrate your successes.

Please share your ideas for agenda items and topics for discussion with Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at Nottingham CVS, by emailing davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk or calling 07564 040 767.

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, was one of seven government Green Social Prescribing Test and Learn sites.

While the National Test and Learn may have ended, NCVS continues to embed green social prescribing into health systems to make nature-based/outdoor activities an intervention of choice to support people to improve and maintain their mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Tuesday 3 December 2024

Giving Tuesday UK is part of a global movement encouraging people to do good by giving, volunteering, and supporting charitable causes. Created in 2012, it inspires millions to participate in various forms of generosity. Individuals, charities, and businesses can get involved through activities like donations, volunteering, and community events. The initiative aims to celebrate and amplify acts of kindness and generosity across the world.

Wednesday 11 December 2024, 4pm to 5pm
Nottingham Central Library, 1 Carrington street, NG1 7FH

Homecare Workers' Group is hosting a free meetup event for all Homecare Workers to get together and have a chat over some snacks and drinks. A warm welcome is guaranteed. If in doubt, give them a shout at hello@homecarewg.org.

More event listings on our website

Head over to the dedicated 'External Events and Training' page on our website to view more events and training opportunities from Nottingham's Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

If you would like to submit an event to feature on this page, please fill in our online event submission form. Events will be approved for publication on the NCVS website at our discretion, taking into account our aims and mission.

Our full Training and Development programme is available to view on our website. All courses take place online via Zoom.

We have new sessions and new dates for 2024/2025. Book now.

Thursday 9 January 2025, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding adults and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 9 January 2025, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and young people and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 27 February 2025, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the role and responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead Person for an organisation working with vulnerable children and young people.

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 13 February 2025, 6pm to 7.15pm

This online training explains your safeguarding responsibilities as a trustee for an organisation working with vulnerable adults or children and young people.

Cost: £15 per participant

Monday 3 March 2025, 6pm to 8pm

This online training covers the basic information that all trustees should know.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 5 February 2025, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training takes you through the basics of being a Fire Warden/Fire Marshal and will prepare you to carry out this very important role.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 25 February 2025, 10.30am to 12.30pm

Learn the basics of taking effective minutes in this online training – and make note taking easy.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 21 January 2025, 6pm to 8pm

This online training will teach you the basics of health and safety, and explain the process of carrying out a risk assessment in your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 12 March 2025, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training will refresh your knowledge as a trustee, update you on current issues, improve your personal skill set and help you develop your role for the benefit of your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 22 January 2025, 10am to 11am

Identify barriers to volunteering and develop ideas to minimise and remove them during this training, to ensure your organisation isn’t missing out on great volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 26 February 2025, 10am to 12 noon

This online training, previously called “How to be a Better Leader of Volunteers”, takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will explore some of the real-life issues that you’re facing as a Leader of Volunteers.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 3 December 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will challenge you to consider the difference that volunteers make to your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 30 January 2025, 10am to 12 noon

In any group of volunteers, there’ll be occasional disagreements, personality clashes and conflicts. Although these are hopefully rare events, this updated, online training will prepare you for when they occur.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 23 January 2025, 10am to 11am

Start your journey into the exciting and rewarding world of volunteer leadership with this online training that explores the volunteer journey from start to finish.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 12 February 2025, 10am to 12 noon

Although the law has little to say about volunteers and volunteering, what it does say is important. This online training will help you develop an understanding of some of the legal requirements that relate to your volunteering programme.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 29 January 2025, 10am to 11am

Are your volunteer opportunities struggling to attract people, or people with the right interests and skills for your organisation? This online training will teach you how to enhance your volunteer role descriptions and make them stand out.

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 our PDU Team if you need more information: pdu@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Join our free online hub www.pdunottingham.org

Follow us on Twitter @NottinghamCVS #PDUNottingham.

Did you know the PDU Online Hub hosts a comprehensive e-learning suite? Check out this fortnight's PDU highlight below.

Tuesday 3 December 2024, 10.30am to 11.45am
Online via Microsoft Teams

Part of a new Practice Development Unit (PDU) online learning series focused on sharing latest research and learning in the field of severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD). It draws on insights gained from the Changing Futures Programme as well as innovation and insights from a range of organisations and services across our systems.

Wednesday 4 December 2024, 10am to 2pm
Online 

This interactive workshop is designed specifically to cover evidence-based therapeutic work with loss and grief. This session is focused on prolonged or traumatic grief and how to use an Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach.

Our trainers have received bespoke training developed by a clinical psychologist from The Loss Foundation who specialises in bereavement support and contemporary psychological models of grief. A range of local organisations have agreed to support the roll out of this initiative and will be offered continued support over the next year to do this through the PDU and the Framework psychology team.

There are two new PDU Webinars as part of the Neurodivergence and Multiple Disadvantage Learning Series available for people to register for now.

