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News and information for voluntary and community grroups throughout Herefordshire.
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April 2011
Don’t forget about our website www.herefordshireva.org
for all of our news and events
Funding Breakfast 10th May 2011
Saxty’s, Widemarsh Street, Hereford 7.45 am—9 am
We are delighted to announce that our next speaker will be Charlotte Brennan of The
Elmley Foundation to talk about their small
grants scheme. This scheme is for community groups in Herefordshire and Worcestershire planning arts events or purchases. There are two funds - Events and Activities and Arts Equipment. Both offer up to all the projected cost, to a maximum of £1,000. There are separate guidelines for each fund.
Continental Breakfast is £5 payable on the day but places must be booked in advance by contacting
Clare O’Grady on 01432 343 932 or [email protected]
“Herefordshire Voluntary Action works with people, groups and communities to make a positive difference to quality of life in
the county”
Berrows Business Centre, Bath Street, Hereford, HR1 2HE Charity No. 1096451 Company No. 4625595
Thousands of people regularly
volunteer in Herefordshire, not just
giving of their time freely but also
their energy, skills and talents to
make a positive difference to the
lives of others and their
communities. 2011 sees the
return of the biennial Herefordshire
Volunteers of the Year Awards which
recognises and celebrates the outstanding
contribution that volunteers make to our County.
Oscars of VolunteeringOscars of VolunteeringOscars of VolunteeringOscars of Volunteering The ‘Oscars’ of volunteering will be presented by the Lord
Lieutenant at a gala dinner to be held at Hereford Race Course
on Thursday 9th June 2011. This event would not be possible
without the extremely generous support of allpay, one of
Herefordshire’s most prestigious companies. Not only is this
April 2011
April 2011
the fourth time the company has been the main sponsor of the
event but allpay will once again make a special award to an
individual who has made a lifetime contribution to
volunteering.
Great SponsorsGreat SponsorsGreat SponsorsGreat Sponsors Biddle Properties will be providing the prizes for the Volunteer of the Year
Cargill will be showing its on-going commitment to the community with the Team Awards.
The vinvolved project will sponsor the Young Volunteer Category
BOSS (Border Office Supplies and Systems Ltd) will support the Fundraiser category.
Tesco is giving the award to the Sports Volunteer of the Year while the Community Hero Award will be acknowledging all
those unsung heroes - people who informally volunteer in their
local area.
The nominations will formally start on 1 April 2011 and
booklets will be available from Herefordshire Voluntary Action
and downloadable from www.herefordshireva.org where the
nomination form can also be completed online.
Changes to Gift Aid Charities will no longer have to obtain signed Gift Aid declarations on
the first £5,000 of small donations per year in order for those donations
to qualify for the tax relief, Chancellor George Osborne announced in his
Budget speech on 23rd March.
Gift Aid will be automatically applied to the donations of up to £10.
Osborne said 100,000 charities would benefit from this to the tune of
£240m.
So, REACH is here to help you. Would your Group benefit from some specialist help, support or guidance? Are you thinking of a new activity for your Group or perhaps a new Group to meet a need in your community? Would your Group benefit from some training in a specialist area?
For more information, visit the REACH website at http://reachherefordshire.wordpress.com/ or contact
Vicky Hamilton on 07827 775700.
Smile! Food Hygiene Course held at Bishops Frome
Trustee Recruitment Toolkit This toolkit is for any voluntary or community organisation, regardless
of size or type, which wants or needs to recruit new trustees. It presents
a 10 step process for recruiting trustees. starting with the initial stages of
planning and concluding with the final evaluation of the process. It
explains what is involved in each step and why it is needed. It then
provides practical guidance on how to do it.
Originally produced by the Governance Hub, it is now available from
www.trusteenet.org.uk or by contacting Clare O’Grady, HVA’s
Information Officer on 01432 343 932
April 2011
REACH PROJECT CELEBRATES
ITS FIRST BIRTHDAY It hardly seems a few weeks ago that the REACH Project commenced its vital work in the rural areas of Herefordshire centred around Ledbury, Bromyard, Kington and the Golden Valley but it is now over a year old. Over 100 groups helped A year that saw the team provide information, support and guidance for well over 100 groups in the rural areas of Herefordshire as well as developing new, rural, volunteering opportunities. In addition 6 new young leaders have received training to better enable them to develop their role in the communities in which they live, over 20 Groups have successfully completed a Certificated Food Hygiene course and many other groups have benefitted from local funding lunches, courses in volunteer management and website development. New support in Golden Valley For this year we are seeking to further expand our work in the Golden Valley with Hannah James and Joy James providing community development support in this area, along with our specialist Community Building REACH worker, Rob Grunsell. Joy James, who joined the team last autumn, is also our specialist Faith Group worker and provides support for a wide range of faith groups across the County. Bromyard and Ledbury As this article is being written we are recruiting a further member of the team, an additional Community Development Worker, who will be further developing the scope of the project in and around Bromyard and Ledbury.
