Thrive Oct/Nov 2010

Supporting Voluntary & Community Action December 2010 / January / February 2011

Advice Centres Assess Impact of Cuts

Computer Recycling Scheme

SOFA Launches Office Furniture Initiative

What is Bristol Youth Links?

Bristol Wi-Fi Hot Spot Initiative

New Local Enterprise Partnerships

Big Society Strategy for Third Sector Announced

Why Monitor and Evaluate?

Bristol Gets Ready to Go PoPP!

European Year of Volunteering

Big Lottery supports Serenity House

Inside Voscur’s Magazine

Imag

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oo

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Band practice at The Urban Academy – Out of School Arts Activities for Young People.

See page 22

Charity no. 1018963

TACT is a well respected fostering and adoption agency. TACT will offer you excellent training with 24hr support and a break from caring when you need it.

TACT pay between £322 & £574 per week per child as well as additional allowances for birthdays, festivals and holidays.

Although fostering can be challenging it can also be very rewarding. If you believe you have the capacity and commitment to support vulnerable children and young people between 10-16 years old, then we would like to hear from you. To make a difference give us a ring now on: 0117 927 7725 or email [email protected]

www.tactcare.org.uk

Shape a life. Be a foster carer.

Issue 12 December 2010 / January / February 2011 www.voscur.org 3

Charity no. 1018963

TACT is a well respected fostering and adoption agency. TACT will offer you excellent training with 24hr support and a break from caring when you need it.

TACT pay between £322 & £574 per week per child as well as additional allowances for birthdays, festivals and holidays.

Although fostering can be challenging it can also be very rewarding. If you believe you have the capacity and commitment to support vulnerable children and young people between 10-16 years old, then we would like to hear from you. To make a difference give us a ring now on: 0117 927 7725 or email [email protected]

www.tactcare.org.uk

Shape a life. Be a foster carer. Contents

Thrive! is available on disc. Please contact the

office if you would like to receive your Thrive!

this way. The newsletter is also available online

as a pdf at www.voscur.org/magazine

Why not advertise?

Special discounts for Voscur members. Deadlines for March/ April/ May 2011 edition of Thrive!: Tuesday 1 February for ads and articles. Friday 18 February for flyers. Details of prices at www.voscur.org/magazine or phone Polly Stewart on 0117 909 9949.

Disclaimer: some of the views expressed in this publication are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent those of Voscur. Publications, events and services mentioned in Thrive! are not necessarily endorsed by Voscur.

Welcome

4 Editorial

5 New Members

6-7 Sector NewsNew Resources for Mental Health and Learning Difficulties

Community Learning, Employment and Skills Partnership

Local Enterprise Partnership

8–10 Have Your SaySupporting a stronger Civil Society

Big Society strategy for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises announced

Pride of Place Project

11 CompactCommissioning developments at Bristol City Council

12-13 Advice Services Advice centres assess impact of cuts

14-15 Training and LearningMonitoring and Evaluation – the basics

Take Part – Training sessions

16-18 Member ProfilesSOFA project launches office furniture initiative

Serenity House – Bristol Alcoholism Recovery Service

19 EqualitiesBristol City Council’s Equalities Impact Assessment

20-21 Finding FundingRegional Transition Fund announced

How to maximise your organisation’s income

22-23 Children and Young PeopleWhat is Bristol Youth Links?

Events

24 Children and Young People – Member profile Urban Academy – Out of school arts activities

25 Developing ICTComputer recycling and community Wi-Fi hot spots

27 Volunteering BristolChallenges and opportunities ahead

28 Diary

www.voscur.org December 2010 / January / February 2011 Issue 124

Equalities Article

Training

Resources

Event

Key to symbols

Editorial

In little over six months the

coalition government has

enthusiastically driven forward

the ‘Big Society’ agenda and its

key aim of putting people, not

the state, at the heart of

decision making.

This ‘Big Society’ agenda is likely

to have significant implications

for the Voluntary and Community

sector, with the anticipation that

the draft Localism Bill (due to be

published in December) will give a

much bigger role to the Voluntary

and Community Sector and Social

Enterprise in the delivery of

what are currently public sector

services.

Neighbourhood Partnerships

will be playing an increasingly

important role in the coming

year, with proposals announced

by the council in November, for

them to take decisions on, for

example, how the money paid by

developers to mitigate the impact

of development is spent. For more

details visit: http://tinyurl.com/

quickguide-NPS106

The Neighbourhood Partnership

Residents’ Forum meeting in

January will be discussing the

government’s ‘Big Society’

proposals for community

organisers, what they might

mean for Bristol and how Bristol’s

voluntary and community sector

might, working with residents,

take a lead.

January is always a good time to

start something new and with

2011 designated the European

Year of Volunteering, Voscur will

be working with Volunteering

Bristol to support the sector.

The free ‘Take Part’ sessions

running until March provide an

opportunity for people to get

involved in decision-making.

With so many changes taking

place at a national level, you might

wonder who is making these

decisions and how you can have

your say about them. In February

we’re running a free information

session with the Parliamentary

Outreach team to help answer

these and other questions, see

page 17 for more details.

Voscur is not immune to change

either and the new support

service for the Voluntary and

Community sector that will start

in February 2011 will be a major

change for us. As Thrive! goes

to press, the details are not yet

finalised, but please visit our

website for more details.

Whatever the impact of the

changes are on Voscur and

Voluntary and Community

organisations in Bristol during

the coming year, Voscur remains

committed to supporting the

sector to survive and thrive.

On behalf of the Voscur board

and staff we hope you have a

restful Christmas break, and a

Happy New Year.

Best wishes from the Voscur team.

All change or more of the same?The New Year is a time to embrace change, yet as 2010 draws to a close we approach 2011 with an expectation that we will be embracing more change than we could ever have expected just twelve months ago.


New Voscur Members

Skate Club:

A voluntary organisation that uses

skateboarding to engage young

people aged 13-19. They run a one

day a week open access skate club

at Wicklea Youth and Community

Centre. They are hoping to expand

to two days a week before the

end of the year as well as offering

a mobile skate park that can get to

other youth clubs around Bristol.

Visit: www.skate-club.co.uk

St Mungo’s:

St Mungo’s opens doors for

homeless people. The Compass

Centre in Bristol provides

emergency accommodation,

support towards recovery and

help to prevent rough sleeping.

They run over 100 projects and

help thousands of people make

life changes every year. In Bristol

this includes Street Outreach

team, Pathways to Employment

team and Wellbeing Service

offering one to one and group

work with psychologists.

