NEW: Berkshire County Training Partnership Training Dates

Berkshire Country Training Partnership announces new and forthcoming course dates. See below for further details and how to book your place.

CHAIRMANSHIP SKILLS                            

When:           Wednesday 27 April 2016   6pm - 9:30pm

Where:          The Calcot Centre, Highview, Calcot, Reading  RG31 4XD

Registration and a sandwich buffet are available from 6.00pm for a prompt start at 6.30pm.

Who should come?

The training is aimed at experienced Councillors especially those considering becoming the Chairman/Vice Chairman of their Council or Chairman of a Council Committee.  Clerks are also welcome to attend.

What does it cover?

The role of the Chairman as specified in law establishing the responsibilities and duties 

•    Preparing and chairing meetings

•    Handling discussion/reporting and reaching a decision

•    Chairing a challenging meeting

•    Handling conflict

•    Professional conduct

Cost: 

£40.00 + VAT per delegate for Member Councils and                

£80.00 + VAT per delegate for Non-Member Councils    

This includes refreshments and a briefing pack                                        

Please complete the on-line booking form here to reserve your place.

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EMPLOYMENT TRAINING FOR COUNCILLORS AND CLERKS -

The Life-Cycle of an Employee

Includes: recruitment to dismissal, resignation or retirement 

 

When: Thursday 26 May 2016 - 10am - 3pm

Where: The Calcot Centre, Highview, Calcot, Reading RG31 4XD

Registration with refreshments from 9.30am, starting 10am, finishing at 3pm

Who should come?

The training will be valuable for both Councillors and Clerks, and particularly members of Staffing/Personnel/HR Committees.

What does it cover?

To coincide with the publication of the updated version of the NALC/SLCC ‘Being a Good Employer’ Guide*  this one day Employment event will cover: 

• Recruitment - selecting the best candidate for your council

• Rights and obligations - knowing what your legal obligations are as an employer and what rights your workers have

• Performance Management - how to monitor, appraise and develop your staff

• Dispute Resolution - how to cope if things go wrong

• Ending the employment relationship - how to manage termination, redundancy, retirement fairly and legally

The event will be led by Bethan Osborne MCIPD, BALC’s HR and Employment Consultant who has experience in human resource management in local councils, banking, retail and further education sectors.

Cost:

£ 65.00 + VAT per delegate for Member Councils and                    

£130.00 + VAT per delegate for Non-Member Councils

This includes refreshments, lunch and a briefing pack                

Please complete the on-line booking form here.    

    

*The Guide to Being a Good Employer is currently under review, and NALC hope to launch the updated version in April. 

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Using Your Community Building as Emergency Accommodation

52 people from 33 halls attended 2 meetings about using your hall as emergency accommodation at Calcot and Swallowfield during March. At both meetings, talks were given by the local authority emergency planning officer who explained what would happen if an emergency occurred and how halls what would be used.

Talks were also given on the insurance implications and finally a local volunteer with experience of flooding, talked about what happened in their villages, which those attending found very useful.

CCB is grateful to Southern Electric Power Distribution for the grant form its Resilient Communities Fund which enabled to meetings to be organized. They have resulted in many hall committee members having a much better understanding of what’s involved and more volunteers considering registering their halls with their local authorities as places of emergency refuge. The training in Calcot was also supported by West Berkshire Council Adult Community Learning Team.

Cash awards for Berkshire’s nature and community projects

Community groups across Berkshire with projects that improve their local area for both people and wildlife have the chance to win grants to help them succeed with their vision.

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is calling on all local community and environmental groups to apply for the Dorothy Morley Conservation Award 2016. Applicants will have the chance to win the award with £1000 grant to go towards the winning project. One runner up will also receive a grant of £500. The closing date for applications is 31 May. Judging will be held in June and the winners announced in July. 

Daniel Akam, Berkshire Community Wildlife Officer, explains: “Applicants can be residents’ groups, village societies, conservation groups or any other group in Berkshire working on a local nature and wildlife project, no matter how big or small. They could be digging ponds, planting hedgerows and trees, making new trails and enabling wildlife to thrive close to where they live; the key element is that it must be in a publicly accessible place.”
The Award scheme highlights all the superb work done by volunteers for the benefit of their local community and wildlife. Successful winners in the past find that the publicity and the grant had a really positive effect on the popularity of their local green spaces and for the communities that use them.

The Mumbery Nature Reserve Volunteers in Wargrave received the Dorothy Morley Conservation Award in 2014. Ian Bradley from the group explained what happened next:  “The award really helped put Mumbery nature reserve on the map. The funding enabled us to create a new interpretation board giving information about the reserve and what to look for throughout the year.  The Piggott School Sixth Form design students helped with the design work; it's great to get everyone in the community involved.”
The bi-annual Dorothy Morley Conservation Award scheme is a tribute to the memory of dedicated conservationist Dorothy Morley who lived near Newbury. It was set up in 2000 and continues to support local groups and their projects thanks to the outstanding generosity of the Morley family.

Visit Dorothy Morley Conservation Award for full details, or email dmaward@bbowt.org.uk. Application packs are also available from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, Woolley Firs, Cherry Garden Lane, Maidenhead, SL6 3LJ. More information from Daniel Akam, Community Wildlife Officer, 01628 829574 ext. 202. 

West Berkshire Learner Achievement Awards

The West Berkshire Community Learning Partnership is pleased to invite nominations for the West Berkshire Learner Achievement Awards 2016.

These annual awards celebrate the outstanding success and achievement of individuals, groups and organisations involved in adult learning across West Berkshire during the last year.

All types of training and education are considered from professional qualifications to apprenticeships, vocational training, family learning and courses to encourage personal and community development.  

The  Awards are sponsored by local organisations and cover a range of categories:                   

A. Outstanding Achievement                             F. Older Learner                                             
B. Determination                                               G. Most Committed Volunteer to Learning  
C. Outstanding Progression                              H. Group Learners
D. Inspiring Others                                             I.  Teacher, Tutor and Trainer
E. Returning To Learning                                  J.  Most Committed Organisation to Learning                                                                    

If you have attended a training event organised by CCB in the last academic year (September 2014 - July 2015) perhaps you might like to consider nominating us for either the I or J categories?!

To nominate someone simply complete the click here to make a nomination on-line.

Each successful winner will receive a certificate and a monetary award from the sponsoring organisation. They will also invited, with their nominator and a guest, to the awards ceremony at 5:30pm on Friday, 10th June at Shaw House, Newbury.

Please note the deadline for nominations is 5:00pm on Friday, 29th April.

Successful Training Session on Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers.

Training on how to ‘Recruit and Retain Volunteers’ took place at Beedon Village Hall on Tuesday 16th February.  The training was organised by CCB, delivered by Garry Poulson, Director of the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire and funded by West Berkshire Council Adult Community Learning Team.  

Garry gave a presentation on the ‘A-Z’ of volunteering and provided some very useful tips which the delegates had to then put to practical use. They were split into groups and each group was given a scenario and had to use the information provided to recruit volunteers under different circumstances.    Representatives came from several parish councils, Hampstead Norreys Community Shop, Thatcham U3A, the Samaritans, Berkshire Scouts, Thames Valley Kings Basketball team and Green Health Reading.

When asked what they liked about the course, delegates said:
The trainer had a ‘good relaxed and knowledgeable style’
They really enjoyed ‘the practical part, where you had to brainstorm for a campaign’
‘Meeting other individuals in a similar position- needing volunteers was good.'

If you have any ideas or needs for future community focused training please get in touch with our Training Co-ordinator Tessa - Tessa.Hall@ccberks.org.uk