Voluntary Action Camden e-bulletin 1st December 2017

Greenwood Centre, home to the Centre for Independent Living; Camden Can; GDPR is Coming; The Camden Society Courses for People with Learning Disabilities; Camden Family Reference Group; British Library Community Bulletin; ‘Reimagining Care Closer to Home’; Camden Disability Action seeks Chief Executive; Irish Chaplaincy Celebrates 60th Anniversary; Christmas Wreath Making Workshop; Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation; Call For Patients to Share Experiences; + funding, jobs, volunteers, events, training, offers and resources.

Greenwood Centre, which will be home to Camden’s first Centre for Independent Living. A centre run by disabled people, for disabled people.
It will be managed by a consortium of Camden disability organisations headed by Camden Disability Action – with an emphasis on services run by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities.
Ossie Stuart, Chair of Camden Disability Action, said: “Looking into the future – some people don’t want to be just receiving services. We are citizens of Camden. We have resources that we can give and will be giving to Camden.”
“Be it technology, be it entertainment, be it just lunch, we want this centre – Greenwood Place – to be a place where lots of people want to come.”
Once open, the new centre will offer:
~ Current specialist Camden services supporting people with a range of care and support needs, including those currently provided by New Shoots, Mayford, Peperfield and those run from Highgate Day Centres
~ Sensory rooms, including light, touch and sound features
~ Art and music rooms
~ A mock-up adapted flat to allow people to try out features which will help them to live independently, before they are installed at their own homes
~ Apprenticeship and work experience opportunities, including a community café run by people with disabilities.
~ Activities including singing, pottery classes, painting and gardening
~ Rooms for hire for service users and the wider community
Read more at the Camden Council website

VAC e-bulletin
The VAC e-bulletin is being redesigned and will be sent out through a different mailserver (mailchimp) in future. If you don’t find it in you inbox next Friday, please look in your spam or junk folders in the first instance. Look out for the new e-bulletin next week and let us know what you think.

Camden Can – giving Camden residents the chance to live a healthy life and stay a healthy weight
‘On 29 November, Camden Council and the Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, Healthy Lives Partnership launched Camden Can, an exciting new public health initiative. Camden Can is a programme of activities including the Camden Can Innovation Fund and Camden Can Pledge that aim to improve the health of those living and working in the borough.
The Camden Can Innovation Fund will provide grants of up to £25,000 to support groups and organisations that have new ideas to help address the growing rates of overweight and obesity in Camden.
The Camden Can Pledge is for every Camden business, organisation or employer. Sign up and help promote healthier eating and increased activity levels. Organisations can do this by making two commitments suited to their organisation, such as providing free drinking water or making active travel to work easier.
For the latest information on Camden Can activities or make a Camden Can Pledge, visit camden.gov.uk/camdencan. Applications to the innovation fund will open in mid-December.’

GDPR is Coming
We’ve added the Voluntary Arts guide to GDPR to our webpage of resources. It’s a straightforward guide to the General Data Protection Regulation aimed at small arts organisations but applicable to any small organisation. It has good advice on making sure newsletters, mailing lists and data bases are all GDPR complaint. You can download it here. Meanwhile VAC have some more GDPR resources on our website.

The Camden Society Courses for People with Learning Disabilities
Booking for our courses starting in January is in just two weeks – Wednesday 13th December
Courses include:
– Money Management
– Healthy Living
– Art Therapy – focusing on relationships
– Tai Chi
– Arts & Crafts
Full details at The Camden Society Website
All courses are specifically designed for people with learning disabilities and all are free

Camden Family Reference Group
The next Family Members’ Reference Group is on Wednesday 6 December from 10.30-12.30pm at Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, N7 0SJ. Ossie Stuart, the Chair of Camden Disability action will talk in more detail about how the Centre for Independent Living (CIL) will run. We will express the voice of the family carer in caring for people with learning disabilities to ensure it is appropriately represented at the CIL.
We will also discuss the review of floating support services with Camden Council and how carers can engage on this, where relevant.
Let me know if you can attend or have any questions. Philippa Russell Philippa@camdencarers.org.uk

British Library Community Bulletin
You can view the latest British Library Community Bulletin here.

