Voluntary Action Camden e-bulletin 29th July 2016

Strategic Partners Fund and Equalities Fund Awards Announced; Camden Young People’s Foundation; Camden Patient and Public Engagement Group open meeting; Reaching Out; Will you join the Camden Community Toilet Scheme?; Are You Getting the Best Deal for Gas and Electricity?; September Volunteer Managers’ Forum + Lunch; Hep C support group in Camden; Comic Relief Local Communities is now open; Camden Recycling Rewards + funding jobs, volunteers, events, training, offers and resources.

Camden Council has announced the 23 local voluntary sector groups who will receive up to seven years of funding. £2 million per annum has been allocated, initially for the first four years.
In December 2015 a new approach to voluntary sector funding was agreed by Cabinet with an annual savings target of £1.7m to be achieved from 2016/17 through a
budget reduction from £6.8m in 2014/15 to £5.1m in 2016/17.
Strategic Partner Fund: Neighbourhoods must have a physical asset (a building). The fund is currently split £1.5m for the Neighbourhoods and £0.5m for Equalities.
Those organisations that are not successful and are currently in receipt of rent relief will be eligible for transition support, which will be a mix of funding towards rent tapered over the three years, along with business development support to increase income generation to meet the requirement to pay rent from January 2017. However those organisations which have secured funding through the strategic partners fund will not be entitled to the transitional funding in relation to rent relief.
No Strategic Partner has been identified for either the south west or the north east zones.
Camden will look for projects to allocate the remainder of the £513k pa underspend – the proposal is for a competitive process over the summer with a view to fund 3 year initiatives.
The full list of 7 equalities fund awards and 16 Neighbourhood fund awards are in the report, available to download here. Read the press release here.

Camden Patient and Public Engagement Group open meeting
Monday 8 August 2pm – 4pm
St Pancras Hospital, Conference Centre, 4 St Pancras Way, NW1 0PE. Refreshments provided. Please RSVP: Martin Emery, Deputy Head of Engagement Tel: 020 3688 1755 Email: martin.emery@camdenccg.nhs.uk
Presentation 1: Dementia Friends Training Speaker: Vicki Leah, Consultant Nurse Older People, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH)
Presentation 2: What is the patient experience telling UCLH? Speaker: Lisa Anderton, Programme Lead, Patient Experience, UCLH

Camden Young People’s Foundation
This is an exciting initiative that aims to support activities for young people in Camden. Three posts are being recruited – see ‘Jobs’ section below for full details.

Reaching Out
RAD in partnership with Stonewall Housing have launched a new project ‘Reaching Out’ which aims to reduce hate crime and domestic abuse in London’s Deaf community.
‘Reaching Out’ will provide education and awareness around hate crime and domestic abuse. The project is open to all Deaf people living in London boroughs but will have some focus on supporting young people and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBT) community. In addition, RAD will be expanding our existing Hate Crime Reporting service to cover London and providing specialist advocacy services for those affected by either hate crime or domestic abuse. We will also signpost and connect people to other specialist services for further support.
We will be hosting various events and workshops to raise awareness of hate crime and domestic abuse across London. The first is being held Aug 5th in Camden- see attached workshop poster.
http://www.royaldeaf.org.uk/news/reaching-out-project/
For further information please contact: Voice: 0845 688 2525 SMS: 07740 349576 Email: Reachingout@royaldeaf.org.uk

Will you join the Camden Community Toilet Scheme?
Camden council are looking to go in to partnership with local organisations prepared to contribute to the community by allowing the public to use their facilities during normal opening hours, without the need to buy goods or services.
We’d welcome interest from anywhere in the borough, but especially from those in Kilburn, and the areas in and around West End Lane, South End Green and Pond Square.
The Council will pay an annual fee to members of up to £750 (including VAT), and promote you locally and online.
To apply for membership and to discuss this, or sponsoring a toilet, please contact James Dunlop by email to publictoilets@camden.gov.uk or over the phone on 020 7974 7141. Further information can be found at camden.gov.uk/publictoilets

