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Welcome to the latest edition of the Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action E-Bulletin...
 

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 From 25th May 2018, for organisations to keep in touch, you must complete a consent / newsletter sign up form.

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Understanding GIFT AID, Coproration Tax and VAT For Charities

Facilitated by HMRC the workshop will be an opportuntiy to ask the experts in all things Gift Aid, Corporation Tax and VAT...Gift Aid is one way that registered charities can generate further income on the public donations they already recieve but can be difficult to navigate and understand. Experts from HMRC will be providing delegates with up to date information to help in making the most of levering extra funding through Gift Aid along with covering Corporation Tax and demistfyng VAT...

Countdown To GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

​After four years of preparation and debate the GDPR was finally approved by the EU Parliament on 14 April 2016. Enforcement date: 25 May 2018 - at which time those organisations in non-compliance may face heavy fines. ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) have produced a guide to GDPR to help organisations prepare for the new regulations.  The Guide to the GDPR explains the provisions of the GDPR to help organisations comply with its requirements...

Understanding Your Legal Structure

As part of our Essential Funding & Finance Skills Programme this workshop will provide delegates with an overview of their legal responsibilities based on their organisations legal structure. Ideal for anyone that has recently become a Director, Trustee or Committee Member to help with making sense of the next steps in managing their organisation...

St Helens Memorial Service For Those Affected By Suicide

A service of reflection will be held at Saints’ Totally Wicked Stadium this March for people affected by suicide. The event, which will run from 7:30pm - 9:00pm on Wednesday 28 March 2018, is being hosted by Listening Ear's AMPARO service, which provides support following suicide, and is supported by St Helens Council, Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBs), State of Mind (a charity that promotes positive mental health for sportsmen and women) and St Helens College. Bringing people affected by suicide together from across Merseyside and Cheshire, the evening aims to provide a space for thought and reflection in supportive surroundings. In attendance will be Danny Sculthorpe and Ian Smith from the world of Rugby League who have both been personally affected by suicide...

Funding Bulletins from Halton Borough Council - March

Our colleagues from Halton Borough Council’s External Funding Team have prepared some Funding Bulletins containing valuable information for voluntary organisations looking for grants to get projects off the ground. The Monthly funding bulletins offering information on funding opportunities in the following areas: Arts, Community & Voluntary, Environment & Heritage, European, Faith, Health, Schools, Sports and Youth...

Sahir House and Macmillan are recruiting for a LGBT Cancer Co-ordinator

Sahir House are recruiting a Macmillan LGBT Cancer Programme Co-ordinator (full time £25,951-27,6680) for the Liverpool City Region (for one year initially). After a successful pilot project run between Macmillan Cancer Support and the LGBT Foundation in Manchester, Macmillan are now funding this post based in central Liverpool. The post holder will work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people affected by cancer, their families, supporters, carers and clinicians. They will ensure the needs of LGBT are acknowledged and addressed in provision of services, information and support across the Liverpool City Region...

St Helens Bereavement Service New Contact Details

St Helens Bereavement Service have moved to the Deafness Resource Centre, 32-40 Dentons Green Lane, St Helens, WA10 2QB.  The have retained their phone number which is 01744 451793, you can contact them on Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 10am to 1pm...

Lloyds Bank Foundation Is Recruiting A Grant Manager

Full time permanent position (Circa £34,000 plus competitive benefits package). The role of Grant Manager requires an individual with at least 3 years’ experience of providing support for charities through business development as well as previous experience in undertaking grant assessment and grant management work, with established networks across the voluntary sector and with a good understanding of the environment that small and medium charities are operating in. Applications for the position close on Thursday 8th March 2018...

Hospice Refurbishment Hit By Setbacks

The completion of Inpatient Unit refurbishment at Halton Haven Hospice is on hold whilst the Hospice seek out additional funding. The majority of work on the refurbishment has been completed but a few setbacks have led to unexpected and unwanted additional expenditure, meaning the Hospice requires a further £9,000 to finish the project. To date, over £80,000 has been raised for the refurbishment, thanks to the generosity of local people, companies and organisations, and a donation of £42,000 from the Morrisons Foundation. However, costs increased dramatically when several issues became apparent during the refurbishment, due mainly to the age and fabrication of the building...

