E-Bulletin - July 2009

July 09 E-Bulletin contents page

National third sector information

and resources

Research mapping the women’s sector in England

The Women's Resource Centre have carried out research mapping the women's sector. There is a specific section on the North West which can be downloaded from www.wrc.org.uk/resources/wrcs_research_and_reports.aspx 

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The economic downturn: 15 questions trustees need to ask
CBI and Charity Commission have produced a guide to surviving the recession including a checklist of 15 key questions charities should ask themselves.
www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/ccnews29check.asp

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New sector ministers have voluntary sector background
Angela Smith is the new minister for the third sector following the reshuffle of government positions. www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/09/angela-smith-charities-minister
John Denham, who now heads the Department for Communities and Local Government and so oversees a number of relevant areas (such as housing, regeneration as well as councils) www.newstartmag.co.uk/news/article/new-ministerial-line-up-at-dclg-revealed/

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New health and social care registration standards
Consultation on guidance from the Care Quality Commission outlining what health and adult social care services will have to do to meet new registration standards has started. The new regulator will begin to introduce the registration system covering all health and adult social care services in England from April next year www.cqc.org.uk/getinvolved/consultations/
consultationonnewregistrationstandards.cfm    

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Five ways to be a better boss
CIPD, the personnel professionals' organisation, and Acas, the employment relations body, have jointly published a brief ‘five-a-day management fundamentals’ on how to be a better boss. There is also a discussion paper 'Meeting the UK's people management skills deficit' - more on both in Acas news item at www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2390

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Help for line managers in tackling stress at work
Updated practical help for HR and line managers to tackle the issue of stress at work has been produced by CIPD working with the Health and Safety Executive and Investors in People. This includes a competency framework enabling line managers to work on the skills required to reduce and prevent stress. Find the guidance etc. at www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/health/stress/_lnstrswrk.htm

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Advice service for charity property
NCVO and the Charity Finance Directors' Group and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have jointly launched a Charity Property Help service. It will provide registered charities and voluntary organisations a one hour consultation with an RICS member firm at no cost, which could cover such matters as property maintenance, environmental issues, lease, renewals and tenancies, planning issues. Details at www.charitypropertyhelp.com

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Direct line on information for carers
A Carers Direct hotline has been launched as a one-stop information and advice service for carers looking after ill, frail or disabled friends and relatives. Phone 0808 802 0202, or see www.nhs.uk/carersdirect

There is also a training course, Caring with Confidence, available face-to-face, online and by distance learning, www.caringwithconfidence.net

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Guide to twenty impact and quality tools
New Economics Foundation has published 'Tools for you', an update to the Prove and Improve Toolkit, designed to help development workers and frontline organisations navigate the world of social impact and quality measurement www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_PublicationDetail.aspx?pid=287

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Campaigning is OK, and should be supported
A short guide to support campaigning by community and voluntary organisations is based on findings from eight regional events. It shows why campaigns matter to the sector, even if they aren't always given that label, what support bodies can do to help, and some useful pointers, such as a 90 minute work-out on how to plan a successful campaign www.e-c-a.ac.uk/news/63/

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The new regime of Independent Examination is upon us.
All charities with accounting year ends of 31 March 2009 will now be subject to the new regulations of the The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and to the Directions and Guidance set out in booklets CC31 and CC32 published by the Charity Commissioners. Charities will have to follow prescribed procedures and routines of due diligence when appointing an Independent Examiner, and will have to keep records of the steps they have taken. See www.sorpaid.com/products/index.htm  for sets of tools to enable charity trustees and Independent Examiners comply with their legal duties.

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Pandemic flu
The NAVCA website now has a page bringing together resources available to help third sector infrastructure organisations deal with widespread influenza and support their members in doing so. www.navca.org.uk/localvs/lio/pandemicflu

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Bringing the community together over lunch
A new initiative being run by the Eden Project aims to bringing communities together and has the support of a number of organisations including sector infrastructure umbrella body NAVCA. The idea of The Big Lunch is that on 19 July as many of the 61 million people in the UK as possible will simultaneously sit down to lunch together, with their neighbours, in the middle of their street www.thebiglunch.com

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Funding News

Exploring income streams
There is a new, expanded version of NCVO's income spectrum toolkit, for analysis of an organisation's types of income and assessing whether a more diverse approach could be of benefit. Download 'Income Exploration Tool: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/What_we_do/Sustainable_Funding/
SFP_Resources/Income_Exploration_Tool(3).pdf  

Funding Central, the new web site managed by NCVO and funded by the Office of the Third Sector, was launched yesterday (17 June). It will provide the details of over 4,000 sources of income, focusing on grants, contracts and loan finance. September should see the addition of a wide range of tools and resources to help identify and manage the most appropriate income sources for an organisation. www.fundingcentral.org.uk

Funding for volunteer manager support
Details have been released of the grants programme being managed by Capacitybuilders to provide support to people who manage volunteers. There are three strands - a training bursary fund, grants for around 25 local volunteering development organisation, and national strategic support. www.capacitybuilders.org  

Big Thinking
Following its Big Thinking consultation, the Big Lottery Fund has announced its plans to 2015.
Headline figures are:
• Funding dedicated to the third sector up from 60-70% to 80%
• £43m for recession support
• £45m moved into popular existing schemes, including an extra £20m for Reaching Communities and £5m for Awards for All.
More details can be found at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/bigthinking

The Guardian Charity Awards
Priorities/details: The Guardian Charity Awards 2009 are open to UK social welfare charities that can demonstrate excellence and achievement in what they do. Smaller charities are too often overshadowed by the big players. The Guardian Charity Awards seek to redress that by showcasing excellence among small and medium-sized charities and given a much-needed boost to organisations struggling to get profile and funding to enable them to move forward.
Who for? Eligible charities must also have been registered in the UK for more than two years and have an annual income of between £5,000 and £1 million.
Application process: Enter online.
Deadline: 31 July 2009.
Further information: Website: www.guardian.co.uk/charity-awards-2009 , contact Nisha Ashra or Beth Glazer, Events Department, at Guardian News & Media on 020 3353 2000. Email: charityawards@guardian.co.uk

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The above news was resourced from:
VolResource newsletter www.voluntarynews.org.uk
NAVCA LINX www.navca.org.uk/publications/linx/
NCVO www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
Sandy Adirondack www.sandy-a.co.uk
 

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