Dear Colleagues,

 

Welcome to this weeks e-bulletin.  Please continue to send us news, jobs, volunteering opportunities and articles of interest to include in this weekly mailing.  We have over 100 members on the circulation list - people from a wide range of organisations who all connected by a common interest in volunteering. 

 

We would welcome any feedback and comments to help us improve our service. If you would like to receive this e-bulletin in any other format, e.g. translated, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

NEWS AND POLICY 

1. Information days re Corus

2. Regional Firms Seeking London 2012 Olympic Contracts Tops 2,000

 

VOLUNTEERS WEEK EVENTS

3. Volunteers’ week 1-7 June 2010

4. EVDCNE Volunteers Week Conference

 

TRAINING AND EVENTS

5. Community Alliance NE focus group

6. Making it_ Festival of Ideas

7. CCP and LSC Routeway programmes

8. Register Your Event for London 2012 Open Weekend

 

FUNDING

9. Sport England - Sportsmatch

10. Chrysalis Trust

 

JOBS AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

11. Vacancies at Wansbeck CVS

 

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NEWS AND POLICY 

 

1. Information days re Corus

Middlesbrough Council Economic Regeneration Services have invited all the Volunteer Centre Managers in the Tees Valley to attend two information days on 8th & 9th March for those employees who have been made redundant recently.   They would like to ask organisations to flag up to them:

 

• Opportunities that are urgently required in any areas of interest
• Practical opportunities e.g. DIY, maintenance, gardening, driving etc
• Any new volunteer roles that they don’t already know about

 

Please contact you local volunteer centre if you have any comments / suggestions. For more information on the information days contact Trish Waters, RCVDA, on 01642 440571 or Michelle Stewart, MVDA, on 01642 803613.

2. Regional Firms Seeking London 2012 Olympic Contracts Tops 2,000

Over 2,000 companies across North East England have now signed up to the official London 2012 online brokerage service CompeteFor in a bid to secure contracts for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

A total of 2,168 firms from the region are now accessing the free service – launched on January 16 2008 – which acts as an online ‘dating agency’ aimed at bringing together UK businesses and Games’ suppliers.

Co-funded by One North East, CompeteFor is part of the London 2012 Business Network and provides access to business support services which build skills and capacity to ensure that companies across the country can access opportunities linked to hosting the London 2012 Games.

A new Business Link service – Compete North East – has also been set up to help North East businesses tender for and win major emerging national and international public procurement contracts.

For further information on CompeteFor and to access the service visit the official website at London 2012
For more information on the Compete North East service or the support Business Link can provide, visit Compete North East or Business Link or call 0845 600 9 006.

VOLUNTEERS WEEK EVENTS

 

3. Volunteers’ week 1-7 June 2010

Volunteers' Week is a national celebration of volunteers and volunteering which takes place from 1 – 7 June of each year

During Volunteers’ Week there is a burst of activity as events take place across the country to increase awareness of the UK’s volunteers. Volunteer managers organise events to publicly thank their volunteers and highlight their contribution to local groups and the wider community, while individuals are encouraged to use the Week to find out more about volunteering.

For more information or to register an event visit the Volunteers’ Week website.

 

If you have any events planned for Volunteers’ Week forward the information to the PCU and it will be included in the E-Bulletin.

 

4. EVDCNE Volunteers Week Conference

Celebrating Volunteering in the North East

England Volunteering Development Council NE is holding a Volunteers’ Week conference on Friday 4^th June at a venue TBC; the aims of the conference are:

 

• To celebrate the wide range of volunteering in the region
• To showcase examples of volunteering best practice in the region
• To clarify the definition and scope of volunteering in the region
• To explore the findings of the Citizenship Survey levels of ‘formal volunteering’
• To heighten the profile of volunteering and EVDC North East in the region

 

The agenda for the day will include:

 

·        Plenary: ‘Volunteering - the time has come’

·        Plenary: Results of regional research into levels of ‘formal volunteering’

·        Workshops: choice from three current volunteering topics

·        Plenary: ‘In conversation with volunteers’

·        Lunch, marketplace and networking

·        Plenary: North East Volunteers

·        Workshops: choice from three more current volunteering topics

·        Plenary: ‘Towards 2011 – European Year of Volunteering’

 

We will bring you further information on the event as it becomes available, or you can email Kelvin Rushworth at emkayah@hotmail.co.uk

 

TRAINING AND EVENTS

 

5. Community Alliance NE focus group

Policy issues for community anchor organisations

Community alliance North East would like to invite community anchor organisations and other third sector organisations to a policy consultation on:

 

• Use of loan finance
• role of the third sector in the design of public services

 

The focus group will look in particular at how these issues relate to the new regional social enterprise framework. Two discussion papers are attached.

The focus group is being held as part of the Policy and Representation Partnership work funded through BASIS.

Participants will be expected to read the two policy papers and the regional social enterprise framework prior to the meeting and be in attendance for the whole meeting.

The meeting takes place on Tuesday 16^th March 11.00-12.30 (including lunch) at Gateshead and expenses of up to £50 can be paid; places are strictly limited. To book a place email Debbie Lamb at d.lamb@dta.org.uk

 

6. Making it_ Festival of Ideas

You might be thinking about starting or developing a business idea or maybe you’ve never thought about it at all until now…here’s your invitation to join others at a fun, practical event designed to unlock your creative potential. It could get you thinking for the first time about setting up your own business, or it could lead to new business ideas and new markets.

