the echo Our vision: CARING, VIBRANT and STRONG communi es where everyone can fulfil their poten al. Our mission: CONNECTING and INSPIRING people and organisa ons to achieve posi ve change, while CHAMPIONING their value to partners and the wider community.
Mayor’s Invite to Award Winning Volunteers Winners of the 2014 Dudley Volunteer Awards were recently re-united at Dudley Civic Offices as guests of Dudley Mayor, Cllr Margaret Aston. The Mayor welcomed her guests into the Council Chamber, where they were Shamim Akhtar, Fran Cartwright, given a brief insight into the Mayor Cllr Margaret Aston, Sheila workings of the Council and a Abrahams and Heather Cruickshanks history of the Mayoral robes and chains of office by Martin Cox, Mayoral Attendant and chauffeur. As her year as Dudley Volunteering Champion draws to a close, the Mayor said she was ‘shocked and surprised’ at how many volunteers and voluntary groups there are in Dudley. The Mayor said she had been a volunteer with the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) for 18 years, but she was still “amazed by the range of work and support volunteers do in their communities. There are literally thousands of volunteers putting in hundreds of thousands of hours each year.” Asked to sum up her year as Volunteering Champion, the Mayor Gordon Ibbotson, Mayor and said, “Having the chance to meet so many interesting people and lots of Lynton Cooper from Black cakes, biscuits and cups of tea.” Country Museum Transport One of the Maintenance team guests, Brett Harris of Blaze Hairdressing in Kingswinford, wondered why he had been invited as he was awarded the inaugural Business Supporting the Community Award in 2013. All was made clear when Eileen Fielding presented Brett with a ‘Points of Light’ certificate, signed by Prime Minister David Cameron, in recognition of Brett’s commitment to the annual Dudley CVS Operation Santa Toy Appeal. Brett Harris
In this issue May 2015 Front Page Mayor’s Parlour visit
News Stafford Street Day Centre Integrated Plus update Small Charity Week Big Lottery Fund In a Nutshell
Funding Building feasibility grants The Rayne Foundation Football Foundation Crash Ambient Assisted Living True Colours Trust Mental health small grants
News Social Finance Part 7 Volunteers Week
Volunteering Queens Award More MBEs please
Our Services What we can do for you
AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT ON REQUEST Visit our website www.dudleycvs.org.uk
NEWS New Lease of Life for former Day Centre Work on bringing a redundant Dudley council building back into use as a public amenity has been progressing steadily since Dudley CVS signed a 25 year lease on the property last autumn. After being unoccupied for three years, the former day care centre and Age UK Dudley HQ in Stafford Street, Dudley, had fallen into a state of disrepair. But, after several months of work, its new 'lease of life' is beginning to take shape. Trevor Fielding: One man Trevor Fielding has been leading the refurbishment project and his nail gun at and has got to know every nook and cranny in the building, Stafford Street. installing 450 metres of pipework, 2,400 metres of electrical cable, and 300 square metre of plasterboard. Not to mention filling 14 large skips with rubble, old flooring and damaged ceilings! When finished, the building will have offices for rent, onsite cafe, internet connections, conference facilities and a large main hall with state-of-the-art lighting and sound system suitable for all types of functions. Dudley CVS has also taken over the management of the Civic Hall in Brierley Hill. Enquiries about room hire at both Stafford Street and the Civic Hall are welcome. Call 01384 573381. Nick Tromans, Locality Link Worker for Stourbridge, Lye and Wollescote shares his progress on the Integrated Plus project across Dudley borough. "The first 6 months have been a busy time. I have... • Had 50 people referred to me by GPs and other health professionals; • Identified multiple issues that impact on people’s wellbeing, including social isolation, financial hardship, housing problems; • Linking people with social and community activity to complement their medical interventions has been welcomed by GPs; • Identified gaps in provision of services to support young single men with depression and I will be working closely with voluntary sector organisations to address that. Community groups have been really supportive, especially faith communities, which have welcomed our referrals to drop-in centres, luncheon clubs and offered volunteering opportunities and social activities. Together we’re designing new projects, such as a new dropin facility at Christ Church, Lye, aimed at men who are socially isolated or experiencing mental health conditions. We are also sharing ideas for support between social enterprises, such as bread2share, with clients interested in setting up condition-specific peer support groups. It’s clear that the voluntary and community sector has a lot to offer people with a variety of health needs and I’m sure the next 6 months will also be an exciting time." For more on this, contact Nick Tromans on nick@dudleycvs.org.uk Mobile: 07866 020436.