‘Reimagining Care Closer to Home’ – 2nd Partnership Session
Reimagine self-care and social prescribing in North London, bringing together local residents and the voluntary sector to work with the NHS and local government. With a focus on groups of GP practices called ‘Care Closer to Home Integrated Networks’ or ‘CHINs’, we will look at how different people and organisations come together in North London to create a system of care in communities – looking at what works locally and across North London. Booking and details at Eventbrite

Camden Disability Action seeks: Chief Executive –Camden Disability Action and Camden Centre for Independent Living Full Time. £40,000 per year. Deadline extended to 1st December..
Camden Disability Action (CDA) is a disabled people’s user led organisation – an organisation run and controlled by disabled people.This is an exciting opportunity to to develop and run the Camden Centre for Independent Living in Camden. (CCIL). Full details below in the Jobs section.

Irish Chaplaincy Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Set up in 1957 and based in Camden the Irish Chaplaincy celebrates 60 years of service this year. You can view the latest newsletter here.

Free Christmas Wreath Making Workshop
Thursday 7th December 1.00 – 3.00pm
For all ages and abilities. Just turn up.
The Horticulture Hub, Corner of Hartland and Hawley Road, NW1.
www.castlehaven.org.uk email: info@castlehaven.org.uk 020 7485 2286

Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation
You can read the latest MEWSo newsletter here.

Call For Patients to Share Experiences
Camden CCG is looking for patients (Incl. carers) who have one of the following long term conditions and used services related to their condition in Camden over the last 24 months.
· Diabetes
· Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
· Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
· Hypertension
· Epilepsy
· Heart failure
· Atrial Fibrillation (AF)
· Stroke
· Neurological diseases
Dr Jeremy Sandford, Long Term Conditions Clinical Lead at Camden CCG wishes to invite patients and their carers to discuss their experiences around services (what is good, bad and could be improved).
The meetings will be held in November and if you are interested in giving feedback contact:
Email: martin.emery@nhs.net or Telephone: 0203 688 1755)

Camden Health Kick
Find out about Camden Health Kick events on the calendar.

Catch up with the latest news from Camden Disability Action on the CDA website.

Camden Disability Action, Elfrida Rathbone Camden, Latin American House, Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre, Coram’s Fields, Kids Network, Reach Out, VAC, and Kings Cross Jobs are recruiting. See Jobs and Volunteers section below.

Listen to stories about the Camden Community at Camden Community Radio.

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

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

The council’s Capacity Building Bulletin is available here.

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

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

BBC Children in Need Main Grants Programme 2018 Deadlines Announced
The BBC Children in Need Main Grants programme will consider applications requesting grants of over £10,000 to support projects for up to three years.
Registered charities and not-for-profit organisations in the UK can apply if they are supporting children and young people of 18 years and under who are experiencing disadvantage through:
~ Illness, distress, abuse or neglect.
~ Any kind of disability.
~ Behavioural or psychological difficulties.
~ Living in poverty or situations of deprivation.
Organisations must be working to combat this disadvantage and make a real difference to children and young people’s lives.
Organisations that already hold a grant from Children in Need can apply for further funding providing the current grant is coming to an end within the next 12 months. Applicants will need to be able to provide convincing evidence of the differences the grant has made to the lives of the disadvantaged children and young people the organisation has worked with.
There are three deadlines for initial applications in 2018: 16 January 2018, 17 May 2018 and 13 September 2018 (midnight). Find out more at the BBC Children in Need website.

Veolia relaunch £50,000 Recycling Fund for London
We can give a cash boost of up to £1000, in kind resources and staff volunteers where relevant, for projects which:
-Inspire people and businesses to do the right thing with their waste
-Make use of recycled, reused or reclaimed materials
-Protect and preserve resources or enhance local environments
We want to support small projects which will make a big difference to help the community increase reuse and recycling. If you think your project could engage your neighbours in their recycling service and inspire them to do the right thing with their waste we want to hear from you.
Read more about the fund at the Veolia website.
To apply and learn more about the fund visit: Veolia’s Recycling Fund for Communities.

