NEXUS 2018- October

NEWS FROM THE HAMPSHIRE CVS NETWORK 

Action Hampshire

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I S S U E

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Basingstoke Voluntary Action

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Communities First Wessex

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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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Unity

RASAC gets OPCC funding—p2 Community First Roadshow in Fareham—p2 RVS supports good mental health—p2 Making every contact count in Gosport—p3 Fabulous Volunteering Festival Gosport— p3 Strong ParentsStrong Children Test Valley—p3 Unity Open Day— p4 Old & young enjoy Bournemouth Air Show—p4

Queen’s Award Presented to One Community The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, presented the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to One Community at a reception held at Eastleigh Museum on Monday 17 September.

The award, which was announced in June this year, is one of only 38 made to Hampshire charities since its inception in 2002, to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. It is the highest award a voluntary organisation can receive.

Among the dignitaries and special guests in attendance at the presentation were Deputy Lieutenant Joan Ferrer JP; Deputy Lieutenant The Hon Mrs Lovell JP; the Mayor of Eastleigh, Cllr Bruce Tennent, The Mayor of Fareham, Cllr Susan Bayford; Cllr Charles Choudhary, Vice Chairman of Hampshire County Council; and Paul Sapwell, Chief Operating Officer of Hampshire Cultural Trust; along with trustees, senior managers and representatives from among One Community’s 170 volunteers.

The Lord Lieutenant was fulsome in his commendation of One Community, for the quality of its governance and the difference it makes to the people of Eastleigh and Fareham.

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

RASAC Receives OPCC Funding for Male Group Work Across Hampshire Community First’s RASAC (Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre) has received funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (Hampshire) to provide group work and peer support groups for survivors of male rape and sexual assault in Hampshire. RASAC will work with Survivors UK in providing both adult males and younger adults with the opportunity to attend peer groups to focus on and discuss their experience of sexual abuse in a safe and secure setting, enabling them to feel more confident in themselves and to move on to 1:1 counselling with appropriately trained staff.

As well as providing closed therapeutic groups for men which will take place over a few weeks, RASAC will also develop and support post therapy peer support networks to help those who have completed therapy. Steve Witheyman, RASAC Manager, said: “These networks will do what they say on the tin and help support survivors whether through web based contact or survivor meetings across the Hampshire area.”

Community First Roadshow in Fareham The Community First Roadshow came to Fareham Shopping Centre on Monday 17 September. The event was held to spread the word about the extensive range of mobility, domiciliary and wellbeing support services that the charity continues to provide for individuals in Fareham.

Tim Houghton, CEO of Community First, was delighted to welcome the Mayor of Fareham Cllr Susan Bayford and the Mayor Consort Alderman Brian Bayford. The Mayor spent time reacquainting herself with the work of Community First in Fareham and meeting the staff.

A key part of the day was the Fareham Shopmobility SUPA (Scooter User Proficiency Award) Roadshow course which gave visitors the opportunity to try out a mobility scooter on a specially designed course.

Mrs Mildred Bagshaw (pictured left) was thrilled to be NEXUS PAGE 2

the winner of the SUPA quiz. She said she “enjoyed all the information stands at the event and learnt a lot about the law and scooter driving. It was nice to see all the people and talking to them.”

Community First’s Fareham team is committed to helping people in Fareham to be active, independent and engaged in their communities. As the event proved so popular, Community First will be showcasing their services every Monday in October in the town centre, including Shopmobility, Dial-a-Ride and Community Transport, Walking For Health, Surgery Signposting, Home Help and Gardening Services, and Volunteering.

Pictured above is the Mayor of Fareham, Cllr Susan Bayford, trying out the Shopmobility circuit

RVS Supporting Good Mental Health!

Blooming Marvellous is a gardening project managed by Rushmoor Voluntary Services (RVS).

Broadhurst Welcome Home Ltd, a local mental health charity, funds the project. People with or recovering from mental illness join the project as volunteers. The volunteers are engaged in gardening and horticultural activities under the leadership of a project manager and support worker.

Up to 28 volunteers are supported by the project. During the first six months of 2018 the project built on previous successes and won awards in both Rushmoor and South East in Bloom.

The picture shows their entry to The most unusual container competition for Rushmoor in Bloom 2018. The boat was designed, built and planted by the volunteers and now sits proudly at Aldershot Allotments.

The volunteers also help to improve

community open spaces in Farnborough and Aldershot and are involved in numerous other community activities.

Volunteers gain new skills through hands on training and this year two have returned to employment.

RVS also works in partnership with Andover Mind to deliver mental health awareness training to local groups and volunteers.

