Voluntary Action Camden Newsletter – 7th July 2023

Membership is free, click on the link box above and join us today

We also have our usual range of information on events and opportunities from around the Camden area.

We have been a part of the local voluntary and community sector for over a century and this comprehensive document speaks of a vision that works to support, enhance and connect the Camden VCS.

You can find all our priorities, our values, our approach and the impact we hope to achieve here

Camden Community Partner Fund 2024 to 2031
Camden Council’s Community Partner Fund is now open for applications. The deadline to submit a completed Expression of Interest form is 12 noon on Wednesday 20th September 2023.

The Fund is for Camden organisations who are deeply rooted in their communities and will provide unrestricted funding for seven years from April 2024 to March 2031.
More details about the fund including guidance notes and application form can be found here
The Community Partnership Team will be hosting three online sessions so organisations can find out more about the fund. To register for a session, please visit our website
If you have any further questions, please email vcs@camden.gov.uk

Junior Doctor Industrial Action 13 – 18 July: Choose the right NHS service
Information from North Central London NHS Integrated Care Board:

Strike action by junior doctors from Thursday 13th to Tuesday 18th July is likely to see appointments disrupted. Please attend your booked appointments unless you are told otherwise.
If you need medical help, please use NHS services wisely to make sure care is available to those who need it most.
Make sure you have enough of any medication you need, your local pharmacist can advise on common conditions and you can find your nearest at NHS.uk.
GP practices will continue to be open. If you have a health concern that is not life-threatening, support is available at NHS111 online or by phoning NHS 111.
If it is a life-threatening emergency such as serious illness or injury, you should still call 999.

Diabetes Health Talk
25th July: 11am – 12pm

Do you want to enhance your knowledge about Diabetes?
This engaging talk, delivered by an experienced health professional, will help you understand the challenges, and make a positive impact on your health.
For more information, contact healthaven@castlehaven.org.uk or call 020 7692 2238

London’s poverty rate is falling! But cautious celebration is recommended.
Between 2018/19 and 2021/22, the poverty rate has fallen from 28% to 25%. It’s now lower than at any other point since the current measure began in 1996/97
The fall in poverty has been spread across a range of demographic groups, but worryingly single pensioners have seen an increase of 2%
There’s been a sizeable reduction in the proportion of people in the private rented sector living in poverty
Rises in the National Minimum Wage and Real London Living Wage led to hourly pay increasing by 7.8% for the bottom 10% of earners between 2017 and 2022.

But cautious celebration is recommended – cost of renting in the capital has gone up. Here are some possible explanations as to why poverty rate in London has fallen:

People living in poverty have been priced out of London
Temporary uplift of Universal credit during the pandemic pulled people out of poverty – but it was only temporary
Social Metrics Commission’s framework found that 29% of Londoners in poverty are in deep and persistent poverty, compared to 16% in the rest of the UK

In summary, it is best to wait until next year’s poverty data is released before celebrating this news

Chadswell Healthy Living Centre Classes
Chadswell Healthy Living Centre would like to let you know, so you may plan if you are interested, about the following classes and services, starting in September.

Women Exercise Class 18+ – 10am – 11am on Tuesdays
Women Exercise Class 50+ – 11am – 12pm on Tuesdays

ESOL & Computer level 2 – 9.30am – 12pm on Tuesdays
ESOL Class Level 1 – 1.30pm – 3.30pm on Tuesdays

Maths Class – 10am – 12pm on Wednesdays

BAME Lunch Club Take Away Service – 1.30pm onwards on Wednesdays
To learn more about any of these, contact Sofina Razzaque on 0207 713 5545 or email Sofina.razzaque@kcbna.org.uk

Mind in Camden vacancy: Mental Health Primary Care Core Teams-Community Practice Lead
Closing Date – 12th July: 1.00pm

This is an exciting opportunity with Mind in Camden to create an innovative ‘co-production and learning programme’. This will be driven by two funded posts and embedded within Camden Core Teams. The two posts have been split across the two local VCS partners (Mind in Camden and Likewise). It is envisaged that there will be a strong partnership between the roles to achieve the desired outcomes of the programme.
To download an application pack or learn more, please click here, or phone 020 7911 0822, or email recruitment@mindincamden.org.uk

Training Link vacancy: New Director
Closing date – Friday 28 July: 5pm.

