Nexus january 2017

NEWS FROM THE HAMPSHIRE CVS NETWORK 

Action Hampshire

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Basingstoke Voluntary Action

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Communities First Wessex

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Community Action Fareham

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Community First New Forest

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Gosport Voluntary Action

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Hart Voluntary Action

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One Community

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Rushmoor Voluntary Services

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Test Valley Community Services

Fareham Christmas lunch —p2 Emsworth Community Christmas—p2 Passengers’ Drive for Eastleigh Young Carers—p2 Find Santa Flight for New Forest Young Carers—p3 Christmas Tree Festival—p3

Gosport’s Loud and Proud Receives Prestigious UK Awards Accolade Loud and Proud, a Gosport volunteering group for young people was shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious UK Youth sponsored Youth Organisation of the Year Award.

Twelve committee, staff and young members attended the Awards Ceremony at the ICA in London on 7 December. Representatives of the three finalists, including Loud and Proud founder member 22-year-old Holly Ure and 18-year-old Harriet Rollinson, were afterwards honoured by attending afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace with HRH The Princess Royal (pictured).

Loud and Proud, supported by Gosport Voluntary Action, is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year and has helped out at over 50 events so far, completed over 1,400 hours of volunteering and raised money for local good causes.

In his speech, UK Youth President Nigel Mansell commended Loud and Proud and paid tribute to the exceptional good work of the young members in the Gosport community.

Caroline Dinenage MP for Gosport said, ''This is a fantastic accolade for everyone involved with Loud and Proud. The work they do is invaluable to the local community and the young people involved are a credit to our area.”

Produced by Hampshire Councils for Voluntary Service

Local Charities Day—p3

Contact Julia Allan 023 8090 2457 jallan@1community.org.uk

TVCS Radio Partnership—p3

Featured articles represent the views of the contributing CVS

New Minibuses for TVCS—p4 Hate Crime Award—p4

Fareham Christmas Lunch Fareham really showed the true spirit of Christmas as over 100 guests and volunteers came together on Christmas Day at St John's Church Hall in St Michael's Grove for a festive lunch.

The annual event, which is run by Community Action Fareham, Christians Together in Fareham and Fareham Good Neighbours, offers local people who would otherwise be alone the opportunity to spend the day with others.

Guests are offered a three course lunch, carol singing, a quiz, raffle and gifts to take home. Door to door transport is provided by Fareham Community Transport and volunteer car drivers. The Bishop of Portsmouth the Rt Rev Christopher Foster paid a special visit to wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

"Each year we reach more people," said Jennie Romicheva of Community Action Fareham, "Our guest and volunteer list grows every Christmas and we receive amazingly generous support from local businesses and the voluntary community."

The organisers also supported a second lunch, which was put on at North West Fareham Community Centre by local volunteer Mary Sheppard. Two further Christmas Day lunches were organised in the borough by St Mary's Church Portchester and the Holy Rood Church in Stubbington.

Emsworth Community Christmas Community First was pleased for its community venue Hewitt’s at Emsworth in Havant Borough to be used for the third year running to host the Emsworth Community Christmas.

Jessica Bateman, the event organiser, said, “We decked the rooms with boughs of holly and ivy, presents and NEXUS PAGE 2

delicious festive foods. The Christmas Day event could not have happened without the incredible support from our community. Luxurious Hampers were made up and donated and local nursery school children made boxes of gifts for guests to go home with. We had a wonderful number of people volunteering for the whole day.

“There was an eclectic mix of people this year (54 in total), young adults in their 20s right through to spritely men and women in their 90s.

We had people referred from social services, single parents, individuals struggling with domestic abuse, isolation and disabilities and local people who simply wanted to come and help.”

Presentation for Eastleigh Volunteering Youth Award 2016

Passengers’ Drive for Young Carers Party Community Transport at One Community links older and disabled people to their community and local services. One Community minibuses travel across the borough and beyond providing door to door transport to people who wouldn’t be able to get out and about otherwise. What has impressed staff at One Community is that these passengers are always the first to give back – and they love to do it!

Every year passengers of One Community Transport are the single biggest group to donate to One Community’s Young Carers at Christmas time. Staff, families, and the children themselves are overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of this group of people, some of whom are themselves quite vulnerable.

Passengers donated five huge boxes and countless carrier bags worth of toiletries, candles, chocolates, and other edible delights for the team to make up into special Christmas hampers for the families attending the annual Young Carers Christmas Party, which was held at Pavilion on the Park in Eastleigh.

The initiative, led by One Community Transport driver Debbie Moore, started back in 2014 with a request for selection boxes for the Young Carers party. This year the idea was to offer hampers, and the transport passengers were delighted to be involved.

Manager of the Family Carers Service, Joanne Miles said: “Each year we think they couldn’t possibly outdo themselves, and every year they do! The spirit of these wonderful people is what Christmas is all about – sharing what you have even if what you have isn’t a lot.

“For so many of our families Christmas is a tricky time, so a little time out and a treat makes all the difference. The passengers of One Community Transport help us make that a reality every year.”

Debbie’s Christmas spirit didn’t end there, as this year she volunteered to drive a One Community Transport bus to take vulnerable and isolated people to the Salvation Army Christmas Day dinner in Hedge End. Without her, those people would have faced Christmas alone.

