E-Bulletin

Welcome to the CVS North Wiltshire e-bulletin. To view this e-bulletin online click here.

Corsham Community Lunch

The next community lunch is taking place in Corsham Community Centre from 12noon - 2pm on Thursday 28th September. We have a guest speaker, Allan Bosley, Chairman Corsham Town Council taking about "Corsham: Change in Changing Community". There will also be plenty of time for networking and hearing about the work of other groups in the area. Please email karenm@cvsnw.org.uk to book your place.

New Training / Meeting Room at 3/4 New Road, Chippenham

One of the more unusual tasks I (Karen Scott, Training Worker) have undertaken at CVS involved putting on some old clothes to redecorate our new training room here at 3-4 New Road. We recently applied to The Big Lottery for a project which includes funding to refurbish this room, but there has been a long delay in the decision making process, so we’ve gone ahead on a shoestring. Janice wrote some begging letters to local businesses and we have had chairs and tables kindly donated by Westlea Housing Association and Westinghouse. The room is equipped with a flip chart stand and includes use of a kitchen and disabled toilet. We can also hire out a TV and video, overhead projector and screen, or laptop and data projector, by prior arrangement. If you are interested in hiring the room on an occasional or regular sessional basis, please contact our Office Manager, Beth Wilson (beth@cvsnw.org.uk) to arrange to view the room and she will be able to give you information about our (very competitive) hire charges, which are currently under review.

Job Opportunities Online

Click here to see the current job opportunities in the local voluntary sector. Please let us have your opportunities to advertise on the site! Email Beth: beth@cvsnw.org.uk

Compact Annual Sector Survey now underway
All voluntary groups are asked to complete the survey on line at www.ncvo-consult.org.uk/AS06 so that you can have a say on how the Compact is working for you and what needs to be done to make it work better. The verdict on the government's Compact performance will now really count because the Commissioner will be there when the results go to the Compact Annual Meeting with Ministers. The survey covers both the national Compact and Local Compacts and enables you to rate the Compact performance of local public bodies too. It may take you up to 20 minutes to complete but that is time well spent if it results in saving time by getting monitoring reduced or no longer needing to chase up late funding payments.

Have a Spare Desk in Your Office?

North Wilts Credit Union are looking for office space in North Wiltshire, they are currently in Calne but are looking for a more permanent base. They only need enough space for a computer and desk but would like full time access to it. If you have a desk space available for them to hire please call John Wittleton on 01249 713931 or 07976 225558.

2006 Community Transport Conference: ‘Celebrating Community Transport in Wiltshire & Swindon’

You are cordially invited to attend the 2006 Community Transport Conference: ‘Celebrating Community Transport in Wiltshire & Swindon’ which is being held on Friday 3rd November at Bromham Social Centre near Devizes from 9am until 3.30pm. Click here for further information. To book a place please email smartin@communityfirst.org.uk.

"A Bright Future" - SAVAGE Conference 2006

SAVAGE Conference 28^th September 2006. The conference will open for registration at 10am. Please join us for an informative and relaxed day with the opportunity to attend two out of the following workshops: Fundraising Strategy and Sustainability, Project Management Workshop, Project Development and Partnership Brokering, Developing A Publicity Strategy And Making The Media Work For You. Members of the SAVAGE team will be on hand to help and guide you throughout the day. There will also be information stands to support the workshops and plenty more. Conference closes at 3.30pm. Free Membership! Free Conference! Ninety minute Networking lunch! Please click here for more details.

