CAS Community Solutions specialise in supporting local people back into work, self-employment, training and volunteering. They also teach English language skills for those with no or low English, and provide training in digital skills, literacy, numeracy and finance.

The organisation has been shortlisted for funding to provide their Make it Count project; weekly money management sessions to local people needing support with debt and financial management.

The sessions will look at budgeting, attitudes to money and debt, saving strategies and planning ahead. Participants will also gain the digital skills and knowledge to bank and budget online and be shown how to harness digital technology to get the best deals on things like insurance and fuel.

Help CAS deliver this amazing project by voting for them below.

The GLA Sports Team have launched the first funding round for the Mayor’s new community sport programme, the London Together Fund. 

This programme will invest in sports projects that bring people from different backgrounds together to strengthen local communities. This will help the Mayor achieve his ambition of making London the most active and socially integrated city in the world.

For the latest in funding available please download our roundup below.

Coercion and Control Enquiry Training - Level 3

“Not only is coercive control the most common context in which (women) are abused, it is also the most dangerous” Evan Stark 2007

Overview:

The Coercion and Control Enquiry (CACE) training introduces delegates to the CACE form; a simple tool practitioners can use to identify coercive control and to support them to make and write their assessments.

To raise practitioner’s awareness and understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour; and to provide practitioners with tools, to be able to identify the presence of both, in situations where families want to remain together or separate and which will support practitioners to respond appropriately.

This is free training offered by the Bexley Safeguarding Children Board. Places are limited to 7 per partner organisation and there are a number of dates, see further info below.

Do you need to get a handle on your outcomes? Want to capture and share how you make a difference to people’s lives? If the answer to either of these questions is “Yes” then contact our Impact Development Officer today via adam@bvsc.co.uk.

Make sure you check the project’s training page below for free sessions; whether your strategy needs focus, you need to brush up on your project management skills or you want to capture the voice of your beneficiaries.

Bexley are looking to develop a pool of trainers to deliver multi-agency training on domestic abuse.  You will be trained over a 3 day period to deliver the Level 3 course to multi-agency delegates from health, education, police, local authority and social care etc.

This is an ideal opportunity to develop your knowledge in recognising and responding to domestic abuse whilst increasing your skills as a frontline practitioner and trainer.

To register your interest, please email a brief statement outlining your experience and interest to deborah.simpson@bexley.gov.uk

Performing Places Bexley is an exciting and ambitious project in and around Bexleyheath, during 2018 and 2019.

It comprises of a number of arts and crafts-based workshops in schools and community settings with a full week of happenings in Bexleyheath Broadway from 26th to 30th June 2018. 

With the aim of appreciating and ‘re-seeing’ Bexleyheath Broadway, it is built around a clever, witty, fictitious story involving curious beings who have travelled from a parallel Bexleyheath.

Would you like a free workshop in May/June designed for your group?

This is a rare opportunity (and a free one) to work with some highly experienced practitioners, helping build towards a unique event in Bexley.

‘Performing Places’ was developed by Professor Sally Mackey at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama to bring communities together. With Emergency Exit Arts, Rose Bruford and Bird College, we will be bringing the Bexley Broadway to life with street performers, immersive theatre and interactive events, amongst a whole host of other weird and wonderful things.

Please contact Suha Al-Khayyat on 07967101396 or suha@littlefishtheatre.co.uk for more information.

Come along to the next Children and Young People's (CYP) Network meeting on Friday 27th April 2018 from 10am to 12pm at Crayford Manor House for local updates, networking and discussion and information relevant to the CYP sector.

The Director of Public Health, Dr Anjan Ghosh will be joining us to introduce the Prevention Strategy. In addition, we will also discuss the upcoming GDPR changes and Safeguarding in Bexley.

You are invited to attend a meeting on 27th April (1pm-2pm) to hear more about the Design in the Public Sector programme, which is a joint project in collaboration with the Council, CCG and ourselves here at BVSC.

The project is focused on building a co-production model and tackling social isolation and loneliness in older people.

As well as sharing insight into the specific project area, the team are also keen to share the methods they've been using, as these can be used across a range of different projects, and could be a great tool for use in your organisation.

The meeting will take place at the Civic Offices in Board Room #107. For further information please email Ellen.Care@bexley.gov.uk.

The next Voluntary Forum will take place on 10th May (10am -12pm) at Crayford Manor House, chaired by Alison Baker. 

The agenda will include:

• Prevention Strategy presented by Dr Anjan Ghosh
• Forum review of aims/objectives and member feedback
• Representative elections for Adult Health & Social Care, Children & Young People and Growth & Development

To find out more about the representative roles and to nominate yourself please check out the link below.

Please join Sam Conabere (Compass Project Officer) for the next Compass Parent 2 Parent Support Group on 24th April (10am-12pm).

It’s a great opportunity to meet other families with children with Autism and/or ADHD to share ideas and issues but also more importantly a chance to have a cup of tea and talk to others who understand your situation.  