Tel: 0117 944 0581 or

visit: www.mungos.org

Bristol Education Support Project:

Provides extra educational

support to school age children

to help develop their learning

skills and to raise the level of their

educational achievement. They

offer cultural and confidence

building classes to mainly Somali

students. They also provide

information, advice and guidance

to parents and carers in relation

to their children’s educational

development.

Email: [email protected]

Bristol Foundation Housing:

Aims to provide supervised

accommodation to encourage

and support homeless people (or

those at risk of homelessness)

and/or at risk of offending to

live more fulfilled lives. They do

this by providing a unique mix of

secure supervised accommodation

together with support. This

support takes the form of

providing advice, information and

assistance with the practicalities

of day-to-day living. They are

building capabilities for coaching

and mentoring to help their

tenants access education and

employment.

Visit: www.

bristolfoundationhousing.org.uk

Global Hope Academy:

Provides an educational service

for Somali children in Bristol.

Promotes cultural and social

events in order to encourage

the full and positive integration

of Somali children into British

society. Provides study support

(homework club) for English,

Maths and Science. Children spend

time on learning opportunities

and academic and enrichment

activities which build the children’s

confidence and self-esteem.

Children are taken on trips to the

countryside and to the Science

museum in London.

For more information email:

[email protected]

African and Caribbean Young Enterprise (ACYE):

Their objectives are to support

the development of local

enterprise initiatives, particularly

minority ethnic owned enterprise.

Improving and developing the

skills of the community by

providing relevant and good

quality training, events and other

types of support.

Visit: www.youngblackbusiness.

ning.com

Who’s Joined Voscur Recently?


Sector News

New Resources for Mental Health and Learning Difficulties

Big Society Award Announced

Its new Learning Difficulties

Resource is a comprehensive

collection of practical information

for people with learning

difficulties and their carers.

The resource is laid out in Easy

Read format and designed

to make access to the most

relevant information quick and

straightforward.

Its Mental Health Employment

Portal also has a new addition

– a library of useful background

documents for mental health

professionals and people with

mental ill health trying to

overcome employment-related

discrimination and find or

keep a job.

Like the database itself, these

resources are completely free to

use. They can be accessed from

any internet connection at

www.wellaware.org.uk, or by

ringing the Well Aware team on

(freephone) 0808 808 5252.

Who can make a nomination?

Anyone, including people

who benefit from the group,

organisation or individuals

activities, may make a nomination.

Please do not nominate your

own group, organisation or

yourself, i.e. the organisation

that your work for or group that

you volunteer in, as they need

to ensure that nominations are

independent and supported.

You can, however, encourage

others to nominate you.

For more information email:

[email protected].

gov.uk, please type “Big Society

award” in the subject area.

Or tel: 020 7276 6087

(for nominators).

Well Aware is The Care Forum’s free open access database. It contains the details of 1000s of health, wellbeing and community services in Bristol. It now has two extra resources available.

The Big Society award has been created to recognise individuals, groups or organisations that are demonstrating the Big Society in their work or activities.

Visit: http://tinyurl.com/39dl3oa


Community Learning, Employment and Skills Partnership (CLESP)

A LE(A)P into the future

This free South West Forum event

is for Voluntary, Community and

Social Enterprise organisations

wishing to participate in a new

regional consortium.

This event is especially for

organisations seeking a

partnership route into the

up-coming European Social

Fund tenders put out by the

Skills Funding Agency.

Speakers and contributors include:

Adrian Bailey, Director, Regional

Employment and Skills Board,

Helen France, Skills Funding

Agency, Stephen Woollett, South

West Forum, Tim Ward, Learning

Curve and Brian McInally, Hartcliffe

and Withywood Ventures.

To book please visit:

www.southwestforum.org.uk

The Government has given the

Green light to 24 new Local

Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

areas including the West of

England LEP that will incorporate

Bristol, Bath and North East

Somerset, North Somerset and

South Gloucestershire local

authority areas. Local Enterprise

Partnerships will be partnerships

between local authorities and

businesses and will play a key

role in promoting local economic

development.

From 2011, Local Enterprise

Partnerships will take over the

promotion of economic growth

previously carried out by the

South West Regional Development

Agency which will then be

scrapped.

To take the West of England Local

Enterprise Proposal forward,

an interim ‘shadow’ board will

be established which will be

tasked with setting up the Local

Enterprise Board itself, shaping

the delivery arrangements and

leading further discussions with

Government. The Interim Board

will be holding a conference early

in the New Year to inform, engage

and secure the contribution of a

wider group of businesses and key

organisations.

Greg Clark, the Minister for

Communities and Decentralisation,

has said the Government would

welcome the involvement

of voluntary organisations in

negotiations to establish new

public-private partnerships aimed

at boosting local economies.

Voscur has already raised the

issue of Voluntary, Community

and Social Enterprise involvement

with this board and will be seeking

to ensure that the sector is

represented at this level.

CLESP Membership Grows

Within the last few months, over 70 Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations have been confirmed as members of CLESP. All are based in the South West, have an active interest in skills, and want to use joint working to access the larger skills, learning and employment contracts on offer. New members are welcome – for a membership pack and form visit: www.learningcurve.org.uk/Aboutus/News/newsclesp

Sector News

Official launch event Monday 13 December, 9:30am-2pm, Exeter


Have Your Say

Supporting a Stronger Civil Society

Supporting a Stronger Civil Society tells us that

‘…accessing infrastructure

support is associated with

positive outcomes, including a

substantially higher likelihood of

success in grant applications and

bidding for contracts’

The consultation asks 10 questions

– we have summarised these and

NAVCA’s views (which we endorse)

below.

How can online services for frontline groups be improved?

It is important that local voluntary

organisations and community

groups can find and access the

information they need when they

need it. There is a vital role for

local infrastructure organisations

to signpost and check the quality

of what is available so local groups

get the greatest benefit from the

vast array of information available.

How can working with business be improved?

Any help from government

to increase support from

local businesses is welcome.

Government can help by

reminding business of the

importance of supporting the

day to day work of local charities,

focusing on that which makes the

difference rather than looking for

eye catching initiatives to support.

How useful are bursaries?

We support the use of bursaries

for accessing technical or very

specialist support. However, a

local brokering service delivered

by skilled development workers

is essential to the effectiveness

of bursaries. Care needs to be

taken to ensure that the bursaries

benefit the groups in need of

support and not the support

providers.

How can ‘expert intervention’ support areas that are lacking ‘social capital’ and develop stronger civil society?

NAVCA interprets social capital

as both the glue that binds

communities together and the

bridges that provide links between

communities. An area has weak

social capital when it both lacks

local infrastructure support and

individuals do not have sufficient

skills to create this glue.