Are You Getting the Best Deal for Gas and Electricity?
Call the Green Camden Helpline to find out more: 0800 801 738
or visit www.camden.org.uk/fuelswitch

September Volunteer Managers’ Forum + Lunch
Join us at our next volunteer managers’ forum where we will share our top tips for best practice in volunteer management.
The topics will be varied, and can be anything related to managing volunteers.
You will also meet (and network with) other volunteer managers in Camden – and lunch is included.
The forum will take place at The Pirate Castle, Oval Road, Camden Town, NW1 7EA
Check out the full details and book your free tickets on Eventbrite

Hep C support group in Camden
Use your experience of living with Hepatitis C to educate and support others through the process of getting tested and treated.
We are recruiting a team of 6 people with lived experience to form a Hep C support group in Camden. The group will deliver
Peer Led Drop In; Peer Support Group; Outreach; Peer Education; Help with attending appointments
You will Get
Training from the Hep C TRUST; Reward and recognition; Supervision and support
If you are interested, contact Alex, Dan or John at VoiceAbility on 020 3355 7113 or camdenuserinvolvement@voiceability.org
We need to recruit a team quite quickly, so early applications are especially welcome

Camden Festivals
A list of community festivals in Camden can be found here.

Newsletters
View the lates Voluntary Arts newsletter here.

Free training, outings and events for unpaid carers in Camden
For a full list of events of carers in Camden please visit the Camden Carers website.

Healthwatch Camden
Latest Information DIgest is on the Healthwatch Camden website.
Catch up with the latest Camden news and what’s happening on Our Blog

The Camden Capacity Building Bulletin is produced monthly, targeting the community and voluntary sector in Camden. It provides up to date/recently live information and news on funding and training. To access the latest information please follow the Link www.camden.gov.uk/cbbulletin

Camden Young People’s Foundation; Healthwatch Camden; Solace Women’s Aid; Terrence Higgins Trust; Age UK Camden and Camden PA are recruiting. See Jobs and Volunteers section below.

Camden Shares. The website for exchanges in Camden. www.camdenshares.org.uk

You can join in on Facebook. Like us if you like us.

Follow all the Camden Voluntary Sector news on OneCamden on Twitter.

You can read more about all of these stories on our news page at www.vac.org.uk/new

Disabled people call for return of UK-wide Independent Living Fund
Scrapping the benefit in England has left vulnerable people housebound, but those in Wales and Scotland still enjoy greater help. Story in the Guardian

See the Funding pages on VAC’s website for all the latest information.

Comic Relief Local Communities is now open
The current theme is ‘Promote reduction of isolation and disadvantage and access to services’.
Grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 will be available.
The programme aims to empower local people, enabling them to create lasting change in their communities. Projects should be run by people directly affected by the issues they are dealing with and priority will be given to small, locally based groups and organisations in areas of disadvantage that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community. Further details online.
Deadline for applications: 5pm Tuesday 6th September
If you have any questions please contact Thomas Flynn thomas.flynn@londoncf.org.uk or Matthew Harriot matthew.harriott@londoncf.org.uk

Camden Recycling Rewards – deadline 10th August 2016
Camden Recycling Rewards aims to reward communities within the borough for their recycling efforts. The application process is now open for local community projects to become beneficiaries of Recycling Rewards funding.
Through the scheme, residents will earn Green Points for their community when they recycle more and waste less, with 5 communities in the borough competing to earn the most Green Points. We have £5,000 to give away to local community projects every 6 months. The communities earning the most Green Points will get the biggest say in how the prize money is donated.
Shortlisted community projects will be featured on the Recycling Rewards website where residents can learn about their cause and vote for the project they want their community to support.
To apply to become a beneficiary of Camden Recycling Rewards please complete the application form and send it to Local Green Points before the deadline on the 10th August 2016 by email to info@localgreenpoints.com or by post to:
Local Green Points, 141-157 Acre Lane, London SW2 5UA

