NCVS e-bulletin - Thursday 16 May 2024

The Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service (NCVS) e-bulletin will be back in a fortnight. The deadline for contributions and comments is Monday 27 May 2024. Email communications@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Did you know we keep an archive of past NCVS e-bulletins? View the archive here.

‘Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill-health through Green Social Prescribing’ was a £5.77 million cross-governmental project that completed the delivery of a Test and Learn phase in March 2023. Green Social Prescribing (GSP) is the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental health.

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) was one of the seven national sites selected to run the Test and Learn programme from April 2021 to March 2023 and has now received further funding to deliver a one-year extension programme locally. Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service (NCVS) led the Test and Learn pilot programme, known as GreenSpace, and will continue to lead the one-year extension, working with system partners across the city and county.

As part of this funding, we are recruiting for two new roles.

Green Social Prescribing Programme Lead
We are looking for an experienced individual to lead the GreenSpace GSP extension programme. This will include managing key work strands and deliverables, the work programme for two Project Officers, leading the design and delivery of the GSP referral pathways and cohort activity, building and maintaining system relationships, ensuring robust and accurate data capture and reporting, sharing key learning, and carrying out activities to further embed green social prescribin into the local health system.

• Hours: Part time, 28 hours per week.
• Salary: £35,000 to £37,500 per annum pro rata.
• Closing date: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12 noon.

Green Social Prescribing Project Officer x 2 posts
We are recruiting two Project Officers to co-ordinate all operational elements of the GreenSpace GSP extension programme. This will include co-designing and delivering selected GSP referral pathways, building stakeholder relationships, ensuring robust and accurate data capture, gathering key learning and carrying out activities to further embed green social prescribing into the local health system.

• Hours: Part time, 28 hours per week.
• Salary: £27,945 to £29,945 per annum pro rata.
• Closing date: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12 noon.

You can read more about the GreenSpace project here.

Thursday 6 June 2024, 10am to 3pm (registration from 9.30am)
The Indian Community Centre Association (ICCA), 99 Hucknall Road, NG5 1QZ

We recently partnered with Al-Hurraya to deliver three training sessions for community leaders and organisations supporting ethnically diverse communities, to enhance their skills and provide tools for culturally appropriate mental health and wellbeing support that celebrates diversity and fosters empowerment. Read more about this training here.

Building on this previous work and training, we’re now hosting a free, in-person community event in partnership with Al-Hurraya to equip you with a basic understanding of mental health, the support services available, and practical self-help tools.

This event is open to members of the community, as well as staff, trustees, and volunteers from Nottingham VCSE sector organisations and partners in the health and care sector, who work with individuals in ethnically diverse communities and want to know more about mental health services.

Places are limited, and registration is required. If you have any questions about this event or have a booking query, please call 0115 934 8400 or email ncvs@nottinghamcvs.co.uk.

To complement the Travel Well project, three special editions of the Big Green Book have been released, designed for social prescribers, healthcare professionals and the general public. The editions will be your guide to a world of active travel and green activities. We're talking about a journey where movement meets nature, and where every step and pedal push comes with a dose of good vibes and friendly faces to support you as you embrace a more active lifestyle.

The special editions are specific to the project’s target areas, divided into Nottingham City West, Nottingham City North, and Nottingham City East.

Let these books inspire you to ditch the couch, get outside and dive into a world of walking, cycling, and wheeling with new friends and old. The benefits are not just physical; they're a game-changer for your everyday life and mental wellbeing. So, get ready to Travel Well!

Saturday 8 June 2024, 10am to 4pm
Bakersfield Community Centre, 312 Sneinton Dale, NG3 7DN

From Monday 10 June 2024, it will become law for all cats over the age of 20 weeks to be microchipped. Meow and Furever understand that microchipping cats comes at a cost many cannot afford, especially with the rising cost of living, so they are hosting a community event for those living in Sneinton, St. Anns and Bakersfield to have their cats microchipped free of charge. 

As well as having their cats safely microchipped and registered, attendees will receive information on neutering, laws around renting with pets, how to help stray cats and how to access pet foodbanks.  

For more information, please contact the team by phone on 07419 908324 or by email at admin@meowandfurever.co.uk

The deadline for applications is Monday 27 May 2024, 12 noon

Grants of between £10,000 and £80,000 a year are available for voluntary sector organisations supporting young women and girls who are either caught up in the criminal justice system or on the edge of it. Organisations must be led by and for women and girls to be eligible for funding.

The deadline for applications is Monday 1 July 2024

Grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 are available to constituted voluntary and community groups, locally registered charities, Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), Community Interest Companies (CICs), companies limited by guarantee with charitable aims, and social enterprises.