Children 'Find Santa' on Thomas Cook Children's Charity Flight of Dreams Children from Community First New Forest Young Carers were among more than 340 children who joined one of three special Thomas Cook Airlines flights “in search of Santa” on 14 December, thanks to the operator’s children’s charity.

Flying was a first-time experience for many of the children, some of whom were nominated through Cook staff and social media, while others were identified through Thomas Cook Children’s Charity’s work with dozens of organisations.

Aoife McDonogh, charitable relations manager at Thomas Cook Children’s Charity, said: “It’s been a wonderful series of flights this year.

We’ve been lucky enough to find Santa during all of the Flights of Dreams and give our passengers a truly magical and memorable day and do our little bit to help improve the lives of children and young people at Christmas.”

Christmas Tree Festival Members of Whitehill & Bordon Community Network and other local organisations came together in December to create the 2nd Whitehill & Bordon Christmas Tree Festival. Each

organisation was invited to decorate a tree in a style that reflects the activities and services it delivers.

Claire Coxwell from Community First’s Community Development Team attended, and said, “The Community First tree was decorated in the corporate colours, with stars showing the services we offer in Whitehill and Bordon. This was an imaginative way for each organisation to promote itself to the public whilst creating a magical display for everyone to enjoy”.

The event was really popular with local people, and visitors took away an information sheet providing contact details for all the community organisations involved.

Local Charities Day Community Action Fareham marked Local Charities Day on 16 December in Fareham Shopping Centre. Local charities came together to let local people know about their great work for communities in Fareham.

Fareham MP Suella Fernandes came along to help "Shout from the Rooftops" about the amazing contribution made to Fareham by local charities and community groups.

The creative members of Fareham Men's Shed group built a fantastic rooftop backdrop for the day.

TVCS Partnership Andover’s new radio station has been given a boost after agreeing a partnership with Test Valley Community Services. The town’s community and voluntary support service has welcomed Andover Radio’s plans to offer support, publicity and fundraising initiatives to its 300 members.

Andover Radio, which will operate under the multi-media banner of ‘Love Andover’, has NEXUS PAGE 3

welcomed the partnership agreement worth £10,000 a year.

TVCS Business and Volunteer Co-ordinator Christianne Ireland said, “The radio station’s plans are precisely the sort of positive and pro-active attitude we have been looking for to help support our services and our members. Together we have committed to identifying opportunities which directly support and enable the procurement of skills and employability for people in and around Andover.”

TVCS has over 300 members who operate in the Test Valley and is committed to encouraging initiatives that benefit the community.

Two new Minibuses for TVCS Test Valley Community Services (TVCS), recently purchased two new fully accessible minibuses for their Community Transport Scheme. The scheme provides accessible transport for anyone who cannot easily access public or private transport to enable them to get to group meetings, doctor/hospital appointments, shops and leisure activities.

Local and Hampshire County Councillors joined TVCS Chair Dorothy Baverstock at the launch of the new buses on Andover High Street on 2 December.

Terry Bishop, Chief Executive of Test Valley Community Services commented, “We are delighted with our new buses, which are available for all community, statutory and voluntary groups to use as transport for their own activities.”

Local Charities and Community Groups can hire the buses using TVCS drivers or their own MIDAS qualified drivers if they prefer. Hire costs offer groups excellent value for money as TVCS is subsidising the rental.

Hant’s PCC Awards to tackle Hate Crime Michael Lane, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Hampshire Constabulary area, has awarded grants to 11 local charities and voluntary organisations totalling £30,000 to deliver a range of activities that will target hate crime.

Michael Lane said: “Hate crime has NEXUS PAGE 4

Liam Moloney from Youthfirst at the LGBT conference 2016

increased and people suffering these crimes must feel safe to report the crime and know they will be supported.

The projects that will be funded have demonstrated new and innovative ideas that will increase the reporting and identification of hate crime and the support given to the victims who come forward to report these crimes.”

Communities First Wessex (known as Community First) is very pleased that its Love Diversity project is one of the successful projects.

It will be delivered by its Youthfirst team and involves working with young LGBT people offering both mental health and emotional support.

Becka Jarvis, Youthfirst Team Manager said, “The grant will enable us to provide support to LGBT young people who experience hate crime or behaviours in schools/communities. Our experience of working with LGBT young people across East Hampshire and Winchester informs us that a number of young people we have worked with in the last year have experienced verbal or physical abuse. They need support to face these behaviours and address those who bully, discriminate, oppress, repress and persecute.”

To find out which other projects across Hampshire will receive funding, visit http:// www.hampshire-pcc.gov.uk/michael-laneawards-30000-tackle-hate-crime.

Michael Lane added, “I am grateful for the support of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Communities Foundation (HIWCF) and my Youth Commission in assessing the bids that were submitted.”

Jakes Ferguson, CEO of HIWCF, said: “It is imperative that we support the vital work of these local groups to increase identification, reporting and support to the victims of hate crime and we are delighted that the Police and Crime Commissioner’s grant programme is able to address this important issue and reduce hate crime offences.”

The first Third Party Hate Crime Reporting Centre in Hampshire was established at Eastleigh Museum by One Community two year’s ago.