From paintbrushes to iPads: £3m fund to entice over-75s into the arts
Shakespeare may have described old age as “mere oblivion”, a depressing stage of life “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything”.
But Arts Council England disagrees, as it allocates £3 million of funding to organisations that encourage pensioners to take up creative pursuits.
Older people are to be invited to pick up their paintbrushes, dancing shoes or iPads as part of a major new project, Celebrating Age. Story from the Telegraph

Strategic Legal Fund for Vulnerable Young Migrants
The SLF supports strategic legal work which benefits vulnerable young migrants. We define this as:
~ Migrants or the children of migrants,
~ Who are under 25,
~ Who are living in poverty, and
~ Who face significant disadvantage or discrimination in connection with their (or their parents’) migration status.
The SLF funds strategic legal work in any area of law where vulnerable young migrants experience disadvantage or discrimination as a result of migration status.
The SLF only supports strategic legal work. We define this as work where the impact is likely to go beyond an individual case, and to result in changes to law, policy and practice that will benefit a wider group of people. Full details online.

Celebrate – A New Grants Programme from the Big Lottery Fund
When was the last time your local community came together? Grants of between £300 and £10,000 for groups to hold one off events or activities which celebrate their local community.
You could celebrate something from your community’s history or a local hero. Or maybe it could a chance to bring people together to get to know their neighbours better. Full details on the Big Lottery Website.

Church Urban Fund Near Neighbours Grants
The Near Neighbours programme offers small grants of between £250 and £5,000, as seed funding for local groups and organisations
working to bring together neighbours, and to develop relationships across diverse faiths and ethnicities to improve their communities.
Grants have offered funding to a broad range of work; environmental, social, cultural, artistic, and sporting, that furthers the programme’s aims of encouraging community interaction and social action. Full details at cuf.org.uk

Deutsche Bank Small Grants Fund
If you are a charity, voluntary or community group with an income of less than £250,000 per annum and you need funding for work focusing on increasing social inclusion and improving well being, this fund may be able to help.
The focus of the Small Grants Fund is to help society’s most disadvantaged and communities on the ground.
Projects may fall into any of the following areas:
~ Projects that promote social inclusion, reduce isolation and disadvantage and improve access to services;
~ Projects that advance people’s physical and mental health, wellbeing and safety
~ Projects that maximize people’s ability to strengthen community cohesion and build social capacity
The maximum grant size is £5,000. The application is online here.

Don’t forget to sign up to Funding Central for free email funding alerts. Go to www.fundingcentral.org.uk/

VAC’s Mental Health Training Programme for BMER groups
Are you a BMER group or do you work with BMER communities?
For more information about our any of our courses, please go to https://vac.org.uk/events/category/health-mental-health/. Click on the course you are interested in and follow the instructions to book your place and pay by card (if applicable). The charge for our Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid training courses is heavily subsidised at only £25 per person. All other mental health workshops are free.
Please note that VAC can only accept bookings from organisations working with BMER communities based in Camden, or which serve Camden BMER residents. Places are limited on each course to a maximum of two people per organisation. If you have any queries, please contact us on our team email address: mentalhealthteam@vac.org.uk

VAC has a programme of courses coming up: Click here to find out more. All courses are £25 for members (unless otherwise stated).

‘Made of Money’ is running a 2 day Facilitator Training in London on 5th – 6th October 2016
We also offer ‘in house’ trainings for any organisation or group of organisations to suit you.
‘Made of Money’ is an award winning financial literacy resource, developed by anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action. It aims to help groups talk about money and its impact on their lives, as well as learn vital money management skills. It is ideal to help front line workers offer support to those on low income, particularly in the run up to the introduction of Universal Credit, and welfare benefit changes.
The cost per person for the 2-day training, (incl lunch), depending on the size of your organisation (£100 for small organisations).
You will also need a set of workshop resources, charged at a subsidised rate of £115. This gives you everything you need to run Made of with groups and 1:1 sessions. (These can be shared within the organisation or between groups of organisations)
Contact mompartner@qsa.org.uk

