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A random sample of 104,328 leaders of Third Sector Organisations in England will be contacted and asked to take part. The sample will include a wide range of Third Sector organisations: charities, social enterprises, community groups, clubs and societies, non-profit organisations, voluntary organisations, housing associations, trusts, co-operatives and mutuals and faith groups).

Organisations will start to receive the survey from 22nd September and it needs to be completed/ returned by 13th October 2008.

Why is it important?

This will be the biggest ever national survey of the sector. Local decision makers will learn from – and be judged by – the detailed picture that emerges from the survey, and the findings will shape local and national policy decisions. It will also provide valuable evidence about local partnerships, funding relationships, opportunities to campaign and influence, and other issues facing the sector at a local level. The survey will provide specific evidence for National Indicator 7 ‘Environment for a Thriving Third Sector’ (chosen as one of its 35 priorities in the Derbyshire Local Area Agreement) – this measures how effective local government and its partners are in providing an environment in which third sector organisations can thrive. The survey will be repeated in 2010 so that any improvements and progress can be measured.

The survey will only be effective if there is a strong response from those selected to take part, to ensure that the findings are statistically robust and carry real weight at local level. If you don’t want to take part, it’s important to respond and say that you wish to opt out rather than just ignoring it.

How will the survey be carried out and what will happen to the information?

Research company Ipsos MORI has been commissioned by the Office of the Third Sector to conduct the survey independently, and they will contact organisations directly. Selected organisations may choose to complete the survey online or by completing a postal questionnaire.

Responses will be confidential and published findings will be presented as statistics in tables and charts with commentary – they will not be used in a way which identifies individuals or organisations.

Headline findings for each local authority area will be published in late January. Later reports will give more detailed information on the picture of the sector the survey has provided.

Dedicated survey website at www.nstso.com

Vacancy: Training and Development Officer at SDVSMHF

Salary: £19,699 – £21,002 (30 hours per week), for 2 years initially.

SDVSMHF is a membership organisation that delivers practical support to voluntary sector mental health service providers in Derbyshire.

The post will deliver training and development advice to voluntary sector mental health service providers across Derbyshire. The work will concentrate upon smaller and developing organisations and service modernisation.

The successful candidate will be an experienced trainer with at least two years experience of giving development advice to organisations. Able to communicate effectively and confidently within organisational guidelines, the worker will have excellent awareness of good practice in voluntary sector service delivery and will demonstrate a commitment to equality and diversity in all areas of work.

The post will be based in Belper, but it is important that the post-holder can travel to various locations across the county.

For an application pack please email cheryl.mason@sdvsmhf.org.uk or telephone
01773 599995.

Closing date Wed 8 Oct.
Interviews week beginning 20th Oct.

Vacancy: Lottery Regional Policy and Partnerships Officer

£20,495 - £26,735 pa, based in Nottingham

Do you want to help us make a real difference to people’s lives through Lottery funding? Our regional teams are key to ensuring that Lottery funding is spent as effectively as possible.

You will be responsible for gathering information to inform our committees, developing links with local voluntary and statutory organisations and providing an essential outreach role to make sure that people know about our funding. It’s a varied role and one that requires an understanding of the policy context within which the voluntary, community and public sectors work in the East Midlands. You’ll need excellent communication skills, experience of researching, collating and presenting information and an ability to make good relationships with colleagues inside and outside the organisation.

For further information and to apply online, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk quoting reference number BIG 08/098

Closing date: Wednesday, 8 October 2008.
Interview date: Monday, 20 October 2008.

Vacancy: One East Midlands CEO

Success in this role will require a proven track record in working at regional level, with a diverse range of stakeholders from across the Third, Statutory and Private sectors.

You will already have been working at senior strategic level to deliver change and optimise resources. You will have an excellent understanding of the strategies, policies and programmes affecting the sector and the issues it currently faces, proven experience in leading and developing innovative strategies in partnership working, and ideally experience of working in a Third Sector infrastructure organisation.

