Aggregated External News

The Recognised Provider List contains the names of organisations providing care and support in Sheffield which have met the standards of Sheffield City Council and have been approved as providing a quality service.

If your organisation is interested becoming a recognised provider then you can now apply at certain points throughout the year. Applications made by 30 November each year will hear if they are successful by 1 March each year. Applications made by 31 May each year will find out if they have been successful by 1 September each year.

Although there are set deadlines, you can apply at any time in the year; your application will be looked at in the next batch depending at the point in the year in which you apply.

For more information visit the Sheffield City Council website here.

Contact: Contracts and Partnership Team, Sheffield City Council
Telephone: 0114 2053051
Email: rpl@sheffield.gov.uk
Website: www.sheffield.gov.uk/caresupport/us/scap/new-business/rplist.html

The Welsh government has agreed to consult with the charity sector on proposed restrictions around the number of charity shops. A review of business rates had recommended looking at reducing rate relief for charity shops, capping their numbers and restricting the premises they can occupy.

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The Impact Investments fund, managed by innovation charity Nesta, is open for applications for funding from organisations that have high potential social impact that can be evidenced, and a financially viable business model capable of producing a return on investment (minimum investment £150,000).

The particular areas of interest are innovations that have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of an ageing population, the educational attainment and employability of children and young people, or the social and environmental sustainability of communities.

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The brief description of sixteen projects which are to receive support through the latest round of the government's Innovation in Giving Fund is quite an interesting read - Cabinet Office website.

Nesta, which manages the fund and the connected package of non-financial support, has more details of all projects at http://giving.nesta.org.uk/project/ireach/. (Giving is not limited to money.)

The Community Covenant grant scheme is to help local projects that aim to strengthen the ties between members of the armed forces community and the wider community in which they live.

The aims of the covenant are to:

encourage local communities to support the armed forces community in their areas, and vice versa
promote understanding and awareness among the public of issues affecting the armed forces community
recognise and remember the sacrifices made by the armed forces community
encourage activities which help to integrate the armed forces community into local life.

Up to £30 million has been set aside nationally for this scheme, to be awarded over the next four years. Applications will be considered for funding between £100 to £250,000. Ideas can come from all sections of society - individuals, the public and private sectors, as well as the voluntary sector.

In Sheffield, the Accountable Body Services Team is dealing with applications.

The application forms and guidance notes are available on this website.

Contact: Accountable Body Services Team
Telephone: 0114 2735220
Email: accountablebody.services@sheffield.gov.uk
Website: www.sheffield.gov.uk/covenant

The TRIS Project  (Transforming Rotherham’s Infrastructure Service) aims to increase access to information and advice for voluntary and community groups in Rotherham.

They can help with your volunteering opportunities, to build links with businesses and track the impact and keep the evidence of your activities all supporting your efforts to provide a service to your users.

Full details, including contacts for the staff covering the different areas, are on the Voluntary Action Rotherham website:

http://bit.ly/VY77tJ

The website Ideas Tap, which supports arts and creative activities, has a page on their website called five common budgeting mistakes. It goes through common problems encountered when people doing any kind of activity, not just arts, are trying to determine how much a project will cost.

A rather irritating folksy style, but the information is sound.

www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/five-common-budgeting-mistakes

The Advice Services Transition Fund has been launched by the Cabinet Office and the Big Lottery Fund.

The £65m fund will help advice providers adapt to a stricter funding environment over a two-year period from 2013/14 and will encourage more partnerships and collaboration to ensure long term sustainability.

Grants will range from £50,000 to £350,000. The closing date for applications is 28 January.  More information, and guidance on how to apply on the Big Lottery Fund website:

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_advice_services_transition_fund.htm?regioncode=-uk

A free booklet Banking for Charities has been produced for people who manage the financial affairs of a charity or voluntary organisation. It has been put together by The Charities Finance Group, and the British Banking Association.

