News & Developments

"Pilotlight is a unique charity that has been connecting the business and charitable worlds for over ten years, to make both more effective. Our managed model provides the perfect environment for knowledge and skills to be shared.

The Pilotlight model is about coaching charity and social enterprise leaders to develop their business skills, strengthen their organisation and increase its impact. After a year working with Pilotlight 100% of our partner organisations’ CEOs tell us they have improved their analysis and planning skills.”

You can read more on the blog at sdcvs.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/charity-pilotlight-offers-free-strategic-planning-support-to-charities-and-social-enterprises-tackling-disadvantage-in-the-uk/

There is also more information about Pilotlight’s work with charities on their website at: www.pilotlight.org.uk/charities

The sessions will cover hints and tips for applying for funding in general and there will be a chance to discuss your particular project and which of the funds administered by the Foundation is suited to your needs.

The funding surgeries will be in the form of either group workshops or a one-to-one session with a grants officer.

To book a place please contact Lindsay Sowter on 01773 525860 as soon as possible as places are limited.

Funding surgeries will be held in the following areas:

High Peak: Whaley Bridge – Tues 17 November – 1pm – 4pm – Group workshop

Derbyshire Dales:  Bakewell – Thurs 12 Nov - 10am – 1pm – One-to-one sessions

Derbyshire Dales:  Ashbourne – Tues 24 Nov -10am – 1pm – One-to-one sessions

Each Councillor has £1000 to support projects in their Ward relating to:

• Small scale environmental improvements
• Community safety issues
• Beneficial community based projects

Suggestions for improvement works or projects can be made by anyone or any organisation and should be discussed with the lead Ward Councillor prior to an application being submitted.

Applications close on 26 February 2016. To make an application complete an Application Form on HPBC website.

You can pay into your MCU savings account in lots of different ways:

• By standing order 
• With your membership card at any Paypoint, Payzone or Post Office 
• Directly from your wages if you work for one of our payroll partners. 
• Directly from one of your benefits, such as Child Benefit or Tax Credits. 
• At one of our local branches or satellite points.

Benefits of saving with Manchester Credit Union include:

• The credit union makes it easy to save, and even a small amount each week soon mounts up! 
• By far the easiest way is by standing order or payroll deduction, as you don’t need to do anything once it is set up.
• All savings are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, just the same as a bank.
• Life savings insurance is provided at no cost to you (up to £5,000 and conditions apply).
• Confidentiality, security and protection, with no hidden charges or fees.

See our website for more information at:

www.manchestercreditunion.co.uk

The recovery walk will start at the Proact Stadium on Sheffield Road. Meet at 9.30am. The walk will start at 10am and will finish at the Assembly Rooms at Chesterfield Market Hall. For those who do not take part in the walk, meet at the Assembly Rooms at 12 noon.

The recovery event will commence with an agenda of:

• Dear Albert - a character award winning feature documentary about recovering from addiction
• Local Life Stories
• Guest Speakers and the launch of the new Derbyshire Recovery Website

Lunch and Refreshments provided.

For more information and to reserve your place please contact Hope Springs  01246 540 431 - email: hopesprings540431@gmail.com

The NHS approved exercises can be adapted to suit all abilities, so can also be made more challenging as well as easier.

The class starts on 18 September at 10am in the Old School Room at Hope.  The aim is to keep the class relatively small so that participants can be monitored. This may therefore result in running several classes.

Attendees must book a place and complete a health screening prior to attending the class. There will be a charge of £5 per class. 

For further enquiries or to book a place, please contact: Lisa 07971 243470

What this consultation is about - providing the highest quality care and meeting a wide range of needs is our priority and to continue to do this we need to plan for the future. As part of this planning we are reviewing all our residential care homes. They all provide the highest levels of care to our residents and many of the buildings already meet modern day standards. However, we know that some could benefit from an upgrade and some others do not or could not meet modern standards because of the age or design of the buildings.

We also need to take into account the growing older population and the rising number of people in the county who need specialist care, including people with dementia. While these numbers are growing, the amount of money we have as a council is being cut, making it even more difficult for us to make ends meet. We know that people value our residential homes − that is why we want to continue to provide residential care homes where we can. However, not all our homes could be updated to a standard we think people expect and deserve and some cost more money to run than others. In some areas where we have homes, there are other organisations providing the same type of residential care.

We have some difficult decisions to make if we want to continue to offer high quality residential care in some areas, as well as providing older people with other choices like extra care, home care and specialist dementia care.

We have no choice but to consider closing a small number of our care homes so that we can try to meet the needs of our growing older population and work to balance the books in the future. However, we would stress that no decisions will be made until councillors have considered the views of everybody who might be affected.

We are proposing to close five homes across the county, including Ecclesfold Resource Centre in Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Full details of the consultation are on the DCC website.

Through this award, the CVS wants to celebrate and commemorate voluntary activity for personal and community growth. The award is intended to recognise outstanding contributions based in the Derbyshire Dales. 

The Celebrating People Award is open to all community groups in the Derbyshire Dales, small or large, newly formed or long established. 

To apply please contact Sarah Paisley or Jonathan Simcock at DDCVS for an application form. Applications must be received by Friday 18 September. The award and cheque will be presented at Derbyshire Dales CVS Annual General Meeting on Thursday 8 October at Dale Road Methodist Church Hall, Darley Dale. Contact Sarah Paisley or Jonathan Simcock: Tel 01629 812154  Email enquiries@ddcvs.org.uk  Download a form from www.ddcvs.org.uk 

A local legal advice charity, Derbyshire Law Centre, based in Chesterfield, has been praised by the Legal Aid Agency in a recent review of its Housing and Homeless work done under its legal aid contract with the Agency.  The Law Centre was awarded a rating of Competence Plus (2) in the category of Housing Law as its work was found to demonstrate a high degree of competence.  

The review report stated, ‘Overall, this is a well-run service with a balanced and thoughtful approach to casework. Record-keeping was comprehensive. There was a clear commitment from all caseworkers to promote and protect the rights of clients. Regular appearances at court for clients, under the legal help at court scheme, showed an efficient use of resources’.  The report also felt that ‘caseworkers were really up-to-date with their legal knowledge’.  One case was particularly praised as ‘A superb piece of work showing how a caseworker’s in-depth knowledge of the subject area can turn around a client’s life’.

Derbyshire Law Centre is the only advice agency in Derbyshire that has a legal aid contract in housing, community care and debt across the county. It also provides free specialist legal services in employment, immigration, mortgage repossession and tackling hate and harassment. For free legal advice, please contact the Law Centre on Freephone 0800 707 6990.

www.derbyshirelawcentre.org.uk 

Safe and Sound  is a charity whose new Hub & Spoke project  is  offering a  free service to the voluntary sector in Derbyshire  who wish to  train their workers in identifying and responding to cases of child sexual exploitation   and  provide support and guidance when working with children and young people. 

Safe and Sound  can offer a package of support including:

• Training to raise awareness of CSE, risk indicators, how to work effectively with young people, and how to report concerns and information.
• Advice on how to manage complex cases and engage young people.
• Advice and guidance  on  organisational policies around CSE in line  with  national guidance.
• Guidance on best practice to support victims of CSE and advice on police involvement and the court process. 
• Support agencies in raising awareness of the risk of CSE amongst their young people and with parents/carers and families.

For more information please contact Sarah Brown  Case Advisor 07726 693705 
sarah.brown@safeandsoundgroup.org.uk