Free Regional Network Meetings

Safe Network is pleased to invite colleagues from the Voluntary and Community sector and from statutory partners including; Health, Police, Fire and Rescue to its inaugural series of FREE regional network meetings, this summer.
This series of network meetings will provide the opportunity to:
• Explore, debate and learn about the impact of Working Together 2013 on the voluntary and community sector
• Hear about next steps and developments for Safe Network and identify support needs within the voluntary and community sector

The regional network meetings are free, and aimed at:
• Frontline children and young people’s voluntary and community sector organisations,
• Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs, business managers, safeguarding managers and lay members,
• Voluntary and Community Sector representatives on LSCB’s, Health and Wellbeing Boards or Children’s Partnership Boards
• Safe Network champions, supporters and key partners including those from; Health, Schools and Leisure

The East Midlands meeting will be held in Nottingham on Thurs 4 July 2013, 10.00am – 1.00pm and for more information about booking you can visit:
http://www.childrenengland.org.uk/whats-on or http://www.safenetwork.org.uk

Please click here to view the flyer safe-network-summer-network-meetings-2013-EastMidlands (word 501 KB)

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YMCA Food Project – donations required

In recent months we have seen a marked increase in the number of people in the local area requiring food parcels. South Derbyshire CVS distributes these parcels on behalf of Burton on Trent YMCA.

This project relies solely on donations, and we are currently running very low on items. We really require items such as:

UHT milk

Tins of meat and fish

Tins of meat dishes, ie chilli / curry / mince / Irish stew

Tins of soup

Tins of vegetables

Cereal

Pasta / Rice

Pasta sauces

Tins of pudding (such as rice pudding, tins of fruit, custard)

Biscuits

If you have any items that you would like to donate, please bring them to South Derbyshire CVS, 46-48 Grove Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DD. If you need donations collecting, or would like further information, please contact Imogen Gallop on 01283 550163

 

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Mobile Office for Sale

Rural Action Derbyshire has for sale a mobile office

The vehicle is a Vauxhall Movano and can carry upto 6 people including the driver. The rear of the van has three seats which can be swivelled to provide an office setting. It has a generator which provides power to equipment in use in the vehicle and a fridge.

It is a 2004 registration, has 37,800 miles on the clock and is being sold as seen.

Ideal for use at outdoor events or to bring information to outlying areas the vehicle can be driven by anyone with a standard driving license.

If you are interested and would like to view the vehicle it will be available for viewing on Wednesday 10th April – please contact Helen Faraday to make an appointment. Email h.faraday@ruralactionderbyshire.org.uk or tel 01629 824797

Tenders are invited by 12 noon on Monday 15th April.  Please send an e-mail stating the price you are prepared to pay for the vehicle to Sylvia Green – email: s.green@ruralactionderbyshire.org.uk

The funds raised from this sale will be returned to the LEADER programme.

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Charitable Incorporated Organisations

The long-awaited Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is a new legal structure, under the Charities Act 2011, designed specifically and only for charities.

A CIO:

• is an incorporated form of charity which is not a company
• only has to register with the Charity Commission and not Companies House
• is only created once it is registered by the Commission
• can enter into contracts in its own right and its trustees will normally have limited or no liability for the debts of the CIO

The CIO was created in response to requests from charities for a new structure which could provide some of the benefits of being a company (e.g. legal personality and limited liability) but without some of the burdens (e.g. the additional administrative burden of dual registration and regulation under both charity law and company law).

The CIO will add to the range of legal structures that charities can choose to adopt. It is expected to be popular so a phased implementation plan for implementation has been set out, with indicative dates (i.e. they may change – but on schedule so far) shown below.

As you will see, the process will first be open to brand new charities, then to existing unincorporated charities who want to set up a CIO and transfer assets into it (starting with larger-income charities and gradually opening up to smaller ones).  Applications from existing incorporated organisations (Charitable   Companies Limited by Guarantee, Community Interest Companies, or Charitable Industrial   and Provident Societies) that wish to convert into CIOs  will not be accepted until sometime in 2014 (subject to Parliamentary approval of regulations, timetable to be announced)

Indicative date	Type of organisation	Income bracket
10  Dec 2012	Brand new charities	Over £5k
Mar 2013	Existing unincorporated charities	Over £250k
1 May 2013	Existing unincorporated charities	£100k to £250k
1 Jul 2013	Existing unincorporated charities	£25k to £100k
1 Oct 2013	Existing unincorporated charities	£5k to £25k
1 Jan 2014	Existing unincorporated charities AND Brand new charities	Less than £5k
During  2014	Existing incorporated organisations.	May be phased

More Information

On the Charity Commission website

Information and guidance on CIOs.  Includes model constitutions, information on how to set up and run a CIO, and the latest updates on CIO implementation.

www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Start_up_a_charity/Do_I_need_to_register/CIOs/default.aspx

Considering incorporation?

