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

Annual Feedback Survey 2019 - Closing Friday 31st May - Last Chance To Have Your Say!

Our root and branches review of what we do is closing this Friday.  We are looking towards the future and want to ensure that we are able to support voluntary and community groups, charities and social enterprises for many years to come.

This survey involves looking in detail at everything we do.  As part of that we would like to hear from all the groups and organisations who have been in touch with us in some way over the last 12 months.  We want to find out what services have groups and organisations used and are most valuable and if there is anything we can improve on.  In such a challenging economic environment, it’s important to us to know that we are providing the right kind of support and that we’re focusing our efforts on the most relevant and appropriate services.  Even if you haven’t used all our services you can also comment on what services you think are important in our section ‘Together Moving Forward’

Round 1 Of ESF Community Grants For The Liverpool City Region Closes 5th June 2019

How much difference would £20,000 make to your organisation? Could it help offer more fantastic employability work in your community? Small grants of up to £20,000 are available over four Funding Rounds through to May 2021. WEA are here to help...

Volunteer Recruitment Fair

We are just a few days away from the start of Volunteers Week and the Volunteer Recruitment Fair on 4th June 11am - 2pm at St Helens Town Hall. Looking to find out how you can support a local group then why not come along to our Volunteers fayre during volunteers week. There will be a variety of organisations giving information on the great work they do and the ways you can help too. There will also be information stalls from adult and community learning team andHealthwatch St Helens. Our team will also be on hand on the day to help find other organisations and opportunities available across St Helens...

Halton Disabled Childrens Service Coffee Events

Halton Disabled Children’s Service are holding three Parent/Carer Coffee Events in June. Monday 10th June 9.30 – 12, Halton Lodge Children’s Centre, Runcorn; Thursday 13th June 17:00 – 19:00, Room 15, Kingsway Learning Centre, Widnes; Thursday 20th June 9.30 -12, Ditton Children’s Centre, Widnes. This is an opportunity to meet staff from Disabled Children’s Service to share your views and ideas in a relaxed and informal setting. Please note that due to limited room parents and carers will need to book on the events...

Chief Executive - Mersey Gateway Environment Trust (MGET)

Halton Borough Council are working with the Mersey Gateway Environment Trust (MGET) to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced Chief Executive to join the team at the MGET. The MGET is an independent charitable trust set up in 2010 to promote the conservation, protection, and improvement of the environment across a 1600ha area of the Upper Mersey Estuary running all the way from the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge, to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge and upriver as far as Warrington. The Chief Executive role provides an excellent opportunity to lead and manage all aspects of the MGET business plan required to progress the MGET project through the operation and management stages. Your role as Chief Executive would be to ensure the smooth running and development of the organisation and to lead the implementation of activity that will further the aims of the Trust....
 

Genesis Retail Course - St Helens

The course start on Monday 10th June and there are a few places remaining, all learners who complete the training will receive a £20 Love to Shop voucher.   This is a fully accredited Retail Knowledge course, Level 1, and gives learners a great introduction to retail. The Highfield Level 1 Certificate in Retail Knowledge provides learners with underpinning occupationally related knowledge and skills, as well as wider knowledge and skills to support learners’ employability and career progression in the sector. The objective of these qualifications is to support a role in the workplace or for learners who are looking to develop their knowledge and understanding to obtain employment within the sector, perhaps as checkout operators or sales assistants...

Young Carers and Families Information Event 13th June

Halton Carers Centres are holding a Young Carers and Families information event  on Thursday 13th June as part of their Carers Week activities. There will be information stalls and activities for all ages in the afternoon, plus the chance for one family to win £100 worth of Asda vouchers. Information will be available on the day from Welfare rights, CAMHs & Wellbeing Enterprises. If you are interested in having a stall on the day please contact Joanne Illidge/ Garry Fowler...

The Co-op’s Local Community Fund Is Now Open

The Co-op’s Local Community Fund is now open for applications. So far the Co-op has given over £40m to 16,000 Local Causes and Community Groups. Better hurry though, the deadline to apply on-line is 16th June 2019. The Co-op Local Community Fund supports projects that make a difference to local communities near to their stores and funeral homes. Applications close on 16 June...