For an application pack visit the OneEM website or contact their office by phone on 0115 934 8471 or by email at office@one-em.org.uk

Closing date for applications: 5pm 1 October
Interviews will take place in Nottingham on 17 October

Photo Competition for Social Enterprise Day

November 20th 2008 is Social Enterprise Day: a national day to celebrate and promote social enterprise This year Social Enterprise East Midlands has launched a photography competition to find out how social enterprise is transforming the lives of people and communities across the region. They are looking for the best photographs that show how social enterprises are changing the world one community at a time - and they want to hear from the people who experience it every day.

This is a great opportunity for social enterprises to show what they accomplish and what they mean to communities in the East Midlands. Maybe you work or volunteer at a social enterprise or know someone who has benefited from one. Take a photo, tell your story and you could also win some great prizes.

This competition is the regional heat of a national competition. The regional winner for the East Midlands will have the chance to compete for the national prize.

The deadline for entries is 28 October. Regional and national winners will be announced on Social Enterprise Day.

Full details at seem.live.poptech.coop/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=91613

Human Rights and Third Sector

The British Institute of Human Rights is organising a series of free one-day events designed to give the Third Sector organisations the opportunity to explore the relevance of human rights to their work. The Midlands event will take place in Leicester on 2nd October. Entitled 'Human rights – tackling inequality and social exclusion', the day will cover:

What are human rights - what do they mean for the Third Sector?
How can human rights be used as a tool by the Third Sector to tackle inequality and social exclusion in society?
How can the Third Sector be skilled up to be able to use human rights in their work?

The day will include a short human rights awareness-raising session by the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) and a number of consultative discussions aimed at identifying the human rights capacity building needs of the sector. Information will also be provided on the BIHR Principles to Practice Project and the work of the National Equality Partnership.

More information on the BIHR website www.bihr.org.uk

HM Revenue and Customs Telephone Helpline

From 15th September the HMRC Charities telephone helpline (0845 302 0203.) has changed its opening hours to 8.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday. "This will allow staff more time to deal with customers who communicate with us in ways other than by telephone". www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/helpline-update.htm

National Minimum Wage Rates from October

The national minimum wage rates are updated from 1st October to:
workers aged 22 and over – £5.73 per hour;
workers aged 18 to 21 – £4.77 per hour;
workers aged 16 to 17 – £3.53 per hour.

www.berr.gov.uk/employment/pay/national-minimum-wage/index.html

Governance in Children's Organisations

The National Council for Voluntary Child Care Organisations has published, with help from the Governance Hub, 'Governing for Children: A beginner’s guide to governance in the children, young people and families voluntary sector'. There are focused real-life examples of particular relevance to any committee members of smaller organisations involved with children. Download in pdf, 1.59MB.

Standards for Community Development Work

The National Occupational Standards for the community development workforce are being revised by Lifelong Learning UK, to reflect changes in legislation and working practices within the sector. A questionnaire, for response by 7th November, is available at www.lluk.org/community-development-work-nos-consultation.htm

New Guidelines for Managing Volunteers

Many people who work in Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations often find themselves with a responsibility for developing and implementation a volunteer strategy. The UK Workforce Hub has published a set of standards for the management of volunteers which will help you to carry out this role effectively. Read more and view the standards at ukworkforcehub.org.uk

Community Control of Assets Steps Up

The government has announced as part of its ‘communities in control’ agenda that a new 'asset transfer unit' will be led by the Development Trusts Association. This will offer an independent hub of advice across England, for local people and authorities, to help community groups take over underused or derelict public buildings and land and put them to better use. The DTA, along with partners such as the Local Government Association and Community Matters, expects to have this functioning from January 2009.

This was announced alongside twelve 'participatory budgeting' or 'community kitties' pilot areas, engaging local people in how public money is spent. Communities and Local Government Department's news item at www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/968816

Creating a Learning and Development Plan

A workbook about how to create a learning and development plan for a third sector organisation has been produced by sector support umbrella body NAVCA. The Get Skilled Workbook is aimed at those working with local groups, and can be downloaded from www.navca.org.uk/services/learningopps/skild/getskilled – workbook is 1.59MB pdf, with worksheets in Word format. The workbook is based on 'A Practical Guide to Planning Training and Development Strategies' by Greater London Enterprises and Gowland Taylor Associates.