It sets out the treasurer’s and trustees’ responsibilities, helps you establish your charity’s banking needs, and answers many frequently asked questions. The guide is aimed towards those involved with the financial affairs of smaller charities; but they feel others may find it useful, too:

www.cfg.org.uk/~/media/Files/Resources/CFDG%20Publications/BBA_CFG_Banking_for_Charities.ashx

Everyone who returned SYFAB’s recent survey was entered for a prize draw for an online voucher - the winner (selected by an online random number generator) was Eric Randerson of the Doncaster Rovers Foundation. The Foundation said “It was a nice surprise for our organisation to be drawn out. We will purchase something that can be used in our office and therefore benefit all our staff.”

Think tank and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital has a new website at http://www.thinknpc.org. Good to see that they have removed the need to log in to access publications.

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A guide for charities on becoming a social enterprise has been produced by Pilotlight and Social Enterprise UK following a "significant increase" in enquiries from charities considering the route (http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/13564/).

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The 'Healthier Perspective Toolkit' from RAISE (the south east England regional sector body) is designed to encourage collaboration between commissioners of health and social care, voluntary sector providers and voluntary sector support organisations, http://www.raise-learning.org.uk.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) are looking for a service provider to run their Dementia Cafes and Carers’ Support Service.

You will need to provide group and individual support to carers caring for people with all levels of dementia and individuals experiencing low to moderate levels of dementia.

Group support will be delivered with a number of Dementia Cafés across the Rotherham Borough. Individual support will be offered in peoples homes with telephone contact and at various locations within Rotherham.

There is a two stage procurement process. For Stage 1 you need to fill in a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This will be used to draw up a shortlist of providers who will then be issued an invitation to tender (ITT). The PQQ documents are available to download from the SCMS website. (You will need to join or log in).

The estimated value of the contract is £75,000 per annum, the contract starts 1 April 2013.

Deadline: 26 November
Contact: Helen Chambers (RMBC)
Telephone: 01709 382121
Email: Helen.Chambers@rotherham.gov.uk
Website: https://scms.secure.alito.co.uk/pages/public/viewPublicNotice.cmd?noticeId=24009

Apologies if you found the links weren’t working on the information below, originally posted earlier this week. There was a fight between the newbie member of SYFAB (me!) and some web coding. The coding won. But everything should be in order now.

Involve Yorkshire and Humber and the Sheffield Hallam University Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research are running a seminar on impact measurement for voluntary and community organisations on 15 November 2012 in Sheffield.

It is becoming more important when applying for funding to be able to demonstrate the effect your work has on those you hope to benefit - but sometimes it can seem a very difficult task, and there is much debate about how best to do it.

Making An Impact:making impact measurement work for you will address how impact measurement can be done well, what funders are looking for and the experiences of voluntary sector organisations. There is a charge for attendance - see the Involve website for more information and booking details. Bursaries are available.

SYFAB will be running a stall on the day as well, so come and say hello and ask us your funding questions. We’ll do our best to answer them!

Details: 9.30-2.00 Thursday 15 November 2012 at the Workstation, Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX.

Website: www.involveyorkshirehumber.org.uk/events/diary/making-an-impact-making-impact-measurement-work

You are warmly invited to attend SYFAB’s Annual General Meeting which this year will be in Sheffield.

Date: Friday 23 November 2012 from 9.30-12.30 including refreshments.

Venue: Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, Riverside East, 2 Millsands, Sheffield S3 8DT.

Speaker: Professor Peter Wells
Director of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University

After the Big Society: Future Funding of the Sector - possibilities and pitfalls
Peter will be focusing on the role social investment might play in the funding of the sector, and challenging some of the current thinking behind outcome and impact measurement.

SYFAB’s 2012 AGM is kindly supported by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors

You can book your place online here.

Click on the links below to download the following:

SYFAB Annual Report 2012
AGM 2012 agenda
Minutes from 2011 AGM

If your group is not already a member, you may want to consider joining SYFAB. Membership is open to all voluntary organisations and community groups in South Yorkshire and is free.

