• Places available – support and supervision of volunteers
• Young people and money – workshop
• Framework flashmob
• NCVS website
• Vinvolved success story
• Social Enterprise masterclass
• Disability Nottinghamshire event

Places available – Support and supervision of volunteers

Ever wanted to know more about how to support and supervise your volunteers?  There are still spaces available on this practical course to look at why volunteers need support to carry out their roles, the types of support and supervision and which to choose for your own project.  Contact training@nottinghamcvs.co.uk for more information or to book a place

Young people and money – workshop

Young People & Money is a FREE one-day training course that has been designed to better equip organisations, who work with young people (16- 25 yrs) who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), in providing them with a greater understanding along with supporting toolkits in order that they can help their young people make more sense of their money and hence increase their financial capability.

 The core subject areas covered in the course are:

•  The psychology of young people and money
• Income, budgeting and banking
• Costs of credit and comparing credit deals and options
• Debt Management including when, where and how to refer young people for money advice
• Skills to engage young people in financial matters
• Identifying practical ways to use and embed the exercises/materials in your existing work 

The course will be running on:
 3rd December 2010

Village Hotel Nottingham, Brailsford Way, Nottingham, NG9 6DL

To make a booking please visit the a4e website www.a4emoney.co.uk and follow the links. 

Please pass this information to anyone who may benefit from this training. This is the last year of funding from the Financial Services Authority so we are eager to get as many people as possible on the workshop’s before they finish.

 Framework flashmob

Framework is calling on its staff, volunteers, supporters and service users to attend an awareness raising event on Tuesday 2 November 2010 at 6pm in Old Market Square, Nottingham, to show support for its work at a time of increasing financial uncertainty.

Framework need your help to attract media attention.  You are welcome to bring family and friends to the event. If you are able to join them please bring along a torch (if you can) and something to sit/lie on.  You will be given a prompt, at which point you will be asked to lie down and turn on your torch, a further prompt will ask you to get up again, and move off.  The event is expected to last no longer than 30-45 minutes.

 A spokesperson for Framework will be speaking to the media and they are asking for as many supporters as possible to make the event a success.   Framework will be promoting The Big Sleep Out on 25 November in Bolero Square, Trent FM Arena, Nottingham.  Please join them if you can – your support will make a huge difference.  The success of the event depends on having sufficient support.  If you are able to attend – please do so by following this link.

NCVS website

 Have you had a look at our new website?  It launched recently and we’re really please with how it looks – it better reflects the work that we do and it easier t0o navigate around than our old site.  Have a look at the volunteering pages – you can even view this blog there! 

Vinvolved success story

 Nottingham’s youth volunteering service, vinvolved, this week accredited its 20,000th hour of volunteering since it started in 2008. Could your service benefit from utilising the energy, commitment and enthusiasm of young volunteers? Do you have a volunteer you’d like to accredit? Do you know someone aged 16-25 who’d like to do some volunteering? If so, you can get in touch with the team by emailing vinvolved@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Social Enterprise masterclass

NCVS are running a free Social Enterprise Masterclass on 4 November 6.00pm – 8.30pm with Claudine Reid MBE who is a Social Enterprise Ambassador for the Cabinet Office. We have plenty of places left, and with all the buzz now around social enterprise it would be a shame for groups who want more information to miss out.   See our website for more information.

Disability Nottinghamshire event

Disability Nottinghamshire will be hosting the biggest event this year for people who receive social care on 16th November.   At the event will be:

• Support groups
• Health advice
• Social activities
• Education, skills and training
• Disability welfare and benefits information

The event is being held 12- 4 at the Mansfield Civic Centre.  For more information please visit Disability Nottinghamshire .

• Notts Wildlife Trust Green Guardian
• Disability Awareness Training
• IVR Research
• New Good Practice guide available
• Queens Award for Voluntary Service
• Funding for Health workshop
• Volunteer Management training
• Sports media competition

• Notts Wildlife Trust Green Guardian

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust are still looking for applications/nominations from individuals, community groups and organisations for their Green Guardians Awards – chance to win £1,000? Closing date 27th September.  For more information please see their website .

• Disability Awareness Training

Do you want some ideas about how to be more inclusive?

Do you have questions about how you can make your activities or volunteering opportunities as accessible as possible?

Then come along to meet the Being Heard Group* at their Disability Awareness Training Session on Monday 4th October 2010  9.30 – 12.30 at Day and Community Support Service, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7FA

The aim of the training is about how to include someone with a learning disability into volunteering.  Its main objectives are:

• Explore perceptions of learning disability
• Demonstrate through drama the physical, mental, social and emotional barriers someone with a learning disability might face when they want to become a volunteer.
• Explore how we could overcome these barriers.
• Gain a basic understanding of working in a person-centred way and being aware of some of the person-centred tools out there available to use if you so wish.
• We will provide you with some useful templates and contacts that you can take away with you
• Think about some practical actions you can do in your organisation
•  A chance to have any remaining questions answered

Community Access Workers’** Ellie Tyson and Kathy Hardwick will be supporting the  ‘Being Heard Group’ to deliver some basic training in working with adults with learning disabilities and how you might include them in volunteering. 

To book a place please contact Carolyn Perry at Rushcliffe Community & Voluntary Service, Park Lodge, Bridgford Road, West Bridgford on 0115 981 6988 or Email cperry@rushcliffecvs.org.uk

• IVR Research

New research into volunteer management launched by Institute for Volunteering Research
 
A new Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) report, Valuing Volunteer Management Skills, reveals the need for more training and development for managers of volunteers. Commissioned by Skills – Third Sector, the research shows that nearly half of people who manage volunteers have not received any training that would help them in their work. Despite identifying much good practice in volunteer management in England today, it also reveals that volunteer management remains undervalued and underfunded in many organisations, including those with the largest incomes.
 
Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, in the report’s foreword, says: “This research highlights the skills needed and the importance of valuing them… It also highlights the need to think strategically about how volunteer managers are trained and supported.”
 
The report is based on a telephone survey conducted in March 2010 with 1,004 people who manage volunteers across organisations of different sizes across the nine government office regions of England. The full report and a twelve page summary report are available to download for free on the IVR website.

•  New Good Practice guide available

To complete the set of good practice guides that we have been producing the final one in the current series is now available – Evaluate your Volunteer Project.  Get in touch if you would like to receive a copy of this or any of the other Good Practice Guides.

• Queens Award for Voluntary Service

Each year, Her Majesty the Queen recognises outstanding voluntary groups by bestowing the highest National Honour that a group can receive, The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for volunteer groups. The Award was launched in 2002, to mark Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee and to acknowledge the outstanding contributions made by voluntary groups giving freely of their time for the benefit of their local community – wherever that may be in the UK.

We are continuously looking at ways to reach those who know groups in their area which they believe deserve to receive such a prestigious Award. Having worked closely with a number of voluntary networks over the past three years, we recognise the invaluable role that organisations like yours can play in encouraging recognition for voluntary groups in your region.

The deadline for nominations is 30 September 2010.

We know there are volunteers in every local area making a real contribution to the local community and a positive difference to other people’s lives. We look forward to working closely with you in increasing awareness of those that give up their time for the benefit of others in your community.

For more details please contact Tamara Cummings-John, Queens Award Administrator on 0207 781 2397 or E-mail: queensaward@consolidatedpr.com
Website: www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk

• Funding for Health workshop

Funding for Health

Thurs 7 Oct,  9.30am – 3.30pm

£55

 If you are working with any groups which you think might benefit from this training session and can promote it to them then please do.  Here’s the link.

http://www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/training/ncvs/2010Oct_2011Mar/2010_10_07__Funding_for_health.pdf

The session aims to give an overview of different types of funding – for example we look at the difference between grants and commissioned contracts.  The health theme runs through it all – with the aim of helping groups strengthen their funding applications or tenders by showing them how their work fits with Nottingham City and PCT’s health priorities.  We look at health inequalities in Nottingham, and where to get stats and info on reports and strategies.  This includes how to use Nottingham Insight and the JSNA, and how to do funding searches. 

We ran it in April with really good feedback.  Here’s what some said:

“very good practical things to go away with”

“informative, informal, good pace – gave me a good understanding of how this all works”

• Volunteer Management training

We have extended the range of volunteer management courses on offer to groups with a series of breakfast briefings as well as the usual day long courses.  The next training session coming up is “Introduction to Volunteer Management” on 21st October.  Have a look at the courses on offer here.

• Sports media competition

 This competition is for small groups of 11-19 year olds, who have to come up with an idea for a short film (3 min) with any of the Olympic/Paralympic ideals (Excellence, Friendship, Respect, Courage, Determination, Inspiration, Equality).

All entries will be judged by representatives from the media world, including BBC East Midlands and the Broadway cinema. The winners will receive training from the Broadway, meet film makers and get the chance to make an Olympic/Paralympic inspired short film, which will be shown at the Nottinghamshire Sports Review of the Year and a private screening at the Broadway.
 
The closing date for the entry is 3rd October 2010.   Please see the competition pack for more information. Packs can be downloaded from our website  http://nottinghamshiresport.com/news.asp?itemid=661&itemTitle=Sports+Media+Competition+for+young+volunteers&section=25&sectionTitle=News
 
Entries are encouraged from those involved in sport with an interest in media and/or those involved with media and an interest in sport. No media experience is needed.

• Personal Best campaign

What is Personal Best?
Personal Best is a national programme, and is a level 1 qualification of 120 guided learning hours, including a volunteering at local sporting, cultural or community organisations or events, which can act as a stepping stone to new work opportunities. On successful completion of the programme, participants could have the chance to become a Games Time Volunteer (GTV) at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Personal Best programme includes the following topics:
• Developing teams and interpersonal skills
• Emergency and fire awareness • Conflict resolution
• Understanding customer relations
• Volunteering and the Olympic and Paralympic Games

For the LSC funded Personal Best programme, learners must:
• Be legally resident in the UK and able to take up full time paid employment (this may include refugees but is not available to asylum seekers)
• be aged 19 and over;
• be unemployed or economically inactive;
• have a literacy level of entry level 2 or above.

If you are interested contact :Joanna.mileham@snc.ac.uk or neil.d.fowkes@snc.ac.uk

Want to become a Steering Group for UK Youth’s project “Hearing Unheard Voices”?
 

UK Youth project Hearing Unheard Voices are currently looking for new steering groups. The national Hearing Unheard Voices Project gives young people the skills and opportunities to speak up to shape their services, using media and campaigning activities. The project is open to groups of young people aged 11-18, particularly those rarely heard  such as homeless/ carers/refugees/ LGBT/ BME/ disabled parents and those who do not get on well with school or training.

We are currently recruiting in East Midlands, London, South East  and Yorkshire and the Humber

As a part of our recruitment in these regions we are can offer a free 1 day in house campaigning training for your young people. Please find more details on the project, its current groups and their campaign successes on our website:

www.ukyouthhearingunheardvoices.org

If you take part in the programme you can benefit from:

• National publicity for your projects and campaigns in your local area
• Opportunities to exhibit your groups work at the 9 annual regional roadshows
• Published articles in UK Youth’s online magazine the Source and Project website
• Free places at 4 annual national meetings (accompanying worker expenses paid)
• All travel expenses and costs such as mobile phone talk time and internet access
• Training in writing and media presentation,
• Campaigning, advocacy work and peer mentoring skills
• Opportunities to be involved in a mix of national and local campaign events
• The support of UK Youth’s national E-Reach and Participation Workers. 
   

