NEXUS November

NEWS FR OM TH E HAMPSHIRE CVS NETWORK 

Action Hampshire



Communities First Wessex



Community First New Forest



Gosport Voluntary Action



Hart Voluntary

Action 

One Community



Rushmoor Voluntary Services



V O L U M E

5 ,

I S S U E

1 1

1 3

N O V E M B E R

2 0 1 8

Basingstoke Voluntary Action



Nexus

Unity

BVA + community plans—p2 BVA + local business—p2 BVA develops communications— p2 Wheatsheaf Trust in Fareham—p3 Hants & IOW Social Prescribing Network—p3 Step by step to employment—p3 Unity garden clean up—p3 Special award for One Community— p4 Armed Forces Mental Health First Aid—p4 Community First’s Legal Helpline—p4

Community First New Forest Delivers Silverlink Training In the New Forest this month the New Forest Volunteer Centre Co-ordinator and Community Development worker joined forces to deliver a course of bespoke training to an exciting new local project, Silverlinks.

Silverlinks was established by Celia Burgess MBE (pictured left), under the umbrella of the popular art therapy charity hArt. The project aims to help older people in the short term by providing advice, advocacy and a listening ear. It’s delivered by a team of trained volunteers who provide free home visits where people are offered the opportunity to discuss any specific worries or anxieties affecting their health or preventing them from enjoying life to the full. The Silverlinks volunteers provide help and guidance where possible on a diverse range of issues from lack of social contact, benefits, utility bills and housing issues to using computers and email, form filling, accessing healthcare to just talking things through.

It’s a lot of information for the newly recruited volunteers to take on board and, as a brand new service, there are also many new processes and procedures to put in to place to ensure things run smoothly and safely.

To help with this Silverlinks approached Community First New Forest for advice on these inaugural systems as well as how to train their newly recruited volunteers. Lorraine Lambert (Volunteer Centre Coordinator) and Debbie Grace (Community Development Worker) took up the challenge, working closely with Celia to develop flexible training sessions that encompassed both the core training needs of this fledgling service as well as allowing enough flexibility for volunteers and staff to decide how they wanted key features, such as referrals and communication, to work.

The sessions included topics such as lone working, equality and diversity, record keeping and safeguarding. They were designed to be lively, interactive 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

and very much based around delegate participation. Volunteers described the training as being “REALLY interesting and informative” and “a great way to learn”.

The Volunteer Centre was also delighted to find an experienced volunteer to deliver this training to future volunteers, helping ensure the sustainability of the project.

For now, the brand new volunteers are about to take on their first clients, equipped with their training and the Silverlinks ethos of enabling those they visit to feel better, healthier and more in control of their lives.

volunteer who has been assisting with Social Media. The website has had some changes in relation to news items, Facebook and Twitter links streamlined, and links to the regular member newsletter improved. Training opportunities are being developed plus enhanced Group Development is targeting specific areas such as Older People, Community Centres and areas of deprivation within the Basingstoke & Deane Community, and strategic partnerships created where applicable.

Charities & Businesses Attend The BIG50!

BVA Working Alongside Community Plans Basingstoke & Deane has been working in partnership with the local community over the last couple of years to create a variety of Community Action plans. These documents are now being utilised to progress required actions and initiatives identified and BVA will be working within those areas in the Borough. Initial targets are Buckskin, Norden, Popley and Winklebury and BVA recently gained funding of £9,200 from the National Lottery Awards for All to facilitate discussions and progress. Initial discussions will be held at local Community Centres within the next couple of months.

BVA Interacting With Local Business Basingstoke Voluntary Action has been interacting with various local business contacts recently to improve awareness of their activities and especially encouraging employees to volunteer in teams to support local charity initiatives. Six large companies have offered teams to work with charities, with more making initial enquiries, so these resources are now being linked to requirements. BVA also recently visited Sony Europe along with four representative charities over a lunch period to raise awareness to staff.

Similar visits are planned over the coming months.

BVA Continued Development of Communications and Community Support A variety of activities has been undertaken recently to streamline communications between BVA and the local community, with the aid of a NEXUS PAGE 2

Over 70 charities and business owners from across Hampshire attended an inspiring afternoon of top tips, strategies and ideas from International & Motivational Business Speaker, Ian Dickson. The event was organised by Community First and was an opportunity for charities to learn about organisational growth, with 50 game changing tips for their organisations.

Kelle Russell from The Rainbow Centre, based in Fareham, says: “I came away from the event with my head full of amazing ideas. I couldn’t wait to get back to work to implement my top ten wins. Ian showed me ways to clear my mind and focus on what I want to achieve and best of all how to make that happen, in small manageable, measurable steps. The ideas I have taken away from the session will help me be the best I can be and as a result of that raise more money for The Rainbow Centre. Thank you Community First for providing us with this fantastic opportunity to develop ourselves”.

The Mayor of Fareham, Cllr Susan Bayford, attended the event and commented: “Charities are currently going through a period of great change with funding cuts and greater competition for business. Ian’s top tips were very motivational and will hopefully have given the delegates a renewed focus to take back to their organisations.

I was delighted to attend.”

