VCSA Newsletter Week of 18th April 2022

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Newsletter for the Week of 18th April 2022


News


BBC Make a Difference Logo

Nominate Volunteers or Community Groups in Shropshire for BBC "Make a Difference" Award

BBC Radio Shropshire brings communities together to make a difference closer to home.

The BBC want to celebrate people who are going above and beyond to make a difference where you live.

The awards are a chance to say “Thank You” and show recognition and appreciation for people who love to make life better for others.

Categories for nominations are:

  • Volunteers
  • Community Groups
  • Fundraiser
  • Carer
  • Great Neighbour
  • Key Worker
  • Environmental Award
  • The Together Award

Nominations close on Friday 29 April 2022 at 11pm. Nomination form and more information can be found on the BBC Make a Difference Award website.


ICS Dementia vision picture of flowers saying people can 'pick' their care plan

Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin ICS Unveils New Dementia Vision

The quality of life for people living with dementia and their carers in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is set to be transformed thanks to a new, more personalised and joined-up service model being launched in the county. 

The model aims to provide people living with dementia the support and resources they need in order to live their life to its fullest – and as they choose to.

Badged as the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Dementia Vision, the strategy has been informed by lived experience – of those who live with dementia and those caring for people with dementia. 

The new model will see the introduction of new patient-facing roles in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin’s Integrated Care System (ICS) including Admiral Nurses – a role that currently exists in Telford but is currently being recruited for in Shropshire. In Shropshire, Admiral Nurses will provide psycho-social and practical support for people affected by dementia, when they are facing difficulties. 

Another new role to be introduced as part of the vision are Dementia Navigators, who will support people living with dementia to develop their own Living Well plan and they will be a contact point for advice, guidance and access to more help, if required. 

A number of Dementia Link Workers will also be appointed to work in the county, provided by the Alzheimer’s Society. They will support individuals living with dementia by helping them to remain socially engaged and active in their communities. They will also help contribute to the individual’s Living Well Plan, which will be introduced as part of regular reviews. These plans will be kept up-to-date and relevant for the individual.

The Dementia Vision will see all local health and care partners working in a more joined-up system, through sharing information and working as one multi-disciplinary team. This also means that the NHS will work even closer with local care homes in order to provide appropriate care and support for residents. 

To read more about the new Dementia Vision, please visit the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System website.


two young people looking at jobs on a computer

SYST Looking for Groups to Join "Charity Drop-In" Event for Young People in Telford 

Does your charity, voluntary group or social enterprise work with young people in Telford & Wrekin?

the Shropshire Youth Support Trust (SYST) is looking to get your organisation involved in its "Charity Drop-In" event for young people ages 19-24 in Telford & Wrekin.

The event will be held May 27th 2022, and will be hybrid, so your organisation can either attend in person or online, and there is no fee to book a slot. If you can't spare anyone to be present at the event, you can also just send materials to be put out.

Supported by the Telford & Wrekin Council Safer and Stronger Communities Project, the event is aimed at showcasing the support and volunteer opportunities available to young people in Telford & Wrekin, with a particular aim at those young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Please download the flyer or email Sadie Edwards at SYST for more information and to book your organisation's slot.


blue computer screen

ICS and CCG Seeking Input on Website

The Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (STW) Integrated Care System (ICS) and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) would like your help to develop their website and get your feedback on our overall public communications.

They are holding two workshops, on Monday 25 April, from 2-3:30pm and from 6:30-8pm. The workshops are designed to gather thoughts on the current CCG website, the redevelopment plans for the site, and their wider communications, such as social media.

This event is open to anyone across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin who would like to get involved in designing the future of the CCG and ICS online presence.

To find out more and register for the workshop, please visit the Eventbrite site.


KOMS banner with cartoon people being active

Keep on Moving Shropshire:

Taster Sessions and Recruitment

The Keep on Moving Shropshire (KOMS) Festival is just around the corner, with the launch event scheduled for 8th May and many other events and taster sessions being offered during the three-week festival.

If your organisation is offering taster sessions, please be sure to register your events using the web form before it's too late! 

The KOMS Fest organisers would also ask that you be sure to encourage your service users and communities to take part in this incredible event for over 55s in Shropshire. You can use this flyer for distribution and advertisement on your website or social media.


