Halton & St Helens Voluntary Community Action are looking for new team members for a variety of roles working in one or both of our boroughs.  We are passionate about encouraging local people to make changes for good in their communities and helping them find the right support or service that can improve their lives for the better or helping develop a new solution.

Our communities are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic with local organisations helping people through the cost of living crisis and other issues or crisis that are preventing them from living better lives.

Working in the voluntary sector with amazing people doing amazing things is so very rewarding and being part of our team gives you the opportunity to make a difference to lots of different causes, services and activities.

If this is the first time you’ve thought about working in the community and are interested in one or more of the vacancies, then please do get in touch to find out more.  Your skills, knowledge or experience could be what we are looking for:

VCSE/ Bridgewater Link Worker (Halton) - 36 hours per week - Salary £25,500 pa
Healthy & Home Link Worker (St Helens) – 36 hours per week – Salary £25,500 pa
Grants Adminstrator (St Helens) – 18 hours per week – Salary £11,110

Closing date for all of the above roles is Midday 17th July 2023

The Department of Health and Social Care’s £10 million grant for suicide prevention Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise organisations

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is granting suicide prevention Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations across England £10 million which will span across 2023-24 to 2024-25.

The purpose of the grant is to support the VCSE sector to meet the increased demand, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis, as well as supporting the development of innovative preventative activities and services, aimed at people at elevated risk of suicide.

With the grant due to be made available in the coming months, DHSC is encouraging all applicants who are interested in applying to sign up to the 'Find a Grant' portal. 

St Helens Council are looking to recruit new members to the Town Deal Board.

The Board is a great opportunity to make key decisions about St Helens. They are really looking to have a diverse number of members on the board from all backgrounds and are really keen to have representation from the Charitable/Voluntary sector and think having someone from our sector would be amazing.

It’s a voluntary role with a commitment to attend 4 meetings per year.

Vee’s Place, in Prescot, provides a safe and nurturing place for vulnerable people to access support, information and guidance so that they can begin to tackle the problems they face. Their aim is to work with the community to improve the quality of life of local people and support them to engage in positive activities and lead fulfilled lives.

Through their services they support people to develop better-coping strategies, improve their health and wellbeing which leads to better resilience. Visitors can access Health & Wellbeing Sessions, Crochet Classes, Yoga & Life Exercises, ICT Suite Facilities, Tea Room, Rooms for Hire and a Discount Shop.

They are seeking a Social Media Volunteer to help them to spread the word and promote their work, to the people who need them and also new trustees to join their board.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as I have very recently taken up the role of Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action (VCA) Mental Health Liaison Worker (Community Setting) for the Widnes and Halton area, you may already be aware that my predecessor, Shirley, has started her new role of Mental Health Navigator.

Part of my role will be to focus on providing support to people with mental health to enable them to re-connect with their communities following disconnection from secondary services.  Your group is key to ensuring we can continue to provide an accessible and sustainable source of support within the community.   My plans are to continue to support your groups involvement in the monthly MH Alliance going forward and would like to start by meeting you all at a time that is convenient for you, hopefully next week if that is possible. 

Are you MYA material? Merseyside Youth Association is seeking to recruit an honorary treasurer for the Charity’s Board of Trustees.

Established in 1890, MYA provides a range of innovative, practical and positive support for young people.

They are seeking a Treasurer with extensive financial experience, who can support their Trustees and Senior Leadership Team to ensure financial stability and growth for the organisation.

MYA is a community of changemakers, who champion the voice of young people in all that they do. You will join a team of people focused, like minded individuals, who are passionate about ‘creating positive and lasting change in the lives of Merseyside’s young people’, whilst also providing support and guidance to help futureproof the organisation.

St Helens Council are currently consulting on their Draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy and would like to invite you to view the strategy and also formally respond if possible.

The Draft EVCI Strategy sets out an ambitious approach to the decarbonisation of transport in St Helens to help achieve Net Zero goal by detailing how EV Charging Infrastructure can be developed and deployed across the borough to support the needs of residents, businesses, and visitors.

The closing date for survey responses and the consultation is Friday 21st July 2023 at 5pm.

The GSK IMPACT Awards are for charities with total annual income between £150,000 and £3 million. They are funded by GSK and provide core funding and free training for charities doing excellent work to improve people’s health and wellbeing. Up to 15 awards will be made, ranging from £4,000 to £50,000, plus free training and development valued at a further £9,500.

Closing date: Friday 1 September 2023.

The new GSK Health Inequalities Programme supports small charities with total annual income between £20,000 and £150,000. Up to 15 charities will receive up to £10,000 in unrestricted funding plus access to free training and development valued at £2,700.

Closing date: Monday 14 August 2023.

The External Funding Team at Halton Borough Council have produced their latest monthly Funding Bulletin covering recent grants alerts.

You can also find a copy of Halton Council Programmes Office (formerly External Funding Team) Annual Report 2022/23 for information.

Reminder: Application Deadline 17th July, 5pm - UKSPF Digital Connectivity Grants

The application deadline for Round 2 of the UKSPF Digital Connectivity Grants closes at 5pm on Monday 17th July.

They have only had a small number of applications from Halton & St Helens Organisations, don't miss out!

Background to the fund

Funded through the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as the local Lead Authority, the fund support the creation of new, and improvement of existing community facilities where people can go to access computers and get online.

The overall purpose of the grants programme is to support voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector organisations to improve their public-facing IT (i.e. computer drop-in) facilities, and to create new facilities in areas of need, where there may currently be no, or limited provision.