Voluntary Action Camden e-bulletin 5th January 2018

The Information Commissioner’s Office has published a set of frequently asked questions about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for charities

GDPR is a set of new data protection rules which come into force on 25 May. The ICO published its main guidance, which is aimed at all organisations, in November.
The ICO has now published 12 frequently asked questions for charities, which draws on wider guidance to GDPR and directs users to other resources, such as the ICO’s self-assessment tool and its dedicated advice line for small organisations. More on this story at Civil Society.
VAC will be running a GDPR workshop for groups in Camden- details coming soon.

Camden CCG’s public consultation on mental health acute day units closes on Wednesday 10th January.

We are looking for 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. Take part in the consultation by responding to the survey online at https://feedback.camdenccg.nhs.uk/community-ownership/adu

Family Support Volunteer

Are you a parent, grandparent or have parenting experience?
Can you give 3 – 4 hours weekly to visit a family with young children who may be going through a difficult time?
Enhance your skills with our training, supervision and fulfilling volunteer role
Next Preparation Course Starting 17th January to 14th March. Every Wednesday 9.45 am to 2.45 pm
Certificates awarded & expenses paid
For information pack ring 020 7424 1603. email: info@homestartcamden.org or go to the website: www.homestartcamden.org.uk

Thyroid Trust

Next public meeting on 20 January at Crown Court Church, Russell Street, Covent Garden WC2. Speaker, Jo Clayton,  will give a talk about her experiences of mental health disturbances caused by her thyroid condition and her return to wellness. The meeting will include a guided meditation and discussion of self care techniques we can all use to calm the mind at times of stress. www.thyroidtrust.org

CCG Announcement Concerning Adult Community Health Commissioning

‘The management of Camden adults’ community health service commissioning is transferring back from Camden Council to Camden Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The teams supporting Continuing Health Care and Delayed Transfer of Care moved to the CCG already, and the physical disability and Adults community health services commissioning teams will transfer in January 2018.
Our joint priority continues to be ensuring Camden health and care services are managed and delivered in a coordinated way for the benefit of residents, and we will continue to collaborate closely to ensure this. Integrated commissioning arrangements for mental health, learning disabilities and children’s services will not change. The two organisations remain fully committed to delivering the Camden Local Care Strategy, a shared vision for local service transformation.
The Council and CCG will ensure a seamless management handover, and people using local adults’ community health services will not experience any changes. Further detail on the transition of management responsibilities, and how Camden CCG would like to work with organisations, will follow.’

Camden 2025

One of the ways you can get involved is to come along to one of the local events in January held across the borough where you can share your ideas for what Camden should be like in 2025.  Meet local councillors and staff from the council, and find out what other local residents and community groups are saying. Each event will start with some short talks, but feel free to drop in at any time.
If you would like further details about the events or if you require access needs to attend one of the events please contact Camden2025@camden.gov.uk.

3 conversations – Camden Adult Social Care

In line with its “Supporting people: connecting communities” strategic plan, Camden Adult Social Care is experimenting with a new way of working. This is called “three conversations” and is about building relationships with people and working with their strengths and assets.
To do this we have created innovation sites where practitioners are working differently to the rest of adult services.  In those innovation sites we are aiming to increase the time our practitioners have in Camden’s local communities, finding out about local resources and working with people around what they would like to happen in their lives. This involves reducing the amount of administration that our practitioners currently have to do to free them up to spend more time with residents.
Currently Adult Social Care has an innovation site in its Regents Park and St Pancras and Somerstown ward areas. A new team will be working in this area for 13 weeks starting on 4th December 2017. There will then be an evaluation of the work carried out by the innovation site.  Our aim is that by this time next year all of Camden adult social care will be working in this way, with more innovation sites being created throughout the year.