How to support the speech, language and communication needs of neurodivergent adults through reasonable adjustments

Thursday 19 December 2024, 1pm to 2.30pm. Online via Microsoft Teams

Led by Kavita Bhikha & Jess Renton, Clinical Lead Speech & Language Therapists in Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. This session is designed to support knowledge, understanding and confidence around holding in mind possible communication differences amongst autistic adults.

Developing supportive pathways for neurodivergent adults in prison settings

Wednesday 22 January 2025, 1pm to 2.30pm. Online via Microsoft Teams

Led by Allison Woodhead, Neurodiversity Clinical Lead, Offender Health Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. Ally will be speaking about the development of the neurodiversity pathway, working systemically to create a supportive, adjusted prison environment and the many improvements that have already been seen through high quality joined up thinking and working, between prisons and community providers/services. 

In the previous round of small grants, there was a lot of missing information and misinterpretation of what the fund could be used for. These funded sessions are to support and advise you. The sessions will be delivered by James Kirkpatrick from Funding Support who has over 25 years of experience with the grant process.

These sessions are designed to support the application process and are mandatory if you wish to apply for funding.

Sessions will be held on:

• Tuesday 3 December 2024, 9.30am to 12.15pm
• Thursday 5 December 2024, 12.45pm to 3pm

Equation currently has fully funded training available for volunteer groups in Nottingham that support people experiencing domestic abuse. Current sessions include 'Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MDVAC),' 'Working with, supporting and referring LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic abuse,' and 'Minoritised women and sexual violence,' among others.

If you are a VCSE organisation in Nottingham City or a VCSE organisation recruiting to a job role which covers the Nottingham City area, you can submit a job advert for our website. Adverts remain on our website until the closing date. We feature new adverts once in the e-bulletin, where possible, depending on the volume of new adverts received.

There are lots more job listings on our website. You can view all the job vacancies available by clicking on the 'More Vacancies' button at the bottom of this section.

The NHS in the East Midlands is reviewing how people can access fertility treatments with the aim of creating a standardised approach to fertility treatment across the region.

Currently, there are differences in the way people can access fertility treatments. The review addresses these differences in access, such as age, BMI, and the number of treatment cycles available between Bassetlaw and the rest of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. It also considers access for same-sex couples, individuals with children from previous relationships, and single people.

This is your opportunity to share your thoughts and help shape the future of fertility services in the East Midlands to ensure that the new policy best serves our population.

The engagement period will run from Monday 11 November 2024 to Friday 10 January 2025. All feedback will be used to influence the final policy. 

You can get involved in a number of ways:

• Complete the survey on the Fertility Policy Review by clicking here
  
  
• By sharing feedback over the phone by ringing 07385 360071
  
  
• Attending community group meetings by those most impacted by the proposed changes. If you would like us to attend a community group meeting to hear your views collectively, then please contact the team by emailing nnicb-nn.engagement@nhs.net or call the Engagement Team on 07385 360071.
  
  
• Attend one of these online public meetings:
  • Thursday 12 December 2024, 6.30pm to 8pm
  • Saturday 14 December 2024, 10am to 11.30am

Click here to register your attendance at a public meeting.

The deadline for submissions is Monday 16 December 2024

Nottingham City Council is consulting on future options for its Council Tax Support Scheme affecting working age people.

Council Tax Support is a discount that helps households on low incomes with their Council Tax bill.

Around 19% of households in Nottingham are in receipt of Council Tax Support, and the scheme costs over £30 million a year to operate.

Applying the discount affects the amount of Council Tax the Council receives and has an impact on the amount of Council Tax that all households in the city pay.

The scheme has not been reviewed since it started in 2013, despite changes to Welfare Benefits and Council funding over this period. Like all Local Authorities the Council has several financial challenges. The proposals enable the Council to provide a scheme that is financially sustainable in future years.

The aim is to have a scheme that continues to support those on the lowest incomes and is future-proofed in terms of its cost.

The proposals do not affect the Council Tax Support Scheme for pensioner households, the rules for which are controlled by Central Government.

The proposed changes to the Scheme will affect all working-age (under state pension age) households.

The city council would like to hear your view on the proposals, which, if agreed upon, will be implemented in April 2025.

Nottingham-specific resources

• Understanding what supports South Asian and Muslim women to move more - A guide, from Active Notts, Nottingham Muslim Women's Network and This Girl Can, for creating inclusive physical activity spaces for South Asian and Muslim women.

General VCSE sector resources

• First impressions: Spontaneous giving insights - This new Blackbaud Institute report analyses survey data from more than 1,000 spontaneous, first-time donors to identify what drives them to give and how you can harness their generosity for lasting relationships. You will have to provide some information, such as name, email, organisation, and job title, to download the report.
  
  
• Charity Banking Challenges 2024 report - Over nine in ten charities have experienced at least one banking-related difficulty in the past two years, according to new research by Civil Society Group. You will need to register to access the report. Click here to read a summary.

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