Interested in having your organisation's stories of success featured in our newsletter, website or social media? We want to hear from you! Contact: VCSAssembly@shropshire.gov.uk

 

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Events and Training Opportunities


Annual Assembly invitation

One Week Left - Register Now for the VCSA Annual Assembly

Don't forget to book your place for the 2022 VCSA Annual Assembly Meeting. VCSA members and partners are all welcome to this free event. This is a great opportunity to learn about what's happening in the sector, to have your voice heard on important priorities, and to get in some much-missed networking time!

Full event details can be found on our website, or on the Eventbrite booking page.

Members can feel free to bring flyers/information to put out on tables.

Refreshments will be served.

If you need a lift from the Shrewsbury bus station or train station, email Sarah Hampson, as we will be arranging a shuttle to take people from public transport to the Football Club.


Two for One Offer – Shropshire Resilience Conference 2022

Limited places available – book by 27th April 2022

The Shropshire Resilience Conference will take place at Shrewsbury Town Football Club on 19 May 2022 (during National Business Continuity Week).

The event will be raising the importance of resilience within the business and wider community. VCS organisations are encouraged to attend. Delegates will have the opportunity to hear various speakers who have managed incidents or supported organisations in recovery from major incidents.  There will also be an exhibition for delegates to attend with exhibitors from Transport to Business Continuity Solutions.

If you would like to take advantage of the two-for-one offer please visit the event website and book one delegate place but enter two names.

If you are interested in exhibiting or sponsoring this event please email: SRC@shropshire.gov.uk.


Thrive at work logo

Thrive At Work Free Informational Webinar

Thrive at Work is a free, workplace wellbeing programme that is helping thousands of workers in the Midlands to feel healthier and more productive. It empowers employers to take a proactive approach to build employee and organisational resilience.

The programme can help your organisation cut staff sickness absence, improve engagement and retention of your workforce, and deliver results for your bottom line.

Join them for an online interactive and informative session on Tuesday, 26th April 2022 from 10:30-11:15am where you can find out more about this free programme from West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Anyone with middle and senior management roles with an interest in and a responsibility for workforce health and wellbeing will benefit from attending this event. The Programme is suitable for organisations with more than 8 employees.

To learn more about the Thrive at Work programme, visit their website, or visit the event page to book your place on the webinar.


Queen's Award for Voluntary Service Nomination Information Sessions

There are briefing sessions to help and encourage voluntary organisations understand the nomination process. If you are considering nomination, the VCSA and the Shropshire Lord-Lieutenant strongly encourage you to attend one of these sessions:

  • Wednesday 4th May 2022 at 2pm – 3pm
    Telford & Wrekin Council Offices, Addenbrooke House,
    Ironmasters Way, Telford,TF3 4NT
  • Friday 13th May 2022 at 12pm – 1pm
    Garden Room, Methodist Church, 52 Broad St, Ludlow, SY8 1NH
  • Thursday 19th May 2022 at 1.30pm – 2.30pm
    Council Chamber, Castle View, Arthur Street, Oswestry, SY11 1JR
  • Wednesday 25th May 2022 at 2pm – 3pm
    Shrewsbury Room, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6ND
  • Tuesday 14th June 2022 at 2pm – 3pm
    Venue TBC

For further information and/or to book a place please email Shelly Davies, Clerk to the Lieutenancy

Information can also be found on the QAVS website.


In the cafe image of hands holding coffee

In The Café:

Get-togethers with a theme 

For older members of the LGBT+ community, SAND is hosting a new series of themed conversational get-togethers.

Palmers Café Palmer’s Cafe, Claremont St, Shrewsbury SY1 1QG on the 4th Wednesday afternoon of the month 2 – 4pm.

It’s a chance to chat, share information and talk about things that affect LGBT+ people as we age. Come along for a warm welcome and interesting conversations. Joining them In The Café is one of the many ways that SAND would welcome your involvement. Be part of creating a better experience for LGBT+ people as we age. As you arrive, come through to the room behind the coffee bar where you’ll be met and your drinks order taken, as your first drink’s on us. Pick a table and settle in.

The next meeting is April 27th and the theme is Spend it or Save for my Old Age? Meet the specialists with all the latest information on benefits. Find out about the rules on income and savings that could help you manage your money. 

For more information about previous and upcoming meetings and themes, visit SAND's In the Cafe web page. You can also download April event flyer here for distribution.


people standing in front of Telford cultural centre

Healthier Minds Festival

The NHS in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is inviting people from different ethnic communities living locally to come together to find out what services, community groups and activities are available to them in the area to encourage and enable healthier minds.

