NCVO Releases 'Time Well Spent' Report on Volunteering

Time Well Spent is NCVO’s research programme focusing on volunteers and their experience.

In 2018 NCVO conducted a national survey of over 10,000 members of the UK general public. The survey was conducted through YouGov and explored:

• volunteer participation
• motivations and barriers to volunteering
• the quality of volunteers' experiences
• the impact of volunteering.

At the end of 2022 they ran this survey again with 7,000 members of the public. They analysed the data and compared it to what they observed in 2018.

Key findings in the report include:

• Volunteer recruitment and retention are in decline
• Volunteer satisfaction is lower
• Challenges remain around equity, diversity and inclusion
• Practical barriers to volunteering need to be addressed

You can watch a video here about their five key findings. You can also access a summary of the report, or read the full report on the NCVO website.

New Report Shows Impacts of Cost-of-Living Crisis on UK Charitable Giving in 2022

The 2023 UK Giving Report from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) tells the story of giving in 2022: the UK public’s generosity in response to the invasion of Ukraine in the first half of the year and of the impact of the subsequent cost-of-living crisis. And, worryingly, it suggests that levels of some charitable activity remain supressed from the pandemic.

March and April saw spikes in donations that helped to make 2022 the most generous year on record for giving with an estimated £12.7 billion in donations, up £2 billion on 2021. However, analysis by Pro Bono Economics suggests that inflation may have eroded the value of this generosity by more than £500 million*.

The UK Giving Report 2023 is CAF's long-running study of the people’s giving habits and trends in the charitable landscape for the whole of 2022. It is based on monthly interviews conducted online with 13,140 individuals.

Key findings from this year's report include:

• Giving has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels
• Volunteering levels have seen a sustained decline
• The Cost-of-Living Crisis is impacting charitable giving

Read a summary or download the full report on the CAF website.

Read Easy Telford and Wrekin Now in Shropshire

 “We offer free, confidential, one to one coaching to adults who want to learn to read and improve their reading skills. No cost, no classroom, no exams! “

The Read Easy Telford and Wrekin group is now working in the Market Drayton and Whitchurch areas. They are affiliated with the charity Read Easy UK. Their aim is to help adults who are over 18 who want to learn to read or improve their reading.

Read Easy are recruiting Volunteer Reading Coaches and Readers (the adults who want to learn to read).  All coach training, resources and reading materials are provided free of charge.  Most of us take reading for granted, so it’s hard to imagine not been able to read a prescription, recipe, bus timetable, bank statement and so on.

If you know of someone who would like to join the group as a volunteer or know of an adult

who would like to learn to read, please get in touch.

For more information on Volunteering & Learning to read please contact Claire on 07941 515220 & Tewrleader@readeasy.org.uk. You can also visit the Read Easy website.

This Wednesday!

VCSA Annual Assembly

#VCSAssembly2023

5th July 9:30-12:30

Shrewsbury Town Football Club

Have you signed up to attend the VCSA Annual Assembly? This year's event promises to be even better attended than last year, and we are very excited to have you there!

Theme:

This year's assembly theme will be promoting mental health and wellbeing for voluntary sector staff and volunteers.

Agenda:

9:00-9:30am Registration and Networking

9:30 - 10:30am Welcome, Annual Report, Survey Results and Review of VCSA Annual Priorities

10:20-11:00am "We're Right Here - a Campaign for Community Power" Keynote address and discussion with Charlotte Hollins, Community Trust Manager at Fordhall Community Farm

11:00-11:20am Networking and Tea/Coffee Break

11:20am-12:20pm Resilience Workshop with Clive Ireland, Chair of Shropshire Mental Health Support

12:20-12:30pm Closing remarks

Organisations with stalls at the event include:

In Kind Direct, Shropshire Mental Health Support, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Marches Energy Agency, The National Lottery Community Foundation, Severn Trent Foundation, Community Resource, Energize STW, Ready Easy Telford & Wrekin, Save Our Shropshire, ... and more!

Everyone is welcome to bring flyers or leaflets to share, but if you would like a stall for bigger materials, please email Sarah Hampson at vcsassembly@shropshire.gov.uk just so that we can be prepared to accommodate you.

