Civil Society Strategy: Our response
To help communities thrive, we need to look at five foundations of social value: people, places, the social sector, the private sector, and the public sector. Not our words, the words of the newly launched Civil Society Strategy.
And this is exactly the vital role of NAVCA members; place based organisations that bring together people and organisations to help communities thrive. So, of course we are delighted to see this highlighted in the strategy, along with a renewed focus on grants, social value, the return of the Compact, technology and much more.
Of course every strategy needs action, and this must be undertaken with place based organisations in a meaningful co-produced way to have any chance of delivering upon the bold ambitions contained within it. For lasting impact and thriving communities, support local infrastructure with full commitment and resources so they can act as the catalyst for place based social action.
There are some very real challenges ahead for us all, the recent examples in Northampton and Derby are testament to this, but there is an opportunity to reset relationships at local level, and truly valuing the social sector is a start. So let's put this into action, let's see real commitment from government and then you will see real, sustainable change.
So, what do NAVCA members need to know about the Strategy?
- Recognising the role of local infrastructure: local infrastructure plays a vital role in strengthening civil society and it is particularly encouraging to see government recognition that operational and strategic support such as networking, information and advice, knowledge and collaboration, is as important for the voluntary sector as for commercial businesses.
- Strengthening local infrastructure: Declining resources have had a hugely detrimental impact on the provision of infrastructure support and addressing this must be a priority if communities are to thrive. These concerns are addressed and there is an expressed commitment to work in partnership with the VCSE sector to strengthen infrastructure support.
- Grants and funding: Our members’ called for sustainable, accessible and diversified funding sources. The strategy outlines the Government’s planned revival of grant-making, the announced launch of “Grants 2.0 and planned guidance “Commissioning for social action”. It also includes a call for more transparency in grants funding data.
- Better commissioning: The Government has committed to improve commissioning practices. We know from our members that that public sector commissioning is often highly prohibitive to small VCSE organisations, so this a very welcome announcement.
- Commitment to co-production: There is a very positive vision for collaborative commissioning with increased joint-working between the public, private and voluntary sectors, individuals and communities. This could potentially be a very effective way of designing services that are tailored and responsive to the needs of local communities.
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The NAVCA Awards are coming…
This year’s annual conference and AGM will showcase and celebrate the very best of local sector support and development organisations, at the inaugural NAVCA Awards. Open to all NAVCA members, we will be inviting applications across a range of categories, including Collaboration & partnership working, Embracing digital, Leadership and Rising stars.
We will be releasing more details about the categories, criteria and the application process later in the month…watch this space!
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LINX is having a holiday!
As the country continues to bask in glorious sunshine and warm temperatures, it's time for LINX to take a summer siesta, with a two-week publication break. This means you won’t receive LINX on
Thursday 16
or
Thursday 23 August
.
We will be back refreshed, revitalised and ready to report on the latest news, views and opportunities from and for the VCSE sector, on
Thursday 30 August
. If you have any news you would like to see featured in this issue, just send details to:
[email protected]
.
Don’t forget, you can stay up to date with NAVCA including news from our members and the VCSE sector, on Twitter:
@NAVCA
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An opportunity from the National Citizen Service
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Be part of something amazing for Young People!
National Citizen Service Trust (NCST)* are inviting organisations to join one of our six discovery events which we’re hosting during August 2018. At these events NCST will be communicating our shared vision for the future and providing information about our forthcoming procurement for the 2020 Programme.
These events are applicable to all organisations who are interested in taking part in this procurement. Future contracts will be discussed at these events. We also recommend you register your interest on the NCS procurement portal
Bravo
, so you can stay up to date as NCS releases relevant information.
Sign up - it’s quick and easy
We will be hosting six events across the country, so you can choose the one most convenient to you. Simply click on one of the event dates/locations below and sign up to join us. If you cannot make it in person we will be providing information on Bravo so it is really important you register if you have not already done so. Here’s the link again for
Bravo
.
Please note - NCS reserves the right to limit the number of attendees per organisation to each event. This is to ensure as many organisations as possible can participate.
*National Citizen Service (NCS) is a not-for-profit-organisation which - with the skills, experience and enthusiasm of hundreds of brilliant partner organisations - has so far supported more than 400,000 young people to help build self-confidence and belief, learn new skills for life and work, and make a mark in their community.
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News, views & opportunities
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Celebrating involvement in healthcare community grants 2018 – apply now!
Do you know of a voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE) group that has done some amazing patient, service-user or carer involvement work, that’s improved healthcare services?
If so, the NHS wants to hear about it. In fact, it wants everyone to hear about it – and wants to provide the support to make this happen.
NHS England will be awarding grants of up to £2,500 to a number of projects that showcase good practice around patient and citizen involvement in healthcare.
Applications should explain how you have involved patients and citizens in a healthcare project, and how you plan to use the grant to share and showcase your work in a creative way.
The grants can only be awarded to a voluntary organisation. To read the community grants guidelines and to check that your organisation and project is eligible,
visit this webpage
. The application deadline is 20 September 2018 and you can
apply here.