If you and your young people would like to get involved in the project then please request an application form by calling 07545 742805 or by sending an email to joe@ukyouth.org .

•  Volunteering England membership news

As of the 1st July Volunteering England have made significant changes to their membership, with the introduction of a new category (for non-UK individuals) as well as increasing the threshold of their FREE membership category to £30,000.  

This now means that smaller volunteer involving organisations with an annual turnover of less than £30k can sign-up for free, providing them with access to expert advice and information on the many aspects of volunteer management as well as a various other exclusive benefits.

As a Volunteer Centre we have been asked  to spread the Volunteering England membership message through our networks – many of you now could sign-up for free!

 Please feel free to get in touch with one of the team if you have any questions or queries by emailing membership@volunteering.org.uk

• V awards

Know a Great Volunteer?

If you know a young volunteer who has made a real difference to your life or organization why not nominate them for a vinspired National Award?  It’s simple - nominate someone you know at vinspired.com/national awards  (or call 020 7960 7000 to request a paper form)

•  Nottingham City Sports awards 2010

 
This year Nottingham City Council is proud to host the first “City Sports Awards”. The awards look to recognise and reward the contribution to sport and physical activity being made by local clubs, individuals and volunteers in this great City. Your nominations are important to us and we value your help in finding the individuals, clubs and community groups who, through sport or physical activity, have made a real difference.

Deadline for all nomination is the 30th September 2010

The nomination categories are:

• Coach of the Year
• Outstanding Achievement Award
• Most Physically Active School
• Junior Volunteer of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year
• Junior Team of the Year
• Club of the Year
• Senior Team of the Year
• Voluntary Community Project of the Year
• Junior Sportsperson of the Year
• Sportsperson of the Year
• Junior Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
• Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
• Outstanding Contribution to Sport and Physical Activity

For more information and an online application forms please go to http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11269 or contact Glynn Dignum on 0115 9152771 for more information.

• Trading places

We’ve organised ‘Trading Places’ in partnership with Nottingham City Council in order to give groups and councillors / council staff an opportunity to learn about how the ‘other side’ works, by spending a day with each other. We ran a successful pilot of this last year (which we called the councillor shadowing scheme) but this year we’ve expanded the scheme to take in senior council staff as well.

We’ll ask councillors / council staff to spend half a day shadowing you in your organisation, finding out about the work that you do, the communities that you serve and the challenges that you face. Following this, you’ll shadow them for half a day to learn about the work of the council and the role that they perform. It’s a good opportunity to build relationships and do some networking. 

We’ll set up the meetings – all we ask is that you leave some room in your diary in October to take part in the scheme, preferably during Local Democracy Week (11 – 17 October).

Please send your expression of interest by Friday 3rd September if you want to be included – application for VCS groups.

• Volunteering England – support for volunteer management

 Volunteering England’s new Volunteer Management Portal,  acts as a gateway to the world of volunteer management with links to over a thousand resources across England.   This means that – for the first time – information on support, training and development opportunities for people managing volunteers is available to view in one single place.

If you work with volunteers, or know someone who does, this invaluable new resource will help you locate a wide variety of training providers and consultants, support and development opportunities.

Visit the portal at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/vmportal

 A different kind of investment – what does your organisation stand to gain?

Volunteering England recently launched the Value Volunteer Management Campaign to increase awareness of the value and importance of investing in volunteer management. Many key organisations have already shown support, including the BBC, Microsoft, Barnardo’s, RSPB, National Trust and PDSA.

These organisations know that investing in professional and strategic volunteer management really boosts the value they gain from volunteering, leading to increased budgets, raised organisational profile, strengthened service provision, improved community relations and much, much more.

Visit the campaign site at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/valuevolunteermanagement and find out what your organisation stands to gain. You can show your commitment to volunteer management by signing the online endorsement, or by providing a quote or case study.

Both these initiatives are funded by the Office for Civil Society as part of Capacitybuilders’ Volunteer Management Programme.

For portal related enquiries please contact VMportal@volunteeringengland.org

To find out more about the campaign contact valueVM@volunteeringengland.org 

• Facing funding cuts? Share your experiences

Local authorities have had to reassess the budgets they set for this financial year and will also be looking at the budgets for the next financial year.  Volunteering England as well as NCVS are trying to build a picture of the type and depth of the cuts that have been experienced across England.

 Volunteering England would like to hear from members who are partly or wholly funded by a local authority.  If this applies to your organisation, please tell them:

* Whether you have had your funding cut or reduced, or received notice that it will be.
* If you are facing funding cuts, what impact this has had on the services you provide.
* What measures you have taken to continue or strengthen your position.

They will use this information to help highlight to national and local government the impact that funding cuts have on the volunteers and volunteering involving organisations. Please email your comments, evidence and examples to sam.mars@volunteeringengland.org . 

• DSC Social Change Awards

 These awards are designed to celebrate individuals and organisations that are committee to making a positive impact on society. Nominations are being sought in four categories:

• Everyday Impact Award – for new and long-term enterprises that deliver results that can be felt on a daily basis.
• Influencer Award – for individuals who know how to make things happen.
• The Great Giving Funders Award – for funders who work hard to respond to the changing needs in the wider environment.
• Life Time Achievement Award – for individuals who have made an impact across their working life.