Ageing Better in Camden Current Funding Opportunities
Community Activities Programme
Ageing Better in Camden are pleased to announce a Community Activities Programme which will award 2 year funding contracts for organisations working to reduce social isolation and loneliness for those aged over 60 through the delivery of supportive accessible activities. Up to 5 contracts will be awarded and each will be worth £20,000 over 2 years. The deadline is 18th December 2017.
Click here for further information and documents
Age UK Camden’s Action Grants Scheme
Ageing Better in Camden are also pleased to announce that once again they will be supporting Age UK Camden’s Annual Action Grants scheme. These are small grants of up to £200 but with a majority being for £100 and are for organisations with an income of £30,000 or less. The application form is short and simple. The deadline is 9am on 11th December 2017.
Click here for further information and documents

Richard Reeve’s Foundation Careers Education and Guidance grants programme
The Richard Reeve’s Foundation is inviting applications under its new Careers Education and Guidance grants programme which aims to strengthen and embed improved careers education and guidance in Camden and Islington secondary schools so that all young people are effectively prepared for the world of work.
Applications are invited from schools or partner organisations working with them, for work that significantly extends or enhances existing provision, with priority given to proposals reflecting an intention to embed structured careers programmes that ensure all students receive a progression of planned work-related learning year on year.
Grant funding is available for up to a three year period, with awards likely to range, in total, from £15,000 to £70,000 for work in a single school, up to £200,000 for work across multiple schools.
The full programme guidelines and applications are available here. Closing date 18th December 2017

Camden Giving
Camden Giving have published the timetable for the various grants programmes they will be offering over the coming 12 months. There are 6 programmes in total. You can view the full timetable here.

Bags of Help for local projects
Bags of Help is Tesco’s exciting local community grant scheme where the money raised by the sale of carrier bags is being used to fund thousands of local projects in communities right across the UK. Projects that bring benefit to their community will get the green light – these range from improving community buildings and outdoor spaces to buying new equipment, training coaches or volunteers and hosting community events. Apply online at the Groundwork Bags of Help website.

Healthy Minds Programme with Mind in Camden
There is a full programme of activities taking place at the Living Centre as part of the Healthy Minds programme. Full details on the VAC training calendar.

More details on the VAC website: https://vac.org.uk/events/

Come along with your family & friends to Camden Carers’ Service Winter Fair
All are welcome This is a fundraising event for CCS to help raise money so we can offer more activities and outings to unpaid carers across the borough.
Saturday 2nd December 2017 12pm-3pm
At Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre, Belmont Street, NW1 8HF
There will be lots of things to purchase on the day including: face painting, food & drinks, henna, games, music, new clothes and other items on sale and much more.

Opening Doors Fundraising Concert
Nadine Benjamin Performing at St. Saviour’s Church, Eton Road, NW3 4SU at 7pm, on Friday 8th December. Arias by Puccini, Verdi and Mozart, including ‘Mi chiamano Mimì’ and ‘Quando m’en vo’ from Puccini’s La bohème.
Tickets £20 (£10 for earlybirds!). Book at Eventbrite
Opening Doors London supports older members of the LGBT community

Sense Activities
Sense run a range of activities for anyone 14+ with a sensory impairment or complex need who wants to get involved including:
Yoga, climbing, ice skating, swimming and more. Full details in the online newsletter
Or contact Taylor Huxster. Regional Sports Coordinator: taylor.huxster@sense.org.uk or Telephone: 02070149365 (Tuesday – Thursday)

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 Disability Action seeks: Chief Executive –Camden Disability Action and Camden Centre for Independent Living
Full Time. £40,000 per year.
Camden Disability Action (CDA) is a disabled people’s user led organisation – an organisation run and controlled by disabled people.CDA is the lead organisation for a local consortium that has won the tender to develop and run the Camden Centre for Independent Living in Camden. (CCIL).
CCIL will provide the borough’s disabled people with a major opportunity to increase their choice and control over the shape of services. It will also become a major arena for inclusion, employment and innovation where disabled people create new and better services and opportunities together.
CDA and the CCIL Committee are now looking for an enthusiastic and experienced leader who excels at working with people and preferably has experience in the disability and/or civil society sectors. The post holder will have excellent relationship building skills, experience of project management, managing staff and volunteers, raising funds, negotiating with commissioners and setting up a new organisation in a brand new building.
This service is run for disabled people and is therefore restricted to disabled applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Paragraph 1. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
For further details, please contact Ossie Stuart (ossie@sandal.plus.com) or Simone Hensby (Shensby@vac.org.uk ). Download the application pack here.
Closing Date: Friday, 1 December, 2017 Interviews: w/c beginning 11 December 2017

Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre seeks BAMER Specialist Advocate
Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre is recruiting for a BAMER Specialist Advocate for an innovative specialist project for women experiencing violence and multiple disadvantage.
Please see below for details:
BAMER Specialist Advocate
21 hrs per week – fixed term contract (1 year)
Salary: £28,500 incl. ILW
Closing date: 17th December 2017 at midnight
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Isabelle Terrisson, Senior Operations Manager. For all other details and an application pack, please contact Ruksana Begum, HR Administrator: Tel: 020 7388 8198 E-mail: info@hopscotchawc.org.uk
Web: www.hopscotchawc.org.uk Please do not send CVs as they will not be considered.
Hopscotch recruitment is carried out in line with the safer recruitment practices.

Creative Therapist Job Vacancy at Elfrida Rathbone Camden
Part-Time, Fixed-Term – NJC scp 26 -28 £13,436 – £14,219
Elfrida Rathbone Camden is a charity that works to support independence, empowerment and involvement in the community for disabled people, children and young people, parents and families. Our services include family support, disability awareness training and social and educational opportunities for young people with learning disabilities. We currently seek an experienced Creative Therapist to engage with people with learning disabilities from our Leighton College and parents with multiple needs from our Camden Futures service through creative workshops around their emotional and mental well-being.
This role will involve:
· The delivery of exploratory and expressive creative therapy sessions for vulnerable young people and parents with emotional or mental health support needs in 1:1 and small group settings on a weekly basis for a twelve month period.
· Books Beyond Words sessions to allowing non-verbal methods and a safe therapeutic relationship to build self-esteem, self-awareness, resilience and confidence.
The successful candidate will have experience in empowering vulnerable people towards achieving their potential and inspiring them to develop a positive and solution focused attitude. The successful candidate will have experience and understanding of working within or to deliver community based support services. For full job description and application form, please go to our website: http://www2.elfridacamden.org.uk/work-with-us/. Closing date: 8th December 2017, 10am. Please contact Francesca Capelli on 02074241622 if you have any questions.

Latin American House has two Vacancies
Nursery Nurse
40 hours per week + Generous package inc. annual salary £19,552, pension entitlement, 25 days holidays + bank holidays
Nursery Menchú is looking for a bilingual (Spanish-English) practitioner, to join our small nursery based in Kilburn, North West London.
The ideal candidate will be qualified to a Level 3 in early years or equivalent, and will have experience working in a nursery environment.
Must be reliable, hard working with a passion for childcare and outdoor play.
Knowledge of EYFS essential.
Must be able to work shifts between 8 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday.
Closing date for applications: 4 December 2017, 5 pm. Interview date: 12 December 2017. This is a permanent contract, to start 2 January 2018.
Spanish Saturday School Teacher
We are looking for a teacher who is passionate about teaching Spanish to young children (ages 5-7 years) to join our Children’s Spanish Saturday School starting in 6 January 2018.
You will be a native Spanish speaker, with experience of teaching children and with a teaching qualification, preferably with some experience teaching Spanish as a foreign language (we accept non-UK teaching qualifications).
Hours of Work: 5 hours per week (3 hours actual teaching) every Saturday during term time.
Hourly rate: £10 per hour plus generous paid annual leave entitlement (to be taken outside term-time)
Location: Kilburn, London. This is a permanent contract.
The Spanish Saturday School is part of Latin American House’s Children’s Education Project.
Closing date for applications: 4 December 2017, 5pm. Interview dates: Saturday 9 December 2017.
Applications received after the closing date and CVs will not be considered.
Applications forms and more information available at: www.casalatina.org.uk

Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre is recruiting for 2 Employment Advisors for the Big Lottery/ESF funded employment project, Building Better Opportunities (BBO).
Employment Advisor x2 35hrs per week, £28,183 incl. ILW – until June 2019.
Closing date: 22nd December 2017
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Isabelle Terrisson, Senior Operations Manager. For all other details and an application pack, download it here or contact Ruksana Begum, HR Administrator: Tel: 020 7388 8198 E-mail: info@hopscotchawc.org.uk www.hopscotchawc.org.uk
Please do not send CVs as they will not be considered.
Hopscotch recruitment is carried out in line with the safer recruitment practices.

