eNews 23 Aug 2005

Contents

1. Enough is Enough
2. Next Peace Funding Deadline - Measure 1.3 New Skills and Opportunities
3. £1.2 million to help Voluntary and Community Organisations make better use of ICT
4. Final call for applications to Community Futures Awards 2005
5. Grant scheme for development education
6. Complete the survey and enter the prize draw for £600 of arts materials
7. Get ready for One World Week
8. My life with seven women
9. Email skills for helpline workers
10. Training to keep you on track
11. Road rage or just driven to distraction?
12. Latest Interchange opportunity
13. Web Highlights
14. Make Your Move - new jobs this week
15. Community NI Diary
16. Membership
17. Subscribe to eNews
18. Feedback

1. Enough is Enough

Once again frustrated at the latest document to emerge from OFMDFM, voluntary and community sector organisations are working together to call for the development of an effective and robust strategy to tackle poverty in NI.

Enough is Enough is the latest voluntary and community sector campaign for an effective anti-poverty strategy. There are numerous ways in which your organisation can get involved such as, signing an open letter to Jeff Rooker, the Minister of State with responsibility for the poverty strategy, attending a demonstration at Castle Buildings or contacting your elected representatives.

Find out about Campaign Activites or email enoughisenough@nicva.org

2. Next Peace Funding Deadline - Measure 1.3 New Skills and Opportunities

PROTEUS is inviting applications from organisations interested in developing and delivering projects which will increase people's employability.

Actions supported.

1. Promoting the transition to the knowledge-based economy, particularly in key areas such as information and communications technology, software engineering and multimedia applications.
2. Responding to other skill demands stimulated by peace.
3. Improving linkages between SMEs and other providers of third-level education and training.
4. Provision of skill enhancement and training, which promotes access to employment and career development.
5. Encouragement of employment practices which allow the achievement of a balance between work and life outside of work.
6. Innovative vocational training activities at various levels to assist disadvantaged groups.
7. Education and training initiatives for both young and older people from economic and social black spots and marginalised communities.
8. Support for confidence-building actions and basic skills development.
9. Actions to improve the level of basic skills across the working population, particularly those who have been affected by the conflict and those whose existing employment is threatened.

Applications must be submitted by 5.00pm on Wednesday 21 September 2005. PROTEUS encourages applicants to submit Part B of the form as early as possible and not to wait until the closing date for submissions. Applications are welcomed from all sections of the community, and in particular, from groups which have not previously applied and those which have been underrepresented in the programme to date.

Contact PROTEUS for details on tel: 028 9037 1023.

NICVA members have received a wealth of EU funding information in this month's NICVAnews. For information and updates on funding deadlines check out the Community NI fundraising page

3. £1.2 million to help voluntary and community organisations make better use of ICT

The Home Office has awarded £1 million for an innovative proposal to bring about a change in the ICT capacity and capability of the voluntary and community sector. The net:gain service aims to train voluntary and community organisations in the strategic use of ICT through a programme of face-to-face and online support, delivered by UK online centres. The service has been developed by a consortium led by charity ruralnet|uk in collaboration with Ufi, Foyer Federation and Funding Matters.

For further information visit the net:gain website www.net-gain.org.uk or contact David Ellis, Project Manager, on 0845 1300 411.

4. Final call for applications to Community Futures Awards 2005

Orange has made a final call for entries to this year's Community Futures Awards - the mobile phone company's community grants scheme. The awards are designed to support small voluntary or registered charity projects that use communication to enable people with sensory disabilities to participate more fully in society.

Now in their third year, the awards have already given out more than £200,000 in grants to a wide range of local charity projects across the UK. The deadline for applications has now been extended to Friday 9 September 2005 and the successful groups will receive their awards at a special presentation in London in November.

Groups can apply for awards of between £2,500 and £5,000. The application form and guidance notes can be found at www.orange.co.uk/socialresponsibility, or by calling the Orange Community Futures Awards information line on 0845 070 0112. Applicants may also request a copy of the application form by emailing orangeawards@cafonline.org.

5. Grant scheme for development education

The Department for International Development's Development Awareness Mini Grant Scheme is aimed at organisations or networks with an interest in development education work . The fund is designed to support projects from one to three years that seek to raise awareness of:

• International development issues
• Our global interdependence
• The need for international development
• The progress that has been made in international development and that is possible
• The Mini Grant Scheme is open only to applicants based in Northern Ireland and is administered here by the Centre for Global Education. Successful projects will raise awareness of international development issues and generate knowledge and understanding of the Millennium Development Goals (UN targets designed to eradicate poverty).

The deadline for applications is 5.00pm on Monday 31 October 2005. Guidelines will be available from the Centre for Global Education at the end of August and also from the website www.dfid.gov.uk.

There will be two briefing seminars for organisations interested in applying to the fund on Thursday, 22 and 29 September 2005 from 10.00am to 12.00 noon the Centre for Global Education, 9 University Street, Belfast, BT7 1FY.

Contact Jackie Balmer for details on tel: 028 9024 1879 or email: jackie@cge.uk.com

6 Complete the survey and enter the prize draw for £600 of arts materials

You are invited to participate in a survey on community arts projects in Northern Ireland during the past four decades. The survey forms a key part of a major research project by Helen Sharkey, PhD researcher with Interface: Centre for Research in Arts, Technology and Design at the University of Ulster. Its findings will become part of a documentation of the history of Community Arts in Northern Ireland.