The deadline for nominating others is Friday 3 September, while self-nominations must be submitted by Friday 10 September. Once the DSC has selected finalists in each category, the winners will be decided by a public vote, which will open in October. The winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place on Thursday 25 November in London. Further details on the award criteria are available on the DSC Social Change Awards website

• New findings from the Citizenship Survey

The latest headline findings from the Citizenship Survey 2009-2010 have just been published. The survey provides invaluable data for building future volunteering policy and practice.

The results show that formal volunteering rates have remained largely unchanged since 2008-09 but informal volunteering rates have seen a sharp decline over the previous twelve months. The full statistical release can be found on the Communities and Local Government website

• V team Facebook fan page

As part of our efforts to engage with more young people and groups, the V Team has set up a Facebook page, where people can become fans of our efforts and we can keep them updated with volunteering opportunities across the city.

Our page can be found here -  You don’t need to be on Facebook to see what we’ve been doing, you can just have a look.   One of the ways the page can work for you is by letting them know if you are  desperate for volunteers - we can let our volunteers know when a new opportunity comes up or when events are happening that they can get involved in.

As mentioned in the last post we are looking at the type of training we offer as a Volunteer Centre, and what is needed in the sector to better equip volunteer managers and co-ordinators with the skills needed to manage and develop their services.  We have already asked those who came to the last VCN meeting to complete a questionnaire, but to make it easier for people to take part in this I have made the survey available online – this should take no more than 10 minutes to complete (honestly!)  and results will help inform us what training and resources we can make available for you.  Please pop over and complete this if you can as the more responses we have the better informed we are about how to help you.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RN8J5RJ

• VCN minutes – June

Present: 
Mike Roe – Young Potential
Barbara Philips – Nottingham Mencap
Claire McCurdy, Strategic Volunteering Officer
Joan Bassey – Notts Housing Advice
Alex Mawson Harris – Young Potential
Richard Mellows – SOVA
Sara Myers – Volunteering into Employment Officer

Welcomes and introductions
All welcomed to the meeting – staff at NCVS introduced themselves and their roles, followed by the VCN members present.  Thank you to those who sent in apologies for the meeting beforehand.

Training for Autumn and Spring terms and  Training needs analysis
Claire asked the group what kind of training needs they felt that they had as we are currently pulling together the training programme for the Autumn and Spring terms .  The training we have recently offered is around Volunteers and the Law, Support and Supervision for Volunteers, Introduction to Volunteer Management and Equality issues for volunteer managers; although we are open to delivering a wider range of training courses if they are asked for!  The training questionnaire / training needs analysis also forms part of the information required for us to complete our part in the VCQA (see below).  For those not at the meeting the questionnaire will be made available on Survey Monkey.
Some of the suggestions for training were:
• Retaining your volunteers
• Knowing your market for recruiting volunteers
• Vetting and Barring
• Professional Boundaries
• Dealing with difficult volunteers

Update on Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation
We are currently working through the tasks we need to complete in order to achieve the VCQA award – the training needs analysis forms part of the information we need to gather. 

Volunteers week 2010
We held a really successful event in the Market Square to celebrate Volunteers Week with lots of stalls, musicians and performers.  The weather was amazing (which is unusual for a British summer!) and despite a few changes that we would make for next year everyone went away having had a good day. 

Volunteering into Employment project
Sara introduced her project, part of the Community Programme that works with people who are unemployed to support them into volunteering and training with a view to developing their employability skills.  The project is entirely voluntary – call (0115 9349514) or email saram@nottinghamcvs.co.uk to find out more.

Volunteering Strategy update
Claire updated the group on the themes of the strategy – 2 events are planned for consulting on the themes of the strategy – 17th June and 1st July.  For those unable to attend either event we will be putting the survey online.

Round the table news and updates
Everyone shared their updates and what they have been doing with recruiting and working with volunteers.

•  Training courses from September to March

We have already started booking courses for September (new term is not far away now!) – some of the courses we will be delivering include Volunteers and the Law, Support and supervision for volunteers and Introduction to Volunteer Management, as well as having some new “breakfast briefings” looking at topics such as recruiting trustees, professional boundaries and writing a volunteer policy.  You will be able to book onto these courses from next week – so watch this space!

• Cuts – are they affecting you?

Information is coming in each day about cuts being made in Nottingham. Many of these will be made in this financial year to voluntary organisations and existing contracts will be terminated. We are trying to pull information together about the effect this will have on services to citizens.

Please let us know of any cuts you are facing. Contact our Helpdesk on 0115 934 9548 or helpdesk@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

What you get:
A grant to get you going on average £1000 per group (Differs from region to region). 
Support to help plan your project, research your budget, set goals and learn about your community
 
Are you eligible?
You must be either:
• aged 14-16, and achieving or at risk of achieving less than 5 GCSEs grades A* – C, or
• aged 16-25 and not in education, training or work (or working less than 16 hours a week)

Projects must:

• be run and managed by people between the ages of 14 and 25
• clearly benefit the local community
• benefit the people running the project; and
• be a new or developing project.

What it’s not for
• Formal groups or organisations
• Expeditions or overseas travel
• Fundraising activities for charity
• Trips and outings, unless they have educational value
http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/need_help/grants/community_cash_awards.aspx 

For further information contact  Jonathan Dawson, Programme Manager – Volunteers & Awards Tel:01162045584   www.princes-trust.org.uk
• Nottingham Partners People Exchange (PEP)
Cross- Partner Coaching and Mentoring Programme

The PEP is looking for nominations for our new Cross- Partner Coaching and Mentoring Programme.

