NEWS FROM THE HAMPSHIRE CVS NETWORK
Action Hampshire
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Basingstoke Voluntary Action
Mascot March in Fareham
Communities First Wessex
Community First New Forest
Gosport Voluntary Action
Hart Voluntary Action
One Community
Rushmoor Voluntary Services
Unity
Charities & businesses team up in Winchester—p2 Gosport Community Fund launched—p3 Gosport celebrates International Social Prescribing Day—p3 Day out for Fareham group—p3 Cash for New Forest Young Carers—p4 Rushmoor Get Involved Volunteer Fair—p4 Unity networking session in care home—p4
It was a beautiful hot, sunny day for One Community’s second Mascot March in Fareham, on Saturday 30 March - quite a challenge when you’re wearing a full fur suit! More than 50 people representing a wide range of charities, voluntary and community groups followed the Mayor of Fareham, Cllr Susan Bayford, in the march along Fareham’s West Street shopping precinct. Organiser, Hayley Hamlett, explained that it was all about raising awareness of the organisations out there in the borough while having a lot of fun! As one participant said: “The day has been fantastic, a really jolly event to be part of.” Produced by Hampshire Councils for Voluntary Service, who would be delighted to have your feedback. Please contact Julia Allan 023 8090 2457 jallan@1community.org.uk Featured articles represent the views of the contributing CVS
Beyond Sponsorship: How Charities and Businesses Team Up in Tough Times Business support for charities goes a lot further than corporate sponsorship, as charity and business staff discovered 14 March 2019 at Community First’s Building Perfect Partnerships event supported by Winchester City Council. Over 80 delegates from charities, not-for-profits, social enterprises and businesses from Winchester District attended the event at Winchester Hotel, to explore the untapped potential of turning to each other. Wellbeing coach Caroline D’ay shared her insights into how employee wellbeing and workforce motivation go hand in hand. This provided food for thought for both charities and businesses, as the event went on to consider the team building benefits of partnership working.
International motivational speaker and business coach Ian Dickson imparted more hidden advantages to be found in charity-business relationships. Ian identified mutual benefits including expanded networks, an uplift in referrals, and marketing together. CEO of homelessness charity Trinity Winchester, Sue McKenna, and Linda Stiles, Sales and Marketing Manager at telecoms company ElemenTel, were interviewed together on stage. Sue McKenna’s advice to charities was “Don’t be afraid to ask” for the specific support they need. She also shared some important tips on helping businesses to feel connected to charitable causes. Trinity’s presentation showed businesses offering voluntary practical support to the charity during a day event that lifted the volunteers’ spirits and provided a space to meet new contacts. Linda Stiles NEXUS PAGE 2
spoke about the business advantages of working with charities, including brand development and team building opportunities. Towards the end of the event, delegates split into groups to discuss how to make the most of partnership working from charity and business perspectives. A key takeaway was that charities should be specific about what goals and projects they need support with, and about the impact that business support will have for their beneficiaries. There are many occasions when asking businesses to share their skills and expertise can be more effective for charities than seeking funding, as emphasised by Community First’s CEO Tim Houghton during the event’s introductions. Further suggestions included businesses helping charities as part of training and upskilling programmes. Business owner and Coach, Karen Murray said, “Long term partnership with charities goes beyond your Corporate Social Responsibility. It brings life to your values and enables your actions to match your words with true integrity.” Lucy Tennant, Corporate and Community Fundraising Officer at Brendoncare, commented, “The Building Perfect Partnerships event was a great opportunity to network with local businesses and charities, and enjoy valuable talks and presentations too. Thanks to Community First for hosting such a wonderful event – we had a lot of fun!” Record of the event illustrated by Emma Paxton of Imagistic
Gosport Community Fund is Launched
On 26 February, a funding workshop was run by Gosport Voluntary Action to launch the Gosport Community Fund. Thanks to players of the Gosport Community Lottery, one-off grants for local good causes and individuals are available (up to £1,500 for organisations and up to £250 for individuals). The fund’s first round is now open with the closing date of 30 April, and grants will be awarded on 21 June. The fund will be open for applications twice a year and a panel will review and award successful grants. Projects must be for the benefit of the Gosport Community and meet at least one of the lottery funding priorities: Bringing people together and building strong relationships in and across communities Improving the places and spaces that matter to communities Enabling people to fulfil their potential by working to address poverty, deprivation and isolation
International Social Prescribing Day Celebrated in Gosport Gosport Voluntary Action (GVA) effectively engaged via the local press and social media to raise awareness of the UK’s first International Social Prescribing Day on Thursday 14 March. GVA’s website and social media pages had a Social Prescribing banner and updates during the week. Their new Social Prescribing webpage was also launched, which explains what Social
Prescribing is, highlights GVA’s Social Prescribing Projects, has many useful links and resources including details about the Hants & IOW Social Prescribing Network and also shares details of the achievements of GVA’s Surgery Signposting Project The Fareham & Gosport CCG and others supported GVA’s social media campaign via Twitter (GVA’s re-tweets reached some people internationally) and Facebook. There was even a short Surgery Signposting Project YouTube clip recognising the achievements of GVA’s Surgery Signposting team!