What will Voscur do next?

Voscur will be writing directly

to our members and asking you

to complete a short survey so

that we can make an informed

response to the consultation

before 6 January 2011.

The Government has launched a major consultation called Supporting a Stronger Civil Society, on the role of infrastructure services like those provided by Voscur. This is to inform its Big Society strategy for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprise.

Jargon buster

NAVCA: National Association

for Voluntary and Community

Action. NAVCA awarded Voscur

(which is a NAVCA member) a

quality mark in 2008. NAVCA

estimates that its members

support around 100,000 local

voluntary and community

organisations each year.

To see the full

consultation and to find

out more, please visit:

www.strongercivilsociety.org.uk


Have Your Say

Government announces Big Society strategy for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises

The Office for Civil Society has launched a strategy to support charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises.

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society

launched the strategy in October

saying that,

“Civil society groups cannot be

immune from public spending

reductions which are necessary

for the whole of society. But

our vision for a Big Society,

with more diverse providers

of public services and greater

power for communities to

make local decisions, brings

huge opportunities to charities

voluntary groups and social

enterprises.”

“The Building a Stronger Civil

Society strategy gives a clear

plan for government support to

charities, voluntary groups and

social enterprises as they adjust to

a new relationship with the state.

It’s important that we hear from

the front line about the kind of

support that will really help them,

which is why we are launching a

consultation.”

The strategy follows three ‘core

components’ of the Big Society

agenda:

Empowering communities

Giving local councils and

neighbourhoods more power to

take decisions and shape their

area. The strategy says that

5000 Community Organisers will

be trained over the lifetime of

this parliament (subject to the

outcome of the Comprehensive

Spending review).

Opening up public services

The government says it wants

charities, social enterprises and

co-operatives to have a much

greater role in running public

services. The strategy says this

will involve opening up more

contracts to the third sector

and could involve existing public

service becoming co-ops or

social enterprises. Health and

Social Care, the Criminal Justice

System and Welfare to work are

highlighted in the strategy.

Promoting social action

Citizen action, encouraging

volunteering and increasing

philanthropy are cited as ways the

government wants more people

to contribute to the ‘Big Society’.

Increasing the efficiency of Gift

Aid, encouraging Civil Servants

to undertake community service,

establishing a National Citizen

Service (Youth volunteering)

and a Community First fund for

disadvantaged areas are also

highlighted in the strategy.

Plans in the strategy include:

• Reducing red tape for small

organisations

• Giving public sector staff the

right to form a co-op or mutual,

supported by a new network of

advice and mentoring

• Giving local communities the

right to buy or bid to run

community assets

• Continuing to match fund local

endowments to encourage

giving

• Modernisation of public service

commissioning so the most

efficient and effective charities

can get a fair chance to bid for

public contracts

The full strategy can be

seen online at: tinyurl.com/

BigSocietyVCSEstrategy


Have Your Say

Bristol gets ready to go PoPP!The Thriving Neighbourhoods

Board of the Bristol Partnership is

finalising details of the first Bristol

Pride of Place Project (PoPP)

awards that will take place in 2011.

The PoPP awards are intended to

celebrate the positive things that

local people, working together

with voluntary and community

organisations and/or public

sector partners, have achieved to

improve their local community.

The awards are based around each

of Bristol’s 14 Neighbourhood

Partnerships (NP).

The awards will help to showcase

the successful result or outcomes

from partnership working. For

each award category there will be

a panel of judges who will look at

the evidence provided from each

NPs entry and award specialist

categories (such as commended

or highly commended) and award

an overall winner (a sort of ‘Best in

Show’ award).

The PoPP winners will be

announced at an awards

ceremony in summer 2011 and

there will be an exhibition of all

the PoPP nominations in the new

M Shed (formerly the Industrial

Museum).

So far, four award categories have been confirmed: Stronger Communities

(sponsored by Voscur and the Black Development Agency)

Outcomes might include, for example: processes to make local people

better informed about the NP and local issues; give opportunities to

develop local pride, volunteering, and other types of involvement etc. To

what extent has the NP encouraged the formation of local groups; taken

action to reduce inequalities, and supported/sponsored local events.

Local Environment

(sponsored by SITA)

Outcomes might include improving recycling rates or reducing flytipping.

They might be focused on improving green spaces with trees, clear-ups,

encouraging bio-diversity or on improving local streets by reducing dog

fouling, fly posting, for example, or clearing derelict land.

Health and Wellbeing

(sponsored by NHS Bristol)

Outcomes might include actions to improve mental health, promote a

healthy life style including, for example, encouraging healthy eating and

physical exercise.

Learning

(sponsored by City of Bristol College)

Outcomes might include projects to encourage younger people to

remain in education or the focus might be on older people both in skill

development and for personal self-fulfilment. How have local people

developed skills by being engaged with the NP and with community

activity?

Full details of these and any other awards categories, plus details of how a Neighbourhood

Partnership can enter for the different awards are expected to be announced before Christmas

2010. Visit: www.voscur.org/haveyoursay


Commissioning Developments at Bristol City Council

Enabling Commissioning Framework

This will include a comprehensive

set of guidance, templates and

checklists for use by council

commissioners in all commissioning

processes. The framework

incorporates Bristol Compact

principles and guidance as well as

the recommendations from the

recent Select Committee on Third

Sector Commissioning.

This development aims to

standardise Bristol City Council’s

commissioning practice and

this, in turn, will support VCSE

organisations to engage and

win contracts. A process and

standards for decommissioning

is also included. This will ensure

that, where services are no

longer required, service users are

considered, services have robust

exit strategies and organisations

are supported in other

commissioning processes.

Commissioning Intentions

In response to VCSE sector

feedback, in January the council

will publish details of services that

it intends to commission during

2011/12. Such forward notice

of commissioning intentions will

allow VCSE service providers to

prepare for specific commissions,

form partnerships and allocate

resources. Bristol Compact will

be working with commissioners

to build capacity in specific

VCSE sectors and support the

engagement of VCSE organisations

in commissioning.

BePs system upgrade

The new improved version

of Bristol City Council’s

e-Procurement System (BePS) will

be online by April 2011. The new

system has incorporated feedback

from VCSE service providers and

aims to be more user friendly. Its

library function, for example, will

allow providers to upload their

policies and procedures once and

select relevant documents for each

tender process (rather than upload

them all each time).

Over the last few months, Bristol City Council and the Bristol Compact have been working closely in several important commissioning developments that will help the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector engage with commissioning. Mark Hubbard, Bristol’s Compact Liaison Officer, provides a progress update.