This programme offers a unique opportunity for you to:
• Develop and practice your coaching and mentoring skills;
• Increase your understanding of organisations within the city;
• To be a “champion” for the sustainable development of cross- partner coaching and
           mentoring opportunities in Nottingham.

Successful applicants will be identified through a selection process which aims to secure champions who:
 • are enthusiastic and committed to their own personal development as well as   
           developing coaching and mentoring skills;
• have credibility and are positioned appropriately in their organisation;
• will commit to the whole programme  – this will include the delivery of a minimum of 4
           and a maximum of 6 coaching and/or mentoring sessions in a partner organisation
           supported by supervision and involvement in an Action Learning Set.

Your commitment to the programme will be around 9 days in total. This will  include attendance at dedicated training in coaching and mentoring skills led by Xue (www.xueureka.co.uk); involvement in two half day strategy development workshops; and preparation for and delivery of coaching sessions with clients and supervision of these sessions.

For partner organisations who have paid a PEP Membership fee, this training will involve no further cost. For those who have not paid a membership fee, a returnable deposit of £150 will be required. Your contact for the PEP programme can tell you whether this applies in your case. *

For those of you who wish to pursue a formal accreditation of your work on the programme and are at the appropriate level of management, the programme can be accredited for the ILM Unit 5.01 in Coaching and Mentoring in Management. This will involve some extra work towards assessment and an additional cost to your organisation of around £199.

The deadline for applications to this programme is the 15th July.  You can apply simply through accessing the ON website – www.onenottingham.org.uk  and clicking on PEP programme button on the left hand side.

You will also need to talk to the PEP representative within your own organisation before you apply.

* Partner Organisation Contacts: 
 Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service: Chris Hooper -  chris.hooper@notts-fire.gov.uk
 
Nottinghamshire Police – Nottingham City Division: Jill Teeman – jill.teeman@nottinghamshire.pnn.police.uk
 
Voluntary Sector – Jo Dean, Partnerships Manager, Nottingham CVS JoD@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

NHS Nottingham City – Lizi Thomas Lizi.Thomas@nottinghamcity.nhs.uk

Nottingham City Council – Denise Willis denise.willis@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
 

• Music for everyone

 Music for Everyone is a n independent arts organisation with over twenty five years’ experience in devising and running innovative music participation events across Nottingham and the East Midlands.  To support this they have opened up a bookshop  – this is called 
Bookwise and is based at  42 Chilwell High Rd , Beeston, NG9 1EJ.

It is open 9.30 am – 4.30 pm every day except Sunday, staffed by volunteers of course.
For more information, to donate or get involved in some of their work please see: 
www.nctmusic.org  or phone the office on 0115 959 6484

•  Training – places still available

If anyone would like to book on the training course Managing Volunteers Effectively we still have spaces left.  The training is due to take place on 27th July 10 – 3pm at NVAC.  To secure a place please contact Jodier@nottinghamcvs.co.uk
• Help with Research

A Postgraduate Researcher at The University of Nottingham is interested in looking at the benefits of volunteering on those who are aged over 50. She is looking for participants for her study and is looking for volunteers who are aged between 50 and 65 who are either still in paid employment or are actively seeking work if they have been unfortunate enough to lose their jobs in the past few years.
The participants will be required to give a 30-40 minute interview with the researcher where she will explore your experiences as a volunteer and discuss how this may relate to your retirement and/or future paid employment. Although interviews will be recorded the information the participants give will be remain anonymous and the tapes will be destroyed after the research has been completed in September.

If anyone is interested in taking part please get in touch with Ashleigh Grant either by phone (07782502761) or by email (lwxavg@nottingham.ac.uk ).

Volunteering Strategy consultation events

Thank you to all of you who came to the first of the Volunteering Strategy consultation events yesterday – there was a lot of lively debate and discussion on the themes of the strategy and how to develop the work.  The second event will be taking place on Thursday 1st July - if you haven’t already booked your place please get in touch to confirm your attendance.

• Trustee position

Could you help a rapidly growing local charity make important strategic decisions?

 Could you become a trustee or offer us free consultancy?

 Think Children works with vulnerable young children.

We aim to improve the emotional resilience of young children who have emerging emotional and social difficulties; thus enhancing their prospects of educational achievement and social integration.  We provide an early intervention service that is effective, safe, inclusive, professional, and value for money.  It is trusted and respected both by the community and by statutory services.

 Think Children is a success story.

Rescued from near extinction in 1991, it has been turned around & transformed.  Over the years the number of children has grown rapidly and demand is still growing indicating that we provide a much-needed service.  We now work with nearly 600 children per year in the City of Nottingham and throughout much of Nottinghamshire.  This costs almost £200,000 p.a.

 Think Children is thinking ahead.

Our growth rate puts greater demands on our fundraising and the context in which we operate is constantly evolving.  For the children, we will remain as relevant and needed as ever but funding streams and stakeholder expectations are changing.  There are both opportunities and threats.  We are adapting with a programme of strategic change.

 Think Children needs a top class team.

We need trustees with the expertise and judgement, flair and entrepreneurship to take us forward into this new exciting phase and to ensure our sustainability into the future.  A wide range of talents and experience is needed especially business, media or a relevant clinical or academic field.  We would especially welcome people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic groups.

 Think Children can offer you.

We ask you to have a reasonable attendance record at our Management Committee and strategy meetings; being up to 11 evening meetings a year.  In return we offer you the emotional reward of turning around young lives and the intellectual reward of being part of a creative and dynamic team.  We have an induction programme and can provide development training in charity trusteeship.  Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

 For further information please contact:

 Think Children, 10 Albert Street, Newark, Notts. NG24 4SL.

Tel: 01636-676887.

 Email: think.children@tiscali.co.uk.

