Are you making the most of your building? Do you have activities or fundraising that you wish to promote? Does your hall have spare capacity?
If so, Wendy Dacey, CCB's Community Buildings adviser is organising a meeting on making the most of Social Media to promote your hall on Wednesday 11th June at Tidmarsh village hall at 7.30pm. The speaker will be Nigel Morgan, Director of Morgan PR who will inspire, educate and motivate you to make the most of tools like Twitter, Facebook and LiinedIn. Nigel is a long time advocate of social media as well as being a former journalist and police press officer.
There is no charge for the meeting as it is being funded by Comic Relief Local Communities programme which is managed by Berkshire Community Foundation.
Bookings can be made by email wendy.dacey@ccberks.org.uk or phone 0118 9612000.
Helen Bull, who recently attended a Love Food Hate Waste workshop run by the CCB and WRAP, gave some excellent feedback about the event which was featured in the Love Food Hate Waste newsletter. Helen wrote: “I wanted to thank you for all the really handy advice I've learnt from the workshop and the excellent A-Z Food Storage Tips and Advice. I am very organised with planning and I must admit I thought I knew a lot about food storage but I am absolutely delighted with all the extra tips I've now gained. I had stopped buying some foods because they kept going off and I was throwing them away – such as ginger and lemons. I've now bought them and they are in my freezer cut into the small portions which I can use. I am staggered at the amount of foods that can be frozen and the clips you gave out are so handy for that purpose. I've put my soft carrots in water and my cinnamon sticks in my tea with the lemon etc. etc. I could go on and on!! Plus, my redundant ice cube tray is now in action with left over coconut milk ready for the next curry. I have also told lots of family and friends about all these useful tips.”
Courtesy of the Love Food Hate Waste 'Pass it On' newsletter.
CCB and WRAP are running this workshop again on 20th May in Bracknell. For further information please contact Helen Dean on 0118 961 2000 or helen.dean@ccberks.org.uk
We are sad to announce that the ‘Building Stronger Communities’ Conference on Saturday 5th April at Newbury College has had to be cancelled.
It is felt that the impact of the recent floods may have led to low numbers of people registering for the conference and unfortunately it is not cost effect to run a large scale event for community planners and the public at this time.
Thank you to those who did sign up for the workshops. We are pleased to say that we now plan to run these as individual training sessions over the forthcoming months. Please look out for these events. We will be sending out information as soon as we can.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this cancellation. It would have been good to meet up with Community planners and other hard working people who give up their spare time to make their communities better places to live, and to hear first hand about all the ongoing projects and ideas. Thank you for all your work. We hope we can put on suitable events in the future that will enable this to happen.
Best wishes
Tessa Hall
Community Plan Development Worker
Community Council for Berkshire
Tel: 07966 236408
Email: tessa.hall@ccberks.org.uk
CPRE has published a ‘two years on’ report on the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF), called Community Control or Countryside Chaos. It is based on
an analysis of 29 local plans prepared or adopted in the last year, and over 70
decisions on major planning applications and appeals.
Read more and download report from CPRE’s website.
Courtesy of ACREHeadlines
The Charity Times Awards reaches its fifteenth year in 2014. The awards gala dinner, on 22 October at the Lancaster London Hotel, will be the pre-eminent celebration of best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector.
It's free to enter and open to any UK-based registered charity or international charity with registered UK offices. Enter now, deadline 15 May 2014.
W: http://www.charitytimes.com/awards/
T: @CharityTAwards.
CCB's Community Buildings Adviser Wendy Dacey ran another session on How to be a Better Trustee at the Cornerstone Building in Wokingham on 26th February. The session was attended by 17 people from 8 buildings who learned about the importance of their governing documents and their responsibilities as charity trustees. Delegates then learned about the legal requirements that they were responsible for in their buildings including fire risk assessments, premises licensing as well as alcohol and music licensing.
The event was well received with comments such as 'very clearly presented and useful content', 'good course and very informative', 'very useful'.
The evening was funded with a grant from Berkshire Community Foundation and will be repeated at Binfield Memorial Hall on Monday 19th May at 7.30pm. It is open to anyone responsible for running a community building or village hall and places can be booked by email wendy.dacey@ccberks.org.uk or by phone 0118 9612000. Binfield is situated between Wokingham and Bracknell.
Spring Online is an award-winning initiative that makes it possible for thousands of
people, often older people, to try out using computers and tablets and the internet,
many for the first time. If you are running an event, Spring Online would like to
know about it. If you would like to run an event to help and inspire local people to
achieve a lasting use of the internet click on Spring Online below to find out how.