....and why they stop.

NCVO's researcher - Lisa Hornung - looks at the motivations and barriers of volunteering, with the latest data from the forthcoming NCVO Almanac 2018.

As we mentioned in our last newsletter we are getting ready to host the upcoming fun day which will be bigger and better than ever.

Would you like to get in the middle of the action and help to make the day an exciting experience for our Bexley residents?

We are looking for groups and volunteers to help us out on the day, some of the opportunities include:

• Voluntary groups to run their own games stall; a chance to speak to members of the public about your fantastic services - fill the expression of interest form in here (don't worry we provide the games!)
• Volunteer photographer - are you currently studying towards a qualification which could be supported by adding to your portfolio or maybe you just love photography?
• Performances - could your group do a performance? Perhaps song, dance, music or theatre
• Volunteer helpers - can you support the various games stalls throughout the day or help with set-up/set-down?

If you can spare a few hours (or maybe the full day) on Saturday 2nd June please email Kara Lee via Kara@bvsc.co.uk or telephone 01322 524682 for further information.

If you're interested in longer term volunteering opportunities please visit the Volunteer Centre Bexley's website below.

Welcome to our new section of the bulletin focusing on one of our members of the voluntary sector community, be they Chief Execs or volunteers! This edition spends 5 minutes with Phillip, a volunteer with BVSC.

Breathing Space invites you to join them on their upcoming 5k fun run/walk taking place on 28th April (11am-2pm) at Erith Leisure Centre.

There will be goody bags, stalls and a bouncy castle for the children - and very importantly - medals! 

All funds raised will go to the Foodbank in Erith and the Breathing Space project.

Geddes Place URC are holding another one of their quiz nights to raise funds for Christian Aid on 28th April at 7pm.

Tickets are £6 and everyone is encouraged to take along their own drinks and nibbles to enjoy throughout the evening.

Learning and Enterprise College Bexley are holding their annual Wellbeing Day at Atrium Court in Erith on Monday 14th May (10am - 3pm) and it's completely free and packed full of interesting things, including:

• Cookery
• Yoga
• Health and wellbeing talks
• Knitting
• Raffle

Family Lives is a leading national family support charity providing 24 hour support, seven days a week through a range of innovative and integrated services.

They are looking for two Mobile Play Workers who will work as part of a multi-disciplinary Family Support team contributing to a safe and stimulating childcare and support experience for parents and carers.

Deadline: 22/04/18

Belvedere Community Forum is a charity that is responsible for the Belvedere Community Centre and is a hub for activities and community groups in Belvedere. 

A new post has arisen for a part-time Marketing Assistant. They're looking for someone that is a competent user of Microsoft Office including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook and willing to get involved with helping to run the community centre and ensure a great level of service is provided to users and members of the public - this is an exciting and varied role.

Deadline: 29/04/18

An exciting opportunity has become available due to the Belvedere Community Forum gaining funding to open a café enterprise in the community centre, including courses and lunch clubs for the community.

The Café Coordinator post is a fantastic opportunity to develop the café into a thriving, sustainable part of the community. This project is part funded by the People Health Trust which aims to bring communities together and increase volunteer opportunities. 

Deadline: 22/04/18

Here at BVSC we offer free advertising of your paid roles. If you would like to submit a vacancy please provide the following information via the email link below:

• Job Description inc. hrs, salary and location
• Closing date

Following numerous requests from organisations to provide template policies, we have added examples of good quality policies from around the country that you can use for your organisation.  Please read them carefully and remove all references to other organisations, other boroughs or specific links that don’t apply to Bexley.  These policies are in the public domain and where appropriate the authors have been contacted for approval to reproduce.  These are designed as a guide only – to help you structure your own policy. 

Policy templates include the following:

• Safeguarding
• Equality and Diversity
• Financial Controls
• Conflict of Interest
• Expenses
• Data Protection
• Health & Safety
• Risk Policy

And will be updated regularly as new templates become available.  A suite of GDPR templates will be available in the next week and will be sent out by separate email.

Many of our member and non-member organisations have queried our request for them to provide a safeguarding policy – particularly if you don’t feel that your client group is vulnerable.  The Charity Commission have made it clear that they expect all charities to have a safeguarding policy to ensure the safety of ALL children or adults that the organisation may come into contact with.  These policies and procedures should be made public and reviewed regularly.  Trustees/management committee members are responsible for ensuring their organisation is compliant with Safeguarding regulations.

Please read the safeguarding press release from The Charity Commission via the link below!

If you need support to develop a safeguarding policy, please contact BVSC.  We can provide resources and templates for you to use. 

Thinking about merger? Join the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) on 24th May (10:00-12:30) for a free workshop looking at the drivers for merger in voluntary organisations; success factors; legal and formal requirements; and the ‘lived’ experience. The session is aimed at CEOs and trustees of voluntary organisations at any stage of thinking about merger – from those curious about merger to those currently engaged in the merger process.