•  New leaflet

As part of the rebranding of NCVS we have a new leaflet to show what we do – if you would like to download a copy you can find it here.

• Welfare and Disability Advice in NG7

Age Concern are now offering Welfare & Disability Benefit advice sessions in the NG7 area. 

The purpose of the sessions is for people to book a half hour slot to discuss their pensions, if they are entitled to any welfare benefits or to query if they may be able to obtain *health related benefits (Disability Living Allowance, or Pension Credit for those over 65yrs old).

 *If there appears to be entitlement for a health benefit, trained volunteers will make a home visit to any home across the City!

 These appointments are free and they are available to ALL older people (aged 55+) WHEREVER they live in the Nottingham City Boundary (i.e. pay Council Tax to Nottingham City Council).

 Fore more information workers will be at:

• The Bridge Centre, Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green (10.30-12.30, Wednesdays)
•  The Radford Care Group, Prospect Street, Radford (next to Castle Retail Park)  (10-12 noon, Thursdays)
• The Vine Community Centre, Bobbersmill Road, Hyson Green (10-12 noon, Mondays)  

 To book an appointment Telephone: 0115 9933382 or 0115 8440011 (Mon-Fri 9-5)

• Volunteer Management portal open

Volunteering England have recently launched their Volunteer Management portal – the site is a signposting tool for people managing volunteers. It aims to provide greater access to a wide range of information on support, training and development opportunities.  You can search the site for support from a range of categories from Direct Services, Organisational Health Checks, Consultancy to Training Providers, Information, Advice, Guidance and Publications and Resources.  View the portal by visiting the site

• Women Speak Out

Women Speak Out is a blog/discussion project which has been set up to document women’s views and voices from across the country.

They are holding informal discussions in cities throughout England this summer to get women’s views on a variety of topics, to find out what issues are affecting them, and the sort of work and campaigns taking place to improve women’s situation in their city. Comments from discussions are posted on their blog: http://womenspeakoutuk.wordpress.com to eventually create a unique document highlighting the concerns and campaigns affecting women in England in 2010.

 They are holding a discussion in Nottingham on Friday 9 July, 12:00 – 17:00, at the Nottingham Women’s Centre, Chaucer Street. Full details can be found in the flyer.

Women Speak Out flyer for Nottingham 2010-07-09

 Women in Nottingham are welcome to turn up at any time between 12:00 – 17:00 on the day, meet other women, and share their views on life as a woman in Nottingham and any campaigns they are involved in.   It’s a drop-in format so they are happy to people to pop in for half an hour and then leave again

Volunteers week is on it’s way – if you don’t know much about it then you still have time to plan something! 

39607_VOLUNTEERS FLYER

Volunteers week each year (first week of June)  celebrates the role of volunteers and the valuable contribution that they make.  In Nottingham there is a large event in the Market Square – some of you may even have a stall there.  Please let your volunteers know about the event as it looks set to be a fantastic day out!

Whether you are taking part in  the event on 5th June or not there are other ways of thanking your volunteers for the time and support they give – why not post a thank you message on the Volunteers week website?  Or print off a certificate for you to give to your volunteers as a token of your appreciation?  The site is free to join, but if you are having trouble registering please get in touch with us and we can email you a copy of the certificate.

If you have any good news stories you would like to share with us concerning volunteers – maybe you have a volunteer who has been working with you for a long time, or someone who has been out of work for a while and volunteering has helped them back to work – please get in touch and share them with us

Youarewhatyoueat

The Partnership Council’s Sprout project is running open events at Whitemoor Allotments on Saturday 15th May, 2010 and fortnightly thereafter.  If you have any one interested in attending these days please let them know as they have only so many spaces available and helps with catering for the food.  To join in this event you will need to wear tough hard footwear suitable for working outside.

Other outdoor events:

There is a Peace Garden at All Saints Church looking for volunteers to help with the garden.  They get together on Tuesdays from 10.30 – 12.30 pm, ideal for anyone local, this is opposite the Aboretum.

A Sprout member is setting up a Peace Garden, Lenton Recreation Ground, Derby Road, Lenton.  Anyone interested in coming along they need gardeners and volunteers of any ability to help:  the meeting is on Friday 4th June from 10 – 3 pm at the Park Pavillion, tools provided, bring and share lunch.

Hyson Green Library on Saturday 5th June, the Partnership Council will be doing some planting and gardening from 10 am – 1 pm. 

If you are interested in any of these events please get in touch with the Sprout team on 0115 970 8200.

• Meeting rooms at NVAC

If you are a group in Nottingham and your income is less than £25,000, you can use our new meeting rooms for free on Mondays up to three times.

 Why not try our new rooms and see how productive a new setting can be for your meeting?  This is also a great chance to meet us and find out how our free services for voluntary and community groups can help you.

 We now have eight meeting, conference and training rooms – including four brand new rooms – in Nottingham city centre.

 All rooms are fully accessible and air-conditioned and we have discounts for voluntary groups. You also get free use of our audio and visual equipment, refreshments and support to help your day run smoothly.

 To get in touch call: John on 0115 934 8497 or 0115 934 8499, Email: nvac@nottinghamcvs.co.uk or visit 7 Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG1 3FB

• Investors in Volunteers

Well deserved congratulations go out to the SEND project who have recently been awarded their ‘Investing in Volunteers’ award.

Roy Bustin, who many of you will remember from working here at the Volunteer Centre wrote to tell us:

The SEND Project has recently been awarded ‘Investing in Volunteers’ status by Volunteering England in recognition of the active role that volunteers play throughout the organisation.  The standard acknowledges good practice in all areas of volunteer management, reinforcing our commitment to volunteering.  Since making the decision to involve volunteers, we have gone from strength to strength and volunteers now have a vital role in supporting our urban arts workshops.  Volunteers contribute to a diverse range of activities, from music technology and DJing to film and media production, as well as assisting with daily operations in the office. 

