Understanding Extremism Training For Community Groups

September 18, 2020by Leona in Blog, Training Support and Resources tagged

The opportunity has now arisen for participants from community groups in Sandwell to access the new ‘Understanding Extremism’ training for Community Groups.

The training is FREE and will equip participants with an understanding of the background of different extremist groups, including the ideologies of the Extreme Far Right and Global Jihadism.

Understanding Extremism training is a 2 hour session delivered in partnership between staff from REWIND UK and the Sandwell Prevent Team.

How to Register

Please reply to justin_nixon@sandwell.gov.uk by Friday 25th September 2020 should you wish to take a priority booking, with a view for delivery in the week commencing 28th September 2020!

Please state the number of participants you would like to provisionally book to attend.

Further information, including a date and joining instructions for attending the session, will then be sent out.

Aviva Community Fund

September 18, 2020by Leona in Blog, Funding tagged

The current round of the Aviva Community Fund is closing soon, and Aviva are especially keen to attract applications focusing on:

• Climate/environmental issues
• Financial resilience and inclusion
• Using innovation to bring about change and build communities”

You’ll need to get your application in by 23:59 Tuesday 13 October, so don’t hang about!

Once accepted you’ll then have a month to create your project page with Aviva’s full support.

There is £250,000 of funding available as well as year-round support to help you gain crucial skills, confidence and experience in online fundraising with Crowdfunder to help you thrive and survive in times like these.

Find out all you need to know about the programme and whether your idea is eligible here.

£200,000 awarded to Black Country art and culture project through Spirit of 2012 collaboration with Birmingham 2022

September 18, 2020by Leona in Blog, News and Events tagged , ,

£200,000 has been awarded to Creative Black Country to create a new, inclusive art and culture project linked to the Commonwealth Games, following a collaboration between Olympic legacy funder Spirit of 2012 and Birmingham 2022.

The participatory performing arts project, entitled Shine A Light, aims to build bridges between D/deaf, disabled and non-disabled people using theatre and mime to tell stories of people around the Commonwealth.

The project will include live taster activity sessions and workshops for 280 people, with 165 adults going on to participate in regular performance workshops which will culminate in a touring performance and set of films to share across the Birmingham 2022 Cultural Programme.

Partners including Deaf Explorer, Black Country Touring, Disability Arts in Shropshire (DASH), Zebra Access, Deaffest and Deafscope will support and consult across different areas of the project.
Creative Black Country, based in West Bromwich, works closely with local communities to discover, explore and grow an exciting and meaningful programme of cultural activity in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Please view to find out more.

What Is The Future of Remote Working For Charities?

September 18, 2020by Libby Mahoney in Blog, VCS Feature tagged ,

Charity Digital News examine how the last few months of remote working have brought charity service delivery in line with people’s wider experience of digital services – and how the pandemic will shape the future of charity service delivery.

The last few months have seen many charities rapidly digitise their services in order to survive. Initially, these changes were born out of necessity. Faced with an unprecedented lockdown, charities had to move service delivery, fundraising and other operations online – with many small charities taking the first steps on their digital journey.

But several months down the line, most of these changes look like they are here to stay. Charities have been able to increase their reach and their impact – with virtual events and digital service delivery removing barriers to accessibility and helping organisations expand their base beyond their immediate geographic areas.

Much of this change has been driven by remote working. What has been thrust upon the sector as a short-term necessity has begun to look like a long-term solution. The flexibility of remote working offers benefits for both charity workers and service users.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Source: Charity Digital News

Reducing Parental Conflict Training

September 17, 2020by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, Health & Wellbeing, Training Support and Resources tagged ,

After the success of the Reducing Parental Conflict training arranged by  Sandwell Council pre-Pandemic, the Council have organised two more courses that will take place virtually over two three-hour sessions. The courses will be very interactive to aid learning.

Previous participants’ comments:

“This training would benefit all professionals working with parents and families.”

“The course content is very relevant and explained in a brilliant manner.”