Register free here

Free and Subsidised Training for VCS Organisations in Shropshire

The Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership offers free and heavily subsidised accredited and specialist training for voluntary and community sector organisations in Shropshire. 

Upcoming training courses for July include (click on the links to learn more):

• Writing Good Policies & Procedures in the Voluntary Sector
• Committee & Trustee Roles & Responsibilities
• Adult Safeguarding Awareness

Check out the Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership Website to keep on top of all of the latest upcoming training available through this excellent service.

Mental Health Courses for VCS Organisations

Remember to check out the list of mental health training courses offered through the Shropshire in Partnership Mental Health Project.

Courses for VCS organisations include:

Suicide First Aid

Resilience and Stress Management

and Managing Stress and Burnout.

Sign up here

TRiM Reconnect: Bespoke Trauma Resilience Management

Shropshire Mental Health Support (SMHS) is offering a new mental health support service. Trauma Resilience Management (TRiM) Reconnect is a bespoke service designed to provide active listening support to those whose mental health has been affected by them being involved in or witnessing a traumatic event.

TRiM Reconnect is a model used in the early identification of the symptoms of stress. It can be used in an individual/one-to-one setting or within team peer support groups. SMHS has a team of highly trained non-medical practitioners who have undergone specific training allowing them to understand the effects that traumatic events can have upon people. They are not counsellors or therapists, but understand confidentially and are able to listen and offer practical advice and assistance.

How does TRiM Reconnect benefit your organisation?

It saves money - good mental health practices in an organisation can help to reduce sickness absence and presenteeism.

Shows a legal duty of care to employees.

Helps to break the stigma of mental health – this not only supports your people but can lead to early interventions thus reducing sickness absence as above.

Building a resilient workforce through TRiM Reconnect outside the time of a crisis can help during a difficult time or when crisis hits.

How can TRiM Reconnect be accessed?

Line managers, human resources, occupational health practitioners or self-referrals can make direct contact with the TRiM Reconnect team via telephone or email;

Tel: 01746 247 149

 Email: infotrim@shropshiremhs.com

TRiM Reconnect is fully consistent with the traumatic stress management guidance issued by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

First Aid and Safeguarding Adults Training

Shropshire Partners in Care is a not-for-profit organisation supporting over 250 independent adult social care providers across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Established in 2003, they exist to represent, upskill and champion our local adult social care providers and their staff. They offer quality and reasonably priced First Aid training at their offices in Annscroft, Shrewsbury, primarily to Members, but also to non-Members such as schools and community groups. All First Aid Training is nationally accredited by The First Aid Industry Body (FAIB). Safeguarding Adults Awareness training is aimed at all staff and volunteers working in social care, health, housing, charities and other areas of the independent sector.

In July 2023 they have spaces available on the following courses: 

Should you be interested in booking a place on any of these courses, please contact Non-Member Bookings on 01743 860011 or email info@spic.co.uk.

About Health – In conversation with Our Windrush Nurses

Date: Thursday, 6 July 2023

Time: 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Location: Online

In celebration of Windrush day, Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation for Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust is joined by retired nurses from One Voice Windrush Caribbean Community, to talk about what it was like to arrive in Shropshire and work in the newly established NHS.  

It promises to be an excellent evening and the ladies have a lot of stories of living in Shropshire in the 20th century which will tie into the work EDI teams are looking into now!

Register free via Eventbrite 

Shropshire Mental Health Forum Meeting & Networking

Friday, 21st July 9:30-11:30am Shirehall, Shrewsbury

Register via Eventbrite

The next meeting of the VCSA's Shropshire Mental Health Forum will, as always, include an opportunity to network and learn about what others are doing. It will also have a short presentation from MPFT about their grants for significant mental illness prevention, and some forum business, including voting on leadership and the revised terms of reference.

• Should you have feedback on the proposed refreshed terms of reference, please email this to vcsassembly@shropshire.gov.uk ahead of the next meeting so that they can be collated for discussion.
• Should you be interested in serving as chair, secretary, or VCSA Board representative, please email vcsassembly@shropshire.gov.uk ahead of the next meeting so that the group can be ready to vote (please also feel free to get in touch with any questions about this).

