The Department of Children, Schools and Families has issued guidance on how agencies from all sectors should work together to secure the safeguarding of Children & Young People. This is a key document affecting how voluntary groups working with Children and Young people relate and work with others such as schools or care services. Download the document below: (note: it is 2MB)

• Inter Agency Safeguarding Guidance Document

We are pleased to announce Solihull’s 3rd Sector Network schedule of summer training events. From June through to September, short practical sessions will cover a broad range of topics relating to the day to day work of your organisation.

Events include: tendering, social media, safeguarding, promotions, equality and diversity, minute taking, trustee roles and responsibilities, funding and much more.

To book a place, please phone Tina on 0121 711 3148 or email events@solihull-sustain.org.uk.

Please note: Whilst all events are free, if you book a place and cancel within 14 days of the event, or fail to attend / send a suitable substitute, your organisation will be charged a cancellation fee of £20.

If you have any queries, please contact Claire Milican on 0121 711 3148 or email clairem@solihull-sustain.org.uk. 

August

Child Safeguarding – the basics

Tuesday 10th August 18.00 Fordbridge Centre, Nineacres Drive
Is your voluntary group/charity involved in providing services to children? Are you confused by all the messages coming out about safeguarding?

SCVYS and SUSTAiN are delivering this workshop aimed at people who want an introduction to the basics of safeguarding. It will enable you to develop your own toolkit to be used back in your organisation.

Chairing Effective Meetings

Monday 16th August 18.00 The Bridge, Shirley
Meetings are essential but can often result in frustration and a feeling that progress is not being made. This workshop outlines the key principles of chairing effective meetings and provides best practices on how to control and energise discussions.

Funding

Tuesday 24th August 18.30 The Priory, Solihull
Do you need to know more about writing successful funding applications? If you’ve never been involved in grant funding applications before, this workshop will help you learn the tricks of the trade and take you through a simple application process so that you can apply what you have learnt.

September

Equality and Diversity

Wednesday 8th September 17.30 The Priory, Solihull
This is a taster session for anyone looking to raise the profile of their organisation within marginalised groups. The session lasts just 45 minutes and covers basic equality and diversity issues, as well as introducing you to the support and tools at your disposal.

The spring/summer 2010 edition of SUSTAiN’s newsletter is now available and has been distributed to all voluntary and community organisations in Solihull. You can also download below.

A key theme in this issue is challenges; acknowledging we are in difficult times, this edition features some of the ways SUSTAiN is committed to helping the local third sector rise and respond to what lies ahead.

If you would like a copy sent out to you, or you require an alternative format, please let us know by calling 0121 711 3148 or emailing enquiries@solihull-sustain.org.uk.

SUSTAiN newsletter – spring summer 2010

The West Midlands for 2010 volunteering portal is now open for business and will hold details of 2010 related news and opportunities within the region.

70,000 volunteers will be required to help run the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games but in the West Midlands the primary focus is to get people to volunteer for 2012 related programmes within the region as well as in London.

Major international sports events taking place in our region, the Culture programme and the Community Games provide great volunteering opportunities which will continue to grow as the West Midlands rolls out its legacy.

Go to: www.wmfor2012.com/volunteering

The local Safeguarding Board has advised the dates, times and venues for Level 1 Safeguarding Training aimed at Third Sector organisations. The training is FREE. Dates as follows:

To book a place on one of these courses, Download the LSCB Training Booking Form

Is Safeguarding New To You?

If Safeguarding is completely new to you and you would like a short Introduction to Safeguarding presentation and discussion before booking on one of these courses, then there are a number of people from other ‘Third Sector’ organisations who can come to you and run a 2 hour workshop. Contact Sara Hands or Charles Rapson on 0121 770 8222 and we will put you in touch with these trainers. Limited to the first 25 applicants.

The Compact Plus for Solihull 2008 – 2013 was launched in December 2008. This embodies the commitment made between the public bodies of the Solihull Partnership and the third sector organisations in Solihull to further improve the way they work together.

The Compact Plus for Solihull recognises the complementary roles of the third sector and public agencies, the strengths that each brings to the agreement and the opportunities that true partnership working can create.

Following detailed consultation with the Third Sector and key partners in Solihull, the Codes of Practice and the Dispute Resolution associated to the Compact Plus were launched in January 2010.