Elfrida Rathbone fundraising evening at the Bengal Lancer on Wednesday 3rd August 7pm
The ticket price is £35 for that you will get a three course meal and a drink (wine or beer). We have two comedians booked and a band as well as a raffle for some great prizes including John Lewis beauty hampers, One free Curry per week for a year (starter and side included), Limited edition pictures etc.
Curry Night tickets are going to be on Sale from next Wednesday 20/7. In order to purchase them please either come into the office and speak to myself, Rosanna or Milen. Alternatively contact info@elfridacamden.org.uk or neil@elfridacamden.org.uk
This will be great night out with all the proceeds going to Elfrida Rathbone Camden

Citizens Advice Bureau open day for trainee advisors 2nd August
It will start at 10am, lasting for around 3 hours, and will be held at our Kentish Town branch. Citizens Advice Camden .

Recovery Collge Taster Courses Drop-in
Understanding Drug & Alcohol Use
Thursday 4 August, 6-6.30pm
Planning Ahead for your Future Mental Healthcare
Thursday 18 August, 2.30-3pm
Your Nearest Relative’s Rights in a Crisis
Thursday 18 August, 5.30-6pm
Men & Masculinity
Thursday 25 August, 2.30-3pm
All of these workshops take place at Phoenix Main Space at: Mind in Camden – Barnes House, 9-15 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LQ
Tel: 0207 241 8998. You can enrol for Autumn term after each session
Call The Recovery College on: 0203 317 6904 Visit our website : www.candi.nhs.uk/recoverycollege

Family Fun Days
Camden’s Tenant Participation team have family fun days coming up:
Goldington Crescent Gardens
Wednesday 17 August, 2 to 6pm
Brunswick Square Gardens
Thursday 6 October, 2 to 6pm
All events include: Brazilian dance and food; Pedal power smoothie making; Public artwork from Walls on Walls; Face painting; Camden Active Communities: table tennis, Zumba, boccia; Plus: talk to us about Camden services.
Contact tp@camden.gov.uk

Memory Cafes
Millman Street Memory Cafe, 3rd Monday of the month, 3-5pm. Tel: 020 7561 4820
Maitland Part Memory Cafe, 1st Wednesday of the month, 11am – 1pm. Tel020 7561 4820.

London for All
London for All / LVSC have a full programme of courses available for the voluntary sector. Go to the London for All website for full details.

Camden Carers’ Service
Has a full range of events and activities for unpaid carers in Camden. Find out more on the Camden Carers’ Service website www.camdencs.org.uk/activities

Don’t forget that Camden TDS run a full programme of course which are subsidised or free for voluntary sector partner organisations. There is a link to a list of partner organisations on the home page.

Find more Training Opportunities at www.vac.org.uk

Camden Young People’s Foundation are recruiting 3 posts
Chief Executive Officer
Fundraising Manager
Operations Officer
The Camden Young Peoples Foundation is a new initiative in Camden that aims to to fundraise to secure funding from new sources (e.g. Big Lottery and European Social Fund) into the local area and successfully secure commissions from the local authority
YPF will attract corporate and individual funding streams and will be a practical and simple way for the corporate sector to engage with CYP organisations.
YPF will also organise sector (and location) specific capacity building including training events, advice sessions and a forum for organisations to share ideas and best practice share venue spaces and develop a ‘venue bank’, coordinate sector networking opportunities and support services.
YPF will be a membership organisations for any group that works with Children and Young People in the Camden.
YPF will have a Trustee Board and wider steering group that will include representation from relevant organisations in Camden. This might include the local voluntary sector, the local authority, police, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Housing Associations, local schools, faith groups, uniformed groups, football clubs and sports organisations, the corporate sector and funder representation.
Download the application packs at the VAC webiste.