If you missed the last meeting, you can download the notes here. If you want to be included on the forum's mailing list, please email vcsassembly@shropshire.gov.uk.

Disability in the Workplace -

The Hidden Talent Pool

Online free webinar

20th July 10-11am

Register here

Why are 75% of businesses globally experiencing a talent shortage while 47% of disabled people in the UK are unemployed? That’s over 10% of the working-age population.

Disabled people are an untapped talent pool, often ignored by EDI strategies.

The disability employment gap is growing, currently at 29.8%, and businesses need to do more to support disabled colleagues present and future.

During this webinar, Alice Hargreaves, COO and Co-Founder of SIC will cover:

• Disability in the here and now
• The language of disability
• Societal bias
• How to appeal to disabled talent
• How to retain disabled employees
• The next steps to becoming an ally

You'll leave with some key changes you can implement now and a wider understanding of disability (covering physical disabilities, hidden disabilities, neurodiversity, mental health, and chronic illness).

SIC are a social enterprise that works to connect the dots between talent short organisations and talented disabled professionals. Founded at the beginning of 2021 by Alice Hargreaves and Rachael Mole, SIC provides training and support to both disabled professionals and businesses. Visit the SIC website to learn more.

From Here to Diversity 2023 Online Conference

28th September

Increased diversity can offer so many advantages to forward-looking organisations, including; improved performance and better governance,
greater creativity, a wider perspective and increased legitimacy and accountability.

This event will help you and your organisation be inclusive in language, behaviour and processes. We have curated a variety of sessions with experts that cover:

• Keynote on leadership and diversity
• New initiatives, the latest talking points and helpful resources in diversity
• Making your digital content more accessible
• Inclusive recruitment
• Committing to EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion)
• How not to do EDI
• Supporting neurodiversity as a leader
• Themed discussion groups (you can suggest topics)

You will go away with tips that will enable you to make the changes within your organisation (and your own behaviour) that will help improve society for all of us.

View full session details here.

Register here

Training: Teaching Young People about Death and Loss

Gain knowledge and skills to help young people cope with loss. This is a schools-based programme in teaching Death Education to young people, but is open to VCS professionals working with young people.

To book: Teaching Young People about Death & Loss

CEDAR EDUCATION is a registered Community Interest Company that provides death and bereavement education to teachers, young people, their families and professionals. In 2020, we received the Queen's Award for Volunteer Services for our Innovative Teaching and work with young people. We are now enrolling teachers for a new course for secondary schools. These teacher-training workshops are designed to help you develop death education for PSHE, RE or general lessons across the curriculum. This course will also be open to adults and professionals who need this information.

This is a 2-day workshop that will run from 9:30-4pm on Fridays. Part 1: Understanding Death, 13 October 2023; and Part 2: Understanding Grief, 20 October 2023.

10hours CPD certificate

The course will cover the following topics:

• The nature of death and dying
• Understanding grief
• Helping young people cope with loss
• Creating a supportive environment for bereaved students and those who are not bereaved, but affected by a death.
• Developing lesson plans on death and dying

To be eligible for the course, you must:

• Be a qualified secondary school teacher, head teacher or mental-health lead, youth-worker, and/or,
• Have an interest in death education and bereavement support
• Be committed to working with young people

If you are interested in registering for these workshops, please visit  Eventbrite for more information, terms and conditions of booking. Closing date for registration is 1^st October 2023.

These workshops are subsidised and places will be limited. Registration is essential. Workshop fees include:

• Workbook & activities
• Good Grief Leaf
• 10hrs CPD Certificate
• Lunch and refreshments

Health Engagement Coordinator

Lingen Davies Cancer Fund are looking for a Health Engagement Coordinator that will work closely with their Live Life lead, to deliver their health engagement work, with a primary focus on raising cancer awareness for early diagnosis, cancer screening and prevention.

You will be responsible for developing programmes of work throughout our region, using a range of activities and settings to effectively engage with the public. This will include making maximum use of the Lingen Davies Health Promotion Van to take engagement activities out into the community.