Making Every Contact Count in Gosport

On 20 September, a network event was held at St Vincent College’s Jervis Gallery, celebrating the Making Every Contact Count (MECC) journey so far in Gosport. MECC is an approach using every day interactions to support people to make positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing. Over 180 staff and volunteers have already attended MECC training sessions and are already using these skills in Gosport to help others, but the journey is far from over.

The day comprised MECC taster workshops, real examples of how these skills are used in a variety of settings, plus the chance to meet and share with others already using healthy conversation skills to support others.

Representatives from many organisations involved in the MECC network were present, including Gosport Borough Council, Gosport Voluntary Action, the Environment Centre, the Health Connectors team, The Yellow Brick Road Project, the Library Service, and many more. The day’s activities were captured in a creative display by Two Visual Thinkers.

Fabulous Volunteering Festival Gosport The Fabulous Volunteering Festival took place on 18 September at St Vincent College’s Jervis Gallery. This inclusive event was part of GVA’s

Splash! (Dive into Volunteering!) project, and provided an opportunity for individuals to find out about volunteering opportunities from 16 organisations, while representatives from the organisations were able to attend interesting workshops related to accessibility and diversity.

Presentations included ‘Supporting Inclusive Volunteering’ by Toucan Diversity, ‘Communication – keeping it simple, making it accessible’ and ‘Value Based Recruiting’ by Hampshire County Council.

Strong Parents-Strong Children International Parents’ Programme Begins Following the announcement from Unity earlier about their successful bid to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, the international Strong ParentsStrong Children parenting programme for military families has commenced. Unity is pleased to be working in partnership with the Worthy Down Army Welfare Service team on this project.

An intensive piece of work has been completed to translate the 12-week course manual from German to English. Selected individuals have taken part in the four-day training programme with the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund trainer Paula Honkanen-Schoberth. These key individuals will deliver the Strong Parents-Strong Children parents’ course to military families within the Worthy Down, Andover, Middle Wallop, Marchwood and Thorney Island areas.

Yvonne Freeman, Unity Project Manager said, “The training week has gone very well and the team are excited to move forward with the programme. We will now focus on promoting the programme to parents, and courses will begin in the New Year.”

The international programme has been implemented across Germany, is delivered in 16 NEXUS PAGE 3

other countries and translated into eight languages. It has been successfully used for over 16 years providing continuity to 160,000 parents – 240,000 children worldwide.

Unity’s Open Day It is well known that Unity, with offices at the Bus Station in Andover and former Magistrates Court, Romsey, runs services across the Borough of Test Valley but what is less well known is that a number of these services are a real lifeline to people helping them to participate in society and improving their health and wellbeing.

Recently Unity opened its doors in Andover offering people the chance to meet the staff and volunteers and to find out more about what they do. A mix of groups and individuals called in seeking information on Dial-A-Ride transport services; mobility equipment and the varied Cardea Home Support services.

The Volunteer Centre was kept busy too with a number of people signing up to become volunteers with local charitable organisations.

There was even an opportunity for people to try out a mobility scooter!

Local councillors and Andover Radio participated in the day, too, lending their support to the organisation which works hard to raise awareness and funds to maintain their diverse services and to promote the benefits of the charity sector across Test Valley.

Speaking after the event Dorothy Baverstock, Chairman of Unity, said, “The Open Day was a huge success and I was extremely pleased to see a consistent flow of people dropping by throughout the day. Thank you all for joining us.”

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Old and Young Join Forces to Enjoy the Bournemouth Air Show New Forest Young Carers enjoyed an entertaining day watching the recent Bournemouth Air Show, along with passengers from the Call & Go minibus shopping trips. Three minibuses collected 20 Young Carers aged from 7 to 14, and 12 passengers aged up to 89 years from locations all over the New Forest for a great day out. The outing was made possible thanks to a generous donations from Valerie from Totton, an ex passenger, and others.

The group spent the day at the Carlton Hotel Bournemouth, which also allowed the children to use the outdoor pool in between air displays. The hotel supplied an amazing meal and catered for special diets – nothing was too much trouble for them.

A parent of a Young Carer said: “Our daughter absolutely loved the air show today. She loved the freedom, group of people and you guys.

You may be tired … but you made a huge, positive impact on a little girl today.”

Several of the Call & Go passengers commented on how refreshing it was to share the day with the youngsters; that it gave them a new lease of life again.

Young Carers Coordinator Marie Shotbolt added: “This was a great day out for all and so nice to see the different ages mix and enjoy themselves. Here’s to more combined outings like this.”

The New Forest Young Carers Service currently works with over 200 Young Carers and their families providing support, advice and activities. Call & Go operates over 9,650 passenger trips a year.

Charlotte Yonge statue complete with rainbow shawl.