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The guides which are currently available can be downloaded here.

Nicola Lloyd, Executive Director at the CRC said: "The CRC has a responsibility to act as an advocate on behalf of rural communities - ensuring that the rural voice is heard by decision-makers. To act effectively as an advocate we need to find out what rural people think and one of the ways we do this is through our Rural Insights programme. The survey we are publishing today enables us to make a direct comparison with the results of our 2006 survey. It will help us to better understand people's views on how things are in their communities, on the changes they have experienced recently and the hopes, concerns and aspirations of rural residents.

"The survey involved interviews, during November and December 2009, with more than 2,500 residents aged 16 or more living in rural and urban areas across England. Around 500 people were interviewed in urban areas (outside London) and in each of the different types of rural settlements - in the towns, villages, hamlets and across the sparse and the less sparse areas of rural England.

"I hope that the findings of the survey will provide an essential source of evidence for policy makers across government, and others working nationally, regionally and locally, to help ensure that their policies take into account the needs of the one-in-five of England's population living in the countryside. I also look forward to seeing this Rural Insights survey taking its place as an important element of our strong, relevant evidence base, alongside our established and well-respected ‘State of the countryside' suite of reporting."

The survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the CRC. The results of the ‘Rural Insights survey 2009' can be found at:
www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/files/CRC%20Rural%20Insights%20FINAL%20Report%2008.03.10.pdf

Smith was speaking at a mass meeting organised by the Unite union at the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

The meeting was timed to coincide with the release of new research by the union showing that more than 90 per cent of voluntary sector staff feel their wellbeing and morale are being undermined by the financial crisis facing charities and the emphasis on giving them short-term, low-cost contracts.

Rachael Maskell, Unite's national officer for the community and not-for-profit sector, told the meeting that almost all of the 300 respondents to the survey had complained of stress and long hours.

"Things could be so much better," she said. "If workforce issues aren't brought centre-stage, the sector will be unsustainable in the long term."

Smith welcomed the report and agreed that it was important for the Government to understand the impact of contracting on the sector's workforce.

She contrasted the Labour Party's perception of the sector with that of the Conservatives, claiming that the Tories expected the sector to provide services more cheaply.

"Getting the balance right between the different sectors means not seeing the sector as organisations that could do things on the cheap," she said.

She also said discussions with Unite officials before the meeting had convinced her that some management practices in the third sector needed to be improved significantly. "Pressures can be coped with in much more union-friendly ways," she said.

Doug Nicholls, Unite's national secretary for community and youth workers and the industrial sector, said it was time for a major review of sector funding and an end to competition between voluntary organisations for the same contracts.

"Our organisations aren't built for competition and the market," he said. "They are built for caring and compassion."

Jim Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester, said the Government should legislate to ensure all contracts ran for five years.

Ben Kernighan, deputy chief executive of umbrella body the NCVO, called for more use of rolling contracts that could be automatically renewed every year.

"Far too often, decisions are made about the length of the contracts on the basis of the constraints on the funders and not what is appropriate for that kind of service," he said.

By Paul Jump, Third Sector Online, 9 March 2010

Charity Pulse is an annual voluntary sector wide staff satisfaction survey. It's unique because it is open to anyone working for a UK charity.

The aim of the research is to build up a picture of working life in charities and help to raise the standard of people management in the sector.

Those who complete the anonymous survey will be entered in a prize draw to win four free coaching sessions from Birdsong Charity Consulting.

We want to know what you think about your job and your charity - so let us have your views!

Charity Pulse 2010 is open until 16th April 2010.

Results will be published in Third Sector in July.

Last year's survey, answered by 798 people, found that voluntary sector employees were more likely to want to stay with their existing employers in 2009 than they were in 2008.

It also found that the number of people who felt they were getting the training they needed was at its lowest since the survey began in 2007.

Our mission at LSIS is to drive continual improvement across the learning and skills sector and we lead by example. We have listened to you and one of the things you have said is you'd like to see increased flexibility in the development and delivery of our services. With this in mind, we are also continuing the well-received Flexibility and Innovation Fund scheme launched last autumn. This is designed to support innovative projects that have the potential to improve sector practice and performance. We will be announcing the successful second round bids later on this month and further funding rounds are planned for June and October 2010. Again, ensuring as much money as possible goes back into the sector, we'll also be using providers to host more of our events.