 SEND were supported through the ‘IiV’ process by NCVS, who provided full funding as well as ongoing advice and guidance.

“Volunteer Centre Nottingham was crucial in the early stages whilst developing our volunteer programme, advising us on a whole range of issues of volunteer management which we have taken forward and continue to implement. Our volunteers have really benefitted from the structure that we now have in place as a result of working with the Volunteer Centre”.

 – Roy Bustin, Volunteer Manager

Volunteers have been able to access training to support their roles, such as attending practical courses on mental health awareness, disability awareness and safeguarding children, in addition to the technical training delivered through our open sessions and in-house programme.

 “I have been taught many new skills and this has assisted me with my own confidence issues and I have now reconnected with society in an area I feel comfortable in”   – Wendy Gent, Session Support Worker

As volunteers’ skills and confidence continue to grow, it is hoped they will take a lead in designing and delivering their own workshops for other local groups. 

“We are actively looking to work in partnership with organisations so that our volunteers’ talents can be put to best use.  Our hope is that volunteers will gain a sense of ownership from these projects and feel empowered by being involved in every stage of the workshops”   – Moon Chester, Project Director

SEND have attracted a wide and diverse range of volunteers from the local community, who all come together to provide invaluable support to the staff team:

“I’m giving something of myself back to the community”  – Dave Robinson, Session Support Worker

 For more information about volunteering opportunities with SEND, contact Roy Bustin on 0115 9151380 or email roy@sendproject.com.  If you would like to find out more about the Investing in Volunteers award please get in touch and we can support you in finding out more information and through the award.

One of the major parts of my role here at the Volunteer Centre is to pull together a Volunteering Strategy for Nottingham, and as part of this process we are holding a consultation event to look at the themes we have already looked at.  The event will give you a chance to have your input and eventually to start populating the themes with partners whose work ties in with the strategy. 

The consultation event is booked for 17th June 2010 2 – 4pm at the Voluntary Action Centre – save the date in your diaries now and keep an eye out for the official invitation!  All input is valuable to make the strategy valued and useful for all, so if you are unable to attend the event you will be able to contribute your views either online or informally. 

DAIN  are currently recruiting the next lot of volunteers.   The course officially begins on the 11th May from 1:00 to 3:30 pm at the Mechanics and travel expenses and childcare support as required is provided.    The course is free and runs over seven sessions, term-time only.  Interested parties can just turn up on the 11th May for course registration.  For more information please call Sofia on 07810 834539 or email scrawford@wea.org.uk. 

• Vscene mag

Our vteam have worked together with young volunteers to create a new volunteering magazine by young people for young people.

The magazine includes news, features and the latest volunteering opportunities for young people. This new edition features an interview with Nottingham Forest defender Wes Morgan, a charity shop challenge and the team sleeping on the streets for charity.

If you want to include young people in your organisation, get in touch and we can help you recruit young volunteers in your project 

Read the magazine here: 

VOLUNTEER CO-ORDINATOR 14 hours pw (Flexible)

PAY: £10 per hour

This is an exciting opportunity to work in a small dynamic team in our Worksop Office. BCVS acts as a volunteer broker for Bassetlaw and we are seeking an enthusiastic , motivated and highly organised person, ideally with a proven track record of recruiting volunteers and a good knowledge of volunteer legislation. Can you move our volunteering project on to the next stage of development in this changing and challenging environment? If so contact us on www.bcvs.org.uk

Closing date Friday 14th May
Interviews Thursday 20th May

For informal discussion please contact Geraldine Pearce, Director or Debbie Charlesworth, Administrative Assistant at admin@bcvs.org.uk

• Minutes of VCN meeting 15th April 2010

Present:
   Mike Roe – Young Potential
 Carol Penry – Bestwood Advice Centre
 Kathryn Smale – Nottinghamshire Hospice
 Klaudia Witek – Nottingham Prison
 Sonia Lane – Gedling CVS
Vaida Zvirbliene – Gedling CVS
Barbara Philips – Nottingham Mencap
Roy Crampton – Notts Amateur Swimming Association
Ian Kirkpatrick – Notts NHS Trust Social Inclusion Service
 Michelle Brown  – CRB Disclosure service, NCVS
Claire McCurdy, Strategic Volunteering Officer
Leon Hayward, Volunteering Officer
• Welcomes and introductions
All welcomed to the meeting – staff at NCVS introduced themselves and their roles, followed by the VCN members present.  Thank you to those who sent in apologies for the meeting beforehand.
• Guest speaker – Michelle Brown – CRB disclosure service
Michelle from the CRB disclosure service here at NCVS gave us all an introduction to the process for CRB check and introduced the Vetting and Barring scheme.  For those of you who wish to find out more NCVS are running a Vetting and Barring briefing session – previous sessions have been fully booked within days so if you are interested, book early.  The next date for this is Weds 8th September, 9.30 – 12.30 at NCVS on Mansfield Road – call 0115 9348404 to enquire about spaces and to make a booking.