More Advisors at the Wiltshire Law Centre

The Wiltshire Law Centre is pleased to announce that over the summer, 3 more advisors joined the team. It now has 6 advisors with over 50 years of experience between them. The Wiltshire Law Centre is a registered charity, established in September 1981 that provides free legal advice in housing, welfare benefits and debt to people in and around Swindon. This year we are proud to be celebrating our 25^th anniversary. Our opening hours are Monday-Friday 9am to 4pm. We offer appointments and a drop-in service, time permitting. Our address is Temple House, 115-118 Commercial Road, Swindon, SN5 5AG (near to the Registry Office). If you or an organisation you know or work with has clients who could benefit from the services of the Wiltshire Law Centre please call us on 01793 486926 or email us: wiltslawcentre@dial.pipex.com

Surplus Items to Donate to a Local Voluntary Group

Due to the closure of the Southern Ambulance College/Greenways Centre the following items are available to charitable/voluntary organisations free of charge: Single Quilts, pillows, bedside lamps, small kettles, mugs, trays, shower curtains, mattress protectors. Please contact either Carole or Rose on 01249 654125 Monday-Friday 9-5pm until 13/10/06 to arrange a viewing/collection.

West Of England ESF+ Network

SAVAGE would like to invite you to attend the next West Of England ESF+ Network being held at the University of Bath, Centre for Lifelong learning, Carpenter House, Broad Quay, Bath BA1 1UD on the 05^th October 2006 at 10:00am to 12:30pm. Click here to view the draft agenda. To book your place please contact myself, Nicola at SAVAGE: nicola@savage-europe.org.uk informing me of your full contact details including postal address, telephone number and email plus any special requirements. A confirmation email will be sent to you before the meeting.

Community Evening for Chippenham & the Villages

ChAP (Chippenham Area Community Partnership) are hosting a community evening on the 2nd October at the Olympiad Leisure Centre, 6pm - 8pm. There will be news of exciting new projects for the area, Chippenham 2020, hear about progress on projects from the Community plan and have an opportunity to talk about local issues. Please email asutcliffe@northwilts.gov.uk for more information.

Contracts: How You Can Get the Lowdown on What the Government Tells Funders

If you as a charity don’t believe your contractual arrangements with funders are satisfactory, or you are unsure about what the government thinks is good practice, this will put you more in the picture: click here to read a document giving guidance to funders, produced by the Treasury.

Chippenham Christmas Lights Swtich On - Stalls for Voluntary Groups

Thousands of people will descend on Chippenham town centre on Friday 24th November to see the arrival of Father Christmas and join in the festive fun. The lights will be switched on at 6:30pm with help from the ITV roadshow crew and a mystery guest. A host of Christmas stalls will light up the town hall and the high street, this is the perfect opportunity for your organisation to raise funds and awareness by taking up a stall. Please contact Chippenham Town Council on 01249 446699 for a booking form and terms & conditions. A stall in the High Street will cost a group £12, a stall in the Town Hall £15.

Refugee Council's New Website is Launched

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/ - New features include: Multilingual micro-site: Written in 20 languages, this section empowers refugees and asylum seekers to access all our client information leaflets, navigating in their own language: http://languages.refugeecouncil.org.uk. Policy and research: A one-stop-shop for all our policy positions, responses and briefings. There is also a useful ‘A to Z of policy issues’ where you can access our resources by topic: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy. And much more.

Victim Support Wiltshire AGM & Information Fair

On Thursday 19^th October 2006, 7.30pm – 9.30pm, at Devizes Town Hall, St John’s Road, Devizes, SN10 1BN. Theme – Working together in partnership. Speakers: Mr Ian Bynoe, Regional Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission - “Partnership working to ensure victims receive a high standard of service”. Cllr Roderick Bluh, Leader of Swindon Borough Council - “Working in partnership to reduce crime / the fear of crime”. And Mr Mal Munday, Assistant Chief Officer, National Probation Service – Wiltshire Area - “The benefits of working in partnership with National Probation and Victim Support Wiltshire”. Please contact Victim Support Wiltshire on 01380 729476 for further details and to book your place.