Public procurement professionals must step up and speak up in 2018

“2018 will be another challenging year for the public sector. Austerity, cuts to funding, staffing and services will continue unless there is either a change of government in Westminster or the current government very surprisingly undergoes a Damascene conversion. Demand for services, especially social care, will continue to grow.  There will be ridiculous calls for the public sector “to do more for less” even though most services are well beyond stretching point.” An important article from John Tizard on the Government Opportunities website.

Charities urge action on £2bn dormant assets funds

Charities have urged the government to take action on the up to £2bn of funding from dormant assets identified last year. So far the government has only announced plans to distribute £330m from dormant accounts to good causes over the next four years.
See more at Civil Society
In addition the Guardian reports that the government is planning to take 30 or 40 years to pay back the £425M taken from the lottery good causes fund to pay for the Olympics.

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

Camden Festival Fund – Announcement Soon

The Third Round of Rosa’s Woman to Woman Fund is Open

With grants of up to £25,000, local grassroots women’s organisations across the UK will be supported using funds from the ‘Tampon Tax.’ In celebration of the centenary of the women’s vote, this round of the Woman to Woman fund will have a renewed focus on leadership and representation and we are particularly interested in funding work that increases women’s representation, skills building and civic engagement.
Grants are available for groups with an income of under £100,000 per year, to support a wide range of charitable work that benefits women: from building confidence and leadership skills, tackling harassment and violence, to training in financial literacy and increasing engagement in decision-making – and much more besides.
As well as grants, Rosa will provide additional support that women’s groups tell us they need, including mentoring, training and networking opportunities. Find out more at the Rosa website.

The Community Shares Booster programme reopens today

£3 million funding is available for local people wanting to put business into community hands.
If you’re a local group needing an extra boost to set up or grow a community business, you can access up to £10,000 to help launch your community share offer and up to £100,000 match funding when the share offer goes live. Find out more at locality.org.uk

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.

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.

Voluntary Action Camden working in partnership with Mary Ward Centre.

Business Start Up for Social Enterprise, Micro Enterprise, Sole Trader.
11^th January – 08 February. 5 meetings.
Not your standard business start-up course. Straddle the social and business divide by using your own life experience in paid or voluntary work to set up a business enterprise with a social focus. This course covers the practical steps needed to set up as a sole trader and/or a micro enterprise and/or a social enterprise.
Thursdays. 17.30-20.30. £65. Concessions £23. Bursaries also available, on application,  to meet part or all of the costs of the course and the course is free for anyone on JSA/ESA/Universal Credit or who is unemployed and on a means tested benefit and intending to use the course to find work.
For further information and to apply please contact Rahul Miah. rahul.miah@marywardcentre.ac.uk 020 7269 6042

Coaching and Mentoring Introduction.
31^st January – 14^th February. 3 meetings.
This short course will give you an understanding of the difference between coaching and mentoring then illustrate the use of coaching and mentoring models and how to put theory into practice. Progression from this course is to the Award in Mentoring Skills course being held in May and June 2018.
Wednesday. 18.00 -20.30. £33. Concessions £11. Bursaries also available, on application, to meet part or all of the costs of the course and the course is free for anyone on JSA/ESA/Universal Credit or who is unemployed and on a means tested benefit and intending to use the course to find work.
For further information and to apply please contact Rahul Miah. rahul.miah@marywardcentre.ac.uk 020 7269 6042

Project Management.
Introductory Certificate. The APM Fundamentals Qualification. (www.apm.org.uk)
15^th February – 29 March. 7 meetings.
This course is for people who want skills in project management that could be applied in business or other environments. It is for those wishing to gain a broad understanding of the principles of the profession. Final assessment is by a short multiple-choice online exam. The course syllabus details are available on the Association for Project Management website – www.apm.org.uk.
Thursdays 18.00 – 20.30.  £425. Concessions £173. Bursaries also available, subject to application, to part or all of the costs of the course.
For further information and to apply please contact Rahul Miah. rahul.miah@marywardcentre.ac.uk 020 7269 6042

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

The Recovery College is open for enrolment for Spring Term 2018

There are free courses running January to March for everyone 18+ in Camden and Islington including several new courses running next term, including:
· Anger management
· LGBT and mental health
· Eating for wellbeing
· Singing for health
· Understanding BME cultures and mental health
You can find our new course guide and calendar attached and online at our webpage: www.candi.nhs.uk/recoverycollege    Hard copies are available at the College.

