Trustee Week event, 6th November

01/10/2013

Are you a Trustee or member of a Management Committee?

Are you considering becoming one?

Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They may be called trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members, but they are the people with ultimate responsibility for directing the business of the charity.  They are often the unsung heroes, playing a vital role, volunteering their time, working together to make the decisions that really matter about the charity’s finances, activities and plans for the future.

Trustees Week is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate their enormous contribution to groups across the city and to draw attention to the opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a real difference.

If you are a trustee or are considering becoming one, CVSF has organised an event for you. From 2-5pm on Wednesday the 6th of November (venue tbc) they are bringing together all the expertise, information and advice you could need. Any concerns you have, any questions you’re afraid to ask and honest advice from other trustees will all be available.

The session is flexible; you can book in for any time and specify any of the areas you would like to focus on. The experts and their areas of expertise include:

  • Fiona Martin, Director at martin searle solicitors – Employment Law
  • Carol Lewis, Partner at Bainbridge Lewis Chartered Accountants – Charity Finance
  • Tim Smith, LLP Partner at Griffith Smith Farrington Webb Solicitors – Charity Law
  • The Trust for Developing Communities – Support for Small Community Organisations
  • Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove – Best Practice in Volunteer Management
  • Sally Polanski, Chief Executive, The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum – The Code of Governance
  • Paul Bramwell – Building Effective Relationships between Staff, Volunteers and Management Committees

This event is FREE to attend but spaces are limited so you must book in advance

For more information and to reserve your place contact Fabia Bates on 01273 810230 or [email protected]

Funding for room hire at Brighthelm

24/09/2013

The Brighthelm Centre today announced that it is working with a benefactor and with Brighton and Hove’s Community and Voluntary Sector Forum in launching a grants scheme to support small community groups that want to meet at Brighthelm, right in the heart of the city, but don’t yet have the funds to do so.  Brighthelm aims to help those groups making a start in life to channel their limited funds directly in to the services they offer and their activities they intend to undertake. The scheme will be worth £5,000 and will repeat annually. 

 

The Director, Rik Child, said, “Brighthelm has been very fortunate as a long term user of the centre has very kindly offered Brighthelm a sum of money to run a small grants scheme helping us bring new life to Brighthelm and fulfill our revised mission .”

 

Rik Child explained, “There will be two funding streams, a small grant pot worth £2,000 which will be awarded at the discretion of the management to either fully cover or subsidise the costs of room hire or catering at Brighthelm.  It is imagined that there will be four grants of £20-50 per month.”

 

“The main grant pot will be worth £3,000.  The panel will meet four times a year in January, April, July and October to review applications and award grants for the following quarter. Grants of £50 – £500 will be available which will allow successful organizations to undertake very substantial events at Brighthelm.”

 

Application forms are available at reception or from the website. A full explanation of the terms and condition are to be found on the form.

 

All queries are to be directed to Andy Ward, Bookings and Lettings Manager on [email protected]  or by telephoning 01273 946220.

Taking Account survey – deadline extended

24/09/2013

The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum need more responses to their survey of community and voluntary sector organisations in Brighton & Hove. The deadline has been extended to Friday 27th September.

The aim of the survey is to present an overall picture of the contribution voluntary and community organisations make to the city.

If your group is a member of CVSF, you will have been sent a link to the survey. If you can’t find that email, or if your group is not a CVSF member, you can fill in the survey at http://bit.ly/1b5ILo5

Free training: Working with Families from Refugee or Migrant Communities

13/09/2013

This training course is organised by Brighton & Hove City Council’s corporate training section. It is open to community and voluntary sector (CVS) organisations as well as council staff.

Who should attend

Children’s Services, schools, early years and CVS staff working with children and young people.

Overview

This course highlights changing patterns of migration to the UK and specifically to Brighton & Hove, equipping professionals with background knowledge to help with assessing the needs of a child or family from a refugee or migrant background, including those with insecure immigration status. This interactive course will also introduce participants to other organisations and agencies working in this field within the city and will promote good practice in working with vulnerable migrant families.

Benefits and learning outcomes to you and the organisation

By the end of the course you will:

  • Identify current trends in international migration to Brighton & Hove and define common terms relating to asylum and immigration
  • Describe the legal processes that migrants pass through during their stay in the UK and how this could impact on a family’s resources and ability to cope
  • Examine assessing and meeting the needs of a household from a migrant community
  • Explain where and how to refer refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants locally for ongoing support

Duration: 1 day

Dates

27 November 2013

Trainer

Lucy Bryson, Community Safety Manager – Refugees and Migrants. Lucy has been working with refugees and migrants for twenty years. She has been based in the City Council’s Partnership Community Safety Team for ten years and has been running training sessions of this nature throughout that time. She is also the Chair of Brighton & Hove Refugee & Migrant Forum.