The BIG50 was organised as part of

Community First’s Employee Volunteering Scheme, where businesses can offer their time either in practical ways or through sharing their skills and expertise.

Wheatsheaf Trust at Community First Fareham Community First Fareham welcomes Tania, Marc and Mike from the Wheatsheaf Trust who will be based at 163 West Street every Tuesday. Wheatsheaf Trust provides support for unemployed people including those with disabilities, to help them into the workplace or training. The service has branched out into Fareham and the team is offering outreach services at the town centre location, for people in the borough who have been referred via the job centre.

Hants & IOW Social Prescribing Network Meeting Community First and Gosport Voluntary Action joined forces to enable the 2018 Hants & IOW Social Prescribing Network (including Southampton & Portsmouth) to take place in Fareham on 29 October.

The meeting began with networking and then Tim Houghton (CEO Community First) shared his thoughts on how VSEs can work more effectively together. He highlighted a few of the 50-60 Social Prescribing Projects countywide and the need for leadership and co-ordination to maximise funding and realise opportunities. He mentioned Vanguard and the new care models and priorities going forward. Tim also discussed the gaps, duplication and the challenges of rural areas - suggesting a Social Prescribing map for Hampshire might be a valuable resource.

Elizabeth Kerwood (Head of Communications and Engagement, Fareham & Gosport, Isle, Portsmouth and Southern Eastern Hampshire CCGs) explained about how the five CCGs operate and are working collaboratively with their districts. They are responsible for health and care services countywide with a £5 million budget. Elizabeth explained how structures are changing too.

Questions were followed by a round the table activity collated by Nicky Staveley (CO

Gosport Voluntary Action). Attendees asked about the meaning of Social Prescribing, discussed impact and evaluation, the value of sharing learning and best practice, a virtual network for documents, learning what each organisation does and potentially, joint funding bids including the NHS going forward.

Step by Step to Employment Another bumper event and busy day for Unity Volunteering this year at the Annual Job Fair held in Andover recently.

Christianne Ireland and colleagues were there to promote the benefits of volunteering as well as the vast number of volunteering opportunities available for people across Test Valley. Throughout the morning nine new volunteers were registered and 23 other people registered their interest in volunteering as a stepping stone to employment.

The Unity Volunteering team has recently developed a monthly Volunteering Bulletin providing information on some of the latest volunteering opportunities across the area. These can now be found in various locations around the Borough and were well received on the day.

Christianne Ireland said: “This was another busy day with good footfall and not only was it successful in terms of engaging with people but there was plenty of networking with organisations and businesses all trying to help support people back to work”.

Oops We Did it Again!

After the successful Big Garden Spruce Up which took place earlier this year, Unity volunteers have once again come to the rescue! James, a Cardea client who is bed bound, lives in a home with rear access through the garden used by carers and visitors. The garden was in such a poor state that disposal of rubbish and putting the bins out weekly by caregivers was impossible. Following a plea for help, Unity Spruce Up Volunteers stepped in for the day to provide a basic clean up resulting in a clear path to the bins and a delightfully pristine garden.

NEXUS PAGE 3

One Community Receives Special Award On 5 November 2018 One Community received a Fareham Citizen of Honour Special Group Achievement Award from Fareham Borough Council. The first of its kind ever to be awarded.

The Award was presented to the Chair of One Community, Professor Sri Kandiah, by the Mayor of Fareham Cllr Susan Bayford, at an afternoon tea in the Mayor’s Parlour.

The Mayor said: “I was delighted to be able to present One Community with this welldeserved award. They work tirelessly to improve the lives of those living in the Borough.”

One Community Delivers Armed Forces Mental Health First Aid Course Sue Heath-Caldwell, a member of the One Community Voluntary Sector Support Team, trained as an Instructor in Armed Forces Mental Health First Aid in the summer. She has recently delivered her first course at Deepcut Barracks. The course was attended by 13 Army personnel who are currently based at Deepcut. The two-day course covers all aspects of mental health and participants become qualified Mental Health First Aiders by the end of the delivery, so they can spot the symptoms of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide a person towards support.

Community First’s Legal Helpline Live Community First’s member support now includes a Legal Helpline for members to access up to 40 minutes of free initial advice on a discrete issue.

The Helpline is being developed in partnership with Hampshire Legal Services (HLS), who are the in-house legal team at Hampshire County Council.

NEXUS PAGE 4

Legal Helpline queries can cover the wide range of issues that HLS addresses in its work:  Charity structures, governance and data protection  Contracts and procurement  Premises, planning and the environment  Employment and volunteers  Disputes, including initial advice on litigation  Safeguarding of children & vulnerable adults Community First is also working with HLS to deliver Caring About Sharing: Some Legal Issues on 5 December in Winchester. In the charity and nonprofit sector, we often work collaboratively, which includes sharing our resources with each other and with public bodies to increase our impact. We may share premises, people, information, and we may indeed share risk. At this seminar, speakers from Community First and Hampshire Legal Services (HLS) will discuss the legal issues that arise when our sector uses shared resources. The seminar will also provide an opportunity for delegates to ask their own questions and to find out more about the Community First statue Legal complete Charlotte Yonge with rainbow shawl.

Helpline.