All at sea when it comes
to funding your future? Use HVA as your beacon All of us in the voluntary and community sector are having to deal with the current financial/funding climate and adapt to different ways of working to ensure our long-term viability. This may involve staff cuts, sharing of resources, investigating trading ideas and/or going for tendering opportunities as well as or instead of applying for grants.
So - how can HVA help you?
You may know that recently HVA was one of only six organisations selected UK-wide to be awarded coveted Beacon status. This partnership with the Sustainable Funding Team at NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) will help us update our skills and knowledge and cascade it down to groups in Herefordshire. We are now launching an exciting programme, specifically aimed at your needs in Herefordshire.
We already have lots of exciting plans, including our training programme, which will focus on all aspects of sustainable funding . This is just one way in which we are building up a powerful range of tools to help you develop and adapt to the changing environment.
New Funding Directory Now Available
The 25th Edition of the Funding Directory from Herefordshire Council is now available to download! You can access it by visiting www.herefordshire.gov.uk or you can call Herefordshire Council's Project Development Team on 01432 383061 and request a printed version.
April 2011
Get Noticed on GoogleGet Noticed on GoogleGet Noticed on GoogleGet Noticed on Google
4 Steps to Search Engine Optimisation
By Pete Read of IlluminateICT
Getting to the top spot in a Google search is akin to being awarded the World Cup. You can be technically brilliant, have all the correct features in place, have paid a few pounds to some nice SEO Company but you cannot guarantee top spot. Getting your site to the top of a search engine requires just 4 elements. These are:
Content Site Structure Links, Links, Links Good Luck
Content is King
Before you start to create your content you need to spend some time thinking about your organisation. Try answering the following questions.
Who are your customers? Are they other voluntary organisations, statutory organisations such as local councils; service users; commercial organisations, or perhaps the public?
What would each customer use your site for? What search terms will they use? The reason for doing this is that a search engine will index your website for words and terms it finds on your site. These key words and phrases should appear in the content of your website and where possible should be in the page title.
Quality Services by Herefordshire
Volunteer Centre Herefordshire Volunteer Centre has just been re-accredited by Volunteering England for a further three years. This onerous quality assurance exercise involved the submission of a 360-page portfolio demonstrating that the six core functions of a Volunteer Centre were met. The independent assessor stated it was ‘an excellent submission overall and there is evidence of high quality planning, performance and evaluation in all core functions’. The assessor was particularly impressed by the information supplied by the twelve volunteer involving organisations who agreed to be referees.
It’s Party Time in HerefordIt’s Party Time in HerefordIt’s Party Time in HerefordIt’s Party Time in Hereford
The Hereforthecity team are delighted with the response so far from the people of Hereford as plans begin to take
shape for a major celebration of all that is good about the
City and its surroundings over the weekend 10th/11th September 2011.
There was a real buzz of energy felt at the first planning meeting held at the end of
February when over 60 people contributed
ideas about what they would like to see at the event or offered their time and expertise as plans begin to take
real shape.
Suggestions have been made for music, performance,
crafts, processions, local food, the fun-fair and many other things to see and do but there is still time for more.
Please contact either Michael or Jo by e-mail or phone,
make your voice heard and get involved!!
April 2011
HERE FOR COLLEGE ESTATEHERE FOR COLLEGE ESTATEHERE FOR COLLEGE ESTATEHERE FOR COLLEGE ESTATE
Responding to need... Whilst helping with the City Plan consultation, the
HERE FOR the CITY team has noticed the lack of
community facilities within the College Estate area.
Further research identifies the area as within 20% of
the most deprived in England for education, training and unemployment.
Having witnessed the success of the Newton Farm Information Centre
and the Women at No14, the team feel it is essential to establish a base in
the area allowing natural relationships to develop with the residents.
Mobile drop-in Subsequently, with no community facilities within the estate, the team
have created their own mobile drop in centre. Armed with one mobile
exhibition unit and 2 gazebos, the team establish themselves in the heart
of the estate and invite the residents to join them.
