Are you working with young people at risk of becoming involved in gangs?

Evidence shows that more young people are becoming gang members, particularly when they have older siblings involved in gangs.  They can quickly become involved in illegal and dangerous activities, putting themselves and others in danger. Derby Community Safety Partnership is working with young people and is leading on a strategy for combating the developing gang culture, from a wider preventative perspective and for public protection.
 
Working together is the only way to intervene and help young people stay away from the harm caused by gang activity.
 
If you are a voluntary or community organisation operating in Derby and involved in working with young people at risk of involvement, or already involved, in gangs and believe that you can help please contact Michelle Clarke, Senior Administrator, 01332 258536 or email. 
 
 

The Digital Activist Inclusion Network (DAIN) is an exciting, innovative, transnational project which aims to develop, test and deliver approaches to challenge the digital divide, ultimately helping to widen participation in employment and learning.
 
DAIN will operate in eight areas across the East Midlands. The project will deliver 200 community-based Information and Communication Technology courses per year and will recruit, train and support at least 100 volunteers from the local target communities who will be known as Digital Activists.

 

DAIN are holding a FREE conference to explain more about this exciting project. The conference will explore practical approaches to challenging digital exclusion.
 
The conference is being held on Thursday 10 December at the Indian Community Centre Association, 99 Hucknall Road, Carrington, Nottingham, NG5 1QZ and will run from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm to include tea, coffee and lunch. 

 
For more information and to reserve a place please click here, telephone 0116 204 2833 or email. 

How much do you know about the new vetting and barring scheme?

 

 

This fund provides grants of between £3,000 and £50,000 to support projects that relate to the local, regional or national heritage of the UK.

 

Applications for funding should help people to learn about, look after and celebrate heritage in a fun and enjoyable way. This is a rolling programme, there are no deadlines for applications and you will receive a decision on your application within 10 weeks of receipt.

 

For more information please click here 

Grants helping organisations to enable more disabled people to volunteer are now available. Organisations can apply for grants between £250 and £5,000, which can be used to help overcome barriers that stop disabled people volunteering, such as specific equipment, a lack of suitable access and understanding of disability issues.

The grants are part of the £2 million 'Access to Volunteering Fund', which was developed by the Office of the Third Sector as a pilot scheme in Greater London, the West Midlands and the North West.

The fund operates between Autumn 2009 and Spring 2011 over five grant rounds.  For more information please click here, telephone 03000 123346 or email. 

 

Do you know any

extraordinary and inspiring adult learners?  Why not give them the recognition they deserve and nominate them for an Adult Learners' Week Award. The awards recognise outstanding adults who have transformed their lives through learning.

There are four main award categories: individuals; groups; families; and opening doors (projects).

 

For more information and to nominate online please click here, telephone 0116 204 4200 or email.  The closing date for nominations is 29 January 2010.  

 

 

iT4 Communities have just launched their new mentoring programme with an event at London Metropolitan University.

 

iT4 Communities is an organisation that matches IT professionals with voluntary organisations looking for support with their technology.

To find out more about the mentoring programme and read materials from the launch event click here, to find out how your organisation can access volunteer support click here.

 

The Universities of Cambridge and Leicester, alongside CSV, are running a two year research project investigating the community involvement of young people in the UK. 
 
To help with their research they need as many local voluntary and community organisations as possible to complete a brief questionnaire about the young people they work with.

The questionnaire can be accessed online by clicking here or email Tom Harrison to request a copy. 
 
Organisations who take part will be sent summaries of the report and also invited to special events to be hosted by the University of Cambridge, the University of Leicester and CSV.

 

 

At this time of year it's all too easy to get into debt with all the pressure from advertisers to buy bigger and better and ultimately more expensive.  Research conducted by v, the national young volunteers service, highlights the growing financial concerns of young people in the lead up to Christmas this year.
 
The research shows that young people have had enough of spend, spend, spend and responding to this new wave of opinion v is encouraging young people to give the gift of time this Christmas as part of its new nationwide campaign.  
 
vinvolved Derby, at Community Action, are getting involved with the scheme by offering time tokens to young people in Derby for their festive favour activities, some of which could include:
 
walking your neighbour's dog; babysitting for a family member; weeding the garden; setting up a social networking site for a relative; or cleaning the car.

 
Young people can visit the virtual gift of time store to download their personalised gift of time by clicking here or call the vinvolved team on 01332 346266 for more information.

 

 

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service (DFRS) are inviting views on their Service Plan which will set the direction the organisation takes between 2010 and 2013. The final document will be published in April 2010.

 

In consulting with all stakeholders DFRS aim to get the views of all sections of the community on the development of their Service Priorities, and the allocation of resources to it. This process puts the wider community at the heart of their decision making, and will ultimately direct how they work with communities.

 

For more information and to take part in the consultation please click here.