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

Ebulletin... New Sign-up

Have you completed our new newsletter sign-up / consent form yet?  If not, this will be the last ebulletin you will receive! To make sure you receive future ebulletins, use our sign up form below! 

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

In simple terms, Halton & St Helens VCA (including Volunteer Centre Halton & Volunteer Centre St Helens) and Healthwatch St Helens needs to get confirmation that you are happy to still receive our ebulletin /  newsletters and other types of communication. If we do not receive this before 25th May, you will no longer receive our ebulletin.

If you want to continue receiving the ebulletin please make sure you complete our consent /newsletter sign up form now by clicking the link below!

https://www.haltonsthelensvca.org.uk/vca-newsletter-sign

Making The Right Choices For Your Healthcare Needs

Healthwatch St Helens are holding a Making The Right Choices For Your Healthcare Needs which will take place on 5th June 2018 at The Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens. This will be your chance to find out about all the healthcare services that you can use across St Helens and where you should go to get the best treatment for your needs. There will be a marketplace where you can find out about other support services on offer in St Helens.

Free GDPR Webinar & Resources from NCVO and ICO

Data protection law reform is coming with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect from 25 May 2018. You should start preparing now for changes that GDPR will require to your current policies and procedures. GDPR is not just a tick box exercise and it needs all staff and volunteers to embrace new procedures. To help you prepare for GDPR, NCVO and the ICO has a range of services that can offer direct and through partners to support you on your journey – Click on to the link below and scroll down to access their FREE Webinar to help you on your way...

Funding Bulletins from Halton Borough Council – May

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...

Do You Have Time To Commit To A Child/Young Person Once A Month?

If so, please get in touch with NYAS St Helens who are looking for male and female volunteers to become Independent Visitors for children and young people who are Looked After from St Helens. It is a long term committment of meeting a young person once a month to do an activity. Full training & support and reinbursement of expenses given...

Play Resource Centre's 21st Anniversary Celebration of Opening at 10 Mersey Road, Runcorn

On 21st May the Play Resource centre will have been open at 10 Mersey Road for 21 years and they are planning a special day to celebrate!! They would like to invite businesses, groups and individuals to celebrate with them by remembering their own special event in the last 21 years.... A wedding? A new business? New house? A personal achievement? A birth? Or even in memory of a loved one. They are inviting people to 'sponsor a year' and will display a timeline on their building with each year, the sponsors and their memory...

Asset Training Courses

Asset Training will be holding an open day at Helena Central on the 25th May at 13:30pm. Training Courses include, Werehouse and forklift training, Business Amin skills and also first steps to IT.  You must be 19+ and be receiving JCA, UC or ESA WRAG to be eligibale.  For more information...

GLOW - A Youth Group for LGBTQ Young People

In many respects GLOW is a youth club much like any other, offering a safe space for young people to socialise and take part in a range of positive activities. They also offer a range of support and information including work to help young people understand issues around sexuality, gender and identity. They meet every Tuesday 7pm - 9pm at CRMZ, Kingsway, Widnes and offer...

Understanding GIFT AID, Corporation Tax & VAT for Charities

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. Facilitated by HMRC the workshop will be an opportuntiy to ask the experts in all things Gift Aid, Corporation Tax and VAT...

VCSE Connect

Information about the voluntary, community, charitable sector still remains one of the key issues raised by professionals and clinicians when you ask the question “What could the voluntary sector do?” or “How can I refer this person to something more appropriate?”

As the gateway into the sector, Halton & St Helens VCA holds lots of information and data about local voluntary action.  We have produced that in great detail, in “Here to Help”, provided a search facility on our website, share information with key organisations and have many different ways of sharing what groups do, but still people say they don’t know what groups exist, what they do and how they get to them or refer to them.  So Halton & St Helens VCA has been working on an extension to our database which will display information about groups in an easy format, tell you what they do and when, allow clinicians and other key professionals to log-in directly and make a referral directly to the group (as long as they have agreed to receive referrals).  This means for the first time there will be a single place where referrals to the local voluntary and community sector can be made.

If you would like your organisation to be included in the VCSE Connect directory...

Don't Forget...

One Halton VCSE Sector Event

Halton and St Helens VCA are hosting a morning network meeting with a chance to hear from David Colin-Thome, Independent Chair of One Halton Programme Board on Halton’s progress towards integrating health and care services, the ambitions of the Board for a new way of working in Halton and the opportunities for VCSE sector groups to play a greater role in that work.

There will also be a chance to highlight your organisations work and influence VCA’s work as a member of the Programme board.

Halton’s Prevention Model Event

Halton’s Prevention Model Event working together to improve health for our local population is taking place on Wednesday 30th May, 10am to 12 noon at Halton and St Helens VCA, St Maries, Lugsdale Road, Widnes, WA8 6DB.

As part of the One Halton approach, Eileen O’Meara, Halton’s Director of Public Health has been developing initial thoughts on a prevention framework and model for Halton.

VCA are hosting a network event to enable groups to hear directly from Eileen about the work so far and to have a chance to influence this and shape the model to ensure the VCSE sector is at the heart of it.

Volunteer Week - Events

Volunteers Week 2018 (1st - 7th June) is an opportunity to recognise the contribution made by volunteers across the UK and raise awareness of the value and impact their volunteering can have on people’s lives. The annual campaign, established in 1984, seeks to recognise the contribution millions of volunteers make to our communities every week. More than 15m people volunteer in the UK every month. They lend their time and talents to causes as varied as food banks, libraries and hospitals. Volunteers’ Week is the perfect opportunity to recognise volunteers who give their time, energy and enthusiasm to helping other. Volunteering is a way to give something back.  It is also an opportunity for volunteers to benefit from new experiences, make friends, gain skills and have fun.

As part of this volunteer celebration, Halton Volunteer Centre are holding a number of events/days out that any volunteer from either Halton, St Helens or the wider area is welcome to attend / join...

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.

If you have any comments you would like to tell us about this e-bulletin, please send an email to ldaffern@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or if you have any news/events you would like us to publicise, please complete our News/Events webform: https://www.haltonsthelensvca.org.uk/vca-newsevents-template

Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action