Macmillan Community Wellbeing Administrator

Wellbeing Enterprises are looking for an experienced and highly organised Administration Officer to ensure the smooth running of a community wellbeing service working in partnership with Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group and funded by Macmillan Cancer Support. The successful candidate will provide administrative support to the project delivery team and will be responsible for developing and implementing efficient and effective administrative processes and procedures...

Calling All Volunteer Knitters

Babies born with HIV in Africa tend to be sent home wrapped in newspaper as they do not have any clothing, so the project involves following a pattern to make either a beanie style hat or a vest. If you can crochet these items they would also be very welcome, however there isn't a crocheting pattern. If you would like to participate please contact Sarah Challands for a copy of the pattern, and please pass this on to as many people as you can, as the project needs all the help it can get...

Charity Status for Saints Community Foundation

Saints Community Development Foundation got in touch with Halton & St Helens VCA in April 2017 asking for support in moving thier organisation forward and alongside registering them with the Charity Commission VCA have also worked with the Foundation in stregnthening their Board of Directors, governance and finances. Steve Leonard said "The Saints Foundation cannot thank you enough for all your hard work getting us our Charity status" We believe that we can go on to achieve bigger and better outcomes within our community on the back of your hard work and cannot wait to work alongside Halton and St Helens VCA again. Club Captain James Roby said “Our Foundation does a lot of hard work within our community and quite rightly we as players are proud to support them whenever we can. So It is good to see other such organisations who are Community focussed like St Helens VCA helping out to make a bigger difference"...

1st Birthday Bash - NCT Parents in Mind

Come and celebrate the first birthday of Parents in Mind Halton at a fun, informative, child friendly event on Monday 12th March, 10am to 1pm at Ditton Community Centre. Find our more about their mental health peer support service designed to support pregnant ladies and new mums across Halton...

Amazing Driving Course Discounts from St Helens Advanced Motorists

The St Helens Group of Advanced Motorists has recently secured funding through the St Helens Council from the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership for the Group to discount the Advanced Driver Course by £89 from £149 for drivers in the age range 17 to 35 incl. they will only pay £60! The group can give this discount to 45 young drivers over the next three years. They also offer a generous discount for the over 60’s reducing the course fee to £99...

Merseyside Community Investment Fund

The Merseyside Community Investment Fund aims to bring together businesses, organisations and individuals to address urgent social issues whilst making a modest financial commitment to collectively have a greater impact in the improvement of our communities. The fund aims to support projects that may struggle to access funding from other sources.  As funding for this programme is unrestricted grants awarded from this fund can be used to respond to local issues of concern to the community or pro-actively tackle an urgent social need. The panel is also keen to fund projects that fit in with the social themes identified in the recent "Vital Signs" report. The closing date is 26 March 2018 – this may be earlier depending on the number of applications received...

Preparing To Apply for Funding

As part of our Essential Funding & Finance Skills Programme this full day workshop will provide delegates with an opportuntiy to go back to basics when it comes to applying for funding. We will use the time to explore topics such as: Why do applications fail? Policies and Procedures  - why do they matter? Telling funders about your organisation - the Do's and Don'ts. The workshop will be delivered by Annie Lawrenson and will include group work, discussion and case studies...

Carmel College Gardening Workshops

Carmel College are offering you the chance to come along to try some free workshops aimed at gardening. The workshops will consist of home composting, gardening in containers and gardening for enterprise. They see this as a great opportunity for the local community and entrepreneurs to expand their knowledge and skills around this subject. These workshops will be run by experts in this field with support and guidance being offered along the way...

Funded Training Available

Training Strategies Ltd, are based in Liverpool but work across the North West. Training Strategies Ltd are in a very fortunate position to have 90% Government Funded training, this means you would only pay 10% of the total cost (non –levy payers). As part of the service for levy payers they can support you to ensure that you are meeting the requirements set by the government in the Apprenticeship Levy.   Working with businesses to align their learning and development needs so that, where possible, these qualifications are funded by the Levy...

Please feel free to forward this email onto any other organisations/individuals who you feel would be interested. Apologies if you receive this email more than once.

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Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action