The event will take place Thursday, May 5th at the Telford Cultural Centre.

Community leaders, NHS teams and stallholders from a wide range of voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations and groups will be on-hand to meet the communities they serve. They will also discuss with community members what is working well and also find out reasons why community members might not be coming forward and making contact with services.

The ICS want to find out:

  • Whether communities know what services and support is out there locally for them and where they can go for help relating to their emotional wellbeing.
  • How we can improve the support that is currently available.

For those who attend, this is a chance to shape and improve local services for the future.

This event will be run as an informal, market stall style event to encourage lots of discussion, networking and a chance to forge supportive, local connections.

As part of the day, there will be:

  • A free, vegetarian lunch served for those who attend.
  • Representatives from a range of organisations from the voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector
  • NHS teams including colleagues from Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which provides physical and mental health, learning disability and adult social care services locally.
  • A variety of demonstrations

Please note – the Healthier Minds Festival will form the beginning of a roadshow set of events, where following on from this the ICS will be asking community groups to get in contact with them, so that they can visit people in their familiar and trusted community spaces.

More information about the event can be found via the ICS website, and a flyer for display/distribution can be downloaded here.


flyer with information about Healthwatch annual conference

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Job / Volunteer Opportunities


Join our team flashing sign

Lingen Davies: Cancer Champions

Lingen Davies are hiring for two positions:

A Shropshire Cancer Champions Project Officer (0.6 wte, 22.5 hours employed by Qube, Oswestry)

A Telford Cancer Champions Project Officer (0.6 wte, 22.5 hours employed by Lingen Davies Cancer Fund)

Consideration for a full time 37.5 hour post may be given to a successful candidate willing to undertake the role for both Shropshire and Telford.

The successful candidate will be responsible for building a body of enthusiastic, engaged and trained volunteer Cancer Champions who work within their own community and other settings, targeting population groups with the highest cancer burden.

To be successful, you will need exceptional organisational skills and have the initiative to manage your workload.

They welcome applications from people with lived experience and those from minority communities.

These roles are funded by the Shropshire and Telford CCG to deliver their CORE20 Plus Community Connectors NHS-funded project. This is a 12-month fixed-term contract in the first instance, with the possibility of extension depending on funding and outcomes.

Please see below for the full details of the post and application form:

JOB DESCRIPTION CCC Final

CCC PERSON SPEC Final

CCC Application Form Final

Closing date for applications: Monday 2nd May, 8pm

Interviews will be held Wednesday 11th May.

For an informal discussion about these roles please email Miranda Ashwell or telephone on 01743 492396.

Completed applications should be emailed to recruitment@lingendavies.co.uk Paper applications will not be accepted.


Volunteer Opportunity: Speciality Patient Experience Groups at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH)

Speciality Patient Experience Groups are being established to drive patient experience initiatives at a local level. The groups will work with services across the speciality to improve patient experience in the area, including:

– How the service responds and learns from feedback
– Identifying trends to inform work and help improve services
– Represent the patient voice, providing insight from a patient perspective

This is an opportunity for patients or carers who have accessed services within the Trust between 2021 and 2022 to get involved. As a result of their recent experience, they will be able to offer valuable insight and a unique perspective on service development and improvement.

Please note – successful applicants will need to go through volunteer checks and induction. Additionally, volunteers are asked to commit approximately three hours a month to support the work.

Closure date for applications is 30th June 2022 For more information and to submit an application, visit the SaTH website.


Do you have a job or volunteer opportunity you would like us to promote? Please send your information to VCSAssembly@shropshire.gov.uk and we will include it in our next newsletter!

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Grant and Funding News


Shropshire council logo

Invitation to Quote:

Early Help Workforce Development Phase 1

The Strengthening Families plan identifies the need to provide the right level of training to all practitioners, including staff from Targeted Early Help Services, health, housing and domestic abuse services, pastoral care teams in schools and voluntary sector partners.  The aim is to have a confident, knowledgeable workforce, who can respond to the local need in an appropriate and timely way.

The workforce development programme will provide partners with the opportunity to upskill staff to

  • deliver practical support to a range of clients
  • remain outcome focused 
  • understand underlying issues to support
  • will benefit families, agencies and provide cost effective interventions. 