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ChildFair State: Call for evidence
Children England is leading an inquiry into what the welfare state would look like if it recognised and supported all children's need for home, safety, love, health and purpose (a paraphrasing of Maslow's five needs). Children England is
gathering examples of policies and practices that support the whole person, and which can offer lessons for the design of a welfare state that meets all children’s needs.
NAVCA members are invited to
contribute
, to share knowledge of local initiatives that will be incredibly valuable to the inquiry.
It’s also extremely important to gather children and young people’s views on how services can meet their needs more holistically. If
any NAVCA members
are working with children or young people, they’re invited to use or tailor the activity plans Children England has created (
downloadable from the website
) to gather their views on any aspect of the welfare state they’ve experienced.
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Charity Commission publishes questions for the 2018 charity annual return
The 2018 annual return service will be available by the end of August. It will include new questions which have now been published, so you can start preparing.
The tailored annual return has been developed following a consultation in 2017. The Charity Commission has said: “We recognise that for some charities the new questions will create additional work. Certain questions will be optional this year to give you time to put the systems in place to collect the information easily, requiring less effort in future.”
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This is part of a series of webinars to be delivered before and after Expo NHS 2018. It will give practical examples of how organisations have secured senior buy-in for their programme and overcome risk and strategic challenges. Interactive discussion about the approach to measurement of impact and building the Strategic Case and information about the tools and resources available to support this. The intention is for this to be interactive, offering real life examples and practical solutions to take away.
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Expo NHS 2018: Pop-up sessions from the Health & Wellbeing Alliance
Expo NHS 2018 will this year take place on the 5 and 6 September at Manchester Central. The Health & Wellbeing Alliance will be hosting two pop-up sessions over the two days:
- How the mental health workforce can help people address the practical problems in their lives – Wednesday 5 September, 3:30pm, PUU8
- Resilience for individuals, communities and specific groups – Thursday 6 September, 12:30pm, PUU5
Keep up to date with all announcements from the Expo NHS 2018 on Twitter using the hashtag: #Expo18NHS and get the latest news from the Health & Wellbeing Alliance using #HWAlliance.
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Are you a social enterprise, charity or community organisation who are trading and are making an income from that activity? Are you currently exploring or looking for money to finance your plans, for example to buy an asset, finance a contract or expand a service? If so, would like to meet potential social investors?
Good Finance
, Access Foundation, Big Society Capital and
VONNE
have teamed up to bring you Good Finance Live, a one-day event to help you meet social investors, hear stories from others who have used it and be kept in the loop about the latest market developments and trends.
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This event will look at the role of communities in health and care. Speakers and delegates will examine how to create sustainable, community-based health and care, and share learning from areas where communities are taking a key role in improving and sustaining good health.
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Visit our
jobs page
for more details on current vacancies in the voluntary and community sector:
Also here's a
quick guide
to selling yourself when applying for a job in the voluntary sector.
Advertise jobs and contracts here, on our website and through our Twitter page!
Just send details including a weblink to
[email protected]
.
This service is free to members and £25 for everyone else.
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Funding, contracts & awards
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Jewish Child's Day's aim is to assist disabled, disadvantaged, neglected or abused Jewish children worldwide. Deadline 31 August.
The Ashworth Charitable Trust (“the Trust”) is a small grant-making charity. It was created primarily to support humanitarian causes operating locally, nationally and internationally, as opposed to animal or utilitarian projects. For the most part, the Trust looks to fund projects and not core funding. Deadline 31 August.
The Radcliffe Trust continues the charitable bequest of Dr John Radcliffe to support Music and Heritage & Crafts. Deadline 31 August.
The Kelly Family Trust is interested in funding charities whose activities involve the whole family in initiatives that seek to tackle problems that face one or more of its members, and whose aims include the strengthening of family bonds by helping all elements of the family unit to grow together and support each other. Deadline 01 September.
Grants are made to London-based or national charities, for the relief of poverty, the advancement of education and any other charitable purposes. Deadline 01 September.
The Peter Cruddas Foundation aims to benefit disadvantaged and disengaged young people in our society here in the UK by ensuring our funding reaches those most in need
Deadline 01 September.
The Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust was set up in 1982, by Mrs Jean Beryl Lilian Sainsbury, and is a registered charity (No. 326358). Since then, the Trust has given over £8.6 million to animal welfare charities. Deadline 01 September.
From majestic mountains to open countryside and windswept coasts, conserve areas of distinctive landscape character with grants from £100,000–£3million. Deadline 06 September.
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Damian Brady
, Interim CEO of Tower Hamlets CVS, tackles the topical and often misunderstood subject of Co-production in his latest blog.
Paul Streets
,
CEO of Lloyds Bank Foundation describes how a visit to the buzzing Hive Avon in Bristol brought home the value of small charities.
Society Diary
explains why, whether you watched Love Island or if it passed you by, you need to take heed of some of the lessons the show taught the charity sector. Mainly, the importance of the “charity equivalent of an amazing six pack”. We kid you not, someone was serious when they wrote that.
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For latest NAVCA news see our
website
and follow
@NAVCA
on Twitter.
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