Bristol Compact

For more information:

Visit: www.bristolcompact.org.uk

or contact Mark Hubbard,

Compact Liaison Officer,

tel: 0117 909 9949,

email: [email protected]

The Bristol Compact is an

agreement between the Bristol

Partnership and the Voluntary,

Community and Social Enterprise

sector to improve their

relationship for mutual advantage

and community gain.

Bristol Compact training: Different Ways of Collaborating

Thursday 20 January 2011,

9:30am-3pm

Partnership working and

collaboration are often presented

as solutions to increase value for

money and for VCSE organisations

facing cuts to funding. This

session includes different

models for collaborative working,

resources to enable successful

collaborations and ways to resolve

issues and difficulties.

Trainers: Elaine Flint and Julie

Ellison, Social Enterprise Works

Bristol Compact training coming

up in the New Year:

•Costing Your Project

•Getting Ready to Trade

For details visit:

www.voscur.org/training

Further information about the commissioning framework and developments within Bristol City Council: www.bristol.gov.uk/commissioning


Bristol Advice Centres Assess Impact of Cuts

No-one can have missed

the ongoing debate about

whether or not the proposed

cuts recommended by the

June budget and the October

Comprehensive Spending Review

will have a disproportionate

impact on the poorest and most

vulnerable in society. Whichever

way you choose to read it, there

is no doubt that living on less

money when you are already poor

is much harder than living on less

money when you are wealthy;

people in receipt of a range of

benefits will unarguably be living

on less money. To put it starkly, if

you receive £1000 per week and

receive a 10% cut you still have

£900, if you receive £100 you

have £90.

Advice agencies across Bristol

are already struggling with the

upsurge in clients seeking help

and it looks like things are going

to get worse. We are already

concerned that the rhetoric in the

press about the deserving and the

undeserving poor, for example,

will derail a lot of good work

undertaken in the city, particularly

by the city council welfare rights

unit (WRAMAS) to encourage

people to claim entitlements that

are rightly theirs.

Already in excess of £50m1

from the city goes unclaimed

particularly by the elderly, people

from BME (Black Minority Ethnic)

communities and those with

mental health problems. This

we know will be exacerbated

by changing and more complex

rules and where waiting times are

already lengthy. For example 32%

of Employment Support Allowance

claims go to appeal2 (with 40%

of these being awarded to the

claimant), some of which are

taking more than 15 months to

process. Indeed much of the work

of advice agencies is about dealing

with the failures of agencies and

their systems, resulting in fewer

people being helped.

We have already seen in 2010/11

cuts in the Legal Aid budget for

housing and welfare benefits

advice in the city. The Government

consultation which seeks views on

their proposals for the reform of

legal aid in England and Wales is

open until 14 February 2010. The

proposal indicates that legal aid

will be cut for welfare benefits

cases but will be available for

some debt and housing matters.

Visit www.justice.gov and click

on consultations, for more

information.

The Financial Inclusion Fund which

provides funding to six agencies

in the city to help people manage

debt is due to end in March 2011

with no sign of replacement.

Credit should go to Bristol City

Council and NHS Bristol for ring

fencing the budget to the main

providers of advice but how long

they will be able to sustain this is

open to question.

Smaller agencies offering advice

remain subject to the review of

the General Grants Investment

Fund by BCC, and others who have

no dependence on local authority

funding are already looking at

severe reductions in services or

prospective closure.

There is much talk nationally about

replacing face to face advice with

internet access, despite the fact

that 30% of the population does

not have home access to the

internet and even those who are

adept at using the internet, young

people3, do not see it as a way to

Advice Centres

“There is no doubt that living on less money when you are already poor is much harder than living on less money when you are wealthy”


resolve their difficulties. A recent

independent study has also shown

that people want face to face

support4.

In the face of this, how will

people’s rights be defended? The

National Pro-bono Centre opened

its doors recently, but whilst pro-

bono work is helpful, it cannot

possibly make up for the proposed

cuts to legal aid, nor can lawyers

skilled in one area of law easily

turn their hand to other areas.

Volunteering is also an important

piece of the advice jigsaw;

agencies already take on

volunteers to support generalist

advice work and cannot take more

on because of the retraction

in the jobs market as current

volunteers are not moving on.

The fact is that the range of

advice given in the city is complex

and that complexity requires

people who have considerable

training and experience in dealing

in these areas.

We are fortunate in Bristol to

have agencies that work together

well, who focus on providing free

and independent services in the

best interest of the client in a

confidential, non-discriminatory

way, bringing in over £8.2 million

annually5 in previously unclaimed

benefits and awards. Information

on agencies and the services they

offer can be found on

advicewest.org.uk

All agencies are striving to look

at alternatives and options but

these are inevitably limited.

Against this background fewer

people, especially the most

vulnerable are going to be able to

secure their rights and we will all

be poorer for that.

Thanks to the Advice Network

for contributing this article.

Advice Network

84-88 Colston Street

Bristol BS1 5BB

Tel: 0117 929 2153

Advice Centres

1. Bristol City Council Welfare Rights and Money Advice Service estimate

2. DWP Working Age Benefits Division ESA Work Capability Assessment Official Stastistics July 2010

3. Opening Doors to Young People (Youth Access July 2010)

4. Shopping Around – What consumers want from the new legal services market (Jures, June 2010)

5. Advice Network Benchmarking Report of major advice agencies October 2009


Voscur Training and Learning

The Basics of Monitoring and EvaluationMany organisations are

unclear about the purpose of

monitoring and evaluation.

Monitoring and evaluation is

useful not only for funding

purposes but more importantly

to prove that your organisation

is making a difference to the

people it is set up to support.

What is the difference between

monitoring and evaluation?

Charities Evaluation Service*

definitions are as follows:

Monitoring

This is about collecting

information that will help you

answer questions about your

project. It is important that this

information is collected in a

planned, organised and routine

way. You can use the information

you gather to report on your

project and it will help you to

evaluate.

The most important part

of collecting data is that

organisations need to be clear

about what information they

need to collect and why they are

collecting it.

Mostly organisations collect data that shows:

Outputs – what is directly

produced by a service or a

project? For example: the

number of people who attended

a training session.

Outcomes – the benefits, changes

or difference that you make to

your service users. For example:

improved health or better

employment opportunities.

The information you collect

is informed by the aims and

outcomes of your project.

Evaluation

This is about using the monitoring

and any other information you

collect to make judgements about

your project. It is also about using

the information to make changes

and improvements.

Monitoring and evaluation of your

service is important because it

helps you to identify how well your

service is doing, what you need to

improve and whether you are on

course to achieving what you are

set up to do.

