KVA Newsletter Summer 2012

July 2012

Newsletter The newsletter for Kingston’s voluntary & community sector

Big Society audited for first time Civil Exchange has published the Big Society Audit 2012, which claims to be the first independent audit of David Cameron’s Big Society.

Backed by Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, it looks at changes made to open up public services and empower communities, and reflects on the previous government’s work and the impact of wider social changes. Key findings include: 1. The concept of the ‘Big Society’ has deep roots, crossparty interest and is more than just a passing fad; 2. Disadvantaged and urban communities have much lower levels of social capital than their wealthier and more rural counterparts; 3. Public trust and civil engagement are high, whilst participation and trust in national politics is low;

Recommendations include: 1. Both central and local government need to increase their understanding of the voluntary sector to help jointly deliver the Big Society agenda.

2. Under current commissioning arrangements there is an implicit bias towards the private sector, which is the main beneficiary of public service contracts. As this is likely to continue, arrangements should be revisited to ensure voluntary and community groups are able to compete.

Caroline MacFarland, Managing Director at think tank Respublica, believes the Government’s localism agenda will be instrumental in bringing about real change at a local level. “The new set of community rights granted in the Localism Act could be a catalyst of a genuine partnership between local authorities and their communities.”

4. It has the potential to shift power from government to civil society.

Read the report at http://tinyurl.com/brnewgb

Incorporating the GO Kingston Volunteering Newsletter Pages 7 — 10

In this edition News

2-4

Funding

5-6

Go Kingston Volunteering news

7-10

Health & Social Care news

12-13

ICT Hub

14-15

KVA contacts

16

Keep up to date with KVA online:

twitter.com/KingstonVA

Kingston Voluntary Action, Siddeley House, 50 Canbury Park Road, Kingston KT2 6LX Tel: 020 8255 3335 Fax: 020 8255 8804 Email: info@kva.org.uk Website: www.kva.org.uk Registered Charity No. 257551

Page 2

News

www.kva.org.uk

What does your online directory entry say about you?

For members of the public to find your organisation in our searchable online directory your page needs to simply convey what you do.

Your online page is directly related to the information we store on our database about your organisation, so please make sure it is up-to-

date and says exactly what you want it to say about you.

You will find a yellow database entry form inserted within this newsletter.

Please complete this and post it to us by 16 July.

You can also tell us if you do

not want to be included in the directory, and about the kinds of information you would like to receive from us.

Alternatively you can complete the form online: www.kwiksurveys.com ?u=KVAdatabase2012

Families face uncertain future over housing benefit changes Nick Smith from RBK’s Housing Department delivered an excellent presentation at the KVA Children and Young Peoples VCS Seminar on 23rd May on the huge changes to welfare benefits and the impact on families in Kingston.

The cap on Housing Benefit and the move towards Universal Credit will bring enormous challenges for

families in the borough.

Nick advised organisations that are working with families who receive a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions stating that their Housing Benefit entitlement may change, to contact the Housing Advice and Options Team at RBK on 020 8547 5003 or housingadvice@rbk.kingston .gov.uk

They can also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau on 0844 826 9701.

You can find Nick’s full presentation on the KVA website: www.kva.org.uk/ news/latest-news/ changes-to-housingbenefit/ Contact Judith Naylor at KVA on 020 8255 3335

Love Kingston fundraises to find pathways out of poverty A campaign to raise money for charities working on a common theme, ‘pathways out of poverty’, will be launched this October by KVA and London Community Foundation.

Fund on behalf of the Office for Civil Society.

The Love Kingston fundraising campaign is part of KVA’s Transforming Kingston’s Infrastructure project, funded by the Big

Donations raised will be divided between six local charities, to be announced shortly.

Love Kingston aims to increase charitable giving by engaging a new range of donors, both corporate and high net worth individuals.

Elaine Miller, Love Kingston fundraising manager, speaks at the Voluntary Sector Forum (pg 4)

Summer 2012

Page 3

News

Local managers to receive leading management qualification As part of our strategic approach to workforce development in the sector, KVA has continued its partnership with Kingston College to offer another seven managers from local voluntary and community organisations an opportunity to gain a leading professional qualification.