We will shortly be introducing LSIS accounts for all providers to use to access a range of our services, allowing providers to manage their engagement with LSIS support and for us to get better data about what you really want. For more details on how LSIS Accounts work, see below.

Crucially we will focus on supporting providers to help themselves and each other and will directly involve the sector in our service delivery with the aim of 80% of our LSIS support provided by the sector within three years. Exciting times indeed.

David Collins

LSIS chief executive

STOP PRESS

From 1 April, every provider currently funded through the LSC will be able to benefit from a new LSIS account. Nearly 2,000 providers across the sector will receive an LSIS virtual credit worth between £1,000 and £5,000 - depending on the scale of their LSC funding - which can be redeemed against LSIS events and conferences during the 2010-11 financial year. Qualifying providers will be notified with details of how they can activate their LSIS account shortly and will be able to register through a simple online process. Prices for LSIS events will be £150 for one-day conferences and £75 for half-day seminars.

Watch this space.

This one day course will explore the relationship between family and personal values, identity and expectations.

Participants will be encouraged to recognise differences of perspective, to set and maintain realistic boundaries and negotiate contracts. We will explore the tension between compassion and assertiveness, and ways in which that tension can best be managed.

Through key texts/handouts, interactive exercises and group reflection, participants will have the opportunity to develop strategies for dealing with confrontation and conflict and consider ways of supporting each other in situations they might find challenging.

Working with Families Aims

• To enable participants to establish a shared understanding of how best to negotiate a clear and affirmative relationship with the families of residents/tenants/individuals they provide a service for; also to begin to build firm foundations for supporting each other's professional care practice.

Working with Families Objectives

• To explore the tension between individual freedom and family expectations.


• To explore feelings associated with confrontation and conflict and develop potential strategies for resolving difficult situations.


• To develop confidence and professionalism in working with the families of residents/tenants/individuals they provide a service for.


• To assert best care practice and build a consistent team approach.

 Who is it for?

• People who need to establish and maintain a working relationship with the families of those they provide a service for.

Cost: £35.00 per person. Venue: Centre 88, Saner Street, Anlaby Road, HU3 2TR.

Date: 15 March 2010

Time: 9.30am - 4pm. Tea/Coffee/Biscuits available all day.

Please bring lunch or local cafes available.

Facilitator: Bill Horrocks

To book onto the training day please contact:

info@tinatraining.co.uk alternatively telephone: Tina on 07815 064710

The Charity Commission has published a guide to help trustees with learning disabilities understand their role.

Being A Trustee, created in collaboration with Mencap, has been produced in ‘easy read' format, using images, simple words and large text.

Andrew Hind, chief executive of the commission, said: "We often talk about the need for charities to have a strong and diverse trustee board to help with their decision-making.

"This guide will help to ensure that, with the right support, someone with learning disabilities is not excluded."

The guide, which covers many of the subjects in the commission's existing CC3 Essential Trustee guidance, is being distributed to learning disability charities and members of the Learning Disability Coalition.

By Mathew Little, Third Sector Online, 8 March 2010

We will use the results gathered to raise awareness and influence in local and central government, MPs and key agencies across Yorkshire and the Humber.

There are only a couple of questions, click on this link to take part in this short survey.

Venue: The Carriageworks, Leeds

Time: 10am - 3.30pm

People have been consulted, listened to and there is no doubt that some things have changed but what we hear is what older people really want is action, to know what they say is not just listened to but makes the difference they want.

March 23rd offers a real opportunity for you to genuinely influence the priorities on our joint agenda across Yorkshire & Humber and here about some of our future plans.

There are so many challenges and priorities that face us today, we need to focus. At the end of this day we will agree the 5 key priorities to take forward across Yorkshire & Humber in partnership with you.

......we look forward to working with you to make our place the place to live in for all ages.

Download a booking form

• Are experienced at working in any sector.


• Have a HU1 - 9 postcode.


• Are currently unemployed.

The PTLLS course includes a work placement with local training organisation and will fully prepare candidates for a career as a Vocational Tutor or Trainer.

No previous experience is required.

For further information contact Raf Garcia on 01482 716960 or raf.garcia@llite.co.uk

They want you to share your views in surveys and feedback about your life as a learner.

The first TWENTY students from your institution will be sent £4 in shopping vouchers just for joining up. Plus you'll get occasional feedback and £1 or £2 in shopping vouchers every time you take part in a survey.

Find out more at: http://www.learnerpanel.co.uk/fe/?c=115359&x=396986

I would like to thank all of those who took part in the recent stakeholder survey, the results of which we are publishing today.