The Codes of Practice are:

• Community Groups
• Consultation
• Diversity and Celebrating difference
• Funding and Procurement
• Guide to Volunteering

The information contained with the Codes of Practice acts as guidance to help implement the Compact principles and ways of working by improving relationships between the Solihull Partnership, the key partners and voluntary and community groups.

The next steps are to raise awareness of the Compact and Codes of Practice and embed these ways of working across the Council, all partner organisations, and the Third Sector (voluntary and community groups) in Solihull.

If you require further information or hard copies,, please contact Owen McFarlane, Community and Voluntary Relations, Solihull MBC on 0121 704 8563 or email omcfarlane@solihull.gov

Download

The Compact Codes Brochure

A group of young people from Solihull raised more than £1250 for local youth charity This Way Up by holding an art auction.

Over 50 people attended the auction, held at Hockley Heath Memorial Hall. And with just over 100 lots from a variety of people, including several local Solihull artists, there was something to cater for everyone’s tastes.

One of the bug surprises was a picture by a young artist, Matthew Tubby, age 20 months, which sold for £35. And one of Solihull artist Brian Garman’s pieces sold for £70.

This Way Up works in eight secondary schools in Solihull, providing a ‘listening ear’ to young people struggling with parental separation and bereavement. The charity relies mostly on donations and a team of regular supporters.

Verity English, one of the organisers said: “We wanted to raise money to support young people who struggle with issues of loss. The great thing about This Way Up is that they go into schools and meet with teenagers where they are. I was so pleased that we hit our target, and we still have a couple of pictures to sell because separately because we have discovered they are quite valuable!”

“The night was a great success, people really seemed to enjoy themselves.”

Verity English, one of the This Way Up auction organisers

There was also a craft stall on the night, and 12 year old Amy Fortnam organised a cake sale which raised over £30, helping to boost the final total.

For more information about the work of This Way Up, contact Mandy English on mandy@twup.org.uk.

As part of its commitment to developing volunteering in Solihull, the Solihull Partnership has set aside funding for a project to:

• Establish a Volunteer Bureau in Chelmsley Wood
• Establish a Volunteer Bureau in Solihull Town Centre
• Develop a Reference group for the delivery of National Indicator 6 (Volunteering)
• Encourage membership of the Volunteer Management Forum
• Develop an electronic/virtual Volunteering Forum.

The partnership has asked SUSTAiN, as a lead for the Stronger Communities Strategic Group, to run a commissioning process to select a delivery partner for this work from the third sector. Further details will be available in a few weeks time.

Organisations wishing to express their interest in receiving an invitation to tender for this project at this stage should email Dave Pinwell at davep@solihull-sustain.org.uk

How many times have you come across small gestures of generosity, the help and support that changed somebody’s life? We all experience and know about it. The nice neighbour who holds our spare keys in case we get locked out, the person on the bus or in the queue who starts an encouraging conversation on a bad day, the many nice smiles strangers give us, the neighbour who takes our parcels in when we are at work.

Come and visit us at http://volunteeringinsolihull.blogspot.com/ and add your stories of small acts of kindness that have made all the difference.

The Colebridge Trust and Solihull SUSTAiN will soon have a new facility that puts Solihull’s voluntary & community groups in the driving seat, after being awarded approximately £29,500 from Capacitybuilders for a new community bus.

The new bus will provide a mobile exhibition space to help groups promote their services, recruit volunteers, raise funds and much more.

Charles Rapson, Enterprise Manager for Colebridge Trust & SUSTAiN says: “We already have interest from several organisations in the town who enjoyed the facility our previous bus provided. We have also had interest from Council and Care Trust departments who see the bus as a very cost effective way of getting information out to communities and encouraging people to get involved in the way the town is run. The beauty of a mobile space is that it can help groups in every part of this large borough”.

Charles hopes to have a bus on the road in early spring.

“The funds couldn’t come at a better time as the former bus has finally gone to the great car park in the sky after serving the community very well for over 20 years – first as a mobile library and then as a community facility”.

Dave Pinwell, SUSTAiN’s CEO

Funding comes as part of a pot of money earmarked by the government to improve facilities and resources the community could benefit from. Capacitybuilders, who manages the Capital Investment Programme on behalf of the Cabinet Office of the Third Sector, were impressed by the novel way SUSTAiN and Colebridge Trust approached this problem in Solihull.