30.09.08 (2)

Crippled by council contracts?

 

Community enterprises and trust groups that get most of their funding through the provision of services for their local authority could be losing their way, according to Roger Matland, ex-director of the Westway Development Trust.

 

Commenting last week in a letter to leading regeneration magazine, Regeneration and Renewal, Matland noted a worrying trend which can see organisations and enterprises intended to benefit the community become increasingly restricted by “arm-locking deals” with public bodies.  Forced to bolster their income by undertaking public service contracts, whether beneficial to their members and their communities or not, such groups are in danger of becoming nothing more than local council puppets or “agents of the state”.

 

Ideally, claims Matland and current Development Trusts Association (DTA) director Steve Wyler, community enterprises should carry out focussed and constructive work for the community and build up their own assets through independent initiatives.  Realistically, however, many rely too heavily on money from service contracts and so are often forced to undertake work that isn’t always in line with their aims and objectives.

 

With 44% of member trusts of the DTA sourcing at least part of their income from contracts this year – a figure up 29% since 2006 – things could get worse before they get better…

 

For further information visit:

 

 http://www.dta.org.uk/

 

Source: Regeneration and Renewal

30.09.08 (1)

Graduates grab sector jobs!

 

Looking for proof that the voluntary and community sector has become an increasingly credible, prominent and significant force in recent years?  Well, new research, released this week and designed especially for graduates wishing to pursue a career in the sector, should do the trick!

 

The guide, entitled Career pathways for graduates into the voluntary/community sector, provides useful information for career advisers, students and Higher Education institutions about the types of jobs the sector has to offer and how to grab them!

 

Download yours for free at:

 

http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/hecsu.rd/research_reports_273.htm

 

Source: Higher Education Careers Services Unit

29.09.08 (2)

Social Investment Bank gives sector hope…

 

Third Sector Minister Phil Hope, speaking last week at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, gave hope to the voluntary and community sector by confirming that the Social Investment Bank initiative will go ahead.

 

The Bank, intended to channel dormant bank account funds into voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises, has been long awaited and much talked-about. It had been feared that other government priorities, such as financial inclusion programmes, would take precedent over the bank and secure the funding instead.

 

According to Hope, tendering will begin as soon as the relevant legislation has been passed.

 

Source: Regeneration and Renewal

29.09.08 (1)

Birmingham to take charge of European funds…

 

Birmingham City Council will soon be busying themselves after being awarded a weighty contract from the European Social Fund (ESF), worth approximately £590,000.

 

The Council will now host the Innovation, Mainstreaming and Transnationality Unit – a centre designed to advise potential applicants looking ESF funding – on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.  In addition, the Council will also be responsible for the co-ordination of up to £30 million of European economic development funding across England from 2008 – 2011.

 

The ESF grants themselves will fund projects and activities that tackle themes such as active inclusion, climate change, social enterprise, older workers and migration and the digital divide.  It is hoped that the programme will target some of the most disadvantaged groups in the country, including lone parents and the homeless.

 

Applications for funding will be invited before the end of the year and it is estimated that up to three projects will be supported in each of the English regions.

 

For further information visit:

 

 http://www.esf.gov.uk/innovation_transnationality/

 

Source: European Social Fund

26.09.08 (3)

Time off for community volunteers!

 

An announcement this week from Communities Secretary Hazel Blears could see a big boost in volunteer numbers across the sector.

 

Plans to refresh the list of activities that entitle people to take time off work in order to offer their services as volunteers could see more and more people getting stuck in to community projects or charity work in their local area.

 

Currently only school governors, magistrates, members of health bodies and police authorities are entitled to time off to carry out volunteer duties.  The latest citizenship data, however, suggests the nearly three quarters of all UK adults participated in at least one day of volunteering in their community in 2007.

 

Blears’ plans follow the lead of a number of major companies such as HSBC and Unilever who already run active volunteering policies which encourage their employees to get involved, allowing them to not only give something back to their community but also to build and develop their own skills base.

