In 2012 WSFN (Wiltshire and Swindon Funding Network) are running FREE events for community groups across the county. WSFN meets to improve opportunities for the voluntary & community and statutory sectors in Wiltshire and Swindon and their first two events in 2011, Five Steps to Funding Success & Fit for Funding were fully booked successes. For details of the events visit   Click Here

The first event, Better Applications, is…

21st March 2012

After the budget today Sir Stuart Etherington, CEO of NCVO said that the 'medicine' offered to the charity sector went only a little way towards sweetening the bitter pill of the financial pressures currently hitting the sector.

The cap on tax reliefs for donations could have a negative effect on donations that come from the eight percent who give almost half the amount that is given to charities each year.

There are also positive signs…

GROW Enhancing Community Support – 22/05/2012 E-Bulletin

Welcome to the weekly GROW E-Bulletin

This bulletin gives you news, information and updates relevant to the voluntary & community sector both in general and local to you in Wiltshire. If you would also like to see updates local to Bath & North East Somerset please feel free to visit our…

Volunteers will be able to have "portable" criminal records bureau checks, under a new law passed earlier this month.  Cabinet Office says the change will decrease the number of people requiring an enhanced check.  Volunteers can now have a single check to cover them in working with multiple organisations.  Please click here for more information…

The government has announced two new projects "to make it easier for people to give time and money to causes they care about". To read more visit the Cabinet Office website: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news

They are providing the essentials to help plan a social venture. To find out more visit: www.socialenterprise.org.uk

Today is National Learning at Work Day so here are some useful tips . . . go on; give yourself time out to learn something new!

Click here for Tips on Managing your Emails!

Click here to enrich your life by learning something new

 …

GROW Enhancing Community Support – 17/05/2012 E-Bulletin

Welcome to the weekly GROW E-Bulletin

This bulletin gives you news, information and updates relevant to the voluntary & community sector both in general and local to you in Wiltshire. If you would also like to see updates local to Bath & North East Somerset please feel free to visit our…

You may be aware that the Town Council has prepared schemes for the improvement of the Neeld Hall.

They are now consulting to see whether their ideas are supported.

I have designed sets or stage managed many of the biggest shows ever staged at the Neeld Hall (Sweeney Todd, Oliver!, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, South Pacific) and am acutely aware of the shortcomings of the existing Hall for staging shows, notably the lack of wing space or a scenery dock for unloading. The…

The Government's Big Society initiative must target poorer communities and young and ethnic minority people, working in genuine partnership with the voluntary sector, if it is to succeed.  So finds the first ever independent audit of David Cameron's  flagship programme.

The Audit finds a 'Big Society gap' between different groups against key indicators.

To read more…

Volunteers play a vital role in providing community services at both a local and national level. But a year on from the Giving White Paper has enough been done to stimulate volunteer activity? At a time when funding for volunteering is becoming more restricted…

LocalGiving.com

The Community Foundation for Swindon and Wiltshire has teamed up with Localgiving.com to offer a new innovative way for voluntary organisations to receive donations, namely, Localgiving.com. Our aim is to empower local charities and provide them with support in ensuring the sustainability of…

The annual scheme pairs civil servants with employees from civil society organisations so each can spend a day ‘shadowing’ the other in their place of work to learn how the ‘other side’ operates. Its personal nature means participants can observe, ask questions and acquire information not easily obtained through more conventional methods of research or enquiry.

Last year, five departments – the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department for Communities and…

GROW Enhancing Community Support – 10/05/2012 E-Bulletin

Welcome to the weekly GROW E-Bulletin

This bulletin gives you news, information and updates relevant to the voluntary & community sector both in general and local to you in Wiltshire. If you would also like to see updates local to Bath & North East Somerset please feel free to visit our…

It's not too late to have your say on the Draft Strategy for the Voluntary and Community Sector in Wiltshire - The consultation period ends on Friday 11th May!

View on the online consultation here.

To read more visit: www.idealware.org

Average pay for finance and accountancy staff in smaller and medium sized charities has fallen or remained static since last year to read more visit: www.cfg.org.uk

In the current economic climate and with the major changes to the benefit system the demand for Citizens Advice services in Wiltshire is ever increasing. Last year Wiltshire Citizens Advice dealt with over 75,000 enquiries from their clients across Wiltshire and this number is expected to rise over the next year.

With this in mind Wiltshire Citizens Advice need to recruit more volunteers for a number of  roles.…

Compact Voice has published a document which outlines the way in which meaningful engagement should be achieved. It says:

‘Ensuring meaningful engagement when consulting’ provides a benchmark of the minimum expected in order for engagement on consultations to be considered meaningful, in particular when the public body is unavoidably restricted to less than a twelve week consultation period.

To read more visit:…

To legislate or not to legislate visit the Civil Society website: www.civilsociety.co.uk