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Diploma at

advanced management theory and practice.

Benefiting organisations include Home-Start Kingston, EnhanceAble, YMCA London South-West, Last year’s Big Lottery funded Superhighways, Kingston CMI attendees receive certificates Citizens Advice Bureau and KAG Advocacy.

Level 5 in Management and Leadership gives attendees higher level management skills that are grounded in

Business mentor matching for voluntary sector managers As chief executives and managers find themselves under more pressure than ever to find funds in the current economic climate, they are being encouraged to seek the help they need to manage change, start trading or get ready for commissioning.

KVA are delighted to be offering 10 voluntary sector managers in Kingston an opportunity to receive fully funded mentoring from highly skilled commercial sector professionals.

The support is being offered through a partnership with Cranfield Trust, who have a welldeveloped network of highly skilled volunteers who donate their time,

management knowledge and business experience to help charities develop sustainably.

The Transforming Kingston’s Infrastructure initiative, funded by the Big Fund on behalf of the Office for Civil Society, aims to support managers of groups concerned with poverty, social exclusion or disability.

Sanja Kane at Kingston Voluntary Action explains that mentors can offer many benefits: "Mentors can give you advice and guidance, act as a sounding board, bring an external view to your issue, help you think more strategically, and help you manage change in your

organisation".

"For busy managers, considering selling their group's goods and services, or getting ready for commissioning, can be daunting”.

“It's helpful to talk through fears, ideas and plans with someone who knows what you need”.

"Chief executives and managers could make good use of a business mentor, even if they have years of experience and training behind them".

For further information please contact Sanja Kane at KVA on training@kva.org.uk or 0208 255 3335

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News

www.kva.org.uk

Social enterprise and trading start-up support now available The shift from a grants ecomomy towards the free market economy can be a worry for voluntary and community groups who have long relied on funder relationships to make ends meet.

Yet with the right support it could be simple to sell what you do best, reduce grant dependency and plough your profits into the projects you really want to do to help the people, places and causes you care about.

Kingston voluntary sector managers are being urged to generate unrestricted income from their goods and services with the free oneto-one support of a highly skilled business professional.

A new partnership between Kingston Voluntary Action and the Cranfield Trust will offer one-to-one support to five local organisations who are considering trading activities or becoming a social enterprise.

Cranfield Tust will match managers with an experienced commercial expert from their well developed national network of volunteers.

The substantial advice and support on offer can help managers diversify funding streams and increase sustainability, as Sanja Kane explains: “To help you understand the

Training needs analysis Do you want to know your tweet from your post? Need to know how to write a winning funding bid? Struggle to say no to a volunteer?

If you would like training on the topics that matter to you, please let us know what would be most useful to you for our forthcoming Autumn course programme.

There’s a simple online survey for you to complete. All completed surveys will be entered into a prize draw, and the winning organisation can have a fully funded place on the course of their choice. http://kwiksurveys.com?u=TNA2012

costs, investment requirements and skills needed for commercial trading, a consultant can work with you to carry out feasibility studies for new ventures or activities, develop your business plan, or get your marketing strategy up and running”.

“More than that, the guidance of an experienced trader can give you the confidence, inspiration and knowledge you need to turn your ideas into practical action".

For further information please contact Sanja Kane at KVA on training@kva.org.uk or 0208 255 3335

Voluntary Sector Forum Fundraising online, the new Love Kingston fundraising campaign, Heritage Lottery Fund, the RBK grants review and staying represented in health and social care planning were topics for the Voluntary Sector Forum on 14 June.

It was great to see so many friends and new faces at the forum. We’ll look forward to seeing you next year.

If you were unable to come you can still read the presentations delivered on KVAs website and listen to Jill Darling’s speech about the RBK grants review. www.kva.org.uk/events-andtraining/voluntary-sector-forum/

Summer 2012

Funding

Page 5

Start fundraising today with Localgiving.com and save £72!