Training Link is a basic skills training centre in Somers Town, supporting people finding work and fulfilling their potential. We are looking for a part-time Director to start in October 2023 with experience of voluntary sector management; strategy and policy development; finance; fundraising and managing staff.
£35 an hour for 7 hours a week. To arrange a discussion about the post, or for an application pack, email Peter Lush on director@traininglink.org.uk

Newsletter Submissions
Please send any information (approximately 50-75 words long) that you would like included in our weekly newsletter to social@vac.org.uk

Voluntary Action Camden and Volunteer Centre Camden are delighted to announce the launch of the Camden Trustee Network.
Our first event is titled ‘Good Governance in Difficult Times’.

This is an online event taking place from 5 – 6:30pm on Tuesday 18th July. It will be hosted by Keith Morgan from Voluntary Action Camden and Dominic Pinkney from the Volunteer Centre Camden.
They will be joined by Hilary Barnard from HBMC / HBRL Consulting as our guest speaker who will be sharing his thoughts on the subject, followed by a Q&A, discussions and an opportunity to network.

VAC and VCC recognise the enormous importance of trustees, and the immense contribution they provide to our sector. The Camden Trustee Network aims to bring together trustees from different local VCSE organisations to share their experiences, skills, knowledge, and ideas, and to facilitate peer support.

The event is open to trustees from across the Camden VCSE, for more information and to register, please click here

VAC Consultancy Service
Contact us today if you need advice or support to develop any aspect of your established or aspiring Camden voluntary and community sector organisation.
Learn more here

VAC administered Google Grants
The VAC administered Google Grants scheme is still ongoing.

VAC have been funded by Google to provide up to £300 per quarter for small organisations looking to book one-off spaces to work in or to hold community sessions and training, and up to £600 for the ongoing rent of office and hot desking space.

It is available to small voluntary or community sector organisation with income under £150,000 a year looking to book a venue in Camden.

To find out more, please click here
or get in contact with Ricky at Rsingh@vac.org.uk

Funding opportunity for places of worship
The protective security schemes for places of worship provide funding for places of worship and associated faith community centres that are vulnerable to hate crime. Through these schemes, vulnerable places of worship can apply for physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, secure fencing, and intruder alarms.

SAFE are delivering 2 free webinars to guide you through the process on Wednesday 28th June at 2pm and Monday 10th July at 7pm
To register for these webinars, please click here

Suicide Prevention Funding
The government is due to make available a £10 million grant fund for suicide prevention VCSE organisations in England across 2023-24 to 2024-25.

The broad purpose of the fund will be two-fold. Firstly, to support the VCSE sector to meet the increased demand, in part brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Cost of Living crisis. Secondly, to support development of innovative preventative activities/services aimed at people at elevated risk of suicide.
The aim is to launch the fund in the coming months.
If you are interested, please sign up to the “Find a Grant” portal, so that you receive notifications once it is launched. You can do so here

Voter ID Grants programme
As you may be aware, the Elections Act (2022) has come into force and brings with it unprecedented changes to our voting rights. Your support is needed to continue to reach under-registered and under-represented Londoners who could be disproportionately impacted.
GLA polling shows that almost 1 in 3 Londoners (32%) are still unaware of the forthcoming photo ID requirement in order to vote.