• Update on Volunteer Centre news
Leon told us all about the new drop in service, which despite not being advertised has worked well so far.  The drop ins run on Weds 12 – 2 and are not just for booking people in and finding out more about volunteering, but are useful for a whole range of enquiries such as chasing up referrals as well as being a time for agencies to come in too. 
Leon also spoke about the Brokerage side of the Volunteer Centre and about the online application process via Do-it.org.  Our databases are linked to the national volunteering database which can be viewed at Do-it, and currently we are having an unprecedented amount of referrals via online applications.  2 points to come from this – firstly we are struggling to process the applications and currently have 3 volunteers working on this part so there may be a delay in getting the information to people.  Secondly we need to make sure that the  database is up to date, and to do this we annually send out a confirmation letter to ask if the opportunities registered are up to date and correct: if you receive one of these please make sure that you return it, but in the meantime if you know that you need to change, suspend or withdraw an opportunity please just give us a ring or drop us an email to let us know.

• Volunteering into Employment project
We have a new service at NCVS that works with people who are unemployed to support them into volunteering and training with a view to developing their employability skills.  The project is entirely voluntary – call (0115 9349514) or email saram@nottinghamcvs.co.uk to find out more.

• Round the table news and updates
Mike Roe (Young potential) told us about an event that they are attending in Castleton, training on how to work with young people.  He also said about the funding being withdrawn for Young Talent and this is something they are looking at tackling. 
Carol Penry (Bestwood Advice Centre) told us that they are unable to take on any more volunteers at present as they are full.
Kathryn Smale (Nottinghamshire Hospice) spoke about trying to set up a befriending scheme/ hospice at home project – may link in with Marie Curie on this.
Klaudia Witek (Nottingham Prison) introduced her new project which is to work with offenders being released from Nottingham and surrounding prisons who have served less than 12 months.  This project is not recruiting volunteers of their own, but will use existing accredited mentor programmes to signpost people to.
Roy Crampton (Nottinghamshire ASA) – currently organising mentors for the existing schemes to mentor their volunteers through the different levels which can take 5 years.
Barbara Philips (Nottingham Mencap) had recently recruited a fundraiser to the team.  Mencap are organising a Skydive for their 60th birthday celebration and to raise more funds.  A new club started in January, which is a pilot scheme until May.  They have no dedicated Volunteer Co-ordinator at present.
Sonia Lane (Gedling CVS) – as well as being the volunteering development worker part time she also runs a project for chair based exercise for the elderly which uses volunteers, and is a Health Trainer for Gedling.
Ian Kirkpatrick (SPAN) provide secondary Mental Health care – they provide training and placements and seek to place service users into volunteer placements.

• Volunteering Strategy update
Claire passed around the themes of the strategy for people to have a look at – the general consensus was that the themes were not unfamiliar to the group and that they would feed back any thoughts or comments directly to Claire.

• AOB
Michael Singh (Way Without Walls) came to join the meeting and told us about the recruitment drive he is having to help supply his service with volunteers to meet the demand of the increasing size of the prison.

• V celebration event

Vinvolved Nottingham, the youth volunteering programme funded by v, to inspire a new generation of volunteers aged 16-25, are holding its annual celebration event.
 
The celebration event is in recognition and celebration of youth volunteering in Nottingham.  We will be presenting local young volunteers with thank you certificates and vawards for their contribution to volunteering, over 2,000 hrs, and the positive impact that this has had in their local communities.
 
The celebration event will be held at The Gallery in the Central Library, Angel Row, Nottingham, from 5-8pm on Thursday the 29th April.
 
There will be an awards presentation along with food, entertainment, an auction to raise money for a local charity, to be decided by the volunteers, a penalty shootout and a wii challenge.
 
If you would like to find out more about opportunities in volunteering for 16-25 yr olds contact the vinvolved team on 0115 9585089 or emailvinvolved@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

• Job opportunity

V are looking to recruit a Volunteer Co-ordinator. The project is called the npower No Power Hour and is going to be delivered in partnership with v. So far they have recruited successfully in other areas but have not  had candidates for Nottingham.  The advert and description is attached – please contact V directly for information about this post.

Volunteer Coordinator (no power hour) – candidate brief NOTTINGHAM 300310

•  Volunteering into Employment promotional event

Do you work with people who are unemployed or have recently been made redundant? Volunteering is a great way to develop new skills, gain valuable experience and build up their CV. With our Volunteering into Employment programme, they can get accredited training alongside their volunteering placement too.

Find out more at our promotional day on:

Monday 10 May, 10am – 2pm, NVAC, 7 Mansfield Road, Nottingham, NG1 3FB

Or contact Sara on 0115 934 9514 or saram@nottinghamcvs.co.uk for more information.

• Volunteer Centre drop in

Volunteer Centre Nottingham’s new Drop In service commenced on the 14th of April. The Drop In operates from 12:00 till 14:00 every Wednesday, is free to attend and aims to answer your questions about volunteering. As it’s name suggests no booking’s required, just call in to the volunteer centre on Mansfield Road and we’ll be on hand to speak to you.

 The Drop In is looking to help on three main areas:

Help people find volunteering opportunities
Answer questions from volunteers
Provide advice to organisations about involving volunteers 

 Therefore, if you have a query about volunteering that you would like to talk through in a friendly setting then give us a go, we’ll do our best to provide you an answer on the spot. We hope that this make us more available to help, and reduces the wait that people sometimes find when trying to find a volunteering opportunity

•  Training

Just a reminder that there are still places on the Volunteers and the Law training due to take place on 12th May – if you ever wanted to get more insight into safely working with volunteers, or even wanted to just check that you are doing things correctly, this course is for you. For more information please see  http://www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/training/ncvs/2010April_Sept/Volunteers_and_the_law.pdf 

• Care sector opportunities

At the volunteer centre we are looking for more opportunities in the care sector – this could be in supporting service users, or befriending as well as actually helping to care for people.  If you have or would like to offer some of these opportunities we would love to hear from you!  Get in touch by emailing us or coming along to the drop in.