Voluntary Action Camden e-bulletin 8th July 2016

Somers Town Festival; Older Private Sector Tenants Programme; London Neighbourhood Planning Gathering; Survey regarding Social prescription and employment; The Spark events; F**kUp Nights: Conversations about failures and other things; Participants needed for Medical Apps focus groups; Newsletters + jobs, volunteers, events, training, offers and resources.

For the past 8 years VAC’s Asha-Kin Duale has been delivering training sessions on ‘Safeguarding Children’ and ‘Harmful Practices’ to BAMER community, faith groups and supplementary schools in Camden. These sessions are delivered as part of the Community Partnership Project, funded by Camden Council’s Children Safeguarding Board. The project has been running since 2007 to address issues of child safeguarding amongst Camden BAMER communities.
In this time I have met a variety of people, mainly older women, attending these sessions in groups, many of whom are initially wary of Social Services and the Police and their role in protecting children in the community. But recently a young couple with their baby attended my session. It was the first time I have ever seen a young couple attend one of my sessions. Read the full story at the VAC website.

Somers Town Festival Saturday 9th July
Chalton street 11.30am – 6.30pm
Music – two stages with variety rock, Oh!gunquit, blues, Becki, Mimi – HS2 song + more, Bengali music stage , Palestinian dance, funfair and children’s activities
fire engine, British Musuem science – Francis Crick Institute, Chalton Gallery performance, 4 Pearly Queens, History stall – photo exhibition
prizes photo competition at 4pm, massage + vintage make up, health & info stall, Dr bike to fix your bike, filming, Camden New Journal, New Horizon Youth stage and more…

Age UK London – Older Private Sector Tenants Programme
Age UK London is beginning work to raise awareness of the needs of older private sector tenants in London to find solutions to problems they face.
Age UK London needs private sector tenants age 50 and over to participate in a focus group in Camden to kickstart a programme to raise awareness of their needs and to find solutions to problems they face. There are 146,000 households renting privately in London where at least one person is aged over 50, and projections suggest this number is on the rise. The focus group is being held on 28th July at 11.00a.m-1.00pm, refreshments and a £10 M&S voucher for participants provided (help with travel if needed). For more information on the project see here. Contact Natalie Turner on research@ageuklondon.org.uk or call 0207 820 6770 to join or find out more.

How you can intervene when witnessing racist assaults
Racist insults and violence are very common all over Europe. Many people are afraid or do not know how to react when witnessing a racist incident. In such situations, civil courage is needed. Speaking up to support someone in need while others are silent is not easy. But civil courage is possible and can be trained.
United Against Racism provides some suggestions for courageous action and shows that some small steps can change a lot. You read the guidelines online.

London Neighbourhood Planning Gathering
An informal gathering of London’s Neighbourhood Planning people. Guest speakers and the emerging issues of Community Infrastructure Levy spending.
£5 RSVP angela@imagineplaces.co.uk
Thursday 21st July 6pm Kentish Town Congregation Church Hall, Kelly Street, NW1.

Survey regarding Social prescription and employment
The Work Foundation are running a questionnaire as part of a research project to explore the role of social prescribing in influencing employment outcomes for people of working age with long term health conditions. They are interested in hearing about social prescribing projects whose clients include people of working age (i.e. age 16-64) with any long term health condition (i.e. a condition that has lasted at least 12 months ) – so please complete their survey (which takes around 5-10 minutes).

The Spark is a series of community-based creative, informative, practical and exploratory workshops and activities across London this summer
From 25th June to 7th August 2016
Check out this video to see more of what the Spark is about
Hip Hop and Food Growing in Morden 29th July
International Struggles and Solidarity in Harringay 24th July
DJ workshops for women in Dalston 29th + 30th July
Black Women’s Stories- A Day of Celebrating each other in Tottenham 24th July
A social space for young LGBTQ+ in East London 17th July
+ Sessions on Gentrification, Politics of Food, Spirituality, Economics, Feminist Mothering, Stigma… and more!
Includes spaces just for Young People, People of Colour, Queer People & Self-defining Women only
All events are wheelchair accessible, and a kids space is available. Details here.

F**kUp Nights: Conversations about failures and other things
Lessons about celebrating and learning from entrepreneurial and professional failure – as lets face it 9 out of 10 enterprises fail. Let’s applaud you risk takers for getting back on your feet and also take the fear out of messing things up. £5, King Cross. Bookings

Participants needed for Medical Apps focus groups
Research explores medical apps for smartphones and how their use might be impacting our relationships with our health, our doctors, and those around us.
The sessions will take place on the evenings of Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 July @ UCL Graduate Hub Seminar Room.
I hope the evening will raise fruitful and interesting discussions about the many issues surrounding the development and use of medical apps, and the promise of digital health more generally.
If you are interested in discussing these topics further and would like to attend, please email deirdre.dinneen.11@ucl.ac.uk, letting me know which session suits you.