Sea, Talk and Trips for Fareham Club
Fareham Tea, Talk and Trips club enjoyed a welcome day out to the beach front on Hayling Island recently. The club, started by Fareham North West Community Association in 2015, is supported by Community First with accessible minibus transport and volunteer helpers. Seventeen members of the Monday afternoon social club enjoyed lunch at the Ferry Boat Inn and then took in some early April sunshine in the pub garden. The social club has become a much-loved fixture for its members and for many an important social lifeline. The Community Association too is committed to seeing it flourish at its usual home at the Community Centre in Henry Cort Drive. Community First in Fareham continues to work closely with all involved to help the club go from strength to strength. Club members are pictured here with Jon – their volunteer minibus driver from Fareham Community Transport.
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Welcome Support for New Forest Young Carers
Local chain FJB Hotels joined forces with the Wave 105 Cash for Kids appeal to support New Forest Young Carers, part of Community First New Forest. The Cash for Kids team surprised the Young Carers with a large cheque at the end of March, to help with activity costs. Young Carers Coordinator Marie Shotbolt said: “We thought they were coming to talk to us about our application for funding so we were amazed when they presented us with the cheque. It’s fantastic news and will really help us with the school holidays coming up. We rely on donations and support like this to provide activities, so this money will make a real difference.” One of the Young Carers added: “This money will help pay for the Youth Club I go to with the other Young Carers. It’s so important for us to get a break and just relax and enjoy ourselves and to meet new friends. I really enjoy my time out.” The New Forest Young Carers Service currently works with over 230 Young Carers and their families providing support, advice and activities.
Rushmoor Get Involved Volunteer Fair Organised jointly by Rushmoor Voluntary Services and Rushmoor Borough Council, the Rushmoor Get Involved Volunteer Fair is a chance for voluntary organisations, community groups, clubs and societies to raise the profile of the fantastic work they do in Farnborough and Aldershot. The fair will be held in Aldershot town centre on Saturday 1 June 2019, 10am-2.30pm, during Volunteers’ Week. There will be around 25 NEXUS PAGE 4
organisations on show and visitors will be able to meet and talk to representatives from the organisations, find out how they can get involved in volunteering, and also learn more about the help these organisations can offer to local people. Greg Alexander, CEO of Rushmoor Voluntary Services said, “This will be our third ‘Get Involved’. It presents great opportunities for people to find out more about becoming a volunteer and to see just how much help and support is available to residents.”
Professional Networking Session at Care Home Rothsay Grange Care Home, Weyhill, hosted a professional networking session in partnership with Unity on Thursday 4 April. The Mayor of Test Valley, representatives from Connect to Support, Hampshire County Council’s specialist care portal, Valley Leisure and a number of agencies and individuals came together for a morning of introductions and information sharing. Terry Bishop, Chief Executive of Unity said, “We were delighted to partner with Rothsay Grange Care Home to engage with the community, and thank them for their generosity on the day.” From the outset, complete with free bacon butties and croissants, there were lively discussions with a number of groups who are already planning future meetings to discuss joint Charlotte Yonge statue complete working. All in all, a very positive with rainbowmorning! shawl.