Solihull Life Opportunities is looking for a patient and determined support worker to befriend a 14 year old boy in the Fordbridge area of North Solihull.

Keiran has aspergers syndrome, anxiety issues and is withdrawn.  The role requires a male, preferably between the age of 18 – 30 to spend time chilling out with Keiran watching TV, playing football, going to the gym or McDonalds and to encourage him to engage in social activities with his peer group.

A car driver is preferable as if needing to travel Keiran does not enjoy travelling with others.

Start date ASAP.

Rate of pay £8.93 per hour.

If you would like more information please contact Paula in the office on 0121 693 0692.

Closing date for applications is Friday 1^st June 2012.

Solihull Life Opportunities is looking for an energetic and fun support worker to provide care and supervision to a lively 9 year old boy on a Tuesday after school until 6.45pm.  A car driver is essential as he will require picking up from school and attending activities such as horse riding, swimming, ice skating, McDonalds etc and then dropping back home afterwards.

The ideal candidate must be able to work on own initiative and trained in physical interventions.  Start date ASAP.

Rate of pay £8.93 per hour.

If you would like more information please contact Paula in the office on 0121 693 0692.

Closing date for applications is Friday 1^st June 2012.

Solihull SUSTAiN and the Volunteer Centre in partnership with Solihull College and Solihull MBC are looking to offer the ASDAN Community Volunteering Qualifications, the benefits of which were recently raised at SUSTAiN’s VCS Conference.

In order to take this forward, we really need to know from both volunteers as well as host organisations what you or your organisation would most benefit from.

Your help is very much appreciated to help shape this exciting new initiative.

Replies are required by Friday 1 June 2012.

Survey to be completed by organisations

Survey to be completed by volunteers

(Please forward this email link to your volunteers asking them to help with the survey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/volunteerskillssurvey

Thank you for your support.

£30 Million is now available from the Community Development Foundation (CDF) to fund community projects of which:

• Smiths Wood has been allocated £68k over 4 years
• Fordbridge/Kingshurst has been allocated £34k over 4 years
• Chelmsley Wood has been awarded £34k over 4 years.

New and existing community groups operating in or for the benefit of these wards are invited to apply for a minimum of £250 up to a maximum of £2,500 to help them deliver local priorities. These have been established by local panels made up of residents and Ward Councillor, contact details of whom  have been included to in the briefing packs.

Community First is a matched fund programme, which means that every £1 provided in funding by the Government must be matched by a similar amount of in-kind donations (this means donations of cash, services, free products or volunteer time).

The deadline for submitting your proposals is Friday 1^st June 2012, 12.00 noon.

Download the Guidance Notes, Ward Briefing & Proposal documents

• Guidance Notes – How to request funds from your local panel
• Briefing Pack (Chelmsley Wood)
• Funding Proposal (Chelmsley Wood)
• Briefing Pack (Fordbridge and Kinghurst)
• Funding Proposal (Fordbridge and Kingshurst)
• Briefing Pack (Smiths Wood)
• Funding Proposal (Smiths Wood)

If you wish to discuss your application prior to submission, please contact  Janet Johnson at SUSTAiN on 0121 711 3148 or 07500 081 220 or via janetj@solihull-sustain.org.uk

This year the Solihull Volunteer Forum is  organising two events to celebrate National Volunteers Week and to give you an opportunity to thank your volunteers for the contribution they make.

Volunteer thank you event

On Wednesday June 6th the Solihull Volunteer Forum  will be hosting a Volunteer Thank You event at the Council House, Solihull. The event which will be held between 7pm and 9pm will include reception drinks with the opportunity to meet other volunteers and share experiences, followed by presentations by the Mayor of Solihull and hopefully the chance to tour the Mayor’s Parlour. Now in its fourth year, our volunteer thank you evenings have proved very popular and booking is essential to avoid disappointment.

Please visit the SVF website and register your volunteers for attendance and presentation of thank you certificates at this event by no later than Wednesday
16^th May 2012 to thank them for their contributions.

Jubilee volunteers’ tea party

In celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee and National Volunteers Week, the Solihull Volunteering Forum will be hosting an informal tea party from 4pm to 6pm on Friday June 8th 2012. The event which will take place at the Loft, Bluebell Centre, Chelmsley Wood is a thank you for people who volunteer in Solihull. Volunteers attending the event will be treated to a traditional British tea party with the opportunity to chat  with other volunteers. The event will also feature  a fashion show hosted by George at Asda and a free raffle with a West Midlands Safari Park Family Ticket as first prize.

If you would like your volunteers to attend this free event,please complete the application form on the SVF website by Wednesday, May 16^th 2012  as registration is essential and places are limited.

The Jubilee Hour campaign is urging people to give 60 minutes of their time in celebration of the Queen’s 60 years of service.

An electronic book will be created where organisations and people will enter their pledges and record through words and pictures what they have done.

The campaign will be officially launched in the first week in May, and the full website will offer ideas for giving time and link to existing sources of information including Your Square Mile.

Help Scope with its research into barriers to volunteering. Scope is asking for the views of both volunteer involving organisations and disabled people (both those who volunteer and those who don’t).

The organisational questionnaire should take no more than 15 minutes to complete, and the deadline is Friday 18 May 2012.

Volunteers Week is nearly here and provides an opportunity for organisations to celebrate their successes and say a big thank you to all their volunteers who give up their time and share their skills to make a difference in the community.

Are you holding any events during Volunteers Week to celebrate volunteering or raise the profile of your organisation with potential volunteers?
If you are please let us know. We would love to hear about how organisations in Solihull are celebrating volunteering.

Not arranged anything yet?  You still have time to organise something. Visit the Volunteering England website  for ideas and resources to help with planning and holding your event.

Contact Maureen Shepherd, Volunteer Centre Manager on 0121 704 6789 or email maureen.shepherd@wayc2.org to share your events or for more information.

Macmillan Cancer Support is looking for a buzzing  volunteer to join our local Fundraising Team over a 3 month period as an intern to help and support in the preparation for our biggest fundraising event the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

This event takes place on the last Friday of every September and in 2011 raised over £10 million throughout the UK. This year with the help of a dedicated intern we want to make the event even bigger and better!

Not only is this opportunity a superb platform to build essential skills working on the ground with the local fundraising team,  but the candidate will also be part of a UK wide intern training programme. Skills developed will be a great stepping stone for the future in a variety of sectors!

Please download the document below for more information.

Our WBCM internships in a nutshell

For further details and to apply please go to www.macmillan.org.uk/internships.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 13 May 2012. 

Young Solihull (formerly SCVYS) will be holding its AGM:
On: Friday 18th May 2012 – 7.30pm
At : Council Chamber, Civic Suite, Solihull B91 9QS

The theme for the meeting will be:

The Big Society, Young People and the Voluntary Sector
This will celebrate the contribution of young people and voluntary youth organisations within Solihull and consider The Big Society Initiative and how it will impact on and involve Young People and Youth Services, both Voluntary and Statutory.

Refreshments will be served from 7.00pm

The annual report of the activities and the contributions of Voluntary Youth Groups in Solihull with presentations from some of those groups

Question time on the theme with an eminent and knowledgeable panel consisting of

• Lorely Burt, MP
• Ken Meeson, Leader of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
• Susanne Rauprich, Chief Executive of National Council of Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS)
• Caroline Spelman, MP and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Plus Networking – an opportunity to meet old and new friends and network

Please book the date now and encourage people to come and take part in this memorable occasion.

All are welcome, all ages, whether involved with young peopleʼs work or not.

Contact Andrew Williams, Chair, via arwilliams@dial.pipex.com for further details