Newsletters
Read the latest Camden Patient Participation Groups Newsletter here.
Read the latest Kings Cross Impact Hub newsletter here.
Read the latest Navca Health and Social Care News here.
Read the Evelyn Oldfield Unit Newsletter about all things Refugee Community here.

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

Urban Growth Jobs in Mind, Age UK Camden, Renters Rights London, C4, Ageing Better in Camden, Kentish Town Community Centre, Abbey Community Centre 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

Where are the revolutionary public sector leaders?
“As the politically driven trend towards more privatisation and outsourcing grows, there is, I believe, an urgent need to refocus minds on alternatives, especially those models which are based on democratic principles, are user and/or staff led and designed to maximise the public benefit.” Read John Tizards article here.

Brexit Briefing: what charities can do
This briefing sheds light on the fallout of the decision to leave the EU, and assists charities and community groups in identifying some concrete actions to take. Go to the DSC website to download the report.

Five stories buried by Brexit
A huge rise in child poverty, a devastating UN critique of British austerity … these are among the news events they hope you will miss. Full story at the Guardian

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

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.

Community Economic Development Programme – closing date 22nd July
The second round of the Community Economic Development (CED) programme has now launched and is open for applications from communities who want to work towards seeing real economic change in their area.
This year’s programme is looking to support 20 new groups that want to take a lead in shaping their economies for the benefit of their community. Alongside this, we will be working with ten communities who participated in the programme last year, helping them ensure their plans become a reality.
Groups participating in this year’s programme will receive a package of grants and support to help them produce a dynamic and deliverable local economic plan. Your involvement in the scheme will take place from September 2016 to June 2017, but we are selecting our participants now, ready for the Autumn.
Applications are open until Friday 22 July –
http://mycommunity.org.uk/programme/community-economic-development/

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.

Soup Camden
• Would you like to make more connections in the Camden community?
• Are you working on a project that would benefit from some extra funding?
• Would you enjoy an evening of local food and arts entertainment?
Then join us at Camden Hub (8 Fairhazel Gardens, NW6 3SG) on Wednesday 13th July from 6.30pm – 9pm for Camden SOUP.
SOUP is a micro-granting dinner which celebrates and supports local community projects, artists and entrepreneurs in and around Camden. For a donation of £3.50 on the door, attendees will enjoy a hot meal, connect with other members of their community, and hear pitches from individuals/ organisations who are looking for funding, before voting on which idea the money raised from the evening should go to.
For more information, or to request a proposal form to be in with the chance of raising money for your project, please contact Abigail on 02072784437 or Abigail.darton@hcct.org.uk

The Edge Fund is open for applications – Deadline extended to 10th July
Supporting grass roots groups for justice and equality
Summer is nearly upon us, and we have just opened a new funding round. In Round 5 we awarded about £40,000 to 30 groups, and this summer we are looking forward to helping support even more groups fighting for social change.
Find out how to apply here.
There are loads of great groups and projects out there, but we don’t always hear about them, please help us spread the word by letting people know in your networks.

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).

Ageing Better in Camden: one year on!
Come and join us on Monday 11th July 2016, 10am-1pm at Age UK Camden, Tavis House, 1-6 Tavistock Square, WC1H 9NA
Listen to older people’s experiences of Ageing Better in Camden
Take part in a free iPad session about activities in Camden with Mary Ward Centre and RecommendMe
Celebrate with us over lunch and enjoy a slice of birthday cake
For more information email ageingbetterincamden@ageukcamden.org.uk or call 020 7239 0400

Camden New Town Community Festival
Saturday 16th July Jazz, poetry, folk 4 – 8pm
Sunday 17th July Family day noon – 7pm
In Camden Square Gardens, NW1
For more information or to book a stall contac the Festival Office on 020 7267 9586 or email festival.mlcc@yahoo.co.uk

Mental Health Forum
For users of mental health services, carers, community and voluntary groups and Camden councillors
Chair: Councillor Maeve McCormack
Wednesday 20 July from 6.00pm to 8.00pm at Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre, Belmont Street, London NW1 8HF
If you need help to travel to and from the forum, or to take part, then please contact Paul Kent by Monday 18 July. Telephone: 0207 974 6921 Email paul.kent@camden.gov.uk