With many small charities and community groups struggling to find traditional grant funding, it is a good time to make direct contact with potential new donors.

So KVA has teamed up with the London Community Foundation to offer Kingston’s voluntary organisations an exciting way to raise money from individuals and the private sector.

Transforming Kingston’s Infrastructure project (TKI) can give you access to the local online giving community, through a new website called Localgiving.com Localgiving.com allows

donors to find a charity in their area that supports the cause that they really care about. It provides charities with a webpage and the online fundraising tools and training to reach them.

More than £2 million has been raised through the site so far! Match fund challenges also give groups the chance to double the money they raise.

Localgiving.com is the only fundraising website in the UK allowing groups that are too small or unable to register with the Charity Commission to receive Gift Aid. Laura from Yorda Adventures said that KVA

Gift Aid claim form reminder In March 2011 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) introduced a new R68(i) - Gift Aid and tax repayment claims form, which replaced all previous claim forms.

The R68(i) claim form instantly calculates the correct amount of Gift Aid you can claim, using the dates and amounts you enter.

‘just made my day’ when she found at our first startup surgery that Yorda were eligible for Gift Aid, despite being a community investment company.

This means that any donations received will be boosted by 25%, no matter what the group’s size or structure.

Registration and one year subscription is free for the first 50 Kingston groups to join, thanks to the funding secured by KVA. The annual subscription costs £60 + VAT for groups outside of Kingston. Get online today.

Contact Sanja Kane on training@kva.org.uk or 0208 255 3335

New PAYE reporting system Real Time Information (RTI) is the new reporting system being gradually introduced for PAYE by HM Revenue and Customs.

It aims to make the PAYE system easier for employers and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to operate, and support the introduction of Universal Credits.

It also helps charities and community amateur sports clubs avoid common errors and means HMRC can process your claim faster.

It may end the use of P45 and P46 forms, but checks on personal data will be far more rigorous. It’s a good idea to audit your data so your future online submission is not rejected and you do not pay penalties.

www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/charitystubb

www.hmrc.gov.uk/rti/employerfaqs http://preview.tinyurl.com/dyuw6nd

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Funding

www.kva.org.uk

Comic Relief Local Communities Programme

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) All Our Stories

Funding for local groups to increase local services; build skills of local people; increase community cohesion; respond to local economic needs; increase access to sport and exercise for people who face social exclusion and isolation.

Have you ever wondered what your local area was like in the past? Or how people in your community used to live?

£1,000 to £10,000 Deadline: 7 September 2012 www.londoncf.org.uk/grants

£3,000 to £10,000 Deadline: 31 July 2012 www.hlf.org.uk

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Merger Fund

Money Advice Trust (MAT) Innovation Grants Programme

A fund for organisations in the early stages of thinking about a merger. The fund aims to help organisations and their potential merger partner(s) to think through the decision to merge, rather than to cover the costs of any subsequent merger.

Funding for charities that provide free, independent, effective advice to people on how to deal with debt and manage their money in a wiser way. Priorities: sharing best practice; supporting people excluded from society or homeless/facing homelessness.

£100,000 fund for 10-15 grants Deadline: Ongoing www.esmeefairbair.org.uk

£1,000 to £3,000 Deadline: 11 July 2012 www.moneyadvicetrust.org

Sport England Inclusive Sport Fund

Social Investment Business Investment & Contract Readiness Fund

An Olympics legacy fund to grow sports participation of disabled people aged 14 and over at a grassroots level. Projects should be innovative, scalable and replicable, and make it easier and more fun for disabled people to take part in sport and physical activity more often.

A fund to help charities and social enterprises win public sector contracts and attract social investment. Grants will help you purchase investment and contract readiness support from an approved provider to raise a £500,000 investment or win contracts of at least £1 million.

£10,001 upwards for revenue grants Deadline: 31 August 2012 www.sportengland.org/funding

£50,000 to £150,000 Deadline: end of July 2012 www.beinvestmentready.org.uk

Explore your heritage and share what you learn with others.