Find out more about Spring Online
Dingley Family and Specialist Early Years Centres is a registered Charity who provide a place where children, from birth to five years, with additional needs and disabilities, come to develop skills through play.
The West Berks Centre has a vacancy for a Deputy Manager.
We have a great opportunity for an enthusiastic and self-motivated practitioner with a recognised level 3 childcare qualification and experience of working with children with additional needs/disabilities and their families to work at an Ofsted graded ‘outstanding’ setting.
The successful candidate will be joining at an exciting time as the Centre is seeking to move to a new permanent home. You will be required to work closely with the Manager in developing and motivating the team.
You will be a keyworker to a small group of children so an in depth knowledge of the EYFS framework and experience of working in partnership with parents and other professionals is essential.
Hours: 27.5 hours per week, term time only
9am – 3pm Monday - Friday
Salary: TBC
Closing date: 11.4.14
Interviews to be held: Week beginning 21st April 2014
More information can be found at www.dingley.org.uk or call 01635 552458
Dingley Family and Specialist Early Years Centres is a registered Charity who provide a place where children, from birth to five years, with additional needs and disabilities, come to develop skills through play.
The West Berks Centre has a vacancy for an Early Years Practitioner.
We have a great opportunity for an enthusiastic and self-motivated practitioner with a recognised level 3 childcare qualification and experience of working with children with additional needs/disabilities and their families to work at an Ofsted graded ‘outstanding’ setting.
The successful candidate will be joining at an exciting time as the Centre is seeking to move to a new permanent home.
You will be a keyworker to a small group of children so an in depth knowledge of the EYFS framework and experience of working in partnership with parents and other professionals is essential
Hours: 27.5 hours per week, term time only
9am – 3pm Monday - Friday
Salary: TBC
Closing date: 11.4.14
Interviews to be held: Week beginning 21st April 2014
More information can be found at www.dingley.org.uk or call 01635 552458
West Berkshire Dyslexia Association are hosting a talk by dyslexic writer Sally Gardner, Carnegie medal winner 2013 for “Maggot Moon” Thursday 24th April 2014 at 7pm.
It's being held at St Bartholomew’s School, Andover Road, Newbury, RG14 6JP
Enquiries: marguerite@moontiger.co.uk 01635 866800.
Booking in advance via web site: wbdyslexia.org.uk or pay on the night.
18 years and under free with paying adult!
Tickets £10 members / £12 non members and refreshments are included.
WBDA Helpline: Lyn Pounds calpounds@supanet.com
Reading Community Enterprise Programme supports energetic and committed people in Reading to create positive change locally.
As part of the programme, we will provide practical training which helps people achieve their goals through community enterprise and innovation, identifying how they can make a difference and make their projects sustainable.
The programme includes:
- A training programme covering aspects such as business planning, fundraising, marketing and networking
- Ongoing voluntary sector support through RVA
- Possibility of a mentor from the private or voluntary sector
- A grant of between £250 and £2000
This programme is:
- At an introductory level
- For individuals or groups (grants can only be offered to groups but individuals are welcome to come forward for support)
- Targeted at people who have never set up a community initiative before (or in the early stages of doing so)
- For projects that may be:
- stand-alone projects or events
- pilot community projects with the prospect of becoming a social enterprise
- pilot community projects with the prospect of becoming a community organisation or charity
How to apply:
The above details are guidelines rather than strict criteria. If you aren't sure whether you are eligible, get in touch to chat through your ideas.Start by emailing rachel.miller@rva.org.uk or calling Rachel at 0118 9023916. This is just a chance to chat through your idea and find out whether the programme is a good fit for your project.
Courtesy of Reading Voluntary Action (RVA)
Consumers wanting to know more about their energy use and whether they are getting the best value for money will have a new and easy way of finding the best deal.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey today announced the Government’s plans to introduce QR (Quick Response) codes to energy bills so consumers can get an instant cross-market comparison.
This is the latest announcement from the Government to help consumers make the switch and get a better deal, with collective switching and simpler tariffs already introduced.
The full news release is available on GOV.UK
The consultation is available on GOV.UK
Love Food Hate Waste Workshop on 20th May 2014, 9.30am – 12pm
Open Learning Centre, Bracknell, RG12 7GR.
Love Food Hate Waste is about helping you to make the most of all of your food, saving you money and raising awareness about the huge environmental impact of wasting food in the UK. Come along and get our top tips and advice, along with ideas on how to share the benefits with people at work or in your local community.
The workshop will be delivered by Emma Barnett from WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk). These sessions are free, however booking is required.
The session will be fun and interactive and will cover some fascinating research on food waste and the myths which contribute to food waste. By the end of the session, participants will be clear about correct storage (for example eggs and rice), freezing, what date labels really mean, defrosting plus have an insight into how retailers are helping.