Charging information

  • Children’s Services staff, school staff, foster carers and CVS groups working in Brighton & Hove – FREE
  • Private organisations, independent schools, colleges, police, probation and those working outside of Brighton & Hove – £120 per person

NB. £50 Late cancellation fee applies to all bookings

How to apply

Download and return this application form

Free training: skills for meetings

10/09/2013

Free of charge places are available for small community groups and small charities in Brighton & Hove on this half-day training organised by the Trust for Developing Communities

Skills for meetings

Tuesday 24th September, 10am-1.30pm

At BMECP, Fleet Street, Brighton BN1 4ZE

Meetings can feel like a waste of energy especially when you are giving your time for free or asking people to give theirs.

If you want to get more out of the meetings you organise or take part in, this is for you.

During this half day course you will learn some useful techniques for making sure your meetings work well.

By the end of this session we will have:

  • looked at why meetings are important to your group
  • identified ways to spend time in meetings more wisely and avoid boring meetings
  • discussed behaviours in meetings

Booking is essential – To book or find out more:

phone 01273 262220 or email [email protected]

Eligibility

Small groups only – Groups with an annual income of under 25k, or groups with no paid staff

Training course – Charity finances for trustees, Tuesday 17th September

06/09/2013

Are your management committee in need of some support in how to make sense and better use of the management accounts?

CVSF has arranged an evening training course on Charity finances for trustees

Tuesday 17th September 2013, 6pm – 8pm

The aim is to give trustees a basic understanding of how charity finances should be run so that they can feel confident in their role as a trustee.

Points that will be covered:

  • Review of charity accounts. What the different terms mean and what the important figures are.
  • Good financial practices for Charities. What financial information you should expect as a trustee and how to interpret this information.
  • Funding applications and monitoring. Most charities are dependent on funding so they constantly have to apply for funding and report back to the funders on how their money has been spent.
  • A brief overview of tax for Charities. Most people ignore tax for Charities as they think they are outside the tax system. However, there some key tax issues that do have implications for charities. This includes a discussion around claiming gift aid.

This session is provided by Corporate Partnerships a project of Skills Exchange, and will be delivered by Carol Lewis of Bainbridge Lewis

There are only a couple of places left so book now to avoid disappointment. To book or find out more email [email protected] or phone 01273 810230

Please note there is a nominal charge for attending this briefing

COURSE FEES:

CVSF members rate

Organisations Annual Income Under £200,000 – £10

Organisations Annual Income Over £200,000 – £20

Non-members rate

Organisations Annual Income Under £200,000 – £15

Organisations Annual Income Over £200,000 – £25

Some bursary places are available to groups in B & H with an income of <£25,000 pa

Gannett Foundation open for applications

29/08/2013

Registered charities that “make a lasting difference to communities” within the circulation/production area of the 300 Newsquest titles may be eligible to apply for grants of between £5,000 and £10,000. The funding is intended to support one-off local activities or capital items that benefit a large number of local residents.

The Argus is one of their newspapers, so this fund is open to groups in Brighton and Hove.

The Foundation is looking for projects that bring lasting benefits to the communities and neighbourhoods served by its newspapers. This includes schemes for neighbourhood improvement and local problem-solving, economic development, youth development, education and cultural creativity, help for the disadvantaged or disabled and environmental conservation.

Preference will be given to projects that “demonstrate good planning, oversight and financial responsibility”.

The deadline for applications, for 2013, is 19th September.

For more information see: http://www.theargus.co.uk/yourargus/gannettfoundation/

Training course: Writing skills for funding bids

23/08/2013

Thursday 19th September, 6:30 –8:30pm, BMECP Lagoon Room, Brighton
This evening briefing is for people who have some experience of fundraising who wish to develop their writing skills and improve their success rate.  The session will explore the principles of good bid writing and will complement the Bid Writing for Commissioning course.

To book a place, email [email protected]  or phone 01273 810 230.

CVSF Small Community Groups Network

23/08/2013

The next meeting of CVSF’s Small Community Groups Network is on Thursday 5th September, 10.30am – 1pm, Community Base

For more information contact Lisa Mytton: [email protected] or 01273 810237.

Taking Account 3 Survey – an economic and social audit of the community and voluntary sector

20/08/2013

The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum (CVSF) is currently running an online survey, aiming to collect information about the size, importance and value of the community and voluntary sector (CVS) in Brighton and Hove.

Similar surveys were completed in 2003 and 2008 but much has changed since then, it will show:

  • the number of volunteers and the hours they contribute
  • how groups and organisations are funded
  • the economic contribution of the sector to the City (£96m in 2008)
  • how many groups and organisations exist
  • the struggles and challenges you are facing but also the way you are innovating

The research will also be used to inform the development of CVS support, the city council’s new CVS strategy as well as the wider public sector approach to working with the sector.

Your group doesn’t need to be a member of CVSF to take part – you can complete the survey here: http://bit.ly/1b5ILo5

For more information about the survey, email [email protected] or call Laura Williams on 01273 810242.