Get Involved…. The key aim of the project is to encourage participation, whether it is
taking part in an activity, finding out about something new or joining the
local community group, the team believe the community has a better
chance of affecting change in their area once they are engaged as a group.
Residents’ Association The first event on Tuesday 22nd March
identified 19 people from the estate who
would like to join the College Community
Hub Residents Association. The team hope
that by encouraging and maintaining this
interest the community will begin to identify
projects for that area that HERE FOR the
CITY team can support.
Following the initial success of the project, further events are planned for
the College Estate area and other estates across the city. Please contact Jo
Pewsey on 01432 343932 or at [email protected] for further
details
Be aware of your audience at all times but remember the
hidden customer - the search engine spider. This means that you should avoid the phrases such as, "we provide great services to our client group". Why? Because people do not search for "We" or "Client Group". So you could say "HVA supplies great development services to Voluntary organisations" Use the key words in context, try and avoid repeating words too often or the Spider may well think you are spamming and you may be penalised.
You may want to consider the use of Meta tags and descriptions: Meta Tags is a list of key words that you want the search engine to associate with your site. It is very important to avoid repeating words - you will be penalised. Remember to use the full words or organisation names as the computer is not a mind reader. Meta description is a short paragraph that Google can use to describe your site when it returns it in the search results. So a good paragraph that will draw people in and make them want to read more is essential.
Please do not sacrifice readability just to get all your keywords in and remember, if your first sentence is boring, people won't read the second one.
Add new content: keep your site fresh and interesting so that there is new content to be indexed and people will want to come back.
April 2011
Site Structure
You should be able to edit and manage your own content. Ideally, you should be able to share this responsibility with others. It always helps to have a fresh eye.
Links
Getting people to link to your website, and you linking to other sites will help to increase your sites ranking. When people create links tell them what key words you want them to associate with your website. Always try to get your keywords associated with your URL. (Web Address)
Good luck
Yes, good luck is an essential part of search engine optimisation. The secrets of how google and other search engines assign their scoring is closely guarded. There are many different factors and we have concentrated on just 3 of the top ones.
For more information email [email protected]. His website is www.illuminateict.org.uk
Can you spare a trowel?
The Leominster Flower Pot Kids are a group that takes disadvantaged young people and supports them to grow vegetables and tend a allotment in Leominster.
After an arson attack on their shed they have lost all of their tools and are finding it difficult to carry on with their great work.
So, they need your help. iI you have any unwanted tools that you could give them, such as forks, spades, hoes, forks and trowels, watering cans etc please contact Amelia Quinlan on 07966 501 733 or email [email protected]
questionnaires have been filled
in and are now being analysed.
What next... This information was added to
the Planning for Real data and
other consultation findings and
was used to inform the
Hereford City Plan, which was
considered by Hereford City
Council in March. Once the
new Council is appointed in
May, the city plan including detailed summary of findings on a ward by
ward basis ,will be used by Hereford City Council to make the City an
even better place to live, work and study.
This work wouldn’t have been possible without the input and help of so
many people so a big
Thank You! To find out about future developments please check our website
www.herefordshireva.org
Anybody want a questionnaire?
Herefordshire Disability United The newly formed organisation, Herefordshire Disability United was created to bring together all disabled people their families and Carers, providing a voice within the community. It aims to function as an information exchange whether via a website, open meetings, magazine or contact to ensure disabled people are given the opportunity of what is available to them so they can benefit. They will liaise with public sector and support groups, and encourage dialogue promoting good practice. To find out more please contact Sylvia Nicholls on [email protected] or 07817 473813
April 2011
What’s Happening with the Hereford City Plan?
The Hereford City Plan is an ambitious project to gather the ideas and
opinions of Hereford residents. This means that Hereford City Council
could find out what local people really felt about the area they live in and
then help them in making improvements. Hereford City Council is one of
the largest parish authorities in Britain with a population approaching
56,000 so this was a challenge and a half for HVA and our partners
Community First and Hereford City Council.
The project started with meetings and focus groups and with visits to fun
days, fetes, community meetings and events, where people were
encouraged to talk about their neighbourhood – what they liked about
living there and what they would like to change.