The current workforce development strategy aims to achieve:

  • a more effective and reenergised workforce, especially after the pandemic
  • a supportive and open-minded workforce with the ability and energy to bring about change
  • more effective case working: less time with cases being stuck/blocked
  • a more resilient workforce: able to manage their role and support others
  • an ability to meet targets
  • improved outcomes for families
  • a reduction in families meeting the threshold for level 4 interventions.

Quotes should be submitted by NOON (midday) on 2nd May 2022.

Full details and proposal form can be downloaded here, or found on the Shropshire Council website.


Shropshire council logo

Tender Opportunity:

Provision of Residential Care for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Tenders are invited from providers for the Provision of Residential Care for Adults with Learning Disabilities.

The home is located in Market Drayton in North Shropshire and is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide services to 4 individuals. There are currently 3 individuals living in the home.

The contract will be let for a period of five years commencing on 1st October 2022 with an option to extend for up to a further five years.

Submission deadline 11th May 2022. Read more information on the Shropshire Council website.


Gen22 logo

Ideas Made Real

Ideas Made Real is an exciting and unique opportunity for young people 16-24 to turn their awesome ideas into a reality with an Ideas Made Real Award powered by Gen22 and The Birmingham2022 Commonwealth Games.

Gen22 are looking for ideas and projects in local communities across the West Midlands, that young people think will make a huge difference.

Supported by the National Lottery Community Fund, Gen22 will pick 22 ideas and make them real! Giving young people the freedom to tell them what they'd like to see done differently or added to, and they'll support to make it happen.

Shortlisted projects will get to pitch their idea to a panel of young people, and community leaders at a Power Plan weekend, at which point Gen22 will decide the winning ideas. Each successful project will also have direct support from a Gen22 Social Action Activator to help them through the process – from design to launch!

Young people will also be linked with a local community-based organisation who will help them to create their project.

Application deadline is 29th April 2022. Application form and full details are available on the Ideas Made Real website.


We move fund image of young girl

BBC Children in Need Gives Further Details of We Move Fund: Youth Social Action

The We Move Fund: Youth Social Action is part of the We Move Fund, in partnership with BBC Radio 1xtra. Through the Fund, Children in Need will commit £10m over 10 years to create and invest in opportunities for Black children and young people across the UK.

This funding stream will see £1 million given in the form of 50 to 70 grants of:

  • Up to £15,000 for unregistered organisations (£10,000 per year or £15,000 over 18 months).
  • Up to £50,000 over 18 months for registered organisations.

The aim of the fund is to support organisations to bring social action and youth empowerment opportunities to Black children and young people, to help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face.

Applications will be accepted from:

  • Charitable Incorporated Organisations.
  • Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by guarantee.
  • Companies limited by guarantee with a clause in their governing document preventing distribution of profit.
  • Housing associations.
  • Industrial and provident community benefit societies.
  • Registered charities.
  • Religious institutions.
  • Special schools.
  • Unregistered organisations.

Black-led organisations are particularly encouraged to apply. This means:

  • The most senior leader identifies as Black.
  • At least 75% of the children and young people the organisation is working with identify as Black.
  • The ways the organisation runs reflects the community it works in.

Once launched, applicants must register their interest in the fund by 10 June 2022 before they may apply. Then, they will have until 20 June 2022 to complete the full application.

Groups should visit BBC Children in Need to sign up to be notified when the registration form is available.


Funding for Projects to Improve Financial Wellbeing for Low-Income People Across the UK

Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, formerly known as the Standard Life Foundation, is offering grants of between £10,000 and £200,000 for projects and activities that address specific inequalities, differences, and vulnerabilities to improve financial wellbeing, reduce the cost of living, and address issues related to spending and borrowing among low- and middle-income people across the United Kingdom. 

The Trust’s grant programme is focused on three areas that influence financial wellbeing:

  • Income:
    • Wages. 
    • Social security. 
    • Pensions.
    • Taxation. 
  • Spending:
    • Cost of living. 
    • Consumer spending. 
    • Problem gambling. 
    • Borrowing. 
    • Payment problems. 
  • Assets:
    • General saving. 
    • Retirement saving. 
    • Housing. 
    • Taxation.  

The next deadline for applications is 3 June 2022 (13:00). Visit the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust website for more information and to apply.


Don't forget to check out our website for a list of ongoing funds and the latest roundup of funds with upcoming deadlines!

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To share your news with Shropshire Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly members and our partners email: VCSAssembly@shrophire.gov.uk