Grants are available to qualifying projects under the following themes:

• Refugees and asylum seekers.
• Homelessness.
• Food poverty.
• Young people’s wellbeing.
• Education for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This is an open fund and you are welcome to apply at any time. Please apply for funding at least 12 weeks before you need the funding.

The Small Grants Programme aims to develop opportunities for communities to get more people physically active and will support new or existing projects by providing National Lottery funding of between £300 and £15,000 for voluntary or community organisations.

Projects must involve at least one of the following areas:

• Recover and reinvent.
• Connecting communities.
• Positive experiences for children and young people.
• Connecting with health and wellbeing.
• Active environments.

We're regularly updating the funding news on our website, so click the button below and find the fund for you!

Wednesday 5 June 2024, 10am to 12 noon
Online via Zoom

Manage, support or lead volunteers? Join Dave, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, for our next online networking meeting designed for people to share experiences, give and receive advice and network with people who understand volunteers and volunteering.

If you have any questions about LoVN or this event, please contact Dave Thomas at davet@nottinghamcvs.co.uk. Please register your place below.

Green social prescribing is a way of connecting people to nature-based activities and green groups, projects and schemes in their local community for support with health and wellbeing. Often this will be through a referral from a Link Worker based at a GP practice or another primary care professional.

Our scheme in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, called GreenSpace, was one of seven government Green Social Prescribing Test and Learn sites.

While the National Test and Learn may have ended, NCVS continues to embed green social prescribing into health systems to make nature-based/outdoor activities an intervention of choice to support people to improve and maintain their mental and physical health and wellbeing.

We are recruiting for two new roles!

Green Social Prescribing Programme Lead
We are looking for an experienced individual to lead the GreenSpace Green Social Prescribing (GSP) extension programme. This will include managing key work strands and deliverables, the work programme for two Project Officers, leading the design and delivery of the GSP referral pathways and cohort activity, building and maintaining system relationships, ensuring robust and accurate data capture and reporting, sharing key learning, and carrying out activities to further embed green social prescribing into the local health system.

• Hours: Part time, 28 hours per week.
• Salary: £35,000 to £37,500 per annum pro rata.
• Closing date: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12 noon.

Green Social Prescribing Project Officer x 2 posts
We are looking for two Project Officers to co-ordinate all operational elements of the GreenSpace GSP extension programme. This will include co-designing and delivering selected GSP referral pathways, building stakeholder relationships, ensuring robust and accurate data capture, gathering key learning and carrying out activities to further embed green social prescribing into the local health system.

• Hours: Part time, 28 hours per week.
• Salary: £27,945 to £29,945 per annum pro rata.
• Closing date: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12 noon.

Tuesday 4 June 2024, 10am to 12 noon
New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, NG7 6BE

You are cordially invited to the official launch event of the Social Enterprise Accelerator! This exciting initiative, a partnership between NCVS and Nottingham Trent University, is aimed at nurturing social enterprises in Nottingham. Join us for a morning dedicated to inspiration, networking, and learning about the comprehensive support available for your social enterprise journey.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your existing venture, Social Enterprise Accelerator offers tailored training, funding opportunities, and expert guidance. Don't miss this chance to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and industry experts and take your social enterprise to the next level.

Register your interest by emailing vcseobservatory@ntu.ac.uk before Thursday 30 May 2024.

Tuesday 20 August 2024, 10am to 2pm
Nottingham Central Library, 1 Carrington Street, NG1 7FH

The Nottinghamshire Carers Association, Carers Space Notts and The Caring Roadshows have been contracted to host roadshows across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to connect services and people. The conversations generated by the shows will highlight the real issues facing carers and patients and be fed back to the planners of future services to create a genuine ‘Street to Strategy’ ethos. Read the results from a roadshow held in Leeds in 2023.

The Caring Roadshows are for:

• Carers, parents, family, and friends who need information about local support organisations.
• Carers planning for future life events.
• Organisations providing care and support.

They are free to attend and will feature stall holders providing information about a wide range of health and social care services for carers and their families. 

To find out more, contact Trevor Clower on 07905 740 639 or Helen Yates on 01773 833 833.

Monday 24 June 2024, 9.30am to 11.30am
Hyson Green Family Hub, Mary Potter Health Centre, 76 Gregory Blvd, NG7 5HY

The Muslim Village is made up of Muslim mothers and volunteers in the UK who have lived experience navigating maternity and postnatal care in the UK that isn't always inclusive of their cultural identity or faith. The project is run by volunteers who understand your needs and help you get through pregnancy, postpartum, breastfeeding and motherhood while holding on to your culture and faith.

They would like to invite everyone to this event, whether you're a mother or a healthcare professional supporting families. You will be able to meet their founders and volunteers, as well as speak to Muslim families in Nottingham. 