It will also help you to show how

effective your organisation is and

ensure that both funders and the

general public know that you are

benefiting those people who use

your service.

To find out more go to:

Charities Evaluation Service*

Aims to strengthen the voluntary

sector through offering free and

below-cost support and services

to charities and community

organisations.

Visit: www.ces-vol.org.uk

Tel: 020 7713 5722

National Council for Voluntary

Organisations (NCVO)

– How to Monitor and Evaluate

Visit: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

strategy-impact/learn/impact/

measuring-impact/how-to-

monitor-and-evaluate

Tel: 020 7713 6161

Contact Voscur

Ruth Pitter

E-mail: [email protected]

or Sophie Bayley

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 0117 909 9949

‘We want to see communities all over the country in which high numbers of people

are actively engaged in making their neighbourhood better and are giving

something back.’

David Cameron, Prime Minister

‘Take Part’ is a series of training and learning sessions to help you to gain skills, knowledge and confidence and become an empowered citizen who is able to actively contribute to your community, influence public policies and services.

Take Part Spring Training and Learning events

‘What do school governors do and how can I take part?' Wednesday 26 January 2011, 7pm - 9pm 'Engaging with Parliament' find out what happens in Parliament and how you can take part Saturday 19 February 2011, 9.30am - 1pm

'What is a Neighbourhood Partnership and how can I take part?' Thursday 24 February, 6 - 8.30pm

Speaking with Confidence Wednesday 9 March 2011 - 9.30am-3.30pm

Take Part training and learning courses are free of charge but places are limited so booking is essential.

Take Part is supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government and run by Voscur, the organisation supporting voluntary and community action in Bristol. Find out more at www.voscur.org/haveyoursay/takepart or call Voscur on (0117) 909 9949.

Free:


Office furniture initiative launches despite economic uncertainty

As both a charity and social

enterprise (SOFA Project was

one of the first organisations

to be awarded the Social

Enterprise Mark) SOFA Project

has been looking to expand

and diversify its services to

meet changing demands and

market opportunities. In 2005

the organisation set up its

Revamp operation in response

to new European guidelines on

the disposal of waste electrical

equipment, and now reconditions

donated electrical appliances

such as fridges, cookers and

washing machines for sale in

its 3 shops. More recently SOFA

has established partnerships

with some of the leading

manufacturers of electrical

appliances to sell ‘graded’ new

appliances and end of stock

products.

SOFA’s most recent initiative is its

diversification into office furniture

which was launched in September

2010. SOFA Office offers a wide

range of good quality office

furniture donated by organisations

who want to minimise their impact

on the environment through

ensuring that their surplus office

furniture is not sent to landfill

sites as waste. As a result SOFA

Office can sell this furniture

at very low prices, and as the

furniture has been donated it

is not subject to VAT. As part of

its social mission SOFA Office

will also offer a discount of 15%

on display prices to Voluntary,

Community and Social Enterprise

organisations.

SOFA Office has been developed in

partnership with Green-Works, an

award-winning social enterprise,

and Social Enterprise Mark holder,

who have pioneered the re-use,

re-manufacture and recycling

of office and school furniture.

In line with the ethos of both

organisations the new venture

has created 10 new jobs and

work placements. Schools and

communities in Ghana and Sierra

Leone will also benefit as some

of the donated furniture will be

sent there by container to help

improve the lives of people in

these countries.

The new venture is very much

in keeping with the aims of the

Bristol Green Capital programme

(www.bristolgreencapital.org)

which is encouraging organisations

to improve their environmental

sustainability and reduce their

carbon emissions. The city’s

ambitious target is a reduction of

21% by 2020 from a base year of

2005. In the financial year 2009/10

the work of SOFA Project meant

that 478 tonnes of furniture and

domestic appliances were diverted

from landfill sites – this equates

to reducing carbon emissions by

approximately 380 tonnes. The

SOFA Office initiative is forecast

to save a further 355 tonnes of

office and school furniture from

landfill in its first year of operation

– the equivalent of 255 tonnes

of carbon emissions – making

sense from both a business and

environmental perspective.

Bristol is widely acclaimed as one of Britain’s, if not Europe’s, greenest cities. Amongst the many organisations based in the city which have helped to gain this reputation is SOFA Project. Set up by a small band of committed people in the early 1980s with the aim of providing donated furniture to families on low incomes, the organisation has grown and diversified and added an environmental aim to its original charitable objects.

Voscur Member Profile



SOFA Office is open to both the public and organisations from Monday – Friday 9:00am-4:30pm at

St Vincent Works, Silverthorne Lane, St Philips, Bristol BS2 0QD. Tel: 0117 972 0889.

Website: www.sofaproject.org.uk


Serenity House

A registered charity, Serenity

House – BARS, is committed to

providing non-medical treatment,

information and education,

through the Recovery Dynamics®

12 step community based model

over a twelve week period (with

flexible starting dates) to any

person suffering from addiction

who has a desire to get well. This

is regardless of their ability to pay

for services.

This scheme has been successfully

running for seven years. Their

purpose is to inspire clients with

the knowledge to complete a

process that enables them to

become happy and productive

members of society and to carry

the message of recovery to those

who still suffer from addiction.

Within the Service they offer

the following:

• Education and information

• Treatment

• Continuing care

• Relapse prevention

• Employment guidance

• Counselling

• Volunteer & Mentor training

• Recovery Dynamics Counsellor

training

• Get fit – keep fit

• Specialist referrals

Working in Partnership

Serenity House has secured a new

contract working in partnership

with Safer Bristol which will

help consolidate their efforts in

the City on behalf of the most

vulnerable groups. They are

also working in partnership with

North Somerset Council and

are extremely grateful for their

enthusiastic endorsement of their

programme.

Their programmes’ rolling start

dates mean that clients are able

to join at any stage. This allows

for a flexible schedule which gives

their clients the opportunity to

reach the end goal of recovery.

The programme runs from

Monday to Friday from 10:00am

to 2:00pm. The group, 16 in

number at the moment, sit in a

pleasant classroom setting where

they work through the Recovery

Dynamics® sessions. Their venue

offers a walled garden, perfect for

quiet times and conversation.

Volunteering Opportunities

Anyone keen to gain new skills,

knowledge and experience in this

field is welcome to contact them

with a view to Volunteer Training.

Serenity House, has recently received a substantial Reaching Communities Big Lottery grant which means that they are able to make their services more easily accessible.

