Thriving Communities Film Expressions of Interest
The North West Thriving Communities Team are looking to commission four short films as part of the North West National Academy for Social Prescribing Learning Together Programme.
Please view the project brief calling for expressions of interest from voluntary, community, faith or social enterprise organisation operating in the North West.
Applicants are welcome to apply to deliver one or all of the films as outlined.
The deadline for expressions of interest in Monday 19th July. If you would like more information please email jan.campbell@seftoncvs.org.uk..
ACEVO Charity Sector Recruitment Survey
ACEVO have launched a survey to gain insight from recruiters in the VCSE sector about their needs, concerns and thoughts.
Although many of us have suffered from survey fatigue over the last year, they are an important way to gain intelligence data and help influence and guide future thought and decisions.
The survey closes on Monday 5th July.
Complete the survey now.
Lloyds Bank Foundtion Communications Support
Communications is an integral component of any organisation. Having a vibable communications strategy is vital in order to make sure your organisation’s key messaging and brand reaches the target audiences and your work can be promoted. Often, small charities and voluntary organisations, do not have a dedicated communications employee and work is picked up by various team members. To help with this, Lloyds Bank Foundation have created a communications support guide to help organisations in the sector maximise their communications skills efficiently.
The toolkit provides guidance and support on:
Defining your audiences, messages and channels
Building your brand
Approaching press
Designing events
Creating video content
Succeeding on social media
Web design and content
Getting started with influencing
Useful resources
The guides are downloadable, along with a selection of useful webinars.
Click here to access the guide.
Pulse Check Report May 2021
Pulse Check reports are carried out by the VCS Emergencies Partnership. They are used to gather information from VC organisations approximately every two weeks, so that the issues are understood and strategic responses can be developed.
The latest report focuses on how the new covid-19 strain, which has spread across a lot of the North West, Midlands and London has affected communities and the capacity of the sector to function.
A brief summary:
· 43% of respondents in London, 17% in the Midlands & East, 32% in the North, 6% in the South East and 10% in the South West reported significant or major concerns about unmet needs in their area in the 14 days prior to data collection
· Mental health/isolation, hardship and volunteering were the most frequently mentioned unmet needs in the 14 days prior to data collection
· 22% of respondents reported significant or major concerns about the capacity of the voluntary sector to respond to local needs in the 14 days prior to data collection
· Funding/sustainability, increased demand and volunteering were the most frequently mentioned issues affecting voluntary sector capacity in the 14 days prior to data collection
The Pulse Check May 2021 Report.
Past reports available here.
Pride Month 2021
June is Pride Month 2021. Pearn Kandola, a business psychology consultancy firm have organised a series of events with the aim of exploring equality for the LGBT+ community.
Attitudes, stigma, and the LGBT+ community: It’s not the fish, it’s the water
Monday 21st June, 9:15 – 10:00 BST
This webinar, presented by Professor Binna Kandola OBE, examines how context and societal norms impact the stereotypes and attitudes towards the LGBT+ community. In particular, the webinar explores how people from this community came to be stigmatised by an examination of people’s attitudes through history.
Education and Celebration: How to take pride in your LGBT+ Employees:
Peran Kandola next webinar series and contribution to Pride Month 2021 takes an in-depth look into the ongoing movement towards equality for the LGBT+ community.It is vital to balance this month’s celebrations of the huge strides towards LGBT+ equality with the recognition that there is still a long way to go. Starting on 21st June, they will cover a range of topics and offer practical steps individuals and organisations can take to support the LGBT+ community: Please feel free to invite your colleagues, networks, and anyone else you think may benefit from these sessions.
If you have any accessibility questions, please email jhatcher@pearnkandola.com
Language matters: Deconstructing the LGBTQIA+ acronym
Tuesday 22nd June, 9:15 – 10:00 BST
From the way we address our colleagues to the way we market our services, the language we use matters. Language plays an important part in helping people feel seen by having their identities recognised; this is especially true for marginalised communities such as the LGBT+ community. In this webinar, Alexia Karageorghis explores how to navigate LGBT+ terminology.
Gender Pronouns: More than just email footers
Wednesday 23rd June, 9:15 – 10:00 BST
Misgendering a person can be extremely hurtful, which is why many organisations have taken steps to minimise this, including the sharing of gender pronouns on email footers. However, this initiative can also have some unintended negative consequences. In this webinar, Dr Ashley Williams discusses the importance of normalising conversation about pronouns, and the reasons why we need to consider steps beyond sharing pronouns on email footers.
Sexuality and race: Identity, invisibility, and impact
Thursday 24th June, 9:15 – 10:00 BST
Up until the recent past, researchers have paid little attention to the intersections between race and sexuality – in many instances they have been treated as separate topics. This webinar examines this topic in more detail and looks at how race and sexuality have an impact on minorities and their identities. It also examines how organisations can take a more all-embracing approach, which is genuinely inclusive of all members of the LGBT+ community.
Allyship: Beyond Pride
Friday 25th June, 9:15 – 10:00 BST
Allies play a vital role in progressing LGBT+ equality. Although many people would consider themselves to be supportive allies, it can be difficult to know how to continually show support for the LGBT+ community. In this webinar, Dr Ashley Williams shares what it means to be an ally and offers some practical ways that you can support the LGBT+ community all year round.
REGISTER NOW.
VS6 Assemblies Video
Earlier this year VS6 published their Assembly Summary Report “Building Back Better with the VCFSE Sector in Liverpool City Region”. The report summarises the key findings and recommendations from four assemblies held throughout 2020 to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the sector and specific community groups and topics including:
Following the success of the Assemblies, VS6 have produced this explanation video to promote both the Assembly Reports, and highlight the effectiveness of the assembly format as a way to engage with the sector at such a crucial time, despite social distancing barriers.