Graduate Pathways into the Voluntary Sector

Research which aimed to build a picture of the nature and range of opportunities for graduates in the voluntary and community sector has led to a booklet 'Career pathways for graduates into the voluntary/community sector' for advisers and also for students and graduates at universities and Higher Education Institutions. Could also be a useful resource for others who want an overview of jobs in the sector. A large (4.12MB) pdf download available from www.hecsu.ac.uk/hecsu.rd/research_reports_273.htm (Source: UKVPM list)

Futurebuilders Tender Fund

The £1m fund, which was launched on 30th June, offers interest-free three year loans of between £3,000 and £50,000 to third sector organisations that need relatively small sums of money to help them tender successfully for specific public service delivery contracts.

Futurebuilders has set up the Fund in response to feedback from third sector providers and public sector commissioners, who confirmed that there is a real need for resources to help the third sector compete for public sector contracts on an equal footing with providers from other sectors.

There is no application form for this Fund.

If you want to enquire about a Tender Fund investment, please contact the Futurebuilders enquiry line:
Telephone: 0191 261 5200
Email: info@futurebuilders-england.org.uk
Website: www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk

Lloyds TSB Foundation News

The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales awarded over £3.75 million in grants to 133 charities in its most recent funding round. The grants were made through the Foundation’s Community programme to support small and medium underfunded charities that help disadvantaged people play a fuller role in their community of their choice.

The Lloyds TSB Foundation has recently extended its locally based grant management team so that it can respond even more effectively to communities’ needs. Their grant mangers are now able to visit all charities that apply to them for a grant of £5,000 or over. This enables them to provide a high level of customer service and to spot key emerging issues affecting the disadvantaged communities that they support.

Full details of the 2008 grant programmes, regional contacts and recent recipient charities are available at website: www.lloydstsbfoundations.org.uk

v Match Fund

The v Match Fund brings together private sector partners and charities to create innovative volunteering opportunities. The benefits are clear: by harnessing the creativity and energy of young people, they can bring communities together and find solutions to society’s biggest problems. They can change lives, protect the environment, create safer neighbourhoods, improve the nation’s health and give 16 to 25 year olds skills, confidence and experience.

The v Match Fund matches up to 100% of any new investment in youth volunteering – that’s double the money, and double the impact of the investment. To date, v has pledges of £32m from the private sector – making a total of £64m that has and will be invested into diverse and high impact projects across England.

The Round 2 deadline for v Match Fund applications is 5.00 pm on Friday 31st October 2008 (for projects starting in March 2009).

Read the programme overview and then complete the online eligibility questionnaire. Both documents are available for download from the website below. Once you have successfully completed the online eligibility check, they’ll send you application documents and full application guidelines.

v, 5th Floor, Dean Bradley House, 52 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AF Telephone: 020 7960 7000
Website: www.wearev.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=108

Hilton in the Community Foundation

The Foundation makes grants to a wide range of charities and organisations that meet one of our three chosen areas of focus: Young People – Education; Young People – Health; Disaster Relief and International Fund.

Applications are rigorously assessed to ensure that the best projects reaching the most disadvantaged young people are prioritised. The Foundation aims to support a range of causes helping young people, across the UK and Ireland. Please note that the Disaster Relief and International Fund is a discretionary fund for which there is no open application process.

There is no limit on the amount of money that a charity can request. However, the Foundation is a small charity and generally will not make awards of over £50,000 (per year). Funding can be requested for up to three years for any particular project. Due to increased demand on our limited grant fund, deadlines have now been introduced. Please ensure your completed application is received by the date indicated in order to be considered in the following round. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. The remaining application deadline in 2008 is 28 October, for Grants Committee Meeting on 29 November 2008.

Since 2005, in response to huge ongoing demand from charities and good causes, Hilton Hotels agreed to donate a limited number of accommodation vouchers for use by charities for raffle or auction prizes at their fundraising events. The Foundation manages this process and to enter the monthly draw to receive a voucher, requests should be made by email to info@hilton-foundation.org.uk Whether successful or unsuccessful, to maintain a fair response we require that organisations leave a gap of three months between each request. Please note that once awarded, these vouchers cannot be transferred, extended or exchanged.

Guidance and application forms are available on website below.
Hilton in the Community Foundation, 179-199 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UL
Telephone: 020 7605 7733
Fax: 020 7605 7736
Email: info@hilton-foundation.org.uk
Website: www.hilton-foundation.org.uk

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