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NEWS
Small Charity Week: 15th to 20th June Small Charity Week celebrates and raises awareness of the essential work of small charities (defined as charities and CICs that have an annual turnover under £1.5million). This year, Dudley CVS is joining in with the celebrations and running special activities and workshops across the week including: • Monday 15th June – joining the #ILoveSmallCharities celebrations on Twitter and Facebook by visiting and promoting the work of some of our fabulous local charities; • Tuesday 16th June – joining the Big Advice Day by hosting a social media surgery in Halesowen in the morning and running an afternoon drop-in at Dudley CVS offices in Brierley Hill; • Wednesday 17th June – contributing to the Policy and Influence day by sharing our hints and tips on influencing decision-makers on www.dudleycvsblog.com and our Twitter account • Thursday 18th June – supporting Volunteering Day by sharing our top tips for involving and supporting volunteers. Come and drop into our office from 2pm for some guidance Friday 19th June – joining Fundraising Day by offering hints and tips on fundraising, focussing on running a successful crowdfunding campaign. To join the celebrations, call Becky on 01384 573381. E-mail: smallgroups@dudleycvs.org.uk. For more information on Small Charity Week, visit: http://smallcharityweek.com/
BLF Accelerating Ideas Pilot Accelerating Ideas aims to provide a flexible route to funding for innovative practice that can be adopted and adapted more widely. This pilot programme focuses on opportunities and challenges presented by an ageing population. It is expected that most funding will be made to partnerships of voluntary, public or private sector organisations, led by a voluntary sector organisation. Potential applicants are invited to contact BLF to discuss their project ideas further. There is no upper limit for funding requests and the pilot period will be open for ideas until summer 2015. For more information and to discuss project ideas, call BLF Advice Line: 0345 4 10 20 30 E-mail: general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/globalcontent/programmes/uk-wide/ukaccelerating-ideas-pilot
In a nutshell... Carers Week 8th14th June The main theme for this year is Building Carer Friendly Communiities. For more information go to. www.carersuk.org or www.carersweek.org Carers Week in Dudley will be launched on 6th June with Fun Day in combination with Volunteers’ Week at Stafford Street Day Centre in Dudley (see page 6). Dementia Awareness Week 17th to23rd May. An afternoon Tea Dance will be held at the Station Hotel in Dudley on Wednesday 29th May between 2pm and 4pm. Free admission and refreshments for people aged 50+. For booking contact Carol Bowsher on 0121 521 3020 or E-mail: carol.bowsher@alzheimers.org.uk. Parking available and fully accessible.
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FUNDING
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) DCLG has launched the Community Buildings Pre-Feasibility and Project Support grant schemes to support community groups that have identified a possible community building project and are assessing the way forward. Pre-Feasibility funding £1,000-£10,000 is to help local groups decide whether it is feasible to take on a building project before submitting a Community Right to Build Order. Grants can be used for costs associated with assessing the viability of the project. Project Support grants £5,000-£40,000 are then available to help with payments to progress the work up to the point of submitting a Community Right to Build Order. Funding can be used for expert help and other costs associated with preparing detailed plans. Community groups applying are expected to contribute at least 10% of the estimated costs of developing the proposal. Applications can be made at any time. For further information, call 0845 458 8336. E-mail: info@locality.org.uk Website: http://mycommunity.org.uk/programme/community-buildings-housing/?_a=funding
The Rayne Foundation
helps
and encourages inspiration and innovation by supporting organisations that can help build bridges in the following sectors: • Arts - achieving learning outcomes through the work of arts organisations in deprived communities; • Education - developing numeracy skills; • Health and Social Welfare - improved quality of life for older people and improved mental health for young people. The Foundation’s aim is to enlarge sympathies through increased tolerance and understanding, reducing exclusion and conflict. They want to bring people together for the good of society. They will provide funding for salaries, core costs and capital. The average grant in 2014 was £21,492. Applications can be submitted at any time. For more information, contact Morin Carew: Tel: 020 7487 9656 E-mail: mcarew@raynefoundation.org.uk Website: www.raynefoundation.org.uk