For funding advice, a funding search or support with applications contact Zahida Saddiq: zahidas@kva.org.uk or 020 8255 3335.

GO KINGSTON VOLUNTEERING Celebrating 40 years of volunteering in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Voluntary Sector in the Market Place a shining success The heavens held and the sun shone on Saturday the 9 June 2012 for the first-ever Voluntary Sector in the Market Place event.

15 local voluntary and community groups got together to show the public of Kingston the work they are involved in.

Lots of people visited the stalls for information and advice about the services on offer from the voluntary sector. Many came to offer their time and get involved in volunteering.

Maria Jarvis, Go Kingston Volunteering manager, said “We recruited lots of potential volunteers for the Torch Relay and the cycle races that are coming through Kingston.

We also spoke to a lot of people about becoming a volunteer with the Buddy Scheme, a befriending project for people with learning disabilities. We need lots more male volunteers to help out as currently we have more female volunteers than males, yet the majority of service users are male.

The event gave us a good opportunity to do some much needed outreach work. In terms of volunteer recruitment and raising awareness of the work we do the event was a great success�.

GoKingstonVolunteering

@GKVolunteers

Page 8

GKV Newsletter

www.gokingstonvolunteering.org.uk

Ready, get set...Go volunteer!

The Olympic Torch has been making its way across the UK for more than a month, cheered on its way by thousands of supporters and even a marriage proposal!

More than 100 people have signed up to volunteer with KVA to see the Torch carried safely through Kingston’s streets on 24 July.

This is an incredible opportunity for your volunteers or staff team to do something a little different as a team, and be a part of the amazing buzz surrounding this once-in-alifetime event in Kingston.

If you’re not able to join us for the Torch Relay, there are opportunities to volunteer for the Olympic cycle races on 28 and 29 July, and at the many Cultural Olympiad events happening in the borough.

You could also help out at the Kingston Disabled Ten Pin Bowling Championships as part of the Paralympics 2012. The Paralympics have proved popular, and a number of events have already sold out.

The Torch, it is said, is a symbol of sharing peace, unity and friendship. The similarity with volunteering is striking. So put your hands together, and welcome the Games.

Get in touch with Hedley today to take part.

Good news for good practice project as funding is secured City Bridge Trust has agreed to fund Go Kingston Volunteering’s cross borough good practice in volunteering project for another year.

This will enable us to build on the work already achieved and continue to provide support and training courses on volunteer management to organisations in Kingston.

Volunteers talk about the Kingston Aviation Festival, first event of the Cultural Olympiad:

I worked at Hawker Siddeley Aviation at Ham Common in the early 1970’s, I still have fond memories of the Hunter refurbishment programme, the Harrier production, and the exciting new prototype Hawk. Via the “Go Kingston” initiative, I was happy to volunteer to be a steward for the weekend at the Kingston Aviation Festival. The public feedback to the generally unknown Sopwith history in Kingston during WWI was amazing. Everyone wanted to know why there wasn’t a permanent museum in Kingston, and I hope now there will be. I enjoyed every single minute of it, when can we do it again!

Chris Stephens It was an immense privilege to serve this event and hear the recollections of former Hawker employees. I learnt a lot about Kingston and its great history and gave me a real pride in the town - even more so seeing Kingston aircraft finishing of the Queen's jubilee weekend flying over Buckingham Palace . It really encourages me to continue a relationship with the project. There is of course sadness we no longer manufacture aircraft here but the question is how do we properly commemorate our heritage?

Peter Watson

Contact Hedley at Go Kingston Volunteering on 0208 255 8685 or gkv@gokingstonvolunteering.org.uk

Summer 2012

Page 9

GKV Newsletter

Volunteer management: what do you really want to know?

Volunteer coordinators are often overlooked in their organisations, yet managing volunteers can be a difficult task.

managing volunteers and a training session. This was held last month and focussed on “developing a volunteer policy”.

Arguably it can be more challenging than managing staff.