If you have any questions, please email Manisha Sheth at manishasheth.sme@gmail.com.

The first Stay and Play session will be running concurrently with the launch, and families with children aged zero to five are invited to attend and see what other projects will be taking place. Register here for the Stay and Play session.

More event listings on our website

Head over to the dedicated 'External Events and Training' page on our website to view more events and training opportunities from Nottingham's Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

If you would like to submit an event to feature on this page, please fill in our online event submission form. Events will be approved for publication on the NCVS website at our discretion, taking into account our aims and mission.

Our full Training and Development programme is available to view on our website. All courses take place online via Zoom.

We have new sessions and new dates for 2024/2025. Book now.

Due to staff changes, we're currently reviewing the delivery of our Top Tips for Writing Funding Applications and Deeper Dive into Writing Funding Applications training, and all sessions previously scheduled for 2024/25 have been postponed.

Tuesday 9 July 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding adults and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Thursday 1 August 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and young people and how to respond to concerns.

Cost: £25 per participant

Tuesday 28 May 2024, 10.30am to 1pm

This online training will give you a basic understanding of the role and responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead Person for an organisation working with vulnerable children and young people.

Cost: £25 per participant

Wednesday 14 August 2024, 10.30am to 11.45am

This online training explains your safeguarding responsibilities as a trustee for an organisation working with vulnerable adults or children and young people.

Cost: £15 per participant

Tuesday 10 September 2024, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training covers the basic information that all trustees should know.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 19 June, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training takes you through the basics of being a Fire Warden/Fire Marshal and will prepare you to carry out this very important role.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 4 June 2024, 6pm to 8pm

Learn the basics of taking effective minutes in this online training – and make note taking easy.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 11 June 2024, 10.30am to 12.30pm

This online training will teach you the basics of health and safety, and explain the process of carrying out a risk assessment in your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 6 November 2024, 6pm to 8pm

This online training will refresh your knowledge as a trustee, update you on current issues, improve your personal skill set and help you develop your role for the benefit of your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 23 July 2024, 10am to 11am

Identify barriers to volunteering and develop ideas to minimise and remove them during this training, to ensure your organisation isn’t missing out on great volunteers.

Cost: £10 per participant

Thursday 23 May 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training, previously called “How to be a Better Leader of Volunteers”, takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will explore some of the real-life issues that you’re facing as a Leader of Volunteers.

Cost: £20 per participant

Wednesday 12 June 2024, 10am to 12 noon

This online training takes you beyond the basics of managing and supporting volunteers and will challenge you to consider the difference that volunteers make to your organisation.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 25 July 2024, 10am to 12 noon

In any group of volunteers, there’ll be occasional disagreements, personality clashes and conflicts. Although these are hopefully rare events, this updated, online training will prepare you for when they occur.

Cost: £20 per participant

Tuesday 2 July 2024, 10am to 11am

Start your journey into the exciting and rewarding world of volunteer leadership with this online training that explores the volunteer journey from start to finish.

Cost: £10 per participant

Wednesday 7 August 2024, 10am to 12 noon

Although the law has little to say about volunteers and volunteering, what it does say is important. This online training will help you develop an understanding of some of the legal requirements that relate to your volunteering programme.

Cost: £20 per participant

Thursday 4 July 2024, 10am to 11am

Are your volunteer opportunities struggling to attract people, or people with the right interests and skills for your organisation? This online training will teach you how to enhance your volunteer role descriptions and make them stand out.

Cost: £10 per participant

The Practice Development Unit (PDU) aims to promote and facilitate collaborative learning and the sharing of good practice among professionals and volunteers from all sectors, in Nottingham and neighbouring areas, who work with people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD). This is understood as a combination of mental ill-health, substance misuse, homelessness, offending and domestic abuse, among other issues.

Contact our PDU Team if you need more information: pdu@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Join our free online hub www.pdunottingham.org

Follow us on Twitter @NottinghamCVS #PDUNottingham.

Did you know the PDU hosts a comprehensive e-learning suite? Check out this fortnight's PDU highlight below.

Wednesday 19 June 2024, 10am to 12 noon

An online forum for professionals, volunteers and people with lived experience who are passionate or curious about co-production, to come together to learn and share expertise.

The theme for this session is 'When to Co-Produce'.

NSPCC is offering free to attend training on how to speak up if a child needs support and where to find that support. The Listen up, Speak up training takes ten minutes and is available online. Register here.

They also have a Library and Information Service which provides quick and easy access to the latest information, research on child abuse, child neglect and child protection to help keep children and young people safe.

