eNews 21 May 2007

NICVA

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1. Top stories
2. Office Giveaways
3. Pick of the Websites
4. Make Your Move - new jobs this week on communityni.org
5. CommunityNI Diary
6. Subscribe to eNews
7. Feedback
8. Submit an Article
9. communitybuyer.org
10. Membership
11. Pick of the websites

Top stories

(1) Need help with staff management?

Don't miss out! There a still a couple of places left onManaging Staff, which takes place on 8 June 2007 from 10.00am to 4.00pm at NICVA.

Find out how to manage your staff effectively, and gain knowledge and skills in giving feedback, motivating staff, and developing training and development plans.

To book a place, contact Margaret Thompson on 028 9087 7777 or email: margaret.thompson@nicva.org.

To view the full training calendar please visit www.nicva.org/index.cfm/section/article/page/TrainingNICVA.

(2) Why take the risk?

Calling all chief executives and senior officers …

Do you want to know how to manage risk better? Then this course delivered by Marsh Ltd is for you.

The Role of Risk Management in Governance takes place on 14 June 2007 in NICVA, from 10.00am-1.00pm. By the end of the session you will appreciate the role of risk management as part of your governance agenda. It will include defining risk, relevance of risk management, risk identification, evaluation and treatment, developing a risk register, action planning and the risk review process. Don’t risk missing out.

Contact Margaret Thompson to book a place on 028 9087 7777 or email: margaret.thompson@nicva.org.

(3) Get to know the Northern Ireland Assembly

This special seminar for voluntary and community organisations takes place at NICVA from 10.30am to 12.30pm on 8 June 2007.

The establishment of the new Assembly presents a number of exciting opportunities and challenges for voluntary and community organisations. Responsibility for the decisions that impact on the people and communities we represent now rests in the hands of locally elected and locally accountable MLAs and Ministers. An important part of making the most from the Assembly will be to understand what actually happens in Stormont.

This seminar will explain how the Assembly works and show how voluntary and community organisations can bring their issues to the attention of MLAs and Ministers.

It will look at:

• Assembly procedures including the various types of debates
• The roles of the statutory and standing committees
• How legislation is passed

The guest speaker will be Joe Reynolds, Deputy Clerk to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

To reserve a place, please contact Cathy Breslin on 028 9087 7777 or email: cathy.breslin@nicva.org.

(4) Access All Areas

North Belfast Partnership is hosting a celebration event - Access All Areas - on Wednesday 30 May 2007 at NICVA, Belfast from 9.30am to 4.00pm. This will be followed by recreational activities at Waterworks Park, Antrim Road/Cavehill Road, from 4.00pm to 7.00pm.

North Belfast Partnership has developed a number of strategic initiatives with funding from the inner North Belfast EU Urban II Community Initiative Programme. ‘Access All Areas’ is a celebration of the achievements of three of these initiatives: Community Empowerment Partnerships (CEP) Youth Challenge, North Belfast Community Transport and the CEP ICT Networking Initiative.

The programme for the day includes an information seminar with a special guest speaker, interactive afternoon workshops showcasing each of the CEP projects and a programme of recreational activities for young people in the evening. Lunch will be provided.

Workshops will include:

• Delivering Community Transport
• Youth Challenge
• ICT and the Benefits of Community Web

The recreational activities will include a creative music workshop, the BBC Community Bus, and a 5-aside Football Tournament.

Please contact Laura ASAP to register on tel: 028 9045 6451, email: laura.campbell@ovation-ni.com.

(5) Volunteers’ Week 2007

1 to 7 June 2007 is Volunteers' Week, a national campaign promoted and co-ordinated in Northern Ireland by the Volunteer Development Agency.

The Week is all about celebrating volunteers and their activities, recognising their contribution to society, rewarding those who already give time, and recruiting new volunteers.

Volunteers’ Week is the ideal platform for promoting the value of volunteering. You can:

• Acknowledge the work of your volunteers and demonstrate the vital impact they make
• Gain publicity for the work of your organisation
• Encourage other people to get involved in your work
• Get involved in a high profile national event
• Take some time out and have some fun

The Agency organises major events, contacts the media, co-ordinates publicity campaigns and implements new initiatives. It can offer practical assistance on making Volunteers’ Week work for your organisation.

Find out the latest news on Volunteers' Week and download activity packs from www.volunteering-ni.org/volunteersweek.asp.

(6) Housing rights for everyone

Good housing is the platform for building our communities, raising our children, our place of safety and well being, the core of our lives and those who depend on us. After years of policy failures and uncontrolled intervention in the housing market by professional and amateur investors, the housing situation has now reached a crisis.

Sir John Semple has produced 80 recommendations in his reportReview into Affordable Housing to deal with the housing crisis. The DSD Minister Margaret Ritchie MLA, has stated that affordability and the Semple report are at the top of her desk.

Does the private sector hold all the answers or should the Housing Executive and housing associations be urged to provide more social housing?

In this morning conference hosted by Shelter Northern Ireland on 20 June 2007 at Farset International, Belfast, delegates will hear aspects of the housing crisis expounded, how Semple’s intentions might impact on the crisis and practical examples of what has worked in other places.

Please contact Donna Booker or Tony McQuillan on 028 9024 7752 or email: shelterni@btconnect.com for more information.

Alternatively, visit CommunityNI to download a conference booking form.

(7) CRC strategy out for consultation

The Community Relations Council has supported practical initiatives underpinning progress towards a society whose principles are fairness and justice (Equity), the peaceful celebration of variety and difference (Diversity) and the importance of sharing, trust and inclusion (Interdependence).

It has just put out a draft Strategic Plan 2007-10 for consultation. The draft has identified six strategic objectives for 2007-2010 as follows:

• In the context of A Shared Future, position the Community Relations Council as the regional body for community relations
• Challenge and support all sections of our society to work together with each other to promote sustained trust and interdependence
• Communicate a vision of a shared society
• Extend the work of the Community Relations Council to reflect the developing cultural diversity of our community
• Ensure that the legacy of violence and conflict is actively addressed, underpinning movement towards a peaceful future for all
• Maintain an organisation that is fit for purpose delivering services that are effective, efficient and in line with best practice.

Your comments on the draft plan are welcome and submissions are invited by 15 June 2007. You may view the plan in full at www.nicrc.org.uk/

(8) Ulster People’s College summer programme

The Ulster People’s College is running a number of short two-day courses between now and August including:

• Introduction to Community Development
• Developing Community Relations Work
• Community Publicity Skills

There is also a Summer Essential Skills (literacy) course available for anyone who wants to