Speak Now to Influence DCC Budgets - Deadline 13 March!

Following on from the success of last year's Your Sector, Your Say event we are pleased to let you know that Your Sector, Your Say 2011 will take place on Wednesday 23 March.  The theme of this year's event is 'Planning for Success in Uncertain Times'.

  

Your Sector, Your Say 2011 will be held at the YMCA, 770 London Road in Derby starting at 10:00 am with coffee/tea and registration and finishing around 3:30 pm. There will be a series of workshops during the day and a chance to network in the afternoon.

  

We hope you can join us for this FREE event which includes refreshments and a buffet lunch.  If you would like to book a place please email Abbi Steanson or call 01332 227710.

  

We look forward to seeing you there!  

We are holding focus groups in early March to discuss issues facing the sector.  Issues raised at the focus groups will feed directly in to the Your Sector, Your Say 2011 event.  The focus groups will be held on 2 March at 2:00 pm and 3 March at 10:00 am at Community Action, 4 Charnwood Street in Derby.  Please contact Abbi Steanson on the above email/number for more information and to book a place. 

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has unveiled a new scaled back employment vetting scheme and fundamental reform of criminal records checks.

 

Announcing the findings of the parallel reviews of the Vetting and Barring Scheme and the criminal records regime, Mr Clegg revealed that millions of people will be removed from the need to carry out compulsory pre-employment checks. To read more visit the Community Action Derby website.

   

Put on your glad rags put the date on your calendar! Derbyshire Pride are holding their annual black tie ball on Saturday 30 April at the Hallmark Hotel, Midland Road in Derby.  It promises to be a fun evening with entertainment, a grand auction, special guests and a three course meal - all for only £25 per head!  Everyone is welcome. 

  

For more information and to buy tickets call Andy Manning on 07593 416367. 

Empowering Derby is a project created by three education workers in Derby to voluntarily run Open Space (or OST) sessions every other month in different parts of the city.  The sessions give people a forum to explore issues important to them, on the theme of creating change.

 

The Open Space way of running meetings invites people to come up with topics to discuss, small discussion groups are then set up to look at these topics, and people are free to move between groups. 

 

The first session in 2011 will be on Sunday 27 February at the Ukrainian Centre from 2:00 to 6:00 pm.  For more information call Ruth on 01332 291369.

  

To be successful in a changing environment, organisations need to consider working differently. Commissioners are repeatedly saying how important, if not vital, it is to work in a partnership.

 

Derby City Council are holding an event on Tuesday 12 April from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at Deda, Chapel Street in Derby which will provide an invaluable insight into partnership and consortium work. You will be given opportunities to hear from a number of guest speakers, develop practical skills which will serve you well in a partnership and through a facilitated networking session hopefully find your ideal partner!

 

The event is aimed at arts organisations, artists and any third sector organisations interested in working more closely with the arts.

The East Midlands Equality and Diversity Forum is holding a FREE event to raise awareness of transgender issues in the work place for local employers.

 

This interactive workshop will take place on Wednesday 23 March from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Education Centre, Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust, Kingsway, Derby.

 

It will feature guest speakers with experience of working on transgender equality across the East Midlands and will cover:

 

Transgender awareness - FAQ's and all of the terminology explained;

Transgender issues in the workplace - your questions answered;

Best practice to support employees though gender reassignment; and

Honouring the legal rights of staff around gender identity.

 

For more information and to book a place email Anne Bryant.    

We'd just like to remind you that you have access to your own section of our website.  You can update your details and also add your news and events to our listings.  It's a great way to let the world know what you are doing!  So if you have any upcoming events or news that you would like to share with Derby - and the world - visit the Community Action website, log in with your details and get started!

If you would like to be part of Community Action Derby please email Angie Baines or call 01332 227731.  You will have FREE access to funding information, help and support for your group and the opportunity to take part in workshops and forums throughout the year.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Are you caring for somebody who has, or who might have dementia? The Alzheimer's Society is running FREE information sessions for carers.

 

The sessions will look at:

understanding dementia;

behaviour we find challenging;

legal information;

welfare and benefits information;

other agencies; and

coping as a carer.

 

Tea/coffee and biscuits will be provided.

 

The sessions take place on Fridays on the following dates:

11, 18 and 25 March and 1, 8 and 15 April from 10:15 am to 12:30 pm at the Grange Banqueting Suite, Burton Road, Littleover, Derby, DE23.  For more information or to book a place call 01332 298845.

  

For the benefit of carers who wish to bring along the person they care for, support workers will be available at the sessions. Alternatively it may be possible to arrange to have them cared for in their own home.

The last Self-Help Forum is on Tuesday 15 March at Oddfellows, 32 Charnwood Street, Derby from 10:00 am to 12 noon, followed by light refreshments.

