Bulletin Contents - 1 March 2010

Rural Derbyshire £600,000 Award for Village Games

Home-Start Senior Organiser Vacancy at Bolsover District & Claycross

Home-Start Part-Time Organiser Vacancy at Erewash

Derbyshire LINk Development Workers Vacancies

Rural Development Initiatives Introduction to Woodfuels

Low Carbon Economy Opportunities for Social Enterprise

Managing Staff Performance

Development Workers Liberating Leadership Course

Mental Health, Direct Payments and Personalisation

Barriers to Volunteering

BLIMP: Broadband Line Information Monitoring Project

The data.gov.uk site Launched

Rural Derbyshire £600,000 Award for Village Games

A Village Games project in Derbyshire is one of just ten projects nationally to receive funding from the Sport England Rural Communities fund. Over 500 applications were submitted.

The Community Sports Trust has secured the investment of £600,000 for the Derbyshire Village Games from the £10 million Rural Communities fund, which was launched after Sport England research revealed that two thirds of the local authorities with the lowest sports participation rates are in rural areas.

Other contributors to the project include each of the rural District Councils, Derbyshire
County Council, Derbyshire County PCT, Derbyshire Sport, the Peak District National Park Authority, Rural Action Derbyshire and the National Governing Bodies of Sport in the area.

The Village Games Project aims to support rural communities to develop new activities,
events and competitions which will continue long beyond the three years of funding.

Hayley Lever, the Director of the Community Sports Trust said: “This funding will help us bring Derbyshire together and get more people playing sport in our rural communities. The sports on offer will be a lot of fun but there will also be a competitive edge to some – and there will be something for everyone.

“We want to harness the excitement of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, by offering the right activities, delivered by the right people in the right places to increase participation.”

The Village Games will benefit from a team of 6 full time Village Sports Co-ordinators, employed in each of the rural districts (designated as eligible by Sport England). These are Amber Valley, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak and South Derbyshire. There will also be a full time Coach and Volunteer Development Officer in the Derbyshire Dales.

The project will start in April 2010.

Home-Start Senior Organiser at Bolsover District & Claycross

Home-Start Bolsover District & Clay Cross Area is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under 5 years of age.

They are looking for a Senior Organiser to work initially 28 hours per week with the possibility of an increase in hours in due course.

Salary: £24,646 – £27,849 pro-rata.  NJC Point 29-33

• To hold ultimate responsibility for managing and developing the scheme.
• To liaise with other statutory and voluntary agencies, engage in recruitment, training and support of volunteers.

Parenting experience and an understanding of the needs of families essential.  Experience of the voluntary sector and exploring and developing funding sources desirable. 

Own car essential.  Pension scheme available.  Enhanced CRB check required.

Closing date: 12 March 2010
Interview date:  w/c 22 March 2010

To receive an application pack email home_start@onetel.com  or telephone 01246 827214

Home-Start Part-Time Organiser Vacancy at Erewash

Home-Start is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under 5 years of age. Volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to families under stress in their own homes helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown.

Part-time Organiser (30 hours, Mon – Fri)
Salary: (NJC points 22 - 27) £19,621 – £22,958 – pro rata

• Organisers are responsible for recruiting, training, supervising and supporting a team of volunteers to provide home visiting family support.
• Parenting experience and an understanding of the needs of families is an essential requirement.
• Use of own car is essential.
• Criminal Record Disclosure (Enhanced Level) will be required.

Closing Date: Fri 19 March 10 - (12 noon)
Interview Date: Wed 14 April 10 – Ilkeston Office

Derbyshire LINk Development Workers Vacancies x 2

Your role will be to engage with members of the public and gain their views of health & social care services in Derbyshire. You will work to involve members of the public with Derbyshire LINk. You will research national and local issues of services that members of the public comment on and prepare reports for LINk steering group. You will work as part of at team to plan and facilitate events, update the LINk website and produce a quarterly bulletin. You will prepare reports on your work activity for us of your line manger, host employers and Derbyshire LINk steering group.

Previous experience of health & social care environment , supporting volunteers is desirable.

Salary— £20,699 per annum pro rata, 37 hr week
Contract length: one year
Job share considered

The interview will consist of a formal question and answer session and a 10 minute presentation.

Base to be agreed, in Ripley or Chesterfield with travel around Derbyshire. Own vehicle required.

LINks staff will be jointly managed by Amber Valley CVS and North Derbyshire Voluntary Action, a work space is available at each organisation.

Closing date for all applications: 22 March 2010
Interviews will take place: Wednesday 31 March 2010

For an application pack for this post please phone Amber Valley CVS on 01773 512076 or email: recruitment@avcvs.org (An answering service is available out of office hours - please leave your name, address, phone number and the title of the job you are interested in).

