Do young people you work with have innovative ideas that need some money to get them off the ground?

 

The Youth of Today Leadership Fund helps Third Sector organisations scale up innovative youth leadership projects, and reach out across communities. They've got £1 million of funding to give away to great organisations across England, to be spent by March 2011 - and your organisation could benefit from some of that money. They are currently not funding individuals or unregistered organisations but are exploring the potential for doing this in future rounds.

There are two grant programmes currently on offer:

vinvolved Derby City, Community Action's
youth volunteering programme for 16 to 25 year olds in Derby, has been keeping some of the Youth Action Team (YAT) busy over the summer holidays by organising a volunteering day at Boulton Primary School.

The YAT were tasked with clearing and cleaning the pond and surrounding area in the community garden. The day started with heavy rain but this didn't deter the volunteers and they got stuck in. The biggest task was to clear the bushes and weeds around the pond before scooping a green covering off the top of the pond. The volunteers were amazed at the amount of frogs that came leaping out of the weeds to find their way back to the pond once the clearing began. As an added bonus for the school the YAT also weeded and tidied up the circular flower bed to finish off a very successful day. 

 
All the volunteers gained recognition for their efforts by receiving a thank you certificate through the vinspired awards offered by the vinvolved programme.
 
Oliver Dreuitt who was one of the volunteers explained why he got involved. "I wasn't busy on this day and thought it would be great to get involved and help the school. I really enjoyed it and had a big sense of achievement once I had finished"
 
For more information about the vinvolved programme and vinspired awards please contact Thom Kellogg on 01332 227736,  email or visit the vinspired website

Come along to the next Self Help Forum on Friday 11 September 2009 at Community Action, 4 Charnwood Street, Derby from 10.00 am to 12:00 pm. 
 
The forums are very beneficial for voluntary and community groups as updates are given on current issues happening in the sector, including policy changes and funding availability.
 
This forum primarily focuses on disability, older people and how to tackle social exclusion. There will be speakers from Disability Direct's Big Help Project and the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service together with group presentations and an update from the development team.

 

If you would like to attend the forum please email or telephone Liz Gumbley on 01332 227738 

Are you unsure as to the correct procedure for minute taking? Do you make too many notes in meetings?

 
Then this could be the training course for you! 

This two hour training session will help you gain a basic knowledge of how to write a set of minutes and the process afterwards for sending the minutes out to the other group members. By the end of this session you will:
 
Understand the role of the minute taker;

Plan and prepare for a meeting;

Complete a set of minutes; and 

Understand the procedure after a meeting

 
The session takes place on Tuesday 29 September 2009 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Community Hub, 31 Charnwood Street, Derby. The session is FREE for voluntary and community groups and £50 for statutory organisations.                   
                                                            
To book a place please email or telephone Liz Gumbley on 01332 227738

All workers are entitled to statutory redundancy pay after two years of continuous employment. The total amount is calculated based on age, length of service and pay. Most employers in the voluntary and community sector pay the legal minimum amount, which the Government increases every October.

 

From 1 October 2009, the weekly pay to be used is to rise from £350 to £380 per week. You should use this figure if you are making anyone redundant after the end of September.

There has been a long-running debate about holiday entitlement during sickness and the outcome of an important legal case has now been heard. The main points of the outcome are listed below, for further information please click here 

 

1.)  Annual leave accrues during sick leave even if the worker is unable to work during the whole of the leave year;
2.)  Employees on long term sick must be able to take the statutory paid holiday entitlement (ie the minimum 28 days or pro rata if part time), even if they are not at work for the entire leave year;
3.)  Employees who have been unable to take annual leave due to being on sick leave have a right to be paid in lieu of accrued holiday on termination; and
4.)  Claims by employees for non-payment of statutory holiday pay by their employer may be brought as 'unauthorised deductions from wages'.

Do you have young volunteers working for your organisation? Make sure they get the recognition they deserve by nominating them for vinspired National Awards.
 