This current investigation is an attempt to recreate an accurate memory of the early arts activities that took place all over Northern Ireland from the 1970s on. To supplement the research to date Helen Sharkey would like to open up this survey to the public in order to include a comprehensive and diverse selection of perspectives from arts participants and facilitators of those times.

Anyone who has been directly involved in a community arts project in Northern Ireland between the early 1970s up to 2005 and who completes and returns the survey will automatically be included in a prize draw for £600 of arts materials.

Artists, arts workers who facilitated arts projects, and people who participated in arts projects can participate. Deadline for completion of the survey and for entering the prize draw is 30 November 2005.

Download the survey questionnaire from the Interface website or contact Helen Sharkey on tel: 079 0997 8426.

7. Get ready for One World Week

The theme of this year's One World Week (19 to 27 November 2005) is 'Youth Participation to Tackle Global Poverty'. Training is available for youth leaders and youth workers on Tuesday 20 September at Voluntary Service Bureau, Belfast.

The training will explore the theme of youth participation to tackle global poverty, discuss the One World Week campaign and identify actions that young people can take, and give a chance to try out activities from the pack produced by the National Youth Development Education Programme and identify how these could be adapted to suit particular groups. All participants will receive a copy of the pack.

Contact Jackie Balmer at the Centre for Global Education on tel: 028 9024 1879, email: jackie@cge.uk.com.

8. My life with seven women

The Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA) is hosting an early years conference on Saturday 17 September 2005 at The Radisson SAS Hotel, Belfast. The conference features special guests Graham and Janet Walton, whose six daughters were born in Liverpool on 18 November 1983 in just four minutes. Graham's hilarious talk entitled My Life with Seven Women charts the events and experiences of living with Janet and his six daughters.

Find out more from the TAMBA office on tel: 028 9023 9050, email: nioffice@tambani.org or dowload a booking form.

9. Email skills for helpline workers

The Telephone Helplines Association will be running this one day course on 25 August 2005 in Belfast. A few places are still available.

The course is aimed at anyone who works for a non-profit organisation and answers queries from members of the public via email. The course looks at the good practice issues, boundaries, confidentiality and blocks to communication when using email.

For more information, visit the Helplines website

To book a place, please email: training@helplines.org.uk or call 0845 120 3767.

10. Training to keep you on track

INTRAC (International NGO Training and Research Centre) is a non-profit organisation working in international development and relief. The following training is available this September:

Civil Society Strengthening - 5 to 9 September 2005, Oxford

In this course you will reflect on the challenges of monitoring and evaluation of civil society programmes. Visit the INTRAC website

Training the Trainer - 19 to 23 September 2005, Oxford

Learn participative and creative learning techniques. The course includes training needs assessment, use of visual aids, learning to draw cartoons, using drama and role play effectively and how to use outdoor experimental learning methods. You will be training an interactive session and receiving instant feedback.

For discounts and other information contact INTRAC on tel: 01865 263 040, email: training@intrac.org.

11. Road rage or just driven to distraction?

Are you concerned about road safety in your area or nationally and can spare just a few hours each month?

You may be interested in joining a local road safety group, or making yourself or your company available to assist your local road safety committee.

Contact the Road Safety Council Northern Ireland for information on tel: 028 9066 5757, email:info@roadsafetycouncil.com.

12. Latest Interchange opportunity

Belfast Regeneration Office wishes to appoint a Neighbourhood Manager to take forward the actions for improvement identified in its reports on the Sandy Row and Greater Village areas of South Belfast and to support the implementation of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy in South West Belfast.

The secondment runs from 10 October 2005 to 9 October 2007.

Find out more at the Interchange website or contact Eileen Connolly on tel: 028 9081 9324, email: eileen.connolly@dsdni.gov.uk.

13. Web Highlights

COMMUNITY NI

Enough is Enough campaign. A call to the sector to unite in opposition to OFMDFM's latest insufficient proposals for tackling poverty. We urge you to take part in one or all of the seven campaign activities to demand a better anti-poverty strategy for Northern Ireland.

SVP and the British Legion join forces in Armagh. A new cross-community partnership has been established to tackle welfare issues.

How well do you spell? Mencap challenges local school children to take part in a sponsored Spellathon to raise money for those with learning disabilities.

NICVA

NICVA email - duplicate email problem. Since Friday you may have been receiving duplicate emails from our Chief Executive. The problem arose because three of the email recipients had not added a critical software update to their computer, causing their machine to duplicate the email many times and continually resend it to all the other addresses in the 'To' field. We apologise for the distress this has caused and emphasise that it is not a virus and not because of any issue at NICVA. We have identified the organisation that has caused the problem and have now resolved the issue. If you have been affected, please read this important article.

NICVA publications. Read the latest issue of SCOPE, EuroFlash and NICVAnews in the publications section each month.

Make Your Move - new jobs this week

1. Health Development Officer at An Munia Tober
2. Development Officer at NIAPN. Salary: £20, 469
3. Residential Support Workers. £7.33 per hour

14. Community NI Diary
NICVA's successful Community Diary now has a new home on the Community NI Web Portal.

Submit details of your upcoming events in Community NI's Events Calendar.

Simply follow the Submit an Event link to the right of the page, enter the details, and we'll do the rest.

15. Membership

NICVA membership is open to all voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland.

To find out more contact Frances McAtamney on tel: 028 9087 7777, email: frances.mcatamney@nicva.org or visit the NICVA website.

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