Please take a look and feel free to share it amongst your networks and media:
The VS6 Assembly Reports and associated recommendations have been essential to the conversations they have had with the LCR Combined Authority and have formed the foundations to their LCR VCFSE Manifesto, to which Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has committed to.
VS6 will continue to engage with the VCFSE sector to understand the needs of the sector and their communities so that they can continue to represent the sector in their work with the LCR Combined Authority and with their partners from the public and private sector across the region.
Please keep an eye out for their next events by following them on Twitter @vs6news and regularly checking their website for the latest news.
Digital Jobs Training
Lockdown and increased home working and learning has meant an increase in the digitalisation of our lives. This has meant that many jobs have changed how they work and so many people are needing to upskill their personal digital skills in order to enter the job market.
Leap, have listened to these issues and are offering free training in new skills for people whose lives have been impaced by the pandemic. The aim is to help them enter digital and creative jobs. Leap ofers short, felxible modules, which are taught online and therefore can be accessed from anywhere.
MORE INFORMATION HERE.
Employing Ex-offenders in the VCSE Sector Event Summary
VSNW Presents ‘Employing Ex-Offenders in the
VCSE Sector’
19th May 2021 4pm-5pm
A full recording of the event can be found here.
The pandemic has exaggerated unemployment levels, which has had dramatic effects on individuals, families and the wider community. Ex-offenders have a particularly high risk of unemployment after finishing their sentence, which, amongst other factors, enhances the likelihood of reoffending. Helping and securing employment can have long and prominent positive effects, not only for the individual but for wider society too.
VSNW welcomed a selection of speakers to discuss their processes and experiences of working with and employing ex-offenders, including an inspiring insight from John, who has been through the process himself.
Our key takeaway messages:
People deserve a second chance-employment is vital in lowering re-offending rates.
Re-creating real-life work scenarios inside prison is an important process of getting offenders ready to work.
Supporting offenders release from prison with travel expenses ,meeting them upon release etc is vital to the transition.
Many ex-offenders have transferable skills intrinsic to business and the workplace.
Support and buddy programmes needed as ex-offenders can be vulnerable.
Employment is only one variable that effects re-offending rates,family support and housing being examples of others. This needs to be kept in mind.
For organisations wanting to implement practices to employ ex-offenders, partnerships with other organisations to support can be key. Whether that’s another organisation already successfully employing ex-offenders to learn employment practices from, or a housing or mental health organisation for example to provide the wrap around support that can sometimes be required.
Darren Burns, from the Timpson Foundation, discussed the history of the foundation and how the group became invested in employing ex-offenders and giving them a second chance. They are now proudly the largest employer of ex-offenders in England.
They have four main streams of employment:
1: ROTL (Release on Temporary License)
This begins with informal interviews after liaising with prison staff, the aim of which is to grasp the character and personality of the individual. ROTL allows successful applicants to leave prison in the day to work and return to prison in the evening. They receive national living wage.
2. Prison training academies:
As a lot of prison work doesn’t get prisoners ready for the real world, these prison training academies aim to replicate a real Timpson branch environment for practice and assessing skills. When the prisoners are then eligible for ROTL, the continuity of environment is very positive.
3 .Some people in custody do not have access to ROTL (perhaps they are in category B prisons/sentence is too short). In this instance they are risk assessed and interviewed and then met upon release and given a travel pass and a job.
4. People feel confident applying through normal streams as Timpson is renowned for its employment ethos.
Darren explained some of main reasons why the Timpson Foundation has decided to engage with the above employment processes:
People deserve a second chance-reoffending rates are dramaticallyr educed if employed.
Reoffending costs the taxpayer vast amounts each year, thus reducing this benefits family, individual, wider society, tax payer and communities
Experience of prison often gives people qualities of personal resilience. They are often more hardworking, more honest and can be business savvy.
Annie Gale, from COOK Ltd and the Raw Talent Programme gave an overview of their experiences and processes too.
The RAW (Ready & Working) Talent Programme supports people with convictions, who suffer from addiction and who are homeless. Their company values see their employees as “essential ingredients” to their success, which they regard as doing the right thing by society as well as turning a profit. The programme has the following stages:
1. Training before job offer (a supported trial shift)
2. All those who complete the programme are interviewed
3. The programme is run 3 times a year and 2-4 jobs are offered from each.
COOK Ltd strive to see the potential in people and maintain that somebody’s past doesn’t have to define their future. They believe that doing good business attracts good people, shareholders, suppliers and customers. They put equality at the fore of their ethos and make sure that their employees are offered support, buddy programmes etc. They have high expectations and a disciplinary process, which has been devised from learning over the years.
Skills for Growth Programme in Greater Manchester
The aim of the Skils for Growth programme is to provide an up-skilling service to VCSE organisations across Greater Manchester. This programme can be tailor-made with the ambition to help improve productivity across the workforce, which in turn will help your organisation to prosper.
What your organisation can expect:
Develop your team with skills
Maximise future growth
Reshape your organisation
Improve your team’s wellbeing
Funding your growth
Support for individuals is also available to:
Explore training providers and grow skillset
Help maximising opportunities
Guidance improving your CV
Develop interview techniques
Skills for Growth is delivered by Growth Company (GC) Business Growth Hub with GMCVO and funded through the European Social Fund, which is commissioned by GMCA.
MORE INFORMATION HERE.