It looked at why organisations need such a policy and what should go in it. 16 organisations attended and at the end of the session had templates and ideas for developing the

The volunteer coordinators forum aims to provide an opportunity for networking, exchange of idea on

policy for organisation.

their

own

If you have any ideas for future forums contact Pat Stanley.

A good overview – stimulating A good networking opportunity, essential part of local community

How can you involve volunteers in your organisation?

There are many positive reasons for involving volunteers in your organisation, but doing so is an investment of both time and resources.

It can be difficult to know where and how to start the process. Pat Stanley recently delivered in-house training sessions to Kingston Race and Equalities Council & Kingston Centre for Independent Living (KCIL) in Kingston.

The sessions helped them consider why they need volunteers, what policies need to be in place and what practical steps need to be taken to ensure a thriving volunteer programme.

Both organisations found this session helpful. If your organisation is interested in having an in-house session contact Pat. The session was particularly useful as for the very first time (almost) the whole KCIL team plus a representative from the KCIL Board was able to get together to consider what it means to have volunteers working alongside staff to deliver services and representing the organisation through a host of other activities. Everyone had something useful to contribute.

Theo Harris – CEO KCIL

Tell us about future volunteer management training sessions Several workshops will be delivered as part of the KVA autumn training programme. In the next month you will receive a training needs analysis to establish the viability of different courses. Please spend a few moments completing these forms to ensure we run what organisations say they want.

For any help with best practice in volunteer management contact Pat Stanley, Good Practice Adviser on goodpractice@gokingstonvolunteering.org.uk or 020 8255 8685

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GKV Newsletter

www.gokingstonvolunteering.org.uk

Did you thank your volunteers in national Volunteers Week?

Go Kingston Volunteering and Kingston Voluntary Action said a big thanks to all our hardworking volunteers in Volunteers Week (1 to 7 June 2012).

Volunteer roles range from general administration duties, to project managing and volunteer interviewing.

Volunteers Week is an annual national event to recognise the amazing contribution volunteers make to local communities across the UK.

Many of our volunteers have been with us for years although we have recruited new team members to cope with the changes of rebranding from Kingston Volunteer Centre to Go Kingston Volunteering.

“This year we took our volunteers out for a very special lunch” said Maria Jarvis, manager of GKV, “to recognise and reward our volunteers for their time and commitment throughout the year”.

“Our volunteers form the backbone to our organisation” said Hilary Garner, Chief Executive of KVA, “and without their continuing support we would struggle to deliver some of our key services”.

Paul Cox, Chair of KVA added that “This is just a small token of our appreciation for the contribution our volunteers make week in week out”.

Some of the things our volunteers said about us: It’s nice to know you’re appreciated I like the way everyone says thank you at the end of the day I like coming in because everyone is so friendly

Looking for volunteers?

Are you an organisation in Kingston looking for new volunteers? Need to promote your vacancies?

Find out more about our volunteering opportunities through the summer of 2012 and beyond by seeing our online news report. The report was put together by Kingston University students. Thanks! www.gokingstonvolunteering/news/ volunteer-roadshow

Go Kingston Volunteering can support your organisations to recruit, involve and manage your volunteers.

Contact our team on gkv@gokingstonvolunteering.org.uk or 020 8255 8685 for more details.

Summer 2012

Health & Social Care

Page 11

What the Health and Social Care Act 2012 means for Kingston Following Royal Assent in March, after protestations from many professional health bodies and numerous amendments, the controversial Health and Social Care Bill has now become the Health and Social Care Act. Mainly the Act will establish and make provision about an NHS Commissioning Board, clinical commissioning groups; health and adult social care services; public involvement in health and social care matters; scrutiny of health matters by local authorities; and cooperation between local authorities and Commissioners of Health Care Services.

Kingston Health and Wellbeing Board: During the past year an interim Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) has been active throughout the transition period, establishing new partnership working arrangements with the Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group and developing Terms of Reference for the Board.

Since the Health Bill gained assent the Kingston HWB has dropped the ‘interim’ status and now will fulfill functions according to statutory requirements.