Have your say... There were also giant Planning for Real® events in Hereford High Town
in the Summer and Autumn, where a huge polystyrene map of the city
was on display, with an invitation to write comments on paper flags and
stick them into the map. This was a huge success and hundreds of
comments and suggestions were made. Parts of the map then went ‘on
tour’ around the city, giving people yet another opportunity to comment
about their neighbourhood at local schools, shops, pubs and community
centres. Every single comment was recorded – over a thousand overall –
and yet more were fed into our website survey and at meetings held with
specialist groups, clubs and colleges from across Hereford.
Questions galore.... The final stage of the consultation was a questionnaire. We put together a
different version for each of the seven city Wards, based on the ideas and
concerns that had been put forward so far. These were then posted out to
random addresses for hand collection by teams of volunteers and
Councillors. Despite the appalling weather conditions, over 1500
Safeguarding is Everybody’s Business
The Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) is
boosting its campaign to raise public awareness about
how people can take steps to safeguard themselves and
other people from abuse. During April and May HSAB
will be distributing 20,000 leaflets and 400 posters to
service users and those who provide health, social care,
housing and leisure services. These include information in
an easy read format.
The messages are clear, Say ‘No’ to abuse and Vigilant communities contribute to the prevention of adult abuse.
If you would like copies of the printed leaflets, or if you can display
posters where vulnerable adults and those providing care and support will
be able to read them, please contact Barbara Lloyd, Adult Safeguarding
Manager (Integrated Commissioning) on 01432 347666.
Don’t hesitate to contact the Safeguarding Adults’ Team to discuss any
concerns you have that someone is being abused. They will give you
advice and take referrals, working alongside West Mercia Police when a
crime has been committed.
Tel:01432 260 715 (weekdays 9am-5pm)
or email: [email protected]
Out of hours contact number for referrals: 03301239309
How to show your impact - FREE RESOURCES
Your organisation exists to make a difference, whether that's enriching
people's lives, working for a cause or creating a better world. The
difference you make is often called your impact.
NCVO have free information and resources to help you plan, deliver,
assess and communicate your impact. Visit its website www.ncvo-vol.org.uk for more details.
April 2011
Vinvolvedendsinblaze
ofgloryThe current Herefordshire vinvolved youth work team`s three year project is coming to an end on the 31
st March 2011. It has been
recognised as the 2nd most successful youth volunteering project in
the UK providing tremendous benefits to both vulnerable young people and the general youth population within the County.
128localorganisationshelped
Working with 128 local organisations, they have helped them to build capacity, policy and means to recruiting young people as volunteers. Using young people’s input, they have also encouraged new organisations to involve young people in their activities, matching this to the young peoples’ passions and interests.
923youngpeoplenowvolunteering
Using a range of innovative marketing techniques such as speed volunteering, Young Farmers Rallies, Photography Competitions and a Facebook page, a host of new people were introduced to the benefits and joys of volunteering. To date, 923 young people have been placed by the V Team into volunteering with a wide range of organisations such as food festivals, football teams and a cancer charity.
YouthActionTeams
As part of the vinvolved programme each team were tasked with recruiting and supporting a Youth Action Team who would drive forward the work of vinvolved, making the youth voice heard and meeting regularly to discuss youth issues, campaigning, promotion of volunteering and much more. ThetwoYouthActionTeams
Two teams of 12 young volunteers over the 3 year period have helped to shape Vinvolved’s work and to ensure young people’s passions and interests are of paramount importance. Their biggest achievement was the creation of YouthBank where £25,000 was raised to be given out in grants to young people with good ideas across the county. Other trailblazing projects involving the vinvolved team included:
BridgingtheGap
A VCashpoint funded project involving 4 volunteers from the Hereford Arts College Photography course, focused on intergenerational work with young people from Close House and older people through Age Concern. The project used photography to bring people together and participants were given disposable cameras to record a typical week in their life. Everyone was then bought together for an event, where many stories were shared.
LedburyIntergenerationalproject
This was a partnership project linking up with Ledbury Library Service, John Masefield High School and Age Concern. The aim was to bring together young and older people allowing them to share experiences. Eight young people from John Masefield year 11 joined up with 8 Age Concern service users for a series of workshops and activities. The project had help from international photography organisation ‘Pieces of Sky’ and culminated in a visit to the classic car show in Malvern.
The vteam certainly will be missed by both HVA staff, local young people and organisations. It is best to sum it up with a quote from one of the young people themselves:
“Volunteering with YouthBank has certainly been an amazing experience; …….makes me feel exceptionally proud of our team and the young people”. Charlie Cooper Youthbank Chair