Rural Development Initiatives Introduction to Woodfuels

Rural Development Initiatives will be  running a one day “Ignite: Introduction to Woodfuels” course at Alison House, Matlock on 16 March. This would be aimed at anyone interested in the biomass supply chain, be that prospective suppliers or end users, or anything in between. Because of the LandSkills funding, the course cost will be £35 per person for the day, including lunch and refreshments.

If you have any questions or would like to book, please contact Carrick Armer on 01765 609355 or carrick.armer@ruraldevelopment.org.uk

More information on the LandSkills programme is available at www.ruraldevelopment.org.uk/landskills-east-midlands

Low Carbon Economy Opportunities for Social Enterprise

Practical Free one-day conference

10.30am to 4 pm 25 March 2010 at Hill Holt Wood, Norton Disney, Lincolnshire LN6 9JP

Hear from experts and practitioners about opportunities arising from micro-generation, retrofitting and waste. Speakers include representatives from Defra, Energy Saving Trust, ECD Energy Conscious Design, LCRN, Hill Holt Wood, Torrs Hydro, Hockerton Housing Project, EcoSky and Freewatt. In addition to presentations and workshops there will be an opportunity to tour and see the latest developments at Hill Holt Wood.

Places are limited, so please book early.

To book your place, please email richard.ellis@seem.uk.net and provide your contact details, access and dietary needs, likely mode of travel (minibus pick-up from Newark stations available).

This free event is organised by East Midlands Large Social Enterprise Network (EMLSEN) and funded by Capacitybuilders

Managing Staff Performance

Monday 29 March, 2-5pm (1.30pm registration) at Voluntary Action Leicestershire

Motivating staff and achieving results are essential skills for line managers and employers.  Understand the tools of managing performance and what you can do to tackle related issues with this session on managing staff performance.

Andrew Monroe from CA Plus will deliver this event which looks at:

• the benefits of managing performance effectively in the workplace
• why measuring performance is important
• creating a performance culture at work
• best practice in managing your appraisal process
• how to diagnose underperformance effectively

Who should attend? Anyone working in an infrastructure organisation (eg CVS, support providers) including:

• HR staff
• Chief executives
• Line managers
• Trustees
• Development workers

The session will feature case study exercises and the opportunity to ask your questions.
Early booking is strongly recommended. For further information and to confirm your place, email Leann at office@one-em.org.uk informing us of any access requirements you have.

While the event is free to attend, preference is given to voluntary sector infrastructure organisations and numbers are limited.

This HR event for voluntary sector infrastructure organisations is organised by NCVO in partnership with One East Midlands and funded by Capacitybuilders Improving Support.

Development Workers Liberating Leadership Course

2 to 3 day residential course aimed at development workers who work with small community groups.  Costs £99 including accommodation.

26 - 27 April - NORTH WEST (Luther King House, Manchester)
24 - 25 June - NATIONAL (Fircroft College, Birmingham)
12 - 13 July - EAST MIDLANDS (Britannia Hotel Nottingham)

Liberate Leadership, stimulate community, accelerate change.

The idea of leadership is rarely trusted in the community sector – it lets many down, or is dismissed as an irrelevance. Liberating Leadership is an empowering and accessible new approach to leadership that will be a powerful resource for change in communities.

The practical three day programme will enable development workers to help groups recognise and grow their leadership role. It’s an ideal opportunity to network and expand your own skills.

More information at:
communitysectorcoalition.org.uk/leadership/liberating-leadership/liberating-leadership

Mental Health, Direct Payments and Personalisation

Free Conference 9.30am-4pm 15 March 2010, at Postmill Centre, South Normanton.

A conference day for all Derbyshire people who use Mental Health Services, their families and supporters as well as staff and providers, to find out about Direct Payments and Personalisation.

• A range of key-note speakers on the developments in Mental Health Services.
• Workshops on what is available now in Derbyshire and the national picture.
• An information Market Place for people to get the information they need to help them feel more in control of transforming their lives.

To book a place contact: makingcarepersonal@derbyshire.gov.uk or call 01629 531140.

Barriers to Volunteering

The Modernising Volunteering National Support Service, is looking at barriers to volunteering by underrepresented groups. A snap shot volunteering survey has been produced which is aimed at disabled (both physical and sensory impairment) people themselves. They are hoping that this will inform the work and give an indication around involvement and the sort of barriers people face, if any. The survey takes about 5 minutes, is very simple and individuals are not identified.

survey.vitalise.org.uk/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=76KL9n9<

BLIMP: Broadband Line Information Monitoring Project

Poor broadband speed can be a real barrier to development in rural areas.  Emda  aim to map broadband speeds in East Midlands and use the information to lobby for better service.

If you go to www.blimpchecker.co.uk and register, you will be able to download a programme which automatically measures the speed of your broadband.  From this, emda can create an up-to-date, self-maintaining atlas of Internet connectivity.

The data.gov.uk site Launched

Giving the public access to the vast quantities of information collected and held by the government and local authorities - data.gov.uk