– Bristol Alcoholism Recovery Service (BARS)


For more information

write to:

43 St Nicholas Street,

Bristol, BS1 1TP

Phone: 0117 927 7839

Email: recovery@serenityhouse.

org.uk

Visit: www.serenityhouse.org.uk

Terry Troake & David Comer, two of the staff team Sally Walker-Cousins, Chairperson


Equalities

Equality Act 2010

This new law, which came

into force in stages, starting

in October 2010, replaced all

existing equality law, including

the existing public sector duties.

From April 2011 there will be a

new public sector equality duty,

which will cover disability, race,

sex, gender reassignment, age,

sexual orientation, marriage and

civil partnership, religion or belief,

pregnancy and maternity.

Public sector organisations also

have to demonstrate how they

have taken into account the

impact of equalities in the design

of key policy and service delivery

initiatives. The method they use

is to undertake Equalities Impact

Assessments.

What is an Equalities Impact Assessment?

It is about making sure that the

outcomes of whatever they plan

are the best possible outcomes

for all communities.

Bristol City Council begin their

Equalities Impact Assessments

by identifying what needs to

be achieved by the proposal

(for example, a policy, contract,

project, review, programme)

and they anticipate what impact

this could have on equalities

communities.

If they anticipate there could

be a negative impact, then

they plan into the design of the

project or contract different

ways of lessening the impact. This

could be positive action such as

improving access arrangements

and/or changing the way they

design the service.

If at this screening stage they

identify there could be a

significant impact on an equalities

community, then they proceed to

a full Equalities Impact Assessment

and as part of this they consult

with equalities communities. In

2009, the council undertook 70

Equalities Impact Assessment

screenings of strategic proposals,

and consulted equalities

communities in 18% of these.

In the Council’s single equality

scheme 2010-13, they aim to

involve equalities communities in

at least 50% of Equalities Impact

Assessments by 2013.

The Council is looking to develop

a comprehensive list of people

who want to get involved in

consultation, to make sure they

can contact activists directly.

In June and September 2010

they held six training sessions to

explain to communities how to

get involved in Equalities Impact

Assessments.

If you would like to get

involved please contact:

[email protected]

Or contact: Jo McDonald on

0117 922 2662.

Equalities Impact Assessments– The approach taken by Bristol City Council


Finding Funding

Transition Fund Announced

The Transition Fund will help civil

society organisations which deliver

high quality public services to be

more resilient, agile and able to

take opportunities presented by a

changing funding environment.

The Office for Civil Society has

appointed BIG Fund (non-Lottery

funding operation of the Big

Lottery Fund) to administer

the fund. They will be holding

briefing events in Bristol on 14

December 2010 and Exeter on 15

December 2010, for civil society

organisations which meet the

criteria below and are interested

in applying to the Transition Fund.

The briefing events are open to

charities, voluntary groups and

social enterprises which meet

the following criteria:

1. Civil society organisations with

an income of between £50,000

and £10 million

2. At least 60% of your income is

from taxpayer funded sources

3. You must spend at least 50%

of your taxpayer funded

income on service provision in

at least one of the following

areas – health and social care;

homelessness; education

and training; offender

rehabilitation; welfare to work/

employment services; children

and families; debt counselling

and legal advice

4. Your free reserves must not be

more than six months

5. You face significant cuts;

you will experience cuts of

least 30% of your taxpayer

funded income in 2011/12, as

compared to your most recent

set of signed annual accounts

6. The minimum grant size

is £12,500 and grants will

meet no more than half your

taxpayer funded income. This

means that you will have lost at

least £25,000

7. The majority of the grant

expenditure will be on change

activities

8. You are delivering the majority

of your services in England

Please note you are not eligible

to apply if you:

• are primarily providing

infrastructure services to civil

society organisations – by this

we mean that the majority

of your work is providing

information, advice, training

and other support that helps

voluntary and community

groups do their work better.

Further eligibility information

is available from their website

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

transitionfund

The deadline for registering

for these events is Monday 6

December, however, you can

contact them to see if there

are places still available after

that date. Email: transitionsw@

bigfund.org with your name,

phone number, organisation,

address and any access

requirements. Demand will be high

and registration is limited to one

person per organisation. Spaces

will be allocated on a first come

first served basis. Please indicate

which two hour session you wish

to attend:

14 December at 10am – Bristol

15 December at 10am – Exeter

If you are unable to attend a briefing session, all the information you

need on eligibility and applying is available on their website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/transitionfund

Event booking enquiries: 01392 849700

Programme information enquiries: 0330 303 0110

Textphone: 0845 602 1659

The Cabinet Office has launched a new £100 million Transition Fund to help the charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises that are affected by public spending cuts to make necessary adjustments so that they can continue to play an important part in public service reform and the Big Society Agenda.


Finding Funding

Funding for the Future

Members may find these useful

to make their funding plans and

applications more robust and

sustainable. Below are highlights

from some of the presentations.

Quartet Community Foundation

Deb Appleby, Chief Executive of

Quartet Community Foundation,

outlined Quartet’s work across

four authorities in the West

of England, raising funds to

distribute to groups across the

area. Last year, Quartet gave away

1,202 grants, making it the largest

independent grant maker in the

West of England. The average

grant is less than £2,000.

Quartet is involved with the new

website www.localgiving.com.

This aims to address the problem

of 85% of online giving going to

only 5% of charities. This website

hopes to improve that statistic

by helping smaller organisations

to raise money online. Visit the

website for details.

Quartet is also developing a

‘Youth in Transition’ programme,

which supports young people in

the transition from primary to

secondary school. It is hoped a

pilot project will start in January

2011 and will run for 2 years.

Statistics and Data

Sarah McMahon from the

Consultation Research and

Development team of Bristol

City Council outlined how using

statistics and data can improve

your funding applications. Funders

often want you to demonstrate

evidence of need.

Visit: www.fundingcentral.org.uk

Visit:

www.quartetcf.org.uk

Tel: 0117 989 7700

You can find statistics

and make comparisons

with users of your

service to the wider population

in Bristol by visiting the following

websites for key sources of

evidence:

www.bristol.gov.uk/statistics,

www.bristolpartnership.org/

intelligence

Voscur’s Funding Fair, 2010, proved a great success. For those who were unable to attend the event, there are full details of all the presentations on the Voscur website: www.voscur.org/fundingfair2010

– how to maximise your organisation’s income

Searching for Suitable and Sustainable Funding

Funding Central is a free

website for charities, voluntary

organisations and social

enterprises, managed by the

National Council for Voluntary

Organisations (NCVO). It offers

access to thousands of funding

and finance opportunities and

a wealth of tools and resources

to develop sustainable income

strategies appropriate to need.


What is Bristol Youth Links?