Board meetings are held in public at the Guildhall and details of the meetings and papers are available on the RBK website.

What this means locally…

Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group The Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group (KCCG), already established as a Pathfinder, is preparing to take on commissioning responsibilities.

The group has currently established its own constitution and representative body and is working towards becoming a fullyfledged clinical commissioning group with statutory powers.

Fully committed to meaningful engagement with patients, carers and their communities, it will launch as an independent statutory organisation by April 2013 once it has achieved specific standards set by the Department of Health.

Public Health As of 1 April 2013 local authorities will have a new statutory duty to promote the health of their population.

By that time final arrangements will have been put into place to transfer Kingston’s Public Health functions and staff from Kingston PCT (which will formally cease to exist) to the local authority.

The net result of these steps will be that local authorities have key responsibilities across the three domains of public health – health improvement, health protection and healthcare public health.

The Director of Public Health in Kingston will have a significant role in the local KCCG health commissioning process.

For further information about KCCG visit www.kingstonccg.nhs.uk

Continued on page 12

Page 12

www.kva.org.uk

Health & Social Care

Priorities now identified for Health & Wellbeing Strategy In April members of the Kingston Health and Wellbeing Board, including voluntary sector representatives, participated in a seminar to progress Kingston’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

A number of possible topic areas for the strategy were discussed, some of which had been drawn from recommendations from past

Joint Annual Public Health Reports, priorities from the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and priorities identified by the emerging Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group.

The four key priorities identified were:  Mental health  Older people and people with long term conditions  Addressing the needs of

socially excluded and disadvantaged groups  Children A number of further areas were identified as key priorities, but it was agreed that as these already had detailed strategies or action plans they would not be dealt with in detail by the joint HWBS, therefore avoiding the risk of duplication.

New self-assessment scheme for workplace wellbeing The Workplace Wellbeing Charter was launched in Kingston by Edward Davey MP on 18 May at the Guildhall.

The Charter is a voluntary self-assessment scheme that promotes the positive links between health and work to help more people with health conditions stay in or return to employment.

The Charter introduces clear, easy to use wellbeing standards, provides tools to measure and evaluate progress and identify and share good practice.

Real life examples show that health and wellbeing is a worthwhile investment that leads to significant financial and performance benefits.

Continued from page 11 Healthwatch Under the new act Healthwatch England will start in October 2012 and in April 2013 Local LINks will be superseded by new Local Healthwatch organisations.

Local authorities are now accountable for commissioning and funding Local Healthwatch organisations. They will need to consider how to do this in a way that compli-

The Charter is open to any organisations based in England.

NHS Kingston can support you to take part.

For full details visit www.wellbeingcharter.org .uk or contact, Maryam Karim at NHS Kingston: maryam.karim@kpct.nhs.

ments wider community engagement mechanisms.

From April 2013 local authorities will also take on the responsibility of commissioning local NHS complaints advocacy service for people requiring support in making a complaint in their borough as well as providing information, advice and sign-posting.

These services will be accessed through, and in some cases may be provided by, local HealthWatch.

Summer 2012

Health & Social Care

Page 13

It may be raining but ignore the Heatwave Plan at your peril Recent Government assessments have suggested that summers are going to get hotter in the future.

Who is at risk?

The heat can affect anyone, but some people run a greater risk of serious harm. These

Coordinated long-term planning between agencies to protect people and infrastructure from the effects of severe hot weather and thus reduce excess summer illness and death is essential.

The Heatwave Plan has been developed in partnership with the Health Protection Agency, and is supported by the Met Office.

It sets out the risks to health of exposure from

include: Older people, especially older women and those over 75. Babies and young children.

People with serious mental severe heat, steps individuals can take to protect their health, and advice for agencies and organisations to help reduce risk in the most vulnerable people.

For a copy of the Plan, the accompanying factsheets and a public information leaflet visit www.dh.gov.uk/health/ category/policy-areas/ public-health/

health problems. People on certain medication.

People with a serious chronic condition, particularly breathing or heart problems. People who already have a high temperature from an infection. People who misuse alcohol or take illicit drugs. People with mobility problems. People who are physically active, like manual workers and sportsmen and women.