Freelance opportunity with Healthwatch Camden
Healthwatch Camden is seeking someone to work with us on our Audit of Engagement project. The position will operate on a self-funding basis. Remuneration will be dependent on income that the freelance worker is able to generate through delivery of the Audit of Involvement service for organisations in the borough of Camden and beyond on a cost recovery basis. The person we are seeking will need to demonstrate: experience in generating income through the delivery of consultancy services in the field of health and social care; a commitment to and an understanding of the theory and practice behind patient and public involvement; ability to work efficiently and independently. Relevant qualifications include: Masters in Business Administration; Masters in Health or Social Care or related field.
To apply please send CV and covering letter by Monday August 15th to: victoria.armitage@healthwatchcamden.co.uk
If you would like more information or to discuss this opportunity please email Anna Wright at: anna.wright@healthwatchcamden.co.uk

Age UK Camden seeks Services Manager (0.8 FTE)
Scale PO3 Scp 38 to 41 £36,548 to £39,460 pa FTE incl. London Weighting. Pro rata £29,238.40 to £31,568 pa for 28 hours
As one of the Service Managers on the Senior Management Team at Age UK Camden you will be responsible for a portfolio of services supporting older people in the borough.
You will be responsible for the operational and strategic management of some of these services and/or support functions like communications and volunteering. Strong management skills will see you successfully managing employees, services and budgets. You will also work to develop new services for AUC in and around Camden. Your understanding of the issues affecting older people and health and social care policy and practice in relation to this will see you delivering high quality services and quality assurance.
Closing date: Monday 8th August 2016 – 5.15 pm
Interview date: Wednesday 24th August 2016 (TBC)
These posts are based in Tavis House, Tavistock Square near Euston Station
For further details and an application form visit our website www.ageukcamden.org.uk or email jobs@ageukcamden.org.uk or telephone 020 7239 0400.

North London Rape Crisis Helpline Volunteer
Availability A minimum commitment of 12 months post-training from January to December 2017.
North London Rape Crisis is currently looking for helpline volunteers to provide support to women and girls age 13+ who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any time in their lives. The volunteers will be required to commit to 12 months post training and to attend a 10 week training course on Fridays from 7th October to 9th December 2016. You are required to attend 80% of the sessions to be able to proceed to working on the helpline. You will need to have an interest in working with survivors of sexual violence and will have the opportunity to work towards an OCN accredited qualification for ‘Professionals Working in the Sexual Violence Sector’ at level 2 or 3.
Please email us for the information pack and application form. The deadline to submit applications is by 10am on Tuesday 30th August.
Children & Family Services Assistant
Availability Minimum 1 day per week
This is a new role to work in our generic Camden Refuge Services. The C & F volunteer assistant will be supporting the day to day running of the children’s service. This may include: Supporting women to attend appointments, Draw up activity timetables, Running groups, Keep records of all activities and Making contact with women via telephone.
The candidate must have a relevant qualification working with children. Experience of working with children (desirable). Experience of running groups for women/children(desirable). The candidate must be proactive, flexible, good IT skills, have a Friendly & cheerful approach. Must have the ability to keep up to date records of activities, draw up activity timetables and ability to support women to attend external appointments.
Application forms must be submitted by Monday15th August 2016
Complex Needs Refuge Support Volunteer
Availability Minimum 1 day per week
We are looking for volunteers to work alongside the day team at our complex needs refuge. This is an extremely varied role, helping with the day to day running of the refuge and supporting women with complex needs affected by Domestic/Sexual Violence. Some of the tasks include accompanying service users to appointments & benefit agencies, encouraging residents to take up available activities and assisting with organising & running workshops or coffee mornings & group outings.
The ideal candidate must have awareness of Domestic/Sexual abuse, mental health and substance misuse and an understanding and experience working with clients who have complex needs.
Application forms must be submitted by Monday15th August 2016
Please note that our volunteer opportunities are open to women only (exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1), and that these volunteer roles are exempt from the rehabilitation of offenders act 1974 and subject to enhanced DBS checks. Contact volunteering@solacewomensaid.org for applications packs.