The GLA is launching phase two of the impartial Voter ID public awareness campaign. The campaign is run in coordination and collaboration with the Electoral Commission, all London borough electoral services and a broad civil society coalition.
Learn more here

Camden VCS Future Grants Programme Update
Camden Council will shortly be launching three exciting new funds, with funding due to go live from April 2024. The three funding streams are:

Community Partner Fund: providing long term funding for key VCS community partners in Camden. This is an investment in the whole organisation and for organisations who are embedded in our communities.
Community Impact Project Funds: project funding to work together to tackle some of the biggest social challenges faced by Camden’s communities.
Organisational Foundations Funds: including organisational development grants and funding for organisations who lead the capacity building of the sector.

A summary report outlining the approach that lead to the design of these funds can be found here
Details of these funds will be posted on our website and through our newsletter. For the latest announcements, please register here
If you have any upcoming network meetings we would be happy to attend and speak about future grants, please email vcs@camden.gov.uk

Hilden Charitable Fund Now Accepting UK Applications
Deadline: 4pm on Friday 7th July

The Hilden Charitable Fund is an endowed grant-making foundation and a registered charity. They fund smaller UK-based organisations delivering projects within the UK to support social justice and to tackle disadvantage in specific areas of focus – providing unrestricted, core or project funding. They also fund projects overseas in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
For more details, please click here

Night Shelter Transformation Fund
Rolling deadline
The government has announced a £3.3m funding boost for night shelters across England.
Shelters will use the funding, which is part of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, to provide more beds and support services to homeless people.
To learn more, please click here

Engaged Environmental Science funding
Closing date for outlines: Wednesday 20th September

NERC Engaged Environmental Science funding opportunity is open for exemplar projects that demonstrate excellence in engaged environmental science research.
We welcome: •    environmental science research responding to both scientific and public needs •    equitable partnerships with charities and other intermediaries •    leaders in public engagement with research
Applications successfully shortlisted at outline stage will be provided with a partnership bursary and invited to submit a full application.
For full information, please see the UKRI Funding Finder and register for the webinar on Monday 3rd July 2023 at 11:30am.

To re-discover funding removed from this list, please see our newsletter archive here

Other available funders include:

• Camden Giving
• Grants Online
• My Funding Central
• Idox Camden 4 Community
• VAC main funding page

For the launch of our Health and Lifestyle Consolation external evaluation please join our trustees and staff to hear about the work we do.
This will be an opportunity to speak with carers about the services that are important to them and the current challenges they are facing, find out more about the services we offer, meet Camden Carers staff and Trustees, network and have lunch.
There will also be a selection of reports about carers available to take away
The launch of the report will be at 12.

If you are able to join us or have any questions please email allegra@camdencarers.org.uk 

Free training for careers in coffee with Well Grounded
Beginning on 25th July

Well Grounded’s next free 4-week coffee course, based in Camden, will be beginning soon. It includes barista skills and qualification, employability training, and a work placement.
This in-person training will be taking place at their Camden base (but is open to people from any borough).
There is also a 1 day course for Camden residents taking place on 13th July. Please email for more information on this.
Contact info@wellgroundedjobs.co.uk or apply via Google Forms

Camden New Town Community Festival
Saturday 15th July: 3.30 – 7.30pm and Sunday 16th July 12.00 – 7pm

On Saturday 15th there is Jazz, Folk, poetry and an open mike.
Sunday 16th is a Family day, with a parade, arts and crafts, children’s activities and much more.
Both days will be held at Camden Square Gardens, with the family day including the Playcentre.

If you would like to book a stall, volunteer or make a donation please contact the Festival office on 020 7485 6827 or email festival.mlcc@yahoo.co.uk

Community Health event
15th July: 12pm-5pm
Camden Council, in partnership with NHS colleagues from Brondesbury Medical Centre, are holding a Community Health event on Saturday 15th July, 12pm-5pm in Cumberland Market, Regents Park NW1 3QH

This event will bring together and highlight all aspects of health which will include education, physical activity, NHS health checks, family activities and many more to be confirmed.
It is an opportunity to bring people together to open up the conversation of health and wellbeing and get people engaged in health services.
There will be various all age workshops, and entertainment as well as health and wellbeing related talks and activities.