Message to the New Compact Commissioner

John Stoker has been appointed as the first Commissioner designate for the Compact – a new role to oversee the relationship between government and third sector voluntary and community organisations. The appointment of a Commissioner takes the Compact into a new era. The Compact is an agreement made at both national and local levels that sets out how government and voluntary and community organisations work together in all areas - including consultation, funding, and delivering better services. Strengthening the Compact is a key priority for the Commissioner – championing its full implementation at every level of government to enable voluntary and community organisations to operate in effective partnerships with the broader public sector. John Stoker will visit NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary & Community Action) in four weeks' time. He wants to hear our views on the current state of local Compacts and how to take their implementation to 'the next level'. We would like to quickly gauge your opinion and get your thoughts on the way forward. The following link will take you to five questions that should take no more than three minutes to complete. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=731252540242. Please tell us what you think by Tuesday 26 September 2006.

Wiltshire Pathways September News Alert

A CONSULTATION document on multi agency services for inclusion, for children 0-5 years with difficulties and disabilities. Go to www.WiltshirePathways.org and click on “Inclusion for Children 0-5 years” under News. The website also includes information about: Children & young people’s services – what they do and how to contact them (click). Children’s Trust Arrangements – how they are being developed in Wiltshire (click). How to get help for “troubled” children & young people (click). Training courses for people working in children’s services (click).

Third Sector Regional Social Inclusion Meeting

SAVAGE in partnership with L-Power are please to present a free event being held in Bristol on Friday 13^th October 2006 11am – 3pm. Following a series of consultations held with voluntary and community organisations in the South West, we are holding a regional event to provide an opportunity to meet and discuss issues around communities’ involvement in developing policy and action on social inclusion. The L-Power www.l-power.org.uk project is funded by the Big Lottery to identify how small grassroots organisations are involved in influencing policies and programmes that deal with inclusion. It is also looking at whether an organised voice is needed for groups to learn from each other and understand how best to get resources to actively participate in tackling exclusion in communities. The day will provide an opportunity for voluntary sector and community groups to discuss their concerns and put forward their ideas about how they would like to be involved in Social Inclusion activities in the future. Please click here for more details and booking form.

Disability Sports Events Launch New Nationwide DSE Awards

DSE is proud to announce today the launch of the additional Nationwide Sports Awards 2006. These will give volunteers and competitors in disability sport the unique opportunity to win financial assistance for their own or others talent. Following the recent success of the Society’s AGM initiative, which raised £100,000 for DSE, new awards have been added to the firmly established Nationwide Junior Sports Awards. These are REGIONAL SPORTS PERSON, REGIONAL VOLUNTEER and RISING STAR AWARD. For more information an entry forms visit the DSE’s official website www.disabilitysport.org.uk.

Research Project Invitation to Tender

The Society wish to commission a piece of research into the current engagement by Housing Associations with the InBusiness for Neighbourhoods agenda in the South West and the potential for the Society’s subsidiary, the South West Foundation, to work with other Associations within this agenda. We are looking to appoint a suitably experienced and qualified Consultancy to undertake this project. Closing date for the receipt of tenders is noon on 29th September 2006. The specification and questionnaire can be obtained from: Jan Crawley or Megan Bick on 0117 968 0110 or jcrawley@southwestfoundation.org.uk.

Working for Opportunities New Program

We are proud to announce that Working for Opportunities has been selected to deliver a new pilot program called “Skills Coaching”. You can discuss in series of one to one meetings what kind of job could be right for you and what skills you need in this job. We can support you in identifying any courses or training that would be a positive step in you gaining skills towards employment or voluntary work. We will be available to give you long-term support, the program is entirely voluntary, and will not effect your benefits. Please call Janet Seidel on 01793 514055 extension 4758 if you would like to know more about the free Skills Coaching.

The Mind & Body Fair - A Celebration of Wellbeing

Saturday 7th October 10am - 4pm at Devizes Leisure Centre. Improve your physical and emotional health! Free taster sessions of Reflexology, Kinesiology, Reiki and many more. Free entry & parking, donations gratefully accepted.

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