Agewell have moved office to Rounds Green Library, Martley Road, Oldbury B69 1DZ.
The contact number remains unchanged: 0121 796 9333.
Visit the website for the latest news from Agewell.
Agewell have moved to Oldbury
Lessons from the Charity Digital Code: Principle 1 – Leadership
The Charity Digital Code of Practice was launched last year thanks to the combined efforts of a group of sector organisations, with the aim of helping charities benchmark their progress in using digital and learn from example. It focuses on seven guiding principles for success with tangible actions charities can take.
In this series, Tech Trust trustee and Chair of the Charity Digital Code of Practive Zoe Amar speaks with a charity that embodies one of each of the seven principles, sharing their lessons and experiences.
This week Amar spoke with Lara Burns, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Age UK about the principle of ‘leadership’. An inspirational digital leader, Burns has worked across sectors leading innovation, transformation and change programmes for 25 years.
Zoe Amar: From your conversations with charity leaders, do you think more of them see digital as important? If not, what could change this?
Lara Burns: Age UK is a network of local Age UKs and we know that local leaders are keen to do things differently. We did a survey of local CEOs in our network and 65% prioritised being able to use digital to enable their service delivery, but 83% cited lack of funding as the major barriers, whilst skills were also a challenge.
I think this is fairly typical of small to medium sized charities. It is really easy when you are in a big charity in London to think digital is obvious and everyone gets it, but that is not always the case. Smaller charities can get stuck on what to do next.
This is where The Charity Digital Code of Practice is important. I also think there are more conversations happening at senior level about the Code and digital.
To read the full Charity Digital News Article click here.
Source: Charity Digital News
Free Community Support Training Opportunity
Do you enjoy helping people? Would you like to have better employment opportunities while helping people to connect for the first time with their local area? Can you speak a community language like Polish, Urdu, Bengali, Romanian, Kurdish, or Somali as well as good English?
Citizens Advice Bureau is hosting a Community Learning Programme at the Brasshouse Community Centre, Brasshouse Lane, Smethwick B66 1BA., which may interest you.
Attendees on the Programme will:
• Learn about your Community
• Learn about the Rights and Responsibilities of UK Citizens
• Learn about the needs of people coming to live in the UK
• Learn about working for a Charity
There are six Community Learning sessions running from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm starting on 26th March. No experience needed!
If you would like to apply for your free place then contact David Jones on 07494 159 056 or email david.jones@citizensadvicesandwell.org.uk by the 21st of March.
360Giving Launches New Grant Visualisation Tool
360Giving, an initiative which encourages funders to publish standardised transparent data about grants, has today launched new visualisation tool.
The platform, 360Insights, visualises data from grant makers and recipients of grants in an effort to further transparency in the sector.
The data shared includes the amounts awarded by grant makers, where grants are given, what types of organisations received grants, region of recipients, locations of grants and the age and income of recipients. It was developed by compiling data from sources including the Charity Commission.
Founder and chair of directors of 360Giving, Fran Perrin said: “As the numbers of funders sharing their data approaches 100, we saw the need to make it easier for anyone to see what the £26bn of grant making says about them. That’s why we built 360Insights and I am excited to see how grant makers apply this fantastic functionality into their decision making”.
360 giving was founded in 2015 to boost transparency in funding, and encourage grant makers to publish information. 99 funders presently share their information.
Its other initiatives include Beehive, a tool which enables charities to find potential funders online and GrantNav, a register of UK grant data showing 306,566 grants.
360Giving is funded by grant makers the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Indigo Trust, Pears Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Perrin said: “When I set up 360Giving three years ago, I would not have believed that in such a short time we’d have so much useful data being shared, enabling insights into issues such as homelessness and the distribution of funding.”
Paul Streets, chief executive of Lloyds Bank Foundation, believes 360Insights will help his foundation. He said “Data informs everything we do – our strategic direction, allows us to check we’re making the impact we set out to and to challenge and improve our work.
To read the full Civil Society article click here.