Terrence Higgins Trust is recruiting London and Brighton Volunteer Coordinator.
This post holder will coordinate the recruitment, training and supervision of London and Brighton volunteers in a wide range of roles. The successful candidate will optimise the contribution of volunteers to Terrence Higgins Trust services and ensure that a high profile is maintained for volunteer activities both inside the charity and in the wider community.
Based in London, this post holder will have a primary focus on London Volunteering (on average spending 4½ days per week) but will also support the Brighton volunteer programme (on average ½ day a week). The majority of work will be undertake at our central office in London. The post holder must be able to travel to Brighton on average twice a month (travel will be covered by THT). The successful candidate will join a dynamic and passionate team. For more information visit: http://tiny.cc/mluwcy

Are you looking to employ an assistant to help with your care needs? CamdenPAs can help
CamdenPAs.org.uk is a new service that makes it easy to find a personal assistant (PA) and puts you in control of your care and support.
If you have care needs, you can employ a PA to help you to live as independently as possible.
CamdenPAs features an online ‘marketplace’ for you to browse through a list of profiles of PAs in the borough. Profiles give details about the services they provide, their skills, experience and personal interests.
You can look through the list to find suitable matches and choose someone you like to help support you.
When you find a match you can contact the PA to arrange an interview and see how you get on. If you like them you can then work out contract details such as hours, duties and wages, and hire them.
If you do not find anyone suitable, you can set up your own a profile describing your requirements and interests, for PAs to look through and contact you.
You can employ a PA whether you receive a direct payment or fund your own care. If you receive direct payments you can get support with the employment from Personalised Support In Camden or AgeUK Camden.
Become a PA
If you’re a PA looking for work or are just starting out, CamdenPAs can help you. As well as helping you finding a job, the site features advice on looking for work, becoming a PA and where to get training.
Why not set up your profile today? Find out more, visit: camdenpas.org.uk or phone: 020 7278 4437

Find Jobs and Volunteering opportunities at https://www.vac.org.uk/

Improving how Camden Council talk to and engage with people who are d/Deaf, disabled or have a long term health condition
Camden Council would like to know how Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations in the borough engage with people, and what you think about our approach to engagement.
Please help us by completing our online survey by Friday 2 September.
We will listen to what you tell us when deciding what to do next.
The Council currently runs four forums, each held every three months, for people who are d/Deaf or have disabilities, and long term health conditions. These are:
• Mental health forum
• Learning disability forum
• Sensory needs forum
• Physical disability forum
The forums allow people tell us what they think of our services and how they can be improved. They were established in 2010. We are now looking at them again to see if any improvements can be made.
If you would like any further help, we would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us using the details below. You can also visit our project webpage.
Email: disability.engagement@camden.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7974 4835

Drafting an Equality and Inclusion Action Plan for Camden CCG
The CCG are in the process of developing an Equality and Inclusion Action plan.
The reason we wanted to use diversity and inclusion instead of equality and diversity is to show that we are not just committed to equalities for compliance reasons and we really want to improve our commissioning and workforce management by using the diversity in our community and also in the workforce. If we can make this diversity work only then we can achieve inclusion. So the focus of the action plan is to use diversity as a strength and make it work to achieve better results/outcomes for all (inclusion).
We would appreciate if you could complete the online survey which will close on Friday 29th July. You can access the survey by clicking on the following link: https://feedback.camdenccg.nhs.uk/community-ownership/diversity-and-inclusion-survey .
An open surgery will also be held on Thursday 21st July (10:30 – Midday) where Emdad Haque, Equality and Diversity Manager and I will be in attendance to discuss the development of the action plan and what you or a colleagues thoughts on priorities should be.

Camden Consultations
You can find all Camden consultation on the Wearecamden consultation hub.

FREE VAC Membership for Unfunded Groups: Voluntary Action Camden Small organisations with no paid staff and a turnover of less than £1,500 can now join for FREE. To take advantage of this offer just fill in the membership on the online form here.