 

The purpose of this event is to celebrate all the work that has been achieved by a great number of voluntary organisations over the past four years.  Come along and tell us what your group has achieved and how you are developing for the future. We also want to tell you all about our new Group Support section on the Community Action website which will be up and running in April. 

 

The agenda for this session:

Celebration of groups' achievements and sharing of information;

Other Forums that your group can attend

How to access the Group Support section on the Community Action website;

The new training programme available to you; and importantly 

Feedback from you!

 

We all need to start working in partnership with each other so it's really important that you come along to find out what other organisations are providing and how this can help your group.  If you would like to come along email Liz Gumbley by Friday 11 March.

 

Awards for All, England offers grants of between £300 and £10,000 for projects that improve communities, and the lives of people within them. It is for voluntary and community groups, schools and health organisations, and parish and town councils.

 

You can apply for funding towards equipment hire or purchase; land, building, refurbishment, landscaping or property projects (including playgrounds and temporary buildings) costing £25,000 or less (including vat); publicity materials for use in your project; updating equipment for health and safety reasons; and volunteer expenses.  For more details of what you can apply for funding for and how to apply visit the Awards for All website.   

Voice UK are running drama workshops for young people with learning disabilities aged 16 to 25.  The workshops provide a safe space where people with disabilities can explore issues around disability hate crime.

 

The drama groups are fully funded, so signing up to the group and participating in the weekly workshops is FREE!

 

The workshops run on Wednesdays from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the YMCA in London Road, Derby.  For more information email Amy Burton or call 01332 291042.          

Do you ever leave meetings less informed than when you went in?  Would you like to enhance your own skills at managing meetings better?  If so, this course is for you!

 

By the end of this session, learners will have:

 

A better understanding of the need for structure and process to achieve better results from meetings;

Developed practical steps to ensure meeting attendees know their roles and responsibilities before, during and after meetings; and

Explored techniques for re-energising meetings.

 

The course takes place on Wednesday 30 March from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Community Action, 4 Charnwood Street, Derby. 

 

 The course is FREE for voluntary and community groups and £50 for statutory organisations.  For more information or to book a place call email Liz Gumbley or call 01332 227738 by Wednesday 23 March.                                    

Derby Unemployed and Claimants Centre will be launched on Friday 4 March at the Irish Club, Beckett Street in Derby from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  All voluntary and community groups are invited to the launch which will take the form of a listening event to find out what direction the centre should take and what services should be offered. 

  

The event is supported by Derby area TUC and includes a FREE lunch.  For further information and to confirm your attendance email Derby Unemployed and Claimants Centre or text 07870 387999 by 2 March. 

  

  

The government has awarded £1.7m from its £100m Transition Fund to 18 charities, including one in Derby, and will announce hundreds more grants from the fund over the coming months.  Derby charity Umbrella received £35,000. 

 

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said the organisations awarded funding had shown innovative approaches such as setting up social enterprise arms or proposing mergers.  

This year's 'Inspiring Derby 2011' week will run from Monday 27 June to Sunday 3 July.  Derby City Partnership is planning for the week to be more successful than last year's and this is where we would like your help.  The week aims to:

 

• Showcase excellence and partnership working in Derby;
• Increase knowledge of the achievements of Derby organisations and communities;
• Promote Derby to the people of Derby and increase their pride in the city; and 
• Hold fun events that are no, or low, cost bringing people together

The week is a great opportunity to showcase activities, projects and initiatives.  Partners will be a part of a unique experience and celebrate what is great about Derby. 

 

For more information and to book a place for 'Inspiring Derby Week 2011' visit the DCP website.  The deadline for completed booking forms is Monday 14 March.

The United Reformed Church in Derby invite voluntary and community organisations to a FREE event designed to help attract potential volunteers and service users.

 

They have a draft outline of the exhibition but can modify the plans and are very interested in hearing from voluntary and community groups to find out how they would like the exhibition to run. 

  

The outline proposals for the event are an exhibition in  the Central United Reformed Church, at the corner of Becketwell Lane and Victoria Street.  In addition several rooms will be available for seminars, discussions and talks.  Rooms with seating for 15 to 40 people will be available together with stands and poster display space. 

 

The exhibition will run from Thursday 12 May to Saturday 14 May inclusive.

  

For more information and to express an interest in taking part in the exhibition email Central UR Church. 

 

Locality, the charity formed by the merger of Bassac and the Development Trusts Association, has been awarded a £15m contract to deliver the government's community organisers programme to recruit and train 5,000 community organisers to help local people develop community projects in deprived areas in England.

500of these will be senior community organisers, who will be trained and paid £20,000 each for their first year. A further 4,500 will be part-time voluntary organisers. The organisers will also help communities take advantage of big society initiatives including the right to buy and the right to bid.

£10m of the £15m will be spent on paying the bursaries and £5m will cover the other costs of running the scheme. The first projects will base community organisers in existing voluntary and community organisations in 10 areas in England and will begin in April.

 



Jayne Williams
Community Action Derby