Course 1: 25th September 9.30 am – 1.00 pm and 28th September 9.30 am – 1.00 pm

Course 2: 25th September 1.30 pm – 5.00 pm and 28th September 1.30 pm – 5.00 pm

To secure a place or for further details, please email peter_forth@sandwell.gov.uk.

Tesco Bags of Help Children and Young Person Fund

September 17, 2020by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, Funding tagged ,

The Tesco COVID emergency fund has now closed after awarding £500 grants to groups across the country since 1st April. In the West Midlands alone almost 750 groups have received funding, nationwide over 8,000 groups!

In its place is a children/youth based fund giving grants of £1000, which is now open. There is no current deadline but it will close to various regions once capacity is reached for our shortlisting panels (estimated close end of October/start November).

Visit the website

5 Best Practice Tips to Make Your Charity Social Media Posts More Accessible

September 16, 2020by Libby Mahoney in Blog, VCS Feature tagged ,

Charity social media is about bringing people together. But you can’t do that if you’re unintentionally excluding some of your audience.

Over the past few years, charities have put significant focus on inclusive website design that accounts for a wide range of diversity among users and the barriers they might face when interacting with digital content.

These limitations fall broadly into three categories – permanent (like when someone has a disability, visual or cognitive impairment), temporary (such as when someone is recovering from a stroke or has an ear infection) and situational (for instance, someone interacting with content whilst holding a baby, in a very loud place or somewhere where they aren’t safe to play content out loud).

Accessibility encompasses a wide range of different audience challenges. And for many organisations, ensuring that everyone has equal access to their information and content is a vital part of their mission.

But accessibility goes far beyond just your website. It is also crucial to reaching new audiences and building relationships with diverse groups of supporters and advocates. Has your charity thought about the content you’re putting out on social media platforms?

Here are some quick social media best practice tips and accessibility features to get you started.

Make sure your built-in accessibility features are enabled

This is probably the first you should do to make your social content more accessible. Explore the settings of the platforms you’re on and enable any accessibility features, as some may not be turned on by default. In Twitter, for example, you have to dig for it in ’Settings and Privacy’ > ’Accessibility’. Take the time to familiarise yourself with them, and with the latest accessibility updates from the platforms you use.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Source: Charity Digital News

Two Volunteer Coordinators sought at One Walsall

September 16, 2020by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, Vacancies tagged ,

One Walsall provides infrastructure and support for the borough’s voluntary and community sector organisations, and brokerage for people seeking volunteering roles. It is an independent charity providing support to help local voluntary and community organisations develop and sustain their activities and engage residents in voluntary action.

One Walsall are seeking motivated and experienced individuals who share its values to become their first ever, place-based Volunteer Coordinators. The aim of these two new roles is to enhance One Walsall’s offer for both Walsall residents wishing to volunteer and the voluntary and community sector recruiting volunteers.

Salary: £21,000 per annum (plus 3% pension contribution when matched by employee)

The Coordinators will be place-based within respective communities, covering the four geographical areas of the borough between them. They will also work closely with One Walsall’s Development Officers who cover the same territory.

This structure will enable voluntary sector and community groups to forge close working relationships with their designated coordinator; the coordinators, in turn, will develop an in-depth knowledge of their local area’s volunteering needs and opportunities.

The Volunteer Coordinator posts will establish, support and grow the volunteer network across the borough. They will help organisations to understand the importance of robust volunteer recruitment processes and the requirements of different roles (e.g. DBS checks). The coordinators will support organisations to:

– Assess their need for volunteers
– Re-imagine service delivery that effectively utilises volunteers
– Develop processes for volunteer advertising, recruitment, training, induction and retention
– Promote their services and the value of volunteering via a variety of mediums
– Access support via Corporate Social Responsibility opportunities by building relationships with local businesses

The post holders will be responsible for providing advice, practical support and training to organisations involving volunteers, working with business and others to identify and develop resources to support volunteering and managing the staff delivering support to people seeking volunteering roles. Key attributes include:

• Experience of successful volunteer recruitment and coordination
• Experience of working with a wide range of voluntary and community organisations
• Developed knowledge of the law and policy landscape of volunteering in the UK
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to pass on knowledge to others through training and one-to-one support
• Ability to work under own initiative and a solution-focused approach to achieve results.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Sarah Taylor, Health and Wellbeing Manager on 01922 619 840 or saraht@onewalsall.org.