Source: Civil Society
6Towns Credit Union Prevention of Illegal Money Lending and Savings Incentive
6Towns Credit Union is currently working in partnership with the Illegal Money Lending Team, at Birmingham City Council, to tackle and help prevent Illegal money lending.
The Credit Union is encouraging people to save and borrow wisely.
To this end, 100 members could win £25.00. Start saving at least £1.00 a week for 12 weeks into a Christmas Account and enter the free draw to win £25.00. This sum will be added to your Christmas Account. See terms and conditions.
Brexit Update
Whilst we’re still none the wiser about the outcome of ongoing Brexit negotiations, there is an ever-increasing amount of information being distributed along the lines of “what to do if…“.
Sandy Adirondack (www.sandy-a.co.uk/index.htm), in her regular newsletter (to which you can subscribe via her website), has helpfully summarised a number of such sources of information as follows…but it’s not definitive by any means (by her own admission!):
- Brexit Civil Society Alliance: https://www.brexitcivilsocietyalliance.org – The weekly newsletters are essential reading, and include links to many other resources.
- National Council for Voluntary Organisations: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/policy-and-research/europe – Factsheet, videos and up to date blogs.
- Prepare your business for the UK leaving the EU: https://www.gov.uk/business-uk-leaving-eu – For businesses and organisations. Includes exporting; importing; sale of goods and services and data protection; contracts of employment and working hours; and more.
- Prepare for EU exit if you live in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/prepare-eu-exit – For individuals. Covers going and being abroad; transport; business and industry; work; environment; education, training and skills; health and social care; and parenting, childcare and children’s services.
- Continue to live in the UK after it leaves the EU: https://www.gov.uk/staying-uk-eu-citizen – For EU nationals living in the UK.
- UK nationals living in the EU: Essential information: https://www.gov.uk/uk-nationals-living-eu
- Office for Civil Society: Preparing for EU exit: https://mailchi.mp/9f803351c85a/preparing-for-eu-exit-471359 . Briefing for voluntary organisations, covering the government’s public information campaign on EU exit; data protection in a no deal scenario; the settled status scheme; EU funding; Erasmus + and European Solidarity Corps; and sources of further guidance. This has a Mailchimp link because it was sent to Office for Civil Society email subscribers. It does not appear to be on the OCS website, and was not in their RSS feed. To sign up for OCS emails, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-civil-society.atom and click on the link about one-third of the way down.
- Information Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-and-brexit/. A range of resources.
- Matheson Solicitors: Brexit and contracts: https://www.matheson.com/news-and-insights/article/brexit-and-contracts-a-practical-guide. Issues if contractual obligations become difficult or impossible to perform because of Brexit.
And if there is No Deal…
- Third Sector – How a no-deal Brexit would affect charities: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/no-deal-brexit-affect-charities/policy-and-politics/article/1562886. Implications for staff, the economy, investments, and international development charities.
- Mills & Reeve solicitors – Government confirms charity shops can sell CE marked goods after ‘no deal’ Brexit: https://www.charitylegalupdate.co.uk/2019/03/government-confirms-charity-shops-can-sell-ce-marked-goods-after-no-deal-brexit.html.
- Department for Exiting the EU – How to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal. Fairly detailed guidance on a wide range of issues. This link was in my update 1823 but I’m repeating it here in case the UK leaves the EU on 29 March without a withdrawal agreement, and therefore without a transition period.
Save the Date: Heritage Fund – Launch Event
SCVO in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund are planning to hold a Heritage Fund Launch Event on Thursday 11th April 2019. The Launch Event will take the participant through the recent changes to the Heritage Funds Grant programmes, who is eligible to apply and the processes you will need to follow to access these funds.
Heritage can mean different things to different people, it can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. The Heritage Funds Grants Officer will discuss what heritage means to them and how you can access grants to support your heritage project.
National Lottery Grants for Heritage will provide funding for all types of heritage projects with grants starting from £3,000 upwards. They want to inspire, lead and resource heritage projects across the UK, to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
This event is free for Sandwell voluntary and community sector groups and groups whose main beneficiaries live in Sandwell (subject to attendance). For those wishing to attend the workshop from outside of Sandwell there will be a small booking fee.