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Premier League and FA Facilities Fund In addition to its small grants scheme (up to £10,000), the Football Foundation also runs a large grant programme (£10,000£500,000) for building/refurbishing community grassroots facilities in order to: • Improve facilities for football/other sport in local communities; • Sustain or increase participation amongst children and adults, regardless of background, age, or ability; • Help children and adults develop their physical, mental, social and moral capacities through regular participation in sport. Applications can be made at any time. Clubs or community organisations/registered charities must have security of tenure either through freehold or long lease for a minimum of 25 years. For more information, call 0845 345 4555 E-mail: enquiries@footballfoundation.org.uk Web Site: www.footballfoundation.org.uk/ funding-schemes/premier-league-the-fafacilities-fund
FUNDING
CRASH
is the construction and property industries' charity for homeless people. It provides support to frontline homelessness agencies. Crash provides: • Professional advice and expertise from architects, quantity surveyors, project managers and specialist engineers; • Cash grants for new builds or refurbishment of existing buildings; • Building materials free of charge from supporting suppliers. Organisations applying must be registered charities. Buildings must be used to deliver services to single homeless people over the age of 18. Applications can be made at any time. For more information call 020 8742 0717 E-mail: projects@crash.org.uk Website: www.crash.org.uk/apply-for-help
Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) The Joint Programme has recently opened for applications with €33.1M (UK share €1.2M) available to fund ICT-based innovative, transnational and multi-disciplinary collaborative projects supporting older adults to: • Live independently for longer; • Stay in charge of their own lives; • Participate in society the way they want. Organisations can apply for funding for products, systems or services to enhance older adults' quality of life by improving their autonomy, participation in social life, skills, and employability. The deadline for submitting proposals is 28th May 2015. See website for more information: www.aal-europe.eu/get-involved/call-2015
The True Colours Trust’s aim is to provide small grants (up to £10,000) to a large number of excellent local organisations and projects that support disabled children and their families on a daily basis. Grants are usually for one-off purposes to help smaller organisations develop and deliver programmes for children, their siblings and families. In particular they are keen to fund: • Hydrotherapy pools; • Multi sensory rooms; • Mini buses; • Young carers; • Bereavement support; • Specialised play equipment. Applications can be submitted at any time. For more information, call: 020 7410 0330 E-mail: truecolours@sfct.org.uk. Website: www.truecolourstrust.org.uk/small-grants-uk
Dudley Public Mental Health Small Grants Round 19 of this annual grant programme will be launched during Mental Health Awareness Week (11th-17th May 2015). It will focus on projects promoting mental health/wellbeing to ensure people are well informed to look after their health and that of others. Projects should relate to the five ways to achieve well-being, such as: • Mental health awareness; • Wellbeing in the workplace; • Reducing risk around suicide; • Tackling stigma/discrimination. A launch event will be held on Wednesday 13th May. For more information and to reserve a place at the event, contact Kathy De Cicco: Tel: 01384 816284. E-mail: kathy.decicco@dudley.gov.uk
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NEWS
Social Finance: Part 7 of 7 The funding of early-stage, preventive interventions is more effective and cost-efficient than treating social issues after they have arisen. In the payment-by-results (PbR) sector, where public sector commissioners commit to a Social Impact Bond that pays for improvement in social outcomes, social investors (such as Bridging Ventures) provide up-front funding. They pay for new interventions and services delivered by charities and social enterprises, knowing returns will only be made if the intervention achieves specific improved social outcomes. The following examples illustrate the type of programmes that could be supported: 1.
Working with vulnerable children to improve educational attainment;
2.
Providing family therapy to avoid vulnerable adolescents being taken into local authority care.
The Bridges Social Impact Bond Fund supports charities and social enterprises that have: •
A clear social mission;
•
A strong management team;
•
The ability to deliver high impact social interventions;
•
The ability to robustly monitor and proactively manage the social outcomes delivered by these programmes.