Application Packs, including large print copies, may be requested by emailing recruitment@onewalsall.org.   See job description and person spec.

The closing date for applications is 5.00 pm on Friday 9th October 2020.  Interviews to be held on Monday 26 October 2020

Further information can be found on the  website.

Due to limited resources, feedback to applicants will only be supplied to those candidates who are interviewed

 

Heritage Lottery – Government’s £40million Green Recovery Challenge Fund Opens for Applications

September 16, 2020by Libby Mahoney in Blog, Funding tagged , ,

Grants from £50,000 to £5m are now available to kick-start the nation’s green recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “I am delighted that we are distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund on behalf of Defra. We are committed to supporting the nature and environment sector quickly and effectively through this fund.”

Who is it for

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is open to environmental charities and partnerships that include at least one environmental charity, with projects in England that are ready to start.

All projects must contribute to at least one of the following themes:

  • nature conservation and restoration
  • nature based solutions, particularly focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation such as through tree planting and restoring peatland
  • connecting people with nature
  • Projects will be favoured that create or retain jobs, providing opportunities and benefits for all ages, including young people. Projects from both rural, urban and inshore marine areas are welcomed.

How to apply

Applications for grants up to £250,000 must be submitted by midday on 2 October 2020. For applications over £250,000, there is a two-step process, with initial expressions of interest required by midday on 24 September 2020.

Up to 100% of project costs will be available.

Please read the full criteria and application guidance before submitting your application.

Applications under £250k

When you are ready to apply, complete and submit your application via their Application Portal.
If you do not already have a logon you will need to register.

Applications over £250k: Expressions of Interest

For applications for a grant above £250,000 a short Expression of Interest (EOI) form is mandatory. Guidance on the questions to be answered and a copy of the form is available.

An assessment panel involving all the Fund partners will use the information you provide to decide whether or not to invite you to submit a full grant application. If you are not invited to apply we will explain our reason.

We will aim to respond to all EOIs within ten working days of the deadline. You will then have three weeks to submit a full application.

Click here to submit your Expression of Interest.

A greener future

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund, part of a wider HM Government green economic recovery jobs and skills package, will enable environmental charities and their partners to restore nature and tackle climate change.

The fund will help create up to 3,000 jobs such as ecologists, surveyors, nature reserve staff and education workers. In additional, it will safeguard up to 2,000 existing jobs in areas such as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with nature. It will also support suppliers in areas such as agricultural engineering, horticulture, and equipment and seed supply.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing the Green Recovery Challenge Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency, on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). It has been made possible by bringing forward funding announced at Budget 2020 including £10m from the Nature Recovery Fund and £30m of Nature for Climate Funding.

For more information click here.

Source: Heritage Fund

pound-850369_1280

Language Cash Released

September 16, 2020by Mazeline Hemmings in Blog, Funding, VCS Feature tagged ,

pound-850369_1280Local organisations are invited to apply for funding to deliver English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses for Sandwell residents.

Sandwell Language Network (SLN) is a new project funded by the Government’s ‘Controlling Migration Fund’, led by a partnership including Sandwell Consortium, Sandwell College, Sandwell Public Health and SCVO.

The project aims to increase the availability of English language support in Sandwell; boost existing provision and help language learners access employment pathways.

Funding is available for courses ranging from informal, conversational English to higher level proficiency acknowledged at international level.

All successful providers will be expected to contribute to the wider aims of the SLN project, which include recruiting and training volunteers to deliver courses. Other aims focus on supporting learners to access further educational opportunities and engage with local employment initiatives.

You can find out more by emailing english@sandwellconsortium.co.uk or speak to a member of the team on 0121 533 2668.

Application deadlines are:

15th October, 2020
15th December, 2020
15th February, 2021

See Partner Funding Framework document and application form.

 

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