March, 2012 News

In response to recent community feedback, Liverpool Football Club 'Action for Health' are running an 8 week Premier League Men's Health Course.

Click here to view the attached flyer.

In May 2012 an exciting new visual art event is coming to Liverpool, designed to connect local artists with new art buyers on a large scale, break down barriers, and make affordable art accessible to all.

The inaugural Liverpool Art Fair will take place over five days, at the Camp and Furnace in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, from 31st May-4th June 2012 (Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend).

Plaza Community Cinema will be hosting their next Autism/Disability film screening- 'Pirates Band of Misfits'- on Monday 16th April at the usual time of 5.30pm.

This is a dedicated film showing with low level lighting and reduced volume for comfort.

Tickets: £4.90 and £3.90 available from the box office.

A new site has been developed to provide an opportunity for youth voice- by giving the young people who live in Liverpool 8 the option to choose the themes and comment on issues which effect them. This can be used to help local service providers change the way they deliver services for children and young people.

The site will also promote activities and services for young people in Liverpool 8. The site has a projects page where all groups can download details of their programme and location, photos and information to users.

The Community Development Finance Association is looking for a Communications Officer to manage its marketing, comms, PR and media.

Community finance needs you! Manage marketing, comms, PR and media for the trade association representing community finance institutions. The CDFA seeks a skilled practitioner to join our busy team for exciting, meaningful and rewarding work.

The Business Start-Up Competition aims to support individuals who have the ability to come up with a new business or social enterprise idea.

The recent economic crisis has indicated that traditional business methods are failing across Britain.

Responding to this week's Budget, a group of leading organisations have welcomed the Government's commitment to review the finance barriers facing social enterprises.

The organisations, including Social Enterprise UK, the Social Investment Business and Big Issue Invest, are calling for it to be an independently chaired review to ensure it will bring about real change.

The Reader Organisation's 'Reading to Live Well' conference is aimed at professionals working to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities- those commissioning, delivering, researching, referring or funding services- who want to learn how their pioneering project 'Get Into Reading' can help support service users in their recovery, improve the morale and motivation of staff involved and promote the importance of reading aloud together for pleasure.

Speakers include:

Following the successful launch of the Real Ideas Organisation's (RIO's) Social Enterprise Qualification (SEQ) at the House of Commons in January, its developers are on the hunt for SEQ training providers who can help them keep up with demand, by training SEQ mentors to deliver the Qualification across the UK.

Muslim Enterprise Development Service are offering a pre-apprenticeship course in engineering for 16-18 year olds.

Click here for more information.

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Marketing and Development Manager at 3SC, a progressive, ambitious and market-leading social enterprise.

3SC was established in 2009 to bid for, and manage delivery of, public service contracts to provide contract delivery opportunities for civil society organisations. They have a growing membership base of almost 2,000 organisations which deliver services in health and social care, criminal justice, Welfare to Work, skills training, housing and other public service areas.

Doncaster Central Development Trust (DCDT) is currently recruiting a 'Development & Operations Manager' and is led by, and exists to benefit, residents of this area of South Yorkshire. The Trust currently renovates houses to a high standard and rents them to local people and those coming into the area who want to make a positive contribution to their community.

The Social Business Trust provides grants and business advice to about five UK-based social enterprises each year. Successful organisations will have the opportunity to work in partnership with Social Business Trust and its partners to use the advice and guidance offered to pursue substantial growth for further social impact.

Known as Charities Act 2011, new legislation to make charity law simpler and more accessible came into force on 14th March 2012.

The new Act, which was passed in December 2011, repeals and replaces the Recreational Charities Act 1958, the Charities Act 1993 and many of the provisions of the Charities Act 2006.

From now on, charities must refer to the new Act in any documentation, such as reports and accounts, which they publish.

Communities across England will be able to organise their own local sporting and cultural events in celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games thanks to the Government which has awarded the programme a £2 million grant.

The funding, which comes from the £20 million Social Action Fund, will support the Community Games Programme which was designed by the Legacy Trust and will be delivered by the YMCA and County Sports Partnership Network.

Autism Initiatives UK is a charity, which has been providing support and education services to people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) since 1972. As an organisation we pride ourselves on the delivery of person centred services. Due to our continued growth Autism Initiatives are recruiting a 'Growing Coordinator'.

The Big Lottery is funding refresher driver training for older people through Diverse Road Safety CIC. 'Mature Mobility' is a project to help older people maintain their independence & mobility for as long as possible through driving & road safety.

Anyone over 60 and living in the Borough of Knowsley is eligible for a free place on the course.

People who use wheelchairs often have additional problems when it comes to taking family holidays. Many holiday accommodation details will state they are 'wheelchair' friendly simply because they have installed an access ramp. However, once inside the accommodation, particularly caravans, it is difficult or impossible to move around, use the bathroom or get into the bedrooms.

Guy Murphy, a third year marketing student, is currently carrying out research for his dissertation- exploring the branding used within the social enterprise sector- and is currently looking to interview a number of social entrepreneurs in relation to this. Can you help?

The Social Investment Business has been selected to run the Investment and Contract Readiness (ICR) Fund which will launch at the end of April 2012.

The £10million ICR Fund, provided by the Office for Civil Society, aims to help social ventures prepare themselves to raise additional social investment and/or to run public services.

As part of this year's Environment Awards for the Decade of Health and Wellbeing, additional support is being given to new environmental entreprenuers in the city.

Up to £2,000 start-up funding plus business planning support will be available for up to 10 of the individuals, groups or communities who have a great idea for a business/social enterprise that will help the environment and create jobs. The best idea will receive £3,000 as well as business planning support.

The SROI Network is pleased to announce new training dates and courses for 2012.

Unlimited Potential is seeking proposals from suitably qualified and experienced people to undertake a Strategic Financial Review of their business, which operates as a social enterprise.

The specification for this is attached here.

The deadline for tenders is 5pm on Tuesday 10th April 2012. The provisional date for interviews is Friday 20th April.

Urban Quay is now able to offer accredited training absolutely free of charge to anybody aged 19+ who is serious about getting back into work (or closer to the labour market) and just needs a little bit of support and confidence building.

The accredited units delivered by Urban Quay include:

Entry Level 3 / Level 1 / Level 2

The SITA Trust has announced the next funding round of its new Young Person's Volunteering Fund.

Through this new fund, the SITA Trust can provide grants of up to £10,000 for volunteering projects owned by 14-25 year olds. The SITA Trust can support projects in any of 90 funding zones around qualifying waste processing sites operated by their donor, SITA UK.