Investments up to £3M are available. For more information, call 020 7262 5566 E-mail: info@bridgesventures.com Website: http://bridgesventures.com/social-sector-funds/social-impact-bond-fund For more information e-mail: info@socialfinance.org.uk Website: www.socialfinance.org.uk
Volunteers’ Week 1st - 7th June. The annual Volunteers’ Week celebrates the contribution made by millions of volunteers across the UK. It's an opportunity for voluntary groups, large and small, to showcase what they do, promote volunteering opportunities, provide taster sessions and recruit new volunteers. Dudley CVS has a busy week planned: 1st June – Launch of Dudley Volunteer Awards 2015 Get inspired to nominate an individual or group. Visit https://dva2015.wordpress.com/; 4th June - Volunteers Quiz Night Our annual battle for the Volunteering Brains of Dudley; 5th June – Volunteering Champion Event Annual celebration to thank the outgoing Mayor for their support over the year and welcome the new Mayor into the role; 6th June – Family Fun Day As we celebrate the end of Volunteers Week and the start of Carers Week join us at a Family Fun Day, from 10am to 3pm at Stafford Street Day Centre, Dudley. If you are holding any special events for your volunteers we have free Valued Volunteer certificates available. Just contact Dale on 01384 573381 or dale@dudleycvs.org.uk
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VOLUNTEERING The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of the Queen's coronation and it is considered to be the MBE for volunteer groups. Any group doing volunteer work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated for the award. Dudley CVS is encouraging more local voluntary groups to be put forward for a Queens Award. If you know of a group and you would like to nominate them, you will also need letters from two people to support your nomination who are independent from the group you are nominating. Letters of support can be provided by someone who benefits from the group’s work or someone who knows of the group’s work. The support letter must include examples of how the group helps the local community and how the group is known to yourself and the supporters. So, do you know of such a group in Dudley borough? To qualify for a Queens Award nomination a group must: Have been operating at a high standard for at least 3 years; More than half the people who work in the group must be volunteers; More than half of the group’s volunteers must have residence in the UK; Group satisfies the requirements to safeguard children and vulnerable adults; Has public liability insurance or other relevant insurance required for their work. Nominations need to be submitted by 30th September to be considered for an award the following summer. Two recent Dudley based recipients of a Queens Award are Woodside Community Association and the Hope Centre in Halesowen. The next issue of the Echo will feature articles on how being Queen’s Award winner has benefited them.
And speaking of awards…...
how many Echo readers would be surprised to learn that only just over 5% of individual honours in 2014, such as the OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and BEM (British Empire Medal) were given to people in the West Midlands? Three-quarters of the Queens Birthday honours list in 2014 were presented to people working in their local community, just like thousands of people in Dudley borough. Perhaps it is that Dudley volunteers do not seek publicity or limelight. But individual honours are awarded because someone deserves to be recognised for the contribution they have made. The different honours recognise different achievements: OBE: Recognises a distinguished regional or country-wide role in any field through achievement or service to the community; MBE: Awarded for significant service to the community, a sustained and real impact, which stands out as an example to others; BEM: Re-introduced in 2012 and rewards sustained local contribution or high impact work over a relatively short duration (3 to 4 years). So, let’s put Dudley, and the Black Country, on the individual honours map. If you know anyone who deserves to be recognised go to: https://www.gov.uk/honours/types-of-honoursand-awards
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How can we help?
DUDLEY CVS works with all community and voluntary groups, however small or large the organisation. We work with a range of partners, putting us at the forefront of voluntary and community sector representation. KEEP UP TO DATE Visit our website www.dudleycvs.org.uk to find out about new developments affecting the voluntary sector, locally and nationally. BECOME A MEMBER Membership is free to any voluntary and community organisation operating in Dudley. Sign up today and start enjoying a range of services and support. SOURCING FUNDING If your group is considering options for funding, Dudley CVS can help you identify sources of funding and assist in developing funding applications.
SPECIALIST HELP Dudley CVS offers support tailored to suit your specific needs. Our Core Service Officers have years of experience available to local organisations. Help is wide ranging and includes, among other services: community engagement; enterprise development; asset management; business planning; legal structures and conflict resolution. GROUP DEVELOPMENT Established larger organisations can sign up to our Building Blocks organisational development toolkit. New, emerging and developing small groups can receive expert oneto-one guidance through our Route Map programme.
CHILDREN’S SERVICES Dudley CVS has officers
dedicated to the needs of children and young people, families and those organisations and professionals working with children in Dudley VOLUNTEERING Dudley CVS Volunteer Centre provides all the expertise that would-be volunteers and volunteer managers might need. Guidance and training on managing, legislation recruitment and retaining volunteers is available all year round. We can also match up those seeking to volunteer to those groups looking to recruit volunteers. HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE With health services under review, our assigned support officers are in much demand by
services providers and service users. PUBLICITY Our marketing and communications officers can help local groups to raise their profile and maximise their promotional needs. Advice on producing newsletters, leaflets promotional materials and media relations. ADMIN SUPPORT Voluntary groups requiring ad hoc or regular support with learning basic computer skills, printing, mailings, book-keeping, payroll etc. can use Dudley CVS admin services at very competitive rates. CAN’T SEE WHAT YOU NEED? Call the number below.
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Dudley CVS is a registered charity and company For additional information about all CVS services contact: limited by guarantee Telephone: 01384 573381 Place of registration: England E-mail: info@dudleycvs.org.uk Company number: 1998105 Charity number: 517766
Dudley CVS is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee Place of registration: England Company number: 1998105 Charity number: 517766