Mama Youth Project: Media Employability Training
10th – 12th July or 14th – 16th August
Join Mama Youth Project at the Sky TV Campus, London to learn about the key skills required to enter a career in the media. There will be 2 days of free training followed by a 3rd day which is paid.
To learn more about eligibility, deadlines and to register your interest, please click here

Learning Disability Network London ‘Spotlight On’ Event
Thursday 13 July at The London Canal Museum, 6.30-8.30pm
LDN London would like to invite you to the first of our ‘Spotlight on’ events: a series of talks designed to raise awareness about important issues related to learning disabilities.
The topic of our first event is:
The Abuse of people with learning disabilities: ‘Assessment and treatment units – a scandal in plain sight’.
We will focus on the injustice of people with learning disabilities still being locked up in assessment and treatment units and how we can change this.
We have a fantastic line up of speakers for you: Alexis Quinn, Sara Ryan, George Julian and Amanda Topps. They will tell their own stories, give their expert opinions on the subject and open the floor to questions and debate.
For more information and to book tickets please click here

Calthorpe Community Garden vacancy: Administrator
Calthorpe Community Garden is seeking an experienced and driven office administrator to take ownership of business stream management as well as the charity’s office tasks.
This is a full time (fixed term contract) six month role with an aim to develop into a long term position at the charity, so we are looking for someone who is ready to become part of the team!
To learn more and apply, please click here

Mind in Camden vacancy: Resources Director
Applications are invited for this key leadership role in Mind in Camden, an innovative and highly respected mental health charity.
We are looking for someone with substantial management, administration and human resources experience to manage a small team of staff engaged in providing Admin, IT, HR and Premises support to the organisation.
The post holder will be joining our Finance Director, Operations Director, CEO and Service Managers in the Senior Management team.
We welcome diversity, and applications from experienced Office/HR/Admin Managers taking a step up into a more responsible position are welcome.

To download an application pack, please click here, or phone 020 7911 0822 (24hrs), or email recruitment@mindincamden.org.uk

Social Prescribers Innovators Programme  
A new initiative is being delivered by the Camden Care Navigation and Social Prescribing Service, hosted by Age UK Camden (AUC) and Voluntary Action Camden.
The project aims to develop volunteering within the service as a way to help retain existing social prescribers and to support successful recruitment to new social prescriber roles.
Contact Mandira at mmanandhar@vac.org.uk if you are interested in volunteering on this new venture.

98 stackable chairs – Open to Offers!
Lauderdale House (Highgate Hill, Waterlow Park, London N6 5HG) have 96 stackable chairs available, they have a black metal frame with red fabric on the seats and backs. The condition of the red fabric varies, but is generally good (they have been used for weddings as recently as this month!).
We are open to offers for the chairs, and you are welcome to come and have a look at them before making an offer. They need to be removed on or around 13th July, however, as we will need the space for the new chairs.

The all-important specs:
Frame Width 50 cm.
Frame from front to back 52 cm.
Seat height 46 cm.
Overall height 84 cm.

Contact: Nathan Rasdall, marketing manager on nrasdall@lauderdale.org.uk or call 020 8348 8716

Local VCS Newsletters:

SHAK
Young Camden Foundation (Funding Newsletter)
Young Camden Foundation (Events and Training Newsletter)
AWN (sign up)
Fitzrovia Community Centre
Coram’s Field Community Newsletter (sign up)
CAWH Newsletter
St Pancras Community Association (sign up)
Castlehaven in Bloom (sign up)
UCL Volunteering Service Newsletter (sign up)
Latin American House
London Irish Centre
A Space for us
North London Cares: Upcoming Clubs

If you would like your Camden VCS newsletter added to this list, please email social@vac.org.uk

Looking for a previous newsletter entry? Find it in our archive here

Find presentations, recordings and resources from past forums here

Our mailing address is:
Greenwood Centre, Greenwood Place, London, NW5 1LB

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.