The Solihull Volunteering Forum has just issued it’s first Newsletter and intends this to be a regular feature.

The Newsletter covers:

• The AGM on 30th September
  A Christmas Get Together on December 9th
• Volunteers’ Week Celebration Event
• Youth Volunteers Awards
• A New Volunteer Centre for Chelmsley Wood_
• Upcoming Events

You can read the SVF newsletter here.

You can also follow the Forum on

Their website

On Twitter

The Baptist Community Centre has an office available and is open to offers! We’ll be honest, it’s not the perfect office, it’s upstairs and the building is a bit sorry for itself and gets a bit leaky when it rains. Also, we do have plans to refurbish the building next year so it would be on a short term let (but hopefully could be continued into the refurbished building). That aside the people here are great and the centre is right at the heart of community life here.

Anyway, if that sales pitch has got you interested, give Neil a ring on 0121 770 8590

Have you got any messages that you would like to share with parents? 

Solihull Council’s Family Information Service can help.  Over 1000 parents have signed up to receive information through our Parents’ Network so they can be kept up to date with what’s happening in the borough.

We send a newsletter every term and an eBulletin every month.

Items can include:

• Events and activities for children, young people and families
• Important information that parents need to know
• Information that will help parents
• Opportunities for parents to give their views

If you have any information that you would like to pass on to parents, please let Claire Cook know at Solihull Council on 0121 704 8474 or clcook@solihull.gov.uk

The deadline for eBulletins is the 25^th of each month.

To join the Parents Network and to view our latest newsletter and eBulletin visit: www.solihull.gov.uk/parentsnetwork

Finding the right conference venue can be difficult for your potential customers, especially when
they may be looking for one with a social, environmental, charitable or community benefit.

At Think Venue we have made it simple for those customers to find you!

Think Venue is an online venue finding service of conference venues representing Third Sector
organisations that re-invest their profits rather than delivering them to shareholders. The
initiative has proved extremely successful in Birmingham and it is now being rolled-out in
Solihull.

Think Venue lists everything from small community spaces, to church halls and large venuse like the NEC & IAA

The cost of listing your venue is as little as £40 per year and, if you mention SUSTAiN, the first 3 months are free and you will get 15 months for the price of 12.

The Venues search function on our website already links directly to Think Venue making it even more likely your venue will get found.

This is a very clever social enterprise idea and we would encourage you to give it a go. You have nothing to lose.

Think Venue Solihull Promotion Leaflet

Visit Think Venue and get your meeting room listed

We look back over the past challenging year and some of our successes plus tell you about some NEW SERVICES we now provide on Funding, Volunteering and Safeguarding Support for organisations delivering services to children.

This edition also explains how SUSTAiN fits in with the Colebridge Trust, the benefits that brings and invites you to become a member of the Trust to help shape what we do.

The newsletter also gives you an update on our Solihull Together fundraising project and explains how you can benefit through the Charity Ball on 15 July or Sponsored Walk on 9 October.

SUSTAiN Newsletter – Spring 2011 Edition

With some funds from the Big Lottery BASIS program, Colebridge Communications has produced a short film which demonstrates the breadth, depth and quality of services the voluntary sector provides. The film features a cross section of the 600 or so Voluntary and Community Sector organisations supporting people in Solihull and provides some enlightening facts about the sector

You can watch the video on the Colebridge Communications Vimeo Channel

The Colebridge Trust Annual Report was published this month at our Annual General Meeting, held at The Fordbridge Centre on 19 May.

It provides a summary of our key achievements in the 2010/1 financial year, a record that we are proud of, delivering a substantial and broad range of outcomes for groups and people in our communities.

The report can be found here.

(Note: The Colbridge Trust is the organisation – legal entity – behind SUSTAiN. Visit the Colebridge Trust parent site for more)

A new volunteer centre is now  open in Chelmsley Wood

Volunteers are needed to help provide information and support to members of the public seeking volunteering opportunities.

Voluntary Advisers will provide direct face to face services to enquirers and need to be able to offer at least 4 hours a week.

This role requires good communication skills as well as being able to use a computer.

Training will be provided and travel expenses will be paid.

For more information please contact Maureen Shepherd on 0121 711 3148, e-mail volunteering@svcuk.org or visit www.do-it.org.uk

We are pleased to announce that a new funding officer, Alan Crawford has joined the team at SUSTAiN. Alan has extensive experience of the voluntary sector having previously worked at BVSC in Birmingham.

Alan’s role will be to work in conjunction with organisations in the borough to help them identify suitable funding opportunities and work with them to produce quality funding applications. In addition Alan will be running regular training sessions to help enhance your organisation’s bid writing skills (further information on these sessions to follow in subsequent bulletins).

If you would like to have a meeting to discuss receiving support in accessing funding, please email  alanc@solihull-sustain.org.uk or ring Alan Crawford on 0121 711 3148.

Please note due to the expected demand, we cannot guarantee that we will always be in a position to provide you with support, as we will be operating on a ‘first come first served basis’ and within the context of bidding deadlines.

SUSTAiN, in partnership with Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs (WAYC), are delighted to have secured funding to open two new Volunteer Centres.

The first centre will be open in Chelmsley Wood town centre in the summer with a second office in Solihull town centre in the autumn. Offering information and advice on a wide range of volunteering opportunities, advisers will be available at the new offices as well as by telephone and e-mail.

Anyone interested in volunteering as a Volunteer Centre Adviser or any organisation wishing to advertise their volunteering opportunities on our database are invited to contact Maureen Shepherd, Volunteer Centre Manager. Maureen can be contacted  by phone on 07919 577475 or by e-mail maureen.shepherd@wayc2.org.