Keeping Active Together Summer Tea Party And Bench to Bench Walk
The Community Association for West Hampstead with Kilburn Older Voices Exchange
Friday 22nd July 1.30pm Bench to Bench Walk
Meet at Little Waitrose, West End Lane, NW6 Followed by 2.30pm Tea Party hosted by W Heart at West Hampstead Community Centre, 17 Dornfell Street, NW6
Ring 020 7794 3729 for details. Email kat@cawh.org.uk

Charity Meetup No.6 – Future Funding
The theme will be around Funding for the Future and we will be inviting charities an social enterprises to share what has worked for them. We will have a panel of experts, activities, group discussions and networking.
Expert Panel: a panel of 4 experts from the social enterprise and charity sector on the future of fundraising. They will then take questions from the audience.
14th July, 6 – 8pm, at the Impact Hub King’s Cross, 34b York Way, N1 9AB
Tickets and more information available online here.

The Camden Mela
The Camden Mela will take place on Sunday 17July 2016 from 12-6.30pm at Coram’s Fields, 93 Guilford St, London WC1N 1AB.
The Camden Mela is a free Community Festival Celebrating the Diversity of Camden.
There will be lots of amazing entertainment for everyone . There will also be lots of stalls with delicious food, toys, clothing, artefacts, face painting, henna and a funfair.
Enjoy the free arts and crafts workshops and join the Mayor of Camden in the Parade at 1pm.
Please contact Nasim Ali on 07852 223403 or nasim.ali@kcbna.org.uk for further information or stall booking forms.

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.

An introduction to intergenerational working
An intensive one-day training session ideal for people who would like to organise activities or projects which bring together older and younger people, improve their intergenerational practice or make their organisation or service more age-inclusive.
The day is for anyone who would like to organise intergenerational events or improve their organisation’s intergenerational practice. The session is free of charge and open to anyone living, working, studying or volunteering in the London Borough of Camden.
The training will examine why intergenerational and age-friendly thinking is important, how to choose activities, how to prepare older and younger people to meet each other, how to plan and resource a project and how to build safe, creative and sustainable projects.
Tuesday 12 July 2016 9.45am – 4.45pm at Argenta House, Aspern Grove, Belsize Park, London NW3
For further information or to book a place, contact: vanda.carter@camden.gov.uk / 020 7974 2810

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

Urban Growth – Volunteer Assistant Required
Do you enjoy working outside? Do you want to gain experience of supporting individuals with wide ranging mental health needs? Do you love vegetables?
We are a mental health charity whose varied services provide specialist support and advice around problems at work, training and education. We aim to understand, support and enable the recovery of those affected by mental health issues.
This role includes:
• Working with and supporting the programme members on-site
• Guiding the programme members and ensuring that planned tasks are carried out
Desirable experience:
• At least one year’s experience of organic gardening
• Experience of working and supporting individuals in a community setting
• An interest in horticulture, mental health, healthy eating and cookery
Travel expenses of up to £6 per day will be reimbursed on a monthly basis.
Please ensure you are available for both of the programme days and that you can commit for six months.
Please note that you will need to agree to an Enhanced DBS check being carried out and the contact details of two recent referees.
Apply by sending your CV and a one page covering letter, explaining why you’d be the best person to join our programme as an assistant volunteer.
Application deadline, 6pm 24th July 2016 contact r.clarke@jobsinmind.org

Age UK Camden seeks Data and Monitoring Officer
Scale 5 scp 22-25 £23,895 – £25,876pa pro rata – 21 hours per week
Ageing Better Camden is looking for a Data and Monitoring Officer to take the lead on the collection, collation and presentation of data across the programme. We are looking for a dynamic self-starter who can take ownership of the data and ensure we are getting the most from it.
The post holder will be responsible, along with our evaluation and delivery partners, for collecting a range of data and entering this onto local and national evaluation databases.
The post holder will support the Programme Manager in the production of quarterly monitoring reports for the Strategic Programme Board and will also be responsible for supporting delivery partners in the collection of data and use of the database. Full details at www.ageukcamden.org.uk or email jobs@ageukcamden.org.uk.
Closing date – 19th July, Interview – Wednesday 3rd August.