The Festival of Ideas is about bringing people like you together to explore the creative, commercial and collaborative potential in the things that raise your hackles. What’s on your mind? Maybe it’s the things you’d like to change in the world – a derelict play space, say, or the careless waste of energy as the globe heats up. Making it_ use creative thinking tools to make connections across social themes, opening the door to making the things that resonate with you happen and help you be commercially successful in the process.

The event takes place on Wednesday 10^th March 5.30-8.30 at Newcastle Civic Centre, to reserve your place email info@makingit.eu.com

 

7. CCP and LSC Routeway programmes

CCP and LSC Routeway programmes offer contact centre training on a demand led basis for specific employers; also included are the Routes to Work programmes aimed at 18-24 year olds. Continue referring anyone who is interested in the opportunities below:

 

Customer Service, Contact Centre, Retail, Business Administration, Tourism & Hospitality:

• Monday 22^nd March  - Newcastle
• Monday 22^nd March - Peterlee
• Monday 22^nd March  - South shields

 

Tesco Routeway (2 weeks):

• Monday 15^th March - Newcastle
• Monday 22^nd March - Newcastle
• Monday 22^nd March - South Shields
• Monday 29^th March - Newcastle

 

Routes to work:

• Monday 15^th March - Hospitality - Newcastle
• Monday 15^th march - Retail - Sunderland

 

For more information contact Daniel Lister on 0191 2212228 or to for referrals email eastdurham@ccpro.co.uk  lsc@ccpro.co.uk  lsc@ccpro.co.uk

8. Register Your Event for London 2012 Open Weekend
Registrations for Open Weekend 2010 are now open – calling on sporting, arts and culture organisations to try something different or take their ideas to a new level.

Supported by BP, Open Weekend will run from 23-25 July 2010. Launched in 2008 with the start of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, more than a million people from around the UK have taken part in Open Weekend activities in the past two years.

This year will build on that success, with organisers creating a challenge for the public to be involved with. It could be creating an artwork in just 24 hours, a sporting-themed treasure hunt or a mass aerobics session.

Examples of challenges could be creating a new piece of art in 24 hours, with contributions from the public; hosting a back stage workshop; organising a sporting or cultural themed treasure hunt; opening up space for people to write, produce or perform their own compositions; or organising a mass aerobics session.

To find out more or register an event visit London 2012

FUNDING

 

9. Sport England - Sportsmatch

Sport England’s Sportsmatch programme makes awards to not-for-profit organisations running projects at a community level which meet one or both of Sport England’s objectives of Grow or Sustain. This done through matching eligible sponsorship pound for pound, up to a maximum value of £100,000.

 

Sportsmatch supports formally constituted not-for-profit organisations and statutory bodies. This might include sports clubs, voluntary organisations, local authorities, schools, universities or national governing bodies of sport.

 

Projects can involve revenue and/or capital expenditure. There is no maximum capital project cost and all capital expenditure must be eligible i.e. only for equipment of a non-permanent nature. However the maximum capital grant which Sportsmatch can award is £25,000. They will not fund capital projects that involve construction, refurbishment or land improvement. 

 

Before making an application, you should complete the pre-application checklist to help you decide if your organisation and project are eligible for a Sportsmatch award. It is also recommend that you read the Sportsmatch guidance document, and read the pages in this section which explain what Sportsmatch cannot fund and what makes a good application.

 

For more information or to download documents visit the Sport England website.

 

10. Chrysalis Trust

The Chrysalis Trust makes grants to registered charities and other organisations that carry out charitable activities providing public benefit. Less popular and harder to fund projects are prioritised with a spread of funding between local, national and international projects. The Trust is able to provide support for capital projects and core funding with 'one off' donations. Amongst other things, the trustees will consider the following criteria:

 

• Ability to demonstrate that they provide or will provide public benefit
• Impact the grant will make with regard to relieving hardship, distress or sickness and/or promoting social welfare
• Number of people the grant will benefit and for how long
• How any shortfall in funding for the project will be raised
• The time scale for the project

 

There is no application form but the website provides an application checklist. Applications are considered twice a year, normally in June and December.

 

For more information visit Chrysalis Trust or email info@chrysalis-trust.co.uk

 

 

JOBS AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

 

11. Vacancies at Wansbeck CVS

 

Volunteer Development Worker

Wansbeck CSV require a self motivated and IT competent individual to work in the county's Volunteer Centre, to recruit and match volunteers and to work with volunteer involving organisations to develop new opportunities and promote good practice.

 

Salary: £24,646 p/a

37 hours per week

Funded until March 2011

Closing date 12^th March

 

Administration Assistant

They are also seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and flexible individual with excellent administration, organisational and IT skills to work as part of the administrative team.

 

Salary: £15,444 p/a

37 hours per week

Closing date 12^th March

 

For further information or an application pack for either of these vacancies contact Theresa Cameron on 01670 858688 email enquire@wansbeckcvs.org

 

 

Regards

 

Julie

 

 

Julie Dawson

Information and Data Officer

North East Volunteers Programme Co-ordination Unit

Novas Scarman Group

C/O ETEC

Hudson House

1 Moor Terrace

Sunderland

SR1 2JH

 

Tel: 0191 514 6156

Tel: 0191 514 6150 (main reception)

Mobile: 07813026908

Email:  julie.dawson@novasscarman.org