Online and face-to-face sessions for anyone working with parents. The sessions explore how to recognise signs of parental conflict in the early stages, preventing escalation to domestic abuse. Participants learn strategies to support parents in finding constructive outcomes, demonstrating positive lessons for children in skills such as negotiation and compromise. Sessions are free to attend for individuals and organisations based in Nottingham City and the Nottingham County area.

Online training dates

• Thursday 23 May 2024, 9.30am to 12 noon - register here
  
  
• Thursday 18 July 2024, 9.30am to 12 noon - register here

Face-to-face training dates

• Thursday 20 June 2024, 9.30am to 12.30pm at Loxley House, Station Street, NG2 3AJ - register here
  
  
• Thursday 26 September 2024, 9.30am to 12.30pm. Venue TBC - register here

A selection of upcoming online training which is fully funded and free to attend for Nottingham City workers and volunteers.

Suicide Bereavement

• Tuesday 4 June 2024, 9.30am to 1.30pm - register here.
  
  
• Thursday 20 June 2024, 12.30pm to 4.30pm - register here.

Mental Health

• Friday 24 May 2024, 12.30pm to 4.30pm - register here.
  
  
• Thursday 6 June 2024, 9.30am to 1.30pm - register here. 

Suicide Prevention

• Friday 7 June 2024, 12.30pm to 4.30pm - register here.

Self Harm

• Wednesday 17 July, 12.30pm to 4.30pm - register here.
  
  

For a full list of courses and dates please visit the Harmless Eventbrite webpage.

If you are a VCSE organisation in Nottingham City or a VCSE organisation recruiting to a job role which covers the Nottingham City area, you can submit a job advert for our website. Adverts remain on our website until the closing date. We feature new adverts once in the e-bulletin, where possible, depending on the volume of new adverts received.

There are lots more job listings on our website. You can view all the job vacancies available by clicking on the 'More Vacancies' button at the bottom of this section.

Co(l)laboratory at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) aims to support community-engaged research by linking community-based organisations with Nottingham academics. If you would like to collaborate, their next round of research project co-creation will run until September 2024.

Community-based partners who are part of project proposals that go on to be funded will be able to benefit from a range of unique opportunities as well as the benefits of the research. Support payments are also available to compensate community partners for their time and contributions.

• Join an active community of fellow community professionals.
• Access to research training and resources.
• Addressing challenges important to you and your organisation.

Community Partner Information webinars will be held on the following dates (register here):

• Wednesday 22 May 2024, 5pm to 6pm
• Wednesday 5 June 2024, 12 noon to 1pm 

For more information, please click here.

The closing date for the survey is Friday 5 July 2024

Newton Investment Management is looking for UK charity leaders to contribute to its eleventh Newton Charity Investment Survey. The survey gives the sector unique insight and trend comparisons of its investment intentions.

This year, they are particularly interested in exploring your views on:

• Current issues, such as the continued cost-of-living crisis.
  
  
• Your recent investment returns (both capital return and income) and your expectations for the future.
  
  
• How you are considering net zero and responsible investment factors in the management of your portfolios.
  
  
• The expectations and experiences of diversity for your charity.

The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. It may be useful to have your latest investment quarterly report on hand for reference. The findings will be published in the autumn. Read the findings from The 2023 Newton Charity Investment Survey.

The first 100 charities to complete the survey will be eligible to receive a pair of ‘open’ tickets to an exhibition of their choice (before Friday 31 January 2025) at the Royal Academy of Arts. Survey participants will also be entered into a prize draw for the opportunity to win a £250 donation to a charity of their choice. Four winners will be selected at random. Terms and conditions apply.

The closing date for the survey is Monday 1 July 2024

The 33rd edition of the Charity Shops Survey 2024 is now open for responses. For more than three decades, the survey has provided detailed benchmarking data for charities that operate in retail, giving them a better understanding of the sector.

Download the form here, it will download automatically as an excel spreadsheet. Once completed, send your form to shopssurvey@civilsociety.co.uk.

Participants in this year’s survey will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win a £100 John Lewis voucher.

General VCSE sector resources and reports

• Tomorrow's Donor, Today - Read Civil Society Media's review of Eden Stanley's report on donation trends among the under-40s. To access the full report, sign up here.
  
  
• Co-Production and Engagement with Communities as a Solution to Reducing Health Inequalities - NHS Providers has released its report outlining the principles of co-production and actions trusts can take to apply engagement methodologies across their organisation.
  
  
• Local Needs Databank - Think NPC has built a databank of resources for those seeking data insights across various sectors. It includes dashboards covering health and social care, advice and support services, contextualized with information on poverty and deprivation, along with grant availability. More dashboards will be added soon.
  
  
• How to choose a fundraising CRM solution - Sign up to download Blackbaud's expanded 2024 version of its e-book on what a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is and how to choose the right one for you. 

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