The independently conducted survey sought views from national, regional and local delivery partners, Capacitybuilders' grant holders and other key stakeholders on areas such as our operational performance, management of funding programmes, quality of communications and where we could improve services. 50 interviews were carried out by telephone and an additional 244 stakeholders completed an online questionnaire.

Performance improvement

Over the last twelve months we have been working hard to improve our performance, and I am delighted to report that your feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Our performance in most aspects of programme management being rated by 85-90% of you as "good"; and 57% of you reported having seen an improvement over the last 12 months.

We also asked you to compare our performance to other funders, and you told us that Capacitybuilders scores well for ease of application processes, speed of decisions, levels of monitoring and reporting and lack of bureaucracy.

Future planning

Over the next twelve months, we want to maintain and further improve. We'll be looking at the detailed messages from the stakeholder survey and making sure that we take on board your views in our business planning for 2010-11.

One area we'll be focusing on is our commitment to sharing of ideas and best practice, which scored well, but not as highly, as other areas. In particular we will be looking to develop the value of www.improvingsupport.org.uk  as a resource for sharing best practice, and investing further in forward looking research to help identify and address new and emerging challenges. And we will continue to work to streamline and improve our grant management systems and supporteffective delivery whilst minimising bureaucratic burdens on grant holders.

A summary report of the survey findings can be found on our website; click here to download a copy.

Thanks again for all your input and support.

Yours,

Matt Leach
Chief Executive, Capacitybuilders

However, several modules of the degree can be taken on a standalone basis to achieve the ACIE CHARITY ACCOUNTING CERTIFICATE and THE INSTITUTE OF FUNDRAISING CERTIFICATE IN FUNDRAISING MANAGEMENT.

The IoF Certificate is a well-established professional qualification for anyone in the charity sector with substantial responsibility for fundraising/income generation, and leads directly to full certificated membership - MInstF(Cert) of the Institute of Fundraising. The content is broad enough to cover any areas of generating resources or fundraising from statutory contracts to individual donors to events - in charities of all sizes. The SHU course involves attendance at two four-day modules each with further private study and a written assignment.

The ACIE Certificate is a new intense module in Charity Structures, Regulation and Accounting, validated by the Association of Charity Independent Examiners and leading to accelerated full membership of ACIE. It is not just for independent examiners but for anyone who needs an intense update on charity accounting and the related issues of charity law - including the Charities SORP, preparation of charity accounts, and charity finance more generally. It involves 4 days attendance at SHU and an exam three months later.

ACIE CERTIFICATE
Charity Structures/Regulation/Accounting 23-26 March 2010

IOF CERTIFICATE
Charity Fundraising Practice 22-25 June 2010
Charity Fundraising Management & Governance 14-17 September 2010

Fees for UK/EU students are currently £901.25 per module (plus some modest fees to the professional bodies indicated).

Further details of this course including brochure and application form are available at http://www.shu.ac.uk/ad/charity

To request an application pack please e-mail sbs@shu.ac.uk  or call 0114 225 2820.

Home Access provides grants to low income families across England to buy computer and/or internet packages so they can learn safely, have fun and achieve more at school.

Under the scheme, low-income families who meet set eligibility criteria can apply for a Home Access Grant to buy a computer and internet package from a range of approved suppliers.

The Home Access packages have been designed with a family's needs in mind. They include one year's service and support, pre-set parental controls to filter inappropriate content, installed office productivity suite, firewall and an anti-virus package. They also include the award winning e-safety guide Know IT All for Parents, enhanced warranty and reinstatement service in the event of theft, and technical and educational guidance delivered with every package.

All computers come with a dedicated Home Access website set as the home page to help ensure families realise the benefits of Home Access. These Home Access packages will be available for purchase by all.

If you work for an organisation, school, charity or a local authority you can sign up to gain access to the Home Access partner area where you can download posters, leaflets and other marketing materials to help you promote Home Access in your community or place of work.

Find out more at www.homeaccess.org.uk/.

Capacitybuilders today announced details of the four successful providers of skills development programmes under Strand C of the Volunteer Management Programme. This follows the assessment of expressions of interest received in January. The four providers are Skills - Third Sector, Voluntary Action Sheffield, Attend and Project North East.

Dave Conroy, National Programme Manager for Capacitybuilders said:

"Volunteers play a vital part in our society, not least during the current difficult economic times. It is essential that these dedicated people are properly managed and supported in their roles.