Who should attend?
The information covered applies to anyone interested in reducing their food waste at home and for people in a position to spread the word about the benefits covered in these sessions and/or incorporate this vital information into their existing communications and support work.
A full support pack is provided, including activities and guides for use after the training. To book, please click here to complete the booking form.
These sessions are facilitated by CCB and funded by the Bracknell Forest Council Adult and Community Learning Team. Helen Dean from CCB can be contacted on 0118 961 2000 or helen.dean@ccberks.org.uk
The Watermill Theatre is delivering a free interview skills workshop at Newbury Town Hall during March.
Delivered by trained actors and experienced teachers the workshops develop individual presentation, confidence and communication skills using a range of innovative techniques.
Places are available at a group workshop being held on Thursday 20th March at 11am – 1pm.
For more information go to: http://www.watermill.org.uk/interview_skills_workshops
Wendy Dacey, our Community Buildings Adviser, held a workshop on Health & Safety in Community Buildings. The session provided information to community building volunteers about their responsibilities for good health and safety practice in their halls as well as carrying out a practical risk assessment of the venue.
The session included a practical risk assessment of Theale Village Hall which was highly praised by the attendees. Participants at the workshop enjoyed the course and felt they could use the information to run their halls in an improved way. Some of the feedback included:
"Good to get hands-on with the Health & Safety risk assessment."
"Great, informative, course that made tackling Health and Safety not such a scary thing. Great to hear other village hall's problems and how they overcame them."
"Very useful to keep up-to-date with latest legislation."
This free conference is aimed at Parish Planning Groups, the voluntary sector, Parish Councils
and all those involved in the West Berkshire Partnership.
It is a workshop-based format to enable you to tailor the day to your needs so you can be assured of a relevant and worthwhile day.
The most popular workshops are:
- Neighbourhood Planning vs Parish Plans
- How to Refresh your Parish Plan
- Fundraising tips
- Elderly support through Befriending schemes.
Other topical sessions such as 'How to draft an emergency plan for your community' which includes guidance on preparing for severe weather conditions and the Networking session for parish planners are also filling up.
Please be sure to book your place and choose your workshops soon as we are limited to 18 people per workshop.
To find out more, download a programme for the day and a description of the workshops go to http://www.ccberks.org.uk/building-stronger-communities
To book your place click here
For further information please contact Tessa Hall at CCB on 07966 236408 or email tessa.hall@ccberks.org.uk
Manager – Me2 Club
Full time (37hrs/week), 12 month contract, regular evening and some weekend work will be required.
NJC point 31 - 33 (£26,539 - £28,127 pa)
An exciting opportunity to manage a successful small charity providing excellent services for children with additional needs.
- Are you committed to the inclusion of children with disabilities?
- Can you use your knowledge of disability to train and motivate others to include young people with additional needs?
- Do you have the skills to manage projects and people?
Me2 Club needs an enthusiastic and flexible Manager to lead our team for the next year - could this be you?
For full job description and an application pack, or for an informal chat, please contact Emily Radford, Me2 Club Manager: emily@me2club.org.uk or 0118 969 6369 or see the Me2 Club website: http://www.me2club.org.uk/news.htm. Please note we cannot accept CVs.
Closing date for applications: Monday 17th March 2014 (9am)
Interviews held: Week commencing: 24th March 2014
The CCB Rural Housing Enabler would like to announce that due to a delay in the delivery of the White Waltham Housing Need Survey the return date for the survey is the 28th of March 2014, not the 28th of February as stated on the form.
Apologies for the misprint and confusion. If you are a resident of White Waltham Parish, including Woodlands Park, Paley Street and parts of Littlewick Green. Your views on local housing are important to us. Please return your survey . All responses will be considered until the end of March 2014.
If you have any queries about the survey please contact Arlene Kersley at CCB on 0118 961 2000.
Thank you in advance for your contribution.
Groups that depend on volunteers can maximise their effectiveness by paying attention to every aspect of volunteer management. Join this course to learn about good practice in recruitment, induction, development of roles and policies, valuing volunteers and dealing with problems – all designed to help your group find and keep good volunteers for longer. Course materials will include specimen documents and templates that can be used to generate your own.
Thursday, 20 March 2014, 9.30 am – 2.30 pm
Location: Wokingham Volunteer Centre, 10 Denton Road, Wokingham RG40 2DX
Cost: £20 including lunch and course materials; £25 for groups outside Wokingham Borough.
Please register direct with Christine or Helena at the Volunteer Centre, tel. no. 0118 977 0749 or email wok-vol@btconnect.com.
Courtesy of Wokingham Borough Voluntary Sector Forum Training Bulletin.