Children’s mentoring charity, ReachOut, operate in Camden and seek Volunteers
Volunteer either one or two hours a week to become a mentor and role model to a local young person and help make a difference. Mentoring projects run once a week and no experience is required, training is provided and all we ask is that you commit to the project.
If you’d like to sign up go to: www.reachoutuk.org/mentor or call Harriet on: 020 3489 9797

Coram’s Fields seeks Sports Development Officer
£26,000 per annum 35 hours per week
Fundamental to your success in the role will be an unrivalled commitment to the lives of children and young people, supported by an in depth understanding of the multiple challenges that they face, and in particular the challenges facing young women in sport. Even more crucial, will be your ability to turn this commitment and understanding into high impact services that produce tangible outcomes for those young people that we support.
You’ll be an inspirational leader, bringing a creative flair to your work with young people, harnessing the skills of those around you to deliver a truly exceptional sporting offer.
To apply, please see the full application details at the Coram’s Fields website.
Applications should be returned by 9am on Monday 4th December.

Tech savvy volunteer needed
Small Camden charity is looking for a volunteer with social media skills to help update and manage the mailing list and web site. If you are interested please contact Simone Hensby, shensbay@vac.org.uk for further details.

Become a Mentor with The Kids Network
The Kids Network is looking for committed, fun and passionate volunteers to make a difference to a little Londoner.
Our structured mentoring programme is supporting 8-11 year olds at weekends with their social emotional development before they transition into secondary school.
Kick start 2018 by doing something meaningful. Get connected to your community and make a difference to a disadvantaged child’s life. Find out more at www.thekidsnetwork.org.uk/

Volunteers are needed in GP practices
Voluntary Action Camden (VAC) are training volunteers to become Community Health Advocates in local GP practices.
• Would you like to support people in your community to improve their health and their access to services that will help them to maintain good health and wellbeing?
• Do you want to develop experience and skills in the field of public health?
• Can you commit at least 2 hours per week?
VAC is offering free Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) Level 1 training to those who want to volunteer to become Community Health Advocates.
After completing the training, VAC will support local teams of volunteers to act as links between community based services and GPs. In return for your commitment to the project for 2 hours a week we offer support, out of pocket expenses and other professional development opportunities.
For more information, please contact Mandira Manandhar, Health Advocate Volunteer Co-ordinator (Mon, Tues and Thurs) 020 7284 6550/07930669417 or email: mmanandhar@vac.org.uk
Peter Simonson on 020 7284 6550 or email: projectsupport@vac.org.uk

Kings Cross Jobs
You can view a constantly changing range of job vacancies on the Kings Cross website. For the latest news on jobs sign up to job alerts.

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

For all things volunteering contact Volunteer Centre Camden. You can read the latest VCC news here.

Camden Clinical Commissioning Group consultation on mental health acute day units
We would like your views on how to best organise acute mental health day care services in Camden, to make cost savings while continuing to provide good patient care.
The NHS and local Government are facing increasing financial pressures nationally, with a gap in funding for both health and social care. In Camden, the money we receive from the government is reducing, while demand for local services is increasing. This means we need make sure every pound we spend has the maximum benefit for the health of, and the quality of care for, Camden patients. It has been essential to review our care provision, to check what is working well, but also to see if there are new ways of delivering high quality, cost-effective care within very tight budgets.
As a result, we have identified our local Mental Health Acute Day Units as an area where cost savings are possible, whilst still providing Camden residents with appropriate, timely and quality care. The reason these services have been identified is because they are being underused.
You can also participate by taking part in our survey on Citizens Space open to 10 January 2018 which can be done via our website https://feedback.camdenccg.nhs.uk/community-ownership/adu

Little Village Camden needs to find new premises by February – Can you help?
Little Village Camden currently occupy a 1,500 sqft space and will need at least 500sqft of permanent storage and then access to an adjoining room (hall or community centre) where we could hold sessions with the families we support 3 times a week. We can pay rent and ad-hoc room hire. We are very happy to share space with a partner organisation who may be struggling to pay their rent and need some help on that front.
Contact: Kirsten Westlake email: hellocamden@littlevillagehq.org tel: 07760297051
web: www.littlevillagehq.org

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 for FREE. To take advantage of this offer just fill in the membership on the online form here.

Camden Carers Service
Camden Carers Service (CCS) offers advice, support and activities for family and other unpaid carers across the borough. Tel 020 7428 8950 or email info@camdencarers.org.uk – read more about our services at www.camdencs.org.uk or www.facebook.com