Black Women, Womanist learning and Higher Education: the Politics of Representation and Community Activism

13th February 2018 free
This conference led by Dr Jan Etienne through Birkbeck’s Institute for Social Research will examine the role of the black woman in promoting learning development and community activism. It brings together the work of researchers, academics and activists in the fields of gender, ‘race’, education and community development to explore womanism and the influence of education for building stronger, local communities.
For more details and to sign up, follow the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-women-womanist-learning-and-higher-education-the-politics-of-representation-and-community-tickets-40151089991

West Euston Partnership seeks Volunteer Co-Ordinator

WEP are currently recruiting for the role of volunteer co-ordinator.
You will be the first point of contact for managing the volunteers working on our reception desk.  We have 8-12 receptionists at any one time, all of whom need ongoing support.  This will be a large part of your role alongside being responsible for interviewing and recruiting new receptionists as needed.  As well, you will be showing new receptionists the ropes and making sure they have a full induction.
We ask for a commitment of 2 days a week for 6 months, although we do understand you may be seeking paid employment and cannot make a guaranteed undertaking for that length of time.
Get in touch with Diana Young, 020 7388 7932, diana@westeuston.org
or pop into our One Stop Shop to find out more.
Check out our other volunteer opportunities on the WEP website

Lauderdale House is seeking a Marketing & Communications Manager

Following a major £2.3m refurbishment a year ago we are looking for a dynamic individual to help move the organisation to a new level and expand our reach and profile, increasing audience for arts and education, establish a new profile for heritage, support our individual giving programme and increase our hospitality hires.
Email  sstocker@lauderdale.org.uk  for the full job description or look at http://www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk/page.asp?ID=2678&PID=51
Please send a current CV and tailored covering letter explaining how your skills and experience match the requirements for this to sstocker@lauderdale.org.uk

The Thyroid Trust seeks Treasurer

The Thyroid Trust is in the process of registering as a new charity to benefit people affected by thyroid disease, with funding already secured to cover operational costs and one member of staff.
We run regular support and information events in Central London, with expert speakers. Full details of the vacancy and how to apply can be found on the Honorary Treasurers forum.

Evelyn Oldfield Unit (EOU) is recruiting a Development Co-ordinator (Full time)

EOU is looking for someone with proven experience of project management, events management, bid writing, providing frontline services to vulnerable individuals, volunteer management, and the ability to build relationships at all levels.
Apply online at Charity Jobs

Nafsiyat is seeking an Administration Assistant to cover the administration duties of the centre during Monday and Thursday evenings.

The successful candidate will also help manage our online presence and assist with fundraising.
Experience working in administration and strong computer, literacy and numeracy skills are required.
Email adam@nafsiyat.org.uk for the full job description.
Please send a current CV and tailored covering letter (no more than 2 pages) explaining how your skills and experience match the requirements for this to recruitment@nafsiyat.org.uk by 5pm on Wednesday January 3rd 2018.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview on Friday January 12th.

Office Space to let at Clean Break in Kentish Town

Clean Break is inviting you take up residence in our North London studios to be part of our vibrant community of artists and facilitators working across theatre and criminal justice. We have a number of office spaces available for short term lease, as well as hot-desking space, meeting rooms, therapy rooms and studios for hire. We also offer women-only work spaces. Our building is in a prime location, situated just a short walk from Kentish Town station, Kentish Town West and Camden.  We will provide broadband and phone lines, and can offer some office furniture and desktop PCs at your request, as well as regular discounted rates on rehearsal and meeting spaces. For more information or prices contact Rachel at studios@cleanbreak.org.uk or call 020 7482 8600.

Our mailing address is:
29 – 31 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 3JA

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