To download a SYFAB membership form, please click the link below
Download SYFAB membership form in pdf

We hope you will be able to join us on 23 November.

Sheffield MIND is looking for a film maker or film production company to make a film with them as part of their ‘Let’s Get Talking’ project. Volunteers will work in the Somali and Pakistani communities to gather stories about mental health, which will then be used to make the film.

The film will look at stigma and discrimination across the generations in predominantly Pakistani and Somali communities and will be used with a training tool to promote conversation in community settings with these communities.

You can download the tender details here.

You should also be able to download details from the Sheffield MIND website in the next few days: www.sheffieldmind.co.uk

Deadline: 8 November
Contact: Lois Miller
Email: lois.miller@sheffieldmind.co.uk
Website: www.sheffieldmind.co.uk

National Pro Bono Week celebrates the free or Pro Bono help, that community organisations can get through the ProHelp scheme.

Business in the Community (BITC) and SYFAB are holding a FREE event for South Yorkshire groups where you can hear more about how Pro Bono support can help you:

• Hear from local community groups who have already accessed support - Ralph Dickins, fundraiser at St Vincent’s Furniture Store and David Pepper, chair of Grenoside Community Association will be sharing their experiences

• Hear from a marketing expert, Darryl Dawson from Connexions PR, an architect, Neil Ritchie from Enritch Design and a surveyor, Susan Crowley, from Crowley Associates on the types of support then can give you

• Meet up to 20 providers of Pro Bono support, from marketing experts, to solicitors, architects, to insurance brokers all in one place.

As part of the celebrations, Sheffield solicitors firm Irwin Mitchell are kindly hosting the event at their offices:

Date: Tuesday 6th November 2012
Venue: Irwin Mitchell, Riverside East, 2 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8DT
Time: 10:30am – 1pm, coffee will be served on arrival from 10am

The venue is close to the Sheffield town centre; it’s a short walk from Castle Square and Bridge Street, where there are good public transport links.

There is also a car park (Q Park) close to the building. There are a limited amount of disabled parking spaces available. You need to contact SYFAB to arrange a disabled parking space in advance of the event if required.

You need to book a place, places are limited and are on a first come, first served basis. You need to contact SYFAB to reserve a place:

Contact: SYFAB
Telephone: 0114 249 43 43
Email: advice@syfab.org.uk

Or

Business in the Community: Michelle Dickinson
Telephone: 0114 201 3307
Email: michelle.dickinson@bitc.org.uk

Business in the Community (BITC) is currently looking to identify a project which supports their local community and that employee volunteers could work with, particularly projects in the S20, S12 and S21 areas of Sheffield.

BITC are particularly interested in projects that could work with up to 125 employee volunteers in late February 2013.

The project will involve a group of up to 125 business volunteers who undertake a specific piece of practical, hands-on activity in the community. This could be creating an outdoor resource; providing valuable activities for the community sector supporting employability, or creating a community space in a disadvantaged area.

A Team Challenge provides a community group with access to resources to allow them to develop and improve their services or site.

If your project would like to be considered please contact Michelle Dickinson at BITC.

Contact: Michelle Dickinson, BITC
Telephone: 0114 2013 307
Email: michelle.dickinson@bitc.org.uk

Six months after a lot of the Localism Act’s new rights came into force, an event is being put on in Doncaster to look at how it is working out, and  help local groups make the most of their new opportunities. Initiatives such as the right to buy community buildings, challenge council services, and produce neighbourhood plans potentially have big implications for communities.

The event will be on Friday 16 November 2012 9.30 to 1.00 at Doncaster Friends Meeting House, costing £16. Booking is essential, with this form.

Contact: Lorna Buttrick, Cross Keys Associates
Telephone: 01302 341801
Email: lorna@crosskeysassociates.com