The Bristol Youth Links Board is

responsible for developing this

strategy, and is a predominantly

local authority group that is

chaired by the Service Director of

Education Strategy and Targeted

Support, Bristol City Council.

The group reports to the 14-19

Partnership Board, which is under

the Children’s Trust. There are two

Voluntary and Community Sector

representatives, Jo Stallard and

Frances Harrison.

The Bristol Youth Links Review:

The aim of the recent review was

to improve outcomes for young

people in Bristol by:

1. the development of a robust

mixed market of Bristol Youth

Links service providers

2. strengthening the influence of

young people and their families

3. strengthening arrangements

to identify, assess and meet

the needs of vulnerable young

people early in the context of

their everyday lives

4. making services more

accessible to all young people,

ensuring equality of access to

vulnerable young people

5. integrating quality and

performance systems

6. efficiency savings which

reflect the current economic

conditions and public sector

spending

A proposal arising from the review

recommends that services are

based in three area hubs around

the city.

The services that will be

commissioned during 2011/12

will fall under the categories

of universal, targeted universal

and targeted support. Some

services may be remodelled or

decommissioned.

Brief Definitions:

Universal:

All young people who live in Bristol

will have easy access to Bristol

Youth Links services that are based

in their communities and/ or

within the city and provide:

• A range of enjoyable and

exciting structured activities

• Information and personalised

advice, guidance and support

• A range of ways to have their

say in developing services

Targeted Universal:

Some young people’s

circumstances place them at

risk of achieving poor outcomes

in later life. Bristol Youth Links’

services will be designed to ensure

the specific needs of these groups

of young people are met.

Targeted Support:

Some young people will need

personalised support if they show

evidence of an early intervention

need and are unable to access

universal Bristol Youth Links

services. These young people will

be allocated a key worker.

A Bristol Youth Links ‘Market

Testing’ event will take place on

Wednesday 12 January (see p 23

for details).

For details about other Bristol

Youth Links Board meetings, visit:

www.voscur.org/networks/

children/reps

Bristol Youth Links aims to provide a range of services for all young people aged 13-19

and for those up to 24 with additional needs to build resilience, self-reliance and their

ability to manage their personal and career development, including learning.

Children and Young People


Children and Young People

Commissioning:

Invitation to Bristol Youth Links market testing event

12 January 2011, 2:30-5:00pm and repeated 6:00-8:30pm.

Following the Bristol Youth Links review, Voluntary and Community Sector service providers are invited to this market testing event. The commissioners will present a potential vision of how future services could be delivered to young people. They will be seeking feedback, views, opinions, and interest in supporting the Council to deliver the best possible services for young people in Bristol.

To book a place, email Sarah Evens: [email protected] by 4 January 2011.

Joint Voluntary and Community Sector CYP Network Meeting:

Times are changing, where next for CYP in Bristol?

Wednesday, 8 December 2010, 1:00-3:45pm, The Vassall Centre, Gill Ave, Bristol, BS16 2QQ

Speakers include Annie Hudson, Strategic Director, Children, Young People and Skills, Sean Bolt, Service Director of Education Strategy and Targeted Support and Alison Jackson, Service Manager, Children’s Trust and Commissioning.

Find out about national and local policy direction and how it might affect VCS services for children and young people in Bristol, particularly in light of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

For more information visit: www.voscur.org/trainingandevents

Offices for community projects are now available at a busy hub in East Central Bristol, where a number of voluntary organisations are currently based.

Enjoy the benefits Easy access to the city centre

Bus route nearby A thriving shopping street

Car parking and bike racks for visitors Secure bike racks for tenants

Outdoor courtyard Access to shared kitchen and toilets Reasonable rates and service charge

Short or long term let

Need some space?

Contact Tracy on 903 9975

to arrange a viewing



The Urban Academy

The Urban Academy is the

Kingswood Foundation’s

programme of open access arts

and performing arts activities for

young people. Urban Academy

classes are open to all young

people aged 13-19, and all sessions

cost just £2. The project aims to

provide high-quality arts tuition

in an area recognised as being

economically deprived. The

Academy has developed innovative

projects such as Arts4Life, Urban

Academy and the award winning,

Youth4Youth.

All Urban Academy tutors are

professional arts practitioners

with long experience of working

with young people from a wide

range of backgrounds. Tutors have

included singer/songwriter Patrick

Duff (lead singer in Bristol legends

Strangelove), Thomas Brooman CBE

– the musical director of WOMAD

for over 20 years and DJ / producer

Josh Tucker (Jawa).

All Urban Academy sessions

are held at the Kingswood

Foundation’s site on Britannia

Road, Kingswood. Thanks to

funding from the Social Enterprise

Investment Fund, South

Gloucestershire County Council and

a grant from the Lankelly Chase

Trust, the Kingswood Foundation

has been able to convert an old

swimming pool into an impressive

complex.

There are a range of purpose-built

youth arts spaces including

Studio 1, a professional dance

space with sprung floor, the newly

refurbished Studio 5, a dedicated

youth arts space which includes

chill-out room – a large

multi-purpose space equipped

with PA, stage lighting, video

projector and laptops with

software for music production,

video editing, digital art and

animation.

The Urban Academy will shortly

be launching the Fusion Dance

Company, a performance company

for young people with disabilities,

which will perform regionally and

nationally.

Young people can drop in to

sessions without booking. A full

programme of Urban Academy

activities can be found at

www.urbanacademy.co.uk and for

any questions contact Joe Evans,

Artistic Director on 0117 947 7948

email: [email protected]

Out of School Arts Activities for Young People

If you would like more

information about the

space available to hire

or further information about the

projects for young people visit:

kingswood-foundation.org.uk

or call 0117 947 7948.


Developing Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Computer Recycling and Community Wi-Fi Hot Spots

This scheme aims to refurbish

over a 1000 computers that the

council would, in the past, have

sent for destruction and recycling.

They will then be sold for £35

through Voscur member, Byteback

Computer Recycling, to families

on low incomes and other digitally

excluded groups.

Kevin O’Malley, Project Manager

at Connecting Bristol, is keen for

voluntary and community groups

to promote the project to their

service users to increase take up.

Over 100 machines were already

allocated at project launch.

Groups can apply for the

computers if they are finding

it hard to source good quality

computer equipment from

elsewhere.

This is about community wireless

internet access: Wi-Fi. The first

stage of this scheme saw the

launch of over 30 hot-spots.

Initially only council buildings and

libraries were involved, but the aim

is to increase the number of hot-

spots to over 80 in the coming

months and many community

buildings and community centres

have been identified to receive

this connectivity.

