Wired Up is a regular e-newsletter which provides information and inspiration for community development and is a joint initiative from CUFX, the Shaftesbury Society and Tearfund. It contain funding, training and resources news.
APRIL 2008
FUNDING NEWS
 Mustard Seed Grants are made by the Church Urban Fund to enable church or faith-based groups to test and try out new ideas in preparation for larger social action projects. Funding of up to £5,000 is available for a period of 12 months for specific activities but not for ongoing expenditure. A Grants Manual gives more details. For further information contact your local rep, details from this webpage. For general enquiries to the main office phone 020 7898 1647 or email.The Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards benefit organisations local to their stores. They aim to give around £600,000 each year. Awards range between £1,000 and £5,000. Applications are considered in two rounds:
| · |
Organisations supporting children's welfare and educational projects - open from 1 May to 30 June.
|
| · |
Organisations supporting elderly people and people with disabilities - open from 1 August to 31 September. |
Applications that are outside of these dates are carried over. There is a set of questions to help with the application process. Commencing the online process enables you to discover the guidelines. For more information phone 01992 646768 or email.
The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation offers grants under two separate programmes:
| · |
The Small Grant Programme (capital and revenue grants up to £10,000) offers one-off grants only to organisations with annual incomes below £300,000 p.a.
|
| · |
The Large Grant Programme (capital grants only between £10,000 and £30,000) is available to organisations of any size. |
The Foundation's priorities include health care and disability, community support and education. The website includes application guidelines, as well as PDF application forms for the small grant and large grant programmes. The Grants Officer is Judith Leigh, phone 020 7264 4990.
The Pilgrim Trust makes grants in three areas: preservation, places of worship and social welfare. (Currently social welfare accounts for 40% of grants.) Ten per cent of the annual grant budget is for applications of £5,000 or less. Grants total £1.5m annually. Application forms are considered quarterly and you can make an application at any time during the year. There are guidelines but no deadlines. For more information, email the Director, Georgina Nayler, or phone 020 7222 4723.
The Big Give is a website that enables prospective donors to search for projects they wish to support. You need to be a registered charity but it is free to register on the site.
The budget brought surprising and welcome Gift Aid news. The Chancellor announced three years of transitional relief when the basic rate of tax drops to 20% on 5 April. This means that charities can continue to claim 28 pence Gift Aid per pound donated (rather than this falling to 25 pence per pound). The extra money will be added automatically and not need to be reclaimed separately, although there will be some delay while the legislation behind the Budget goes through the parliamentary process. Stewardship has more information on its website. They also have dedicated churches and charities services, from payroll to property.
TRAINING NEWS AND EVENTS
LOVE - a four letter word is a conference being run by the Christian Child Care Forum on 29 April at King's Cross Baptist Church, London. The conference aims to explore the importance of love in a child's upbringing and how it should be expressed in an appropriate way. The cost is £25 (including lunch), unwaged £18. You can download a booking form, or for more information email or phone 020 8504 2702.
Community Transformation: dream or reality? is a residential event being run by Grooms-Shaftesbury at Hothorpe Hall, Leicestershire 5-7 November. Facilitated by Australian author and activist, Dave Andrews, the event will include a mix of teaching, reflective activities, sharing, personal time, optional workshops and fun. Cost is £175 per person for a single room, and £125 per person in a shared room. To book email Jill Clark or phone her on 020 7452 2018.
Care for the Family is running two Playtime National Conferences - 10 May in Weston-super- Mare and 7 June in Houghton-le-Spring, near Durham. The conferences cost £15, with additional tickets only £10. These conferences are for those thinking of setting up a group as well as those already involved. They are aimed at providing encouragement and support for parent and toddler group leaders and their teams. For more information phone 029 2081 0800 or email.
The Directory of Social Change is holding the annual Charity Fair on June 6 and 7 at Central Hall, Westminster. The Fair offers nearly 100 individual events (workshops £30 and masterclasses £55), in eight key streams, including Fundraising How, Volunteers, and Information and Communication. There is also a resource area . You can book online or phone 08450 77 77 07.
Volunteering England coordinates a modular training course called Excellence in Volunteer Management. The 60- hour training course has a pick-and-mix approach to enable managers of volunteers to pick from an array of online and classroom-based learning opportunities to design their own learning path. The cost is based on the type of training that you choose - classroom or distance, individual or group - and is delivered by various training providers. To find out more visit the website, phone 020 7520 8900 or email.
is a conference being run by the on 29 April at King's Cross Baptist Church, London. The conference aims to explore the importance of love in a child's upbringing and how it should be expressed in an appropriate way. The cost is £25 (including lunch), unwaged £18. You can download a , or for more information or phone 020 8504 2702.
RESOURCES NEWS
 Ekklesia is a think-tank "promoting transformative theological ideas in public life". They provide a free email service that sends the latest Christian news headlines by email every day. To sign up click here.
Church Urban Fund has launched a new resource, Just Employment, to provide faith-based voluntary organisations with free HR resources. Guidance is available by registering at CUFXchange. The site includes a main guide, frequently asked questions and example case studies as well as a library of downloadable documents such as contracts and sample policies and procedures.
Advocacy Online has published a freely downloadable e-campaigning ideas guide. This is a compilation of suggestions and case studies covering topics such as engaging supporters and maintaining the interest of online communities.
The TUC (Trades Union Congress) has made chapters from their book Hazards at Work (ISBN: 978 1 85006 806 8 RRP: £45.00) freely available online. From fire safety to drugs and alcohol, manual handling to stress, these are useful guides for ensuring that your workplace is safe and that you comply with Health and Safety legislation. They can be accessed directly through the main index.
|