Learn English at Home Job Vacancies Health Education Coordinator (HEC) (female) Salary £18,500 – £19,000 (21 hours per week inclusive of outer London weighting) We are looking to appoint a HEC to promote key health messages and integrate non English speaking residents into the local community. We are looking for a flexible, self-motivated person with experience of working in the voluntary/community sector. The post holder will coordinate and organise health courses and workshops for LEAH volunteer tutors, students and non-English speaking residents. The post holder will be part of the staff team helping to develop and enhance the work of the organisation.

Director (Female) £30,53-£31,000 (28 hours per week inclusive of outer London weighting) For further information or to apply for either post please download the information packs from www.leah.org.uk/jobvacancies If you would like an informal chat please call and speak to Razia Tahir.

Closing Date: 5th July Interviews: Health Education Coordinator post: Tuesday 17th July Director Post: Monday 16th July Tel:0208 255 6144

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ICT Hub

www.kva.org.uk

Transforming your use of ICT over the coming year Over the next year, as part of the Transforming Kingston’s Infrastructure project, we will be working hard to promote and encourage voluntary organisations to take advantage of online (or cloud) tools which could really help you better deliver services.

This can sometimes be a challenge, as adoption of these may necessitate a new way of working, but we can guarantee that there will be benefits for your organisations and clients. In this newsletter, we look at tools for collaboration and information sharing.

Need a website?

Sharing Outlook calendars if you don’t have MS Exchange If you are a small organisation without Exchange Server, you may have realised that you can’t by default share your Outlook calendar with your colleagues.

You can share your calendars using Windows Live ID. Please get in touch if you need further help - Superhighways recently did this for Home Start Kingston and they find it invaluable.

To set up your shared calendars using Windows Live ID go to: http://tinyurl.com/cxb7u8a

30.1 million adults access the internet every day. With a free Voice website and training from KVA you could start reaching them.

Beginners Create an easy-to-use website & get tips to make your website work for you.

Advanced Learn advanced features of your Voice website and get more interactive.

For details contact Sorrel: communications@kva.org.uk 020 8255 3335

Superhighways consultancy winner Congratulations go to Kingston Welcare who won Superhighways recent survey draw.

We are already underway with their day of free consultancy. Following a meeting with Wecare’s Chair (right), Sandy and Administrator, Yasmin, we arranged to take

photos and video footage at the recent launch of their Parents Place project, providing great content to revamp their website with.

We have also identified other areas for improvement including looking at appropriate systems to improve record keeping.

Summer 2012

ICT Hub

Page 15

Transforming your ICT using Dropbox is an online tool that allows you to upload and store your documents, photos, and videos in one place, that you can access any time, from any place with internet access.

KVA caught up with Linda Soutter of the Charter Quay Resident’s Association to find out more about the benefits of using Dropbox for your group. 12 CQRA members are using Dropbox to store and edit documents needed for joint legal actions they’re taking against their landlord.

To get all the complex information that you have to have for legal bundles (it’s vast), and with us all having limited time, and working at different times…if we hadn’t had the Dropbox set-up we would never had done it.

If you were just trying to send documents to and fro [by email] you would never have kept track of it ...on Dropbox you edit it, alter it, whatever you want to do and that’s the document, there is no other and that’s the final one.

Despite a lack of personal familiarity with the online tool, the group’s leader, a retired IT consultant, soon had them using it for all their files.

I was terrified at the beginning. I thought this looks dangerous, this doesn’t look secure and I made him provide the evidence...I was very quickly convinced that compared with any other method of holding data it was more secure.

Just having it on your laptop in your living room is very dangerous compared to that, let alone on bits of paper in the office. That can be broken into in 10 seconds.

He puts up the idea, the rest of us edit it to make it understandable and we’ve won four cases against these people and retrieved more than half a million pounds from them so far.