We are confident that those selected, understand the needs of volunteer managers and have the capacity and experience necessary to ensure a legacy of skilled and confident volunteer managers across a wide-range of volunteer-involving organisations."

Under Strand C of the programme, individuals with volunteer management responsibilities will be able to apply to take part in a bursary funded skills development programme.

Skills development

Two skills development products will be available: the first will be targeted at those with operational responsibilities; the second will be targeted at those with a strategic role in volunteer management, including those in leadership positions.

Process

Access to bursary support will be coordinated nationally through a single online entry point, with assessment of suitability and delivery of programmes undertaken regionally under the management of the four approved providers.

Application opens in April

Full details of the bursary application process will be announced in March, ahead of it opening for application in April. Capacitybuilders is currently working closely with the selected providers to ensure ease of access to the scheme and to develop shared protocols for engaging with potential learners.

Meanwhile, interested parties should not contact providers directly; rather Capacitybuilders strongly advise registering for their regular e-bulletin to receive early notification of the bursary application process: http://capacitybuilders.org.uk/sign-updates

Managing teams and others is aimed at those working in the voluntary, community, not-for-profit and public sector. It provides an introduction to the effective management of teams and other people.

Monday 19th & 26th April 2010
Beverley Minster Parish Hall, Beverley
B0902AD / Gail Teasdale

Tuesday 27th April & Tuesday 4th May 2010
Driffield Methodist Church, Driffield
M0904AD / Max Hope

Wednesday 28th April & Wednesday 5th May 2010
The Courtyard, Goole
M0905AD / Emma Stevens

There is a fixed course fee of £77

For further information or a registration form, please contact:

Centre for Lifelong Learning

T: 01482 465666

W: www.hull.ac.uk/cll

E: mailto:cll@hull.ac.uk

Some people felt confused by media coverage in Autumn 2009 about when the Vetting and Barring Scheme will require people to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). The DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) want to set the record straight. Also, they announced new exemptions on 14 December 2009.

To find out what the key principles are that govern whether registration is required visit the DCSF web site.

You will also see examples of when the Scheme will not require you to ISA-register and some frequently asked questions.

Throughout the day, delegates will have the opportunity to discuss the Strategy and its implications including inspection and assessment, quality marks, work based learning, and Raising of the Participation Age. There will be a range of speakers, including DCSF Leads covering the IAG Strategy, to stimulate roundtable themed discussion and opportunities to share existing good practice.

Events are to be held as follows:

• Monday 15 March 2010 Cambridge


• Wednesday 17 March 2010 Nottingham

For further information or to book your place visit the DCSF web site

• 100% funding from The Enhancement Fund for companies with less than 250 employees.(*EXEMPTIONS APPLY)


• Individual tutorial support in the workplace


• Completion of qualification in 6 months for Level 3 and 8 months for Level 4


• Over 20 years experience working in the guidance profession


• Start dates from March 2010

Eligibility for the Enhancement fund is that the company has not had more than £138,000 of ESF money in the last 3 fiscal years. The 100% funding is available for companies with less than 250 staff, those with more can only get 60% funding (they pay 40%).

Please contact Claire or Erica if you would like to book a place.

Claire Grimwood
claire@rggassoc.co.uk
01482 657003

Erica Rowell
erica@rggassoc.co.uk
01759 318380

* Enhancement fund not available to Public sector or those organisation with a de minimis level of £138000 over 3 fiscal years

All sessions take place on Wednesdays between 1-3pm.

Introduction to Digital Photography
Wed 17th March 1 - 3pm
Streetlife Museum
Learn how to use a digital camera to take great shots and how to manipulate them on a laptop. (all equipment needed for session provided)

Contemporary Dance and Jazz
Wed 24th March 1 - 3pm
Streetlife Museum
Work with a professional dancer to explore the artefacts of Hull's past through jazz and contemporary dance.

Out on the Tiles
Wed 31st March 1 - 3pm
Streetlife Museum
Design and decorate your own ceramic tile

All sessions are FREE, but places are limited so make sure you book your place beforehand!

Contact Sarah Fisher or Jayne Hall at Artlink to book your place:

Phone: 01482 345104

Email: artsdevelopment@artlink.uk.net

Website: www.artlink.uk.net

A certificate of professional development will be issued to all delegates attending the workshops, outlining the aims and objectives of the programme, which participants can use to update their CPD records log.

Click here to see details of the programme.