Renters’ Rights London Project Co-ordinator (Maternity Cover)
Renters’ Rights London (RRL) is the first city wide information, education and engagement project for private renters that started in 2014 and is being funded by Trust for London initially for 3 years. It is hosted and managed by Camden Federation of Private Tenants.
The project’s co-ordinator is due to go on maternity leave for 12 months, starting on 31st July, and we are looking for a replacement to keep developing and driving the project forward in Year 3. It’s really important that renters’ voices are clearly heard as we also seek to bring about change in the private rented sector by working closely with other groups/organisations.
Salary: £27,000 per year pro-rata 17.5 hours per week. Pension: 3%
Location: 13 Malden Road, NW5 3HS
For more details about this exciting and challenging role go to:
www.cfpt.org.uk/about-us/jobs-with-us/
To find out more about Renters’ Rights London and what the project does go to: www.rentersrightslondon.org
To apply: Send your CV and a 2 page covering letter to: admin@cfpt.org.uk explaining the following:
1. Why you are interested in the job
2. How your skills, knowledge and experience fit the role
3. How you will go about informing, educating and consulting a wide variety of private renters
4. How soon you can start
Deadline for applications: 6pm on Monday 18th July
Interviews will be held: Week commencing Monday 25th July
We are an equal opportunities employer and particularly welcome and encourage applications from women, disabled people and other under-represented groups in the sector.

Swiss Cottage Community Centre seeks Director
£35,000 to £36,500 (dependent on experience) – Full time – Permanent
We are looking for an inspriational leader with strategic vision, commercial acumen and a sense of community needs and demands. This could be another Directorship you are taking up, or your first Directorship that has followed more than three years in a senior management role, or it could be the post you are looking for following more than five years experience as a middle manager. You could have worked in corporates, companies, the public sector or the voluntary and community sector, but wherever you are coming from you will be determined, committed and inspirational to our volunteers, staff and our communities in need. It is a tough time in the charity sector at the moment, but at the Swiss Cottage you will be walking in to a charity that has over thrity years of history, a modern building, has plenty of rooms to hire, a Nursery and a Cafe. There is lots to do here and for you to get your teeth stuck in to, so if you are up for the challenge, we would very much like to hear from you.
Please download the Person Specification, Job Description, Diversity Monitoring Form, and Application Form below and submit to Adrian Eaves by way of email at adrian@yourswiss.org
Deadline for completed applications is midnight on Monday 11th July 2016 and interviews will be held on Wednesday 20th June 2016. Full details here.

Community Connectors – Volunteer Support and Development Officer
24,500K (FTE); £11,900 per annum 17 hours per week
Camden Community Connectors Project is delivered by Camden Community Centres Consortium and is the largest part of Ageing Better in Camden. The purpose of the role is to support the Project Manager and 5 local Area Coordinators with the recruitment and retention of connector, ambassador and administrative volunteers to the Camden Community Connectors Project and to develop the scope of volunteering within the project.
Camden Community Connectors Project is funded by the Lottery. The project is coming to the end of its first year. The project aims to tackle isolation and loneliness amongst older people. Through participation in the programme older people are reconnected to local networks and their involvement strengthens their communities and improves their wellbeing.
Ageing Better in Camden is a partnership of older people and agencies in Camden working closely together to tackle the social isolation and loneliness that many older people in the borough experience. Please note the closing date for applications is the 14th of July with us interviewing on the 18th. Full details at Charity Jobs

Ageing Better in Camden Local Evaluation
Interested in helping to develop a much better understanding about what helps and what gets in the way of older Camden residents feeling less isolated and lonely? If you are, this could be the role for you. We are looking for people with a range of skills and experiences, including analysing data, interviewing people or you may have local knowledge of the area which you can bring to the team.
The time you commit to the role is up to you. The exact nature of the Community Evaluator role will depend on your individual interests, skills and availability. We expect CE’s to be involved in some of the following activities; Face-to-face interviews or focus groups Telephone discussions with people using the Ageing Better in Camden projects Desk-based research, Data analysis and interpretation. We will welcome whatever people have to offer and, as a volunteer, any out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.
If you are interested in becoming a community evaluator and would like to find out more, please contact the project administrator Becky: Becky.Strike@ndti.org.uk or call 01225 789135 and she will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Alternatively you can visit www.ndti.org.uk

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/

Share your experiences of Mental Health Services
Share your experiences of the mental health services provided by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. This survey has been requested by Councillors in the Health Scrutiny Committee at Camden council. Your views are really valuable and will help to develop local services. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact mubasshir.ajaz@camden.gov.uk or call 0207 527 1261 for details.
The online survey is here.

Volunteering with Voluntary and Community organisations in Camden
Camden Council aims to support volunteering across the borough as effectively as possible. To this end we’re undertaking a short survey that aims to find out what organisations are already doing and what – if anything – would best help them to recruit, support and retain volunteers in future. We will use this information to improve the support we offer. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and is confidential.
https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=146367278419
Please return the completed survey by Friday 8 July 2016 – many thanks.
If you would like to know more about volunteering in Camden or have any queries about the survey please contact Frances Connelly on 020 7974 6457 or email frances.connelly@camden.gov.uk

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.