New Services at Chrysalis Centre For Change

Chrysalis Centre for Change (CCC) is now offering a new 8-week programme, "A Journey Through Grief", for women experiencing bereavement. The group is facilitated by qualified and experienced Counsellors. It is a welcoming, safe and confidential group offering emotional support and psychoeducation to help you find your path through grief and reconnect with yourself. The programme runs on Friday's 1 - 3.30pm and is open to CCC service users who have lost an adult (partner, adult child, parent). Suitability will be discussed in the initial assessment appointment and referrals can be made to other specialised bereavement services if appropriate (e.g. SOBS - Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide)...

Opportunity To Collect Surplus Food Donations

Neighbourly, connect companies with local charities and community projects who can benefit from their support, from volunteering to fundraising to in-kind donations. They have opportunities for organisations in Widnes and St Helens to collect free food donations...

St. Helens Bereavement Service - Closure of Service Provision

We have received a very sad message from St Helens Bereavement Service letting us know that the service is closing and no longer accepting clients.  The St Helens Bereavement Service was originally set up as a sister project of St Helens CVS and we worked very closely together for many years.  Everyone at Halton & St Helens VCA would like to thank the Bereavement Service for their membership and input over the many years we worked together.  The full message from Barbara Swift, St Helens Bereavement Service Chair, can be found in the news item...

Halton Readathon 1st - 6th July 2019

To promote reading to all ages using the library as a resource and venue for activity. The aim is to have 60,000 reading minutes in a week between 1st and 6th July 2019. The emphasis is about reading for pleasure, talking about books you love and “mass” reading events for schools. Each person/ group can add their minutes to the Halton Readathon total by using twitter and the hashtag #haltonreadathon...

St Helens and District Diabetes Meeting For June

The next meeting of the St Helens & District Group of Diabetes UK will be on Wednesday 5th June 2019 at 7.30pm in St Helens United Reformed Church, King St, WA10 2JZ. The church is next to Windle Pilkington Hall.  The speaker will be Professor Kevin Hardy who will be talking on the subject of "Ten things to add years to your life and life to your years"... 

Halton Provider Alliance - Process To Select a VCFSE Member

The Halton Provider Alliance has been established to bring health and social care providers together as part of the One Halton Governance arrangements and to support the delivery of integrated care for local people in Halton. Now the Provider Alliance has been established it is now in a position to identify 2 VCSE sector representatives. In order to do that they are working through Halton & St Helens VCA who will support the sector to identify a suitable candidate. The Election process will be the responsibility of Halton & St Helens VCA and Halton Provider Alliance. Elected Representatives must be part of a Halton Voluntary, Community, Charity, Social Enterprise or Faith organisation, either as a paid worker, volunteer or trustee. Recruitment of representatives, will begin on the 1 June and close on the 14th June 2019...

Treasurer Vacancy

Chrysalis Centre for Change are looking for a new Treasurer to join their dynamic, enthusiastic Board of Trustees. This is an exciting time for CCC, as they are in the process of becoming a CIO and have just recruited a number of new Trustees. If you would like to be part of a team of people who are passionate about delivering services to support women's mental health in St Helens and you feel you have the relevant experience to be a Treasurer then please contact them for more details and an application pack...

VCA Membership 

Halton and St Helens VCA are pleased to welcome our new and re-registered affiliated, non-affiliated and associate members.  We all look forward to working with you. If you'd like to find out about your membership status, click on the link below which will take you to our current list of members, or call Lynne Daffern or Debbie Morris on 01928 592405 / 01744 457100  for more information. 

https://www.haltonsthelensvca.org.uk/vca-membership-list

Don't Forget...

Type 2 Diabetes – Widnes Focus Group

Are any of the volunteers or service users from your organisation diabetic? Do they also live in Widnes? If so, please let them know about an upcoming focus group. We’d love to hear from them. Widnes General practices have recently come together to review the diabetic patient care they each deliver with the aim of delivering the same high standard care across all of the practices.  As part of this work they would like to speak to a number of Type 2 diabetic patients (aged 17 years and over) to share with you the work they have done and get some feedback and comments to further inform this work. The general practices have asked Halton & St Helens VCA to carry out a focus group on Tuesday 4th June, 7-9pm at St Maries, Lugsdale road, Widnes...

Volunteer Week 2019 - Events

Volunteers Week 2019 (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.  Volunteers’ Week is the perfect opportunity to recognise volunteers who give their time, energy and enthusiasm to helping other.  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