It’s so easy to use, you can take the documents in and out of it. You don’t have to have any knowledge at all apart from the usual knowledge of how you set up a file on your computer. It’s so reliable. You can get into it if even you’re working from somewhere else. It doesn’t disappear: it’s backed up. If you think you want to go back to an earlier version it keeps all the earlier versions.

One thing I did learn from that is that you need to have very good housekeeping rules about how you name the documents, how you set them up, how you can retrieve them.

Having used Dropbox with great success, Linda realised that trustees at the other charity she worked for, Kingston Bereavement Service, could use it to update policy documents. Despite some initial reservations, the trustees signed up to Dropbox.

They were all like “I’m IT phobic, I don’t know anything” but it’s so easy, nobody can fail to do it. You just follow the instructions and do what it tells you, and they’ve all managed to do it without any hitch at all.

The next stage is to set up a general one for the whole staff of the charity so that we can share documents. Only this time I’m going to make sure we do the filing as we go along.

One of the most important things about Dropbox for the voluntary sector, is that it's FREE! You get easily enough capacity to deal with all the documents a small charity needs without reaching the threshold at which they start charging.

Visit www.dropbox.com or contact Superhighways on 020 8255 8040 for information on tools that can help you collaborate.

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www.kva.org.uk

About Kingston Voluntary Action

Mission Statement KVA leads community engagement, creating opportunities for organisations and individuals to become empowered to reach their full potential so that they may make a difference in their communities.

Kingston Voluntary Action 020 8255 3335 Hilary Garner Lynda Evans Keith Morton Maria Tunmer Zahida Saddiq Sanja Kane

Chief Executive Deputy Chief Executive Business Manager Health & Social Care Manager Capacity Building Manager Transforming Kingston’s Infra-structure Project Co-ordinator Sorrel Parsons Information & Communications Co-ordinator Judith Naylor Children & Young People First Project Worker Julie Woodhouse Community Accountant Polly Healy Administrator Rianne Eimers HealthWatch Kingston Pathfinder Manager Debra McCarthy HealthWatch Kingston Pathfinder Support Co-ordinator

Kingston Community Furniture 020 8942 5500 Adrian Collins James Deane Selo Turanli

Project Manager Operations Manager Driver / Warehouseman

Kingston Eco-Op 020 8942 5503 Bart Ricketts Chris Williamson Sue Illsley John Legate Sam Carey

Eco-Op Project Co-ordinator Workshop Supervisor Support Worker Bike Mechanic Support Worker

Superhighways 020 8255 8040 Kate White Colin Cregan Nine Htet Sue Quilter

Manager ICT Support Worker ICT Support Worker Admin Worker

GO Kingston Volunteering 020 8255 8685 Maria Jarvis Richard Craig Pat Stanley Hedley Featherstone

Manager Buddy Scheme Co-ordinator Volunteer Good Practice Advisor GO Kingston Volunteering Project Worker

Newsletter Information

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The Newsletter is distributed free of charge four times a year, to all known voluntary organisations in the Borough, key personnel in the statutory sector as well as to local councillors, libraries, doctors’ surgeries and schools.

If you have some great news or know of a resource that’s useful for the voluntary and community sector please get in touch with me, Sorrel Parsons, the new Information and Communications Coordinator at KVA (left) on 020 8255 3335 or communications@kva.org.uk

The Newsletter, along with the KVA website, provides opportunities to promote voluntary and community organisations and events.

To advertise in the newsletter or include an insert contact Sorrel Parsons for costs and deadlines.

If you would like to amend your contact details or prefer to receive the newsletter by email, please also contact Sorrel.

The current and back issues of the Newsletter are available in PDF format on the KVA website. The newsletter can be put on tape if required.

Next Edition: October 2012 Deadline for Copy: 10 September 2012

Membership of KVA Membership is open to all voluntary and community groups who are based or work in Kingston. For details of how to become a member contact Polly Healy, admin@kva.org.uk

Disclaimer: information contained in the Newsletter and inserts come from a wide range of sources. Opinions or statements expressed may not necessarily reflect those of KVA. KVA aims to ensure all information is correct and up to date.