Further details to follow so watch this space!
Arts and Culture Sector Survey Launches
Arts and culture charities are being urged to take part in a survey to assess the impact of digital technology across their sector.
This is the fifth year the Digital Culture survey has been carried out by the Arts Council England in partnership with arts, science and technology innovation foundation Nesta.
The aim is to build up a comprehensive picture of digital behaviour among arts and culture organisations in England and measure trends and compare data with previous year’s findings.
The survey’s results are used by government, funders and to help arts and culture organisations with their digital strategy.
This includes helping inform the government’s Culture is Digital report and this year’s findings will provide evidence in support of its commitments.
This includes the creation of a Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Code and Maturity Index, which aims to help organisations benchmark and improve their digital maturity.
Another is the launch of Arts Council England’s Digital Culture Network which brings together ‘tech champions’ to help digital development in the arts and culture sector.
Adapting to digital change
“As digital technology becomes an increasingly ubiquitous part of everyday life, it is important for arts and cultural organisations to keep pace with the rate of change so that they can successfully integrate new technologies into their working practice and remain relevant to artists and audiences,” says a Nesta statement.
“This survey will take the pulse of the sector on how it is adapting to digital change and where it requires further support.”
The survey’s research partner MTM London has sent out an invite to take part to thousands of arts and culture organisations. Any arts and culture organisations that have not received an invite and want to take part are urged to contact MTM London direct by emailing them at digitalarts@mtmlondon.com.
The survey takes around 30 minutes to complete and closes on 3 May 2019.
Source: Charity Digital News
I Love Small Charities Day – 17th June 2019
Small Charity Week’s annual hashtag competition is back to help you engage with new and current supporters and to win a donation for your charity.
To be in the chance of winning £450 all your supporters need to do is tell the world why they love you.
How to enter:
Ask your supporters to take a photo of themselves holding up a poster that reads:
“I love (your charities name) because (why you love them)”.
Or they can take a video of themselves with the poster, shouting out loud about why they love your charity or they can simply post a message of love.
Then they simply post it to either Twitter, Instagram and/or the Small Charity Week Facebook page.
Visit our website for details on how your supporters should enter their messages, poster templates, supporting toolkits and the full rules.
In previous years, the secret to winning this competition has been to start early! Even though the competition is officially open on Monday, 17th June 2019, it is a good idea to start building your plans now.
Source: Small Charity Week
Sandwell Literature Festival
Sandwell libraries are running their first literature festival during March at Central Library in West Bromwich.
The literature festival runs from Saturday 16 to Saturday 23 March and includes storytelling, local history talks, author events and musical performances.
The opening event on Saturday 16 March is The Brontë Legacy – Keeping The Flame Alive, a musical tribute to the Brontë family in a series of songs based on their poetry and characters by award-winning British jazz singer Val Wiseman, who grew up in West Bromwich.
The event starts at 7pm and admission is £3 in advance or £5 on the night.
Free admission events include:
David Hallam: Taking On The Men, 2pm, Thursday 21 March
A tale of three women who took on the men at the 1918 General Election
Ian Tucker: Your Simple Path, 11am, Friday 22 March
Bringing calm to a crazy world with simple techniques to improve wellbeing and reduce stress
An Afternoon with Roger Ellory, 2pm, Friday 22 March
Meet an award-winning crime author as he talks about his books, career and inspiration
Matt Black: An Hour of Fast Fun with Roald Dahl, 10.30am-11.30am, Saturday 23 March
A fun family event, listen to the best moments from Roald Dahl
Councillor Syeda Khatun, Sandwell Council deputy leader, said: “Our first literature festival promises to be a real feast of exciting entertainment and fascinating talks, all in our wonderful Central Library in West Bromwich.
“For the opening event, Val Wiseman will be making a welcome return to West Bromwich following her fantastic performance fronting the Lady Sings The Blues concert during last summer’s jazz festival.”
For more information, go to the Discover Sandwell website or call 0121 569 4904 / email central_library@sandwell.gov.uk