See this very helpful article CIO – Yes or No? on Sandy Adirondack’s legal updates website  for some questions to ask yourself and issues to consider when deciding whether to become a CIO or use some other structure: 

And on the same website an update on CIOs and what is involved in setting one up.

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Cheaper Energy Together

This is a community scheme to help people switch their energy supplier and save money.  It uses collective switching to achieve cheaper rates.

How it works:  30 not for profit organisations (including local charity Rural Action Derbyshire) are now working to sign up households for a big collective switch at the end of March, and are also providing holistic energy advice.

 How it works

Households can sign up for free.   The scheme will then use the combined bargaining power of everyone signed up to get the best possible offers from a range of energy companies. The best offers will be sent to subscribers, who will also be given support and advice on switching. The last switches ran by our partners saved households an average of more than £180.

There is no obligation for households to accept any offer they are sent, so there is nothing to lose by joining.  Please encourage your members, users or supporters to sign up!

Find out more and sign up at www.CheaperEnergyTogether.org  or call 0800 888 66 11

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War memorials – call to custodians

To prepare for the commemorations to mark the centenary of the Great War, South Derbyshire District Council is working with The Royal British Legion and War Memorials Trust to identify memorials in the District for all wars.

Glyn Jackson, Branch Secretary of the Swadlincote and District Branch of The Royal British Legion said:  “Obviously we are aware of the major memorials in South Derbyshire but there may be smaller and often more personal symbols of remembrance in the District. These memorials are usually looked after by a custodian who has taken on responsibility for their care and maintenance.  War Memorials Trust and the SmartWater Foundation are offering free protection against possible theft.”

South Derbyshire District Council is contacting parish councils directly and is also asking custodians to register their memorials directly on the In Memoriam 2014 website.

Cllr Bob Wheeler, Leader of South Derbyshire District Council, said:  “I would appeal to custodians of smaller artefacts such as plaques and rolls of honour to visit http://www.inmemoriam2014.org where they can see the existing register and apply for SmartWater.   An important part of our history could be lost forever if they are not recorded for posterity.”

More information: www.inmemoriam2014.org

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Big Lottery Refund Campaign

A campaign led by the Directory of Social Change is calling for the immediate repayment of the £425 million borrowed from the Big Lottery Fund to pay for the 2012 Olympics.

In its final quarterly report on the Olympics in October 2012, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that £480 million of the £9.3bn Olympics budget  had been unspent at that time.  Of the £480 million, Government said it expected to spend around £103 million, and hand £377 million ‘underspend’ to the Treasury, not the Lottery.

The campaign argues that Lottery money is not Government money and should not have been taken in the first place. It is raised from lottery sales not taxation, and it is intended to benefit charitable causes.

The campaign has been calling for any underspend to be used to refund the Big Lottery Fund immediately, so that it can benefit vulnerable people and communities during difficult times.

You can find out more and, if you wish, sign up to support the DSC Lottery refund campaign (as an individual or as an organisation) at  www.biglotteryrefund.org.uk/

Supporters are encouraged to write to their MP, asking them to support the campaign and to sign Early Day Motion 747

Campaign website: http://www.biglotteryrefund.org.uk/

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Free training from Safe Network

Safe Network is delighted to invite you to free briefing session that will provide colleagues in the voluntary and community sector with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with

· the recently formed Disclosure and Barring Service

· the Freedoms Act (Vetting and Barring) and the associated Disclosure service

· update on the development of new Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance

Who should attend?

This session is aimed at leaders and managers of voluntary sector organisations, those who hold responsibility for safeguarding within voluntary sector organisations and those who want to find out more about their responsibilities.

The session will be held on:
14th March, 9.30am – 12.15pm

To find out more details and book online go to http://sn-derbyshire-eventbrite.co.uk

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The Voluntary and Community Sector and NHS

SAVE THE DATE! Thursday 9th May 2013

A countywide event is planned to bring together the Voluntary and Community Sector and the NHS for a day of discussion, planning and networking.

Details of times and a venue will be sent out as soon as they have been confirmed.

For more information contact Abbi Steanson on 01332 227710 or email abigail.steanson@communityactionderby.org.uk

Please see attached flyer Save the Date! Voluntary sector and the NHS event

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British Heart Foundation Urgent Local Appeal

British Heart Foundation needs to find £28k as soon as possible to help fund a new 2D cardiac echo machine with extra paediatric specialities. It is for the children’s unit at the Royal Derby Hospital and will be used to diagnose cardiac problems in babies, children and young adults in the out-patients department, the wards and the special baby care unit.

Currently the new paediatric cardiologist is borrowing an echo machine from the adult cardiac department but for logistics and geographical reasons this is not practical and they desperately need their own machine. It is a crisis waiting to happen.

This equipment is needed to save the lives of babies, children and young adults today.

Thank you for any support. Please email Sophie Jardine, British Heart FoundationFundraising Volunteer Manager jardines@bhf.org.uk  if you might be able to help us or if you think you know someone, a group, organisation, association or trust who can help.

 

 

 

 

 

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