The role will be three or four days per week, and hours will usually be worked between 8am and 6pm to meet the needs of the organisation, however some evening and weekend work will be required. Flexibility is expected to ensure relevant public events are attended.

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

Salary: £25,000 (pro rata)

Deadline to apply: 5pm 10th July

Full details and how to apply are available on the Lingen Davies website

Sight Loss Shropshire Tech Coordinator

Sight loss, Technology, Communities. If these words strike a chord with you, we might have the perfect job for you!

Local charity Sight Loss Shropshire are looking for a Tech Coordinator to provide training and advice on smart phones, tablets and other devices that can help people with sight loss in their day-to-day life. Leading a group of volunteers you will be delivering tech support across Shropshire.

Hours: 12 hours per week, flexible

Salary: £12.50 p.h.

Location: Across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin. All travel costs reimbursed.

Download the role description here or find out more on the Sight Loss Shropshire website.  

Application: CV and cover letter to  admin@sightlossshropshire.org.uk

Citizens Advice Shropshire is recruiting!

Are you passionate about making a difference, making society fairer and working for an organisation that values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination?  

Citizens Advice Shropshire is recruiting an experienced Advice Session Supervisor or a Trainee Advice Session Supervisor.

They encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and will consider trainee positions.

Advice Session Supervisor / Trainee Advice Session Supervisor

Salary: £24,914 to £29,190 depending on experience

Contract: Full time 37 hours per week, permanent.

Location: The successful applicant would be based in Shrewsbury office and must be able to work flexibly across the county when required.

Start: As soon as possible

Post may be subject to a DBS check.

Further details and application form (no CVs) are available from their website:

Closing date:  Midnight on Sunday 23 July 2023

Interviews:     Thursday 3 August 2023 (If date isn't convenient another may be arranged, depending on availability)

Work with the VCSA!

Insight and VCS Engagement Officer

Salary: £32,909

Hours: 37hrs/wk 

Location: Mix of home and office working

The Feedback and Insight Team at Shropshire Council are looking for someone who has experience of working in partnerships and/or with the voluntary sector, delivering partnership projects and gathering feedback. Applications are welcomed from those with well-developed organisational and project management skills. The post holder will lead on weekly communications designed for the voluntary sector and manage the VCS Assembly website.

Download the full advert, job description, and person specification

Apply via the Shropshire Council careers site.

Closing date: 9th July

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss this role or the team. To arrange a phone call, please email Sarah Dodds, Feedback and Insight Team Leader sarah.dodds@shropshire.gov.uk.

MPFT Seeks to Sub-contract Grant Funding for Community Mental Health Transformation

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) are looking to Sub–Contract the management of its grant funding allocation and work in partnership with the Trust. 

The Provision of the service is required to support and achieve a number of key objectives, supporting community and voluntary organisations who are working with service users within the following geographical areas:

• North Shropshire
• South Shropshire
• Central Shropshire
• Telford and Wrekin

The Service is designed to: 

• Provide funding to Grant recipients
• Assist with application assessments and scheme management
• Ensure grants are issued for delivery of the project aims.

Aims

The service aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Alliance building - To develop strong community networks and build thriving mental health eco-systems within communities
• Co-production - To keep lived experience perspective at the heart of everything we do
• Community Engagement - To build strong and deep links within communities and from the grass roots
• Strengthen the local voluntary and community sector
• Delivering a place based approach
• Delivering funds to support community mental health transformation

Overview

The management of funding scheme(s) (Grants) to the local voluntary and community sector to support community mental health transformation. A place based approach focused on local needs, will under pin the delivery of the funding scheme(s).

The Management of the funding scheme(s) shall include the required process and administrative work needed throughout the grant life cycle this include but is not limited to;

• Scheme set up
• Review of applications
• Award process
• Dispersal of funds
• Post award monitoring and reporting

Download the full guidance here. Submissions due 12noon 28th July 2023.

To be eligible to bid for this contract, your organisation must be registered on the MPFT Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). A complete guide to registering on this system can be downloaded here.