 

These proposed changes can only be good news for voluntary and community groups, who often rely heavily on unpaid local support, as more and more volunteers are able to get their hands dirty…

 

Source: Department of Communities and Local Government

 

 

26.09.08 (2)

Co-Op calls for your co-operation…

 

This month the Co-Operative, one of the UK’s largest retailers, is set to ask you what you think about how it should distribute its profits.

 

In a bid to focus its grant-making and prioritise the causes and campaigns it sponsors, a questionnaire will be sent out to more than three million people, including around 85,000 Co-Op employees.

 

The poll, set to be published in the New Year and guaranteed to have a direct effect on Co-Op activities, will ask you which social issues should be supported and which local community projects are most in need of funding. 

 

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to have your say!

 

Visit the Co-Op website for more information:

 

 http://www.co-operative.coop/

 

 

Source: Co-Operative

26.09.08 (1)

£6.8 million boost for North East

 

Not-for-profit and voluntary organisations operating in the North East could be set to get their hands on a share of £6.8 million of new funding.

 

The investment, announced this week by One North East as a means of boosting the third sector’s contribution to the economic growth of the region, is intended to fund some 270 organisations wishing to carry out regeneration projects over the next five years.

 

Organisations will be encouraged to bid for funding to conduct activities such as delivering specialist training and coaching, managing community buildings or playing partnership roles in physical regeneration.

 

The programme follows on from the hugely successful pilot Third Sector Capacity Fund which was launched in 2007 and funded 19 different regional and sub-regional third sector projects.

 

An independent organisation with experience of working within the sector is being sought to manage this extensive programme and a competitive tendering process is expected to get underway in the coming weeks.

 

With the scheme set to go live before the end of the year, Robin Beveridge, One North East’s Inclusion and Skills Partnership Manager, is confident that the funding will allow the third sector to play to one of its key strengths, innovation, whilst also building its capacity and contributing effectively and emphatically to the economic growth of the region.

 

For the latest information, visit the One North East website:

 

http://www.onenortheast.co.uk/

 

Source: One North East

25.09.08 (2)

Councils made Clear!

 

As a voluntary and community group are you often puzzled by the seemingly intricate workings of your local council?  Confused by its structure and unsure where responsibilities lie?  Don’t know who to contact and who can help?

 

Well, a new publication produced by Urban Forum could make everything that little bit clearer!  The text, How your Council Works: A Handy Guide for Community Groups, is your new one-stop-shop for answering any council conundrums!

 

Out now and available to download at:

 

http://www.urbanforum.org.uk/pubs/index.html

 

 

Source: Voluntary News

25.09.08 (1)

Three year funding the way forward…

 

A guidance document, published jointly by the Office of the Third Sector and the Treasury, hopes to send a clear message to government departments about how they should be funding the Third Sector.

 

The document, released this month, aims to encourage government funders from all departments to make three year funding packages for Third Sector organisations the norm from now on.

 

For charities, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises, these changes are good news.  Often hampered by short term funding and the need to spend time and money on fundraising year in year out, three year funding will allow organisations to become more sustainable, more creative and produce a better, value for money service.  According to Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, financial stability will mean Third Sector organisations can “reach their full potential”.

 

The guide is available to download for free at:

 

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/Three%20Year%20Funding%20Guidance%20pdf.ashx

 

Source: Office of the Third Sector

24.09.08 (2)

It takes two…

 

According to a new publication, A Practical Guide to Working with Partnerships, produced by the Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service and N2 Consulting, small and medium-sized voluntary organisations should join forces in order to improve their chances of securing more funding. 

 

The guide, which discusses exactly how to create successful working partnerships, suggests that grant-makers are often reluctant to give money to a range of smallish groups that seem to be working in the same vein, as they don’t wish to duplicate their funding causes.

 

The solution?  Team up with other groups that have similar aims and objectives and put on a united front no funder will be able to refuse!

 

Source: Third Sector