There is no charge for using the

Wi-Fi at these centres and the

idea is that community wireless

Internet access will encourage

more people to test out getting

online in supportive venues and

discover the benefits of being able

to use the Internet. Additionally it

is hoped the hot-spots will provide

access to many city workers who

have to move around Bristol

during the day as part of their

jobs.

A map of the council’s free Wi-Fi

hot-spots is available from www.

bristol.gov.uk/wifi

Bristol City Council has launched two complementary initiatives that will benefit Voscur members.

For more information

contact Kevin O’Malley

at Recycled Computers

(CH/404), FREEPOST SWB535,

Bristol BS1 5BR or visit:

www.connectingbristol.org/

recycledcomputers

Byteback can advise on all IT

related activities tel:

0117 370 6456 or visit:

www.byteback.org.uk

Getting on line

Research commissioned by the

Government Digital Champion,

Martha Lane Fox, highlights

that poorer households can

save money by being on line

and that Government and Local

Authorities can also achieve

efficiency savings by maximising

take-up of on line and digital

services.

The Computer Recycling scheme

The second new scheme is the Community Wi-Fi hot-spot initiative called ‘B-Open’

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Volunteering Bristol

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead2011 European Year of Volunteering

This promises to be an exciting

and challenging 12 months. As

organisations adapt to the new

political and economic climate the

role of volunteers and successful

volunteer management are set

to be increasingly high profile.

Volunteering Bristol will be working

hard over the coming months to

understand the challenges and

the opportunities presented by

the ‘Big Society’ agenda and the

cuts to public services. We will

be adapting our organisation and

our services to ensure that we

are able to support volunteers

and volunteer managers into the

long-term. We hope you will take

full advantage of the opportunities

below.

Volunteer Organisers’ Forum

Need help with your volunteers?

Want to find out how other groups

manage their volunteers? The

Volunteer Organisers’ Forum (VOF)

is inviting new members to join

and share their experiences with

others in the field. The Forum is

a group of around 120 people

working with volunteers in a variety

of capacities. The forum includes

people with expert knowledge of

working with volunteers and meets

bi-monthly to network, share best

practice and identify new ideas

in a structured environment.

Throughout 2010 record numbers

of volunteer managers attended

the forum and it is hoped that it

can expand as a strong, engaged

forum in 2011. Membership rates

are modest and may even be free

depending on the size and sector

of your organisation as we are

keen to involve more volunteer-led

organisations.

Volunteer Management Conference 2011

Following last year’s very

successful Volunteer Management

Conference, Volunteering Bristol

are hosting another jam-packed

conference on 8 March 2011,

focusing on how volunteer

managers need to adapt to their

changing environment. The day will

include a presentation from Rob

Jackson, the keynote speaker from

Volunteering England as well as a

choice of 15 workshops on working

with volunteers. High-profile CIPD

(Chartered Institute of Personnel

and Development) qualified

trainers, Maggie Piazza and

Felicity Dwyer will also be joining

us with a wealth of knowledge

from facilitating the Excellence

in Volunteer Management

Programme and their previous

work as assessors for the Investing

in Volunteers quality standard.

The conference is a whole day

event and will be held in the

Mansion House in Clifton. Price

range from £20-£30 depending

on the sector and size of the

group and bursaries are available.

Discounts are available to VOF

members.

To find out more contact

Jenny Idle

Volunteer Management Support

Co-ordinator

Email: jenny@bristolvolunteers.

org.uk

Tel: 0117 989 7734

Website: www.bristolvolunteers.

org.uk

A participant from last year commented:

“Fantastic! So well organised,

relevant and engaging speakers,

interesting workshops”

Jenny Idle with a volunteer

Voscur Ltd. The CREATE Centre Smeaton Road Bristol BS1 6XN

Tel: 0117 909 9949 Fax: 0117 933 0501 Email: [email protected] Web: www.voscur.org

Company limited by Guarantee registered in England no. 3918210Produced by circle-creative.co.uk Printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable based inks

December 2010Tuesday 7 December

Recruitment of VolunteersBlack Development Agency, Russell Town Avenue, Bristol, BS5 9TL (9:30am-3:30pm)

Wednesday 8 December

Times are Changing, Where Next for CYP in Bristol?Joint Voluntary & Community Sector, Children & Young People’s Network Meeting Vassall Centre, Gill Avenue, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2QQ (1pm-3:45pm)

Thursday 9 December

Health & Safety at WorkThe Gatehouse Centre, Hareclive Road, Bristol, BS13 9JN (9:30am-4:30pm)

Tuesday 14 December (Bristol) & Wednesday 15 December (Exeter)

Regional Briefing Sessions for Transition Fund (10am-12noon) Book by 6 December to: [email protected]

Wednesday 15 December

Neighbourhood Partnership Learning SessionTrinity Centre Trinity Road, Bristol, BS2 0NW (2pm-4:30pm)

January 2011Wednesday 12 January

Bristol Youth Links Market Testing Event2:30pm-5pm and repeated at 6pm-8:30pm. Contact: [email protected]

Tuesday 18 January

Community Buildings Network MeetingWicklea Centre, 281 Wick Road, St Anne’s, Bristol, BS4 4HR (10am-12:00pm)

Wednesday 19 January

Insurance for Charities: what you need to know Baker Tilly LLP, Hartwell House, 55-61 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6AD (6:00 – 8:00pm)

Thursday 20 January

Bristol Compact training: Different Ways of CollaboratingVenue to be confirmed. (9:30am-3pm)

Tuesday 25 January

Retention & Support of Volunteers Venue to be confirmed. (9:30am-3:30pm)

Wednesday 26 January

What do school governors do and how can I take part?Venue to be confirmed. (7pm-9pm)

Thursday 27 January

Neighbourhood Partnership Residents’ ForumRedland Park URC, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS6 6SA (6pm-8:30pm)

February 2011Wednesday 9 February

Volunteers and the LawVenue to be confirmed. (9:30am-1:00pm)

Friday 11 February

Action learning for Volunteer Managers. Venue to be confirmed. (10am-3:00pm)

Saturday 19 February

‘Engaging with Parliament’ – find out what happens and how you can take partShirehampton public Hall, Station Rd, Shirehampton, Bristol, BS11 9TX

Thursday 24 February

What is my Neighbourhood Partnership and how can I take part? (Take Part Training)Windmill Hill City Farm, Phillip Street, Bristol, BS3 4EA. (6pm-8pm)

For details of all the above training and events visit: www.voscur.org

Voscur Diary — December 2010 / January / February 2011

Documents

Thrive Oct/Nov 2010