This November, vinspired will be celebrating the unique work of volunteers aged 16-25 across the country at the first vinspired National Awards 2009. The ceremony will take place at London's O2 Arena and is all about saying 'thank you' for the amazing things volunteers do on a local and national level.
 

There are ten categories, including the Genius Award for innovation and creativity; the Shout Award for exceptional campaigning; and the Legend Award for outstanding leadership.
 
The nominations are now open, so if any young volunteer working for you deserves recognition, put them forward for an award. The nominations are open until 31 August, click here to make sure young volunteers are rewarded for their contribution to your organisation  

 
For further information please email or telephone Thom Kellogg on 01332 227736 or 07792 733639

Further to the announcement of the Government's £42.5m action plan, Real Help for Communities: Volunteers, Charities and Social Enterprises, Capacitybuilders has confirmed details of £1m of investment that will be distributed to local support organisations as an immediate response to address the impacts of the recession.

 

The cash injection for local support providers will enable them to gear up to support frontline organisations to build resilience; ensure the third sector is represented in local partnerships responding to recession; and up-skill development workers and advisors so that they can respond to the changing needs of frontline organisations.

£300,000 has been allocated to additional national projects put forward by the national support service workstreams, including the development of work in the following areas: 
transferring the skills of those made redundant into the third sector; practical advice for organisations considering collaboration or merger; and production of an online guide to resources to support organisational resilience.

For further information about the Capacitybuilders recession proofing measures please visit the website.

The Compact is a way of working between the statutory and voluntary and community sector or 3rd Sector, to bring about good relationships.

 

It makes sure that there are fair and clear processes in relation to grants and contracts; promotes better relationships all round; is more of a partnership approach; and will help to improve services.

 

Derby City Partnership has signed up on behalf of all partners in the statutory and voluntary and community sectors in the city. 

 

If you give out grants or contracts, you need to know what the Compact is and how it affects your procedures and how you work with voluntary and community organisations. You also need to make sure that your procedures are 'Compact Compliant' in case you are challenged about the way you work.

 

The Derby Compact affects you and your organisation's relationship with the statutory sector. It is a two-way process that both the statutory sector and the 3rd Sector have committed to. The Compact is a way of challenging unfair practices that you may experience in bidding for, or receiving grants or contracts.

 

For more information about the Derby Compact please click here.

Community Conference
Wednesday 23 September
Stuart Hotel, Derby.
10.00 am to 2.00 pm
Lunch included!
 
Community Action Derby invites you to For What it's Worth: Valuing Derby's 3rd Sector. Includes various guest speakers, discussions on how your organisation contributes to life in the city, our (short!) AGM, and a chance to feed your views back to the City Partnership. 
 
We NEED YOU to come along, so please save the date.  More information and updates on the speakers to follow. 

The regional plan for the East Midlands is being reviewed and you are invited to take part and have your say to help shape the future of your community.

 

East Midlands Planning Aid Service (EMPAS) are holding training and consultation events over the coming months at several locations. At the events you will be able to find out how to have your say and understand the options being put forward by the Regional Assembly; influence local and regional planning documents; and understand the planning system.

 

The events are being held as follows:

Chesterfield, 2 September;

Derby, 1 October; and 

Bakewell, 5 October

 

To book a place please email or telephone 0115 852 4280. For more details of the events being held please click here

 

Addaction are running a two day course 'Working with Crack/Cocaine' aimed at anyone working within the health and social care sector; social workers; local authority staff; and those working within specialist drug and alcohol services

 

The two day course will develop your understanding of psycho-stimulant users. It will also increase your knowledge and skills in relation to working with clients who use, or are dependent on, crack or cocaine. All participants will receive a toolkit for working with crack and cocaine users.

 

The course take place on 14 and 15 September from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at Addaction Derby, Bateman Street, DE23 8JQ. The cost of the course is £155 per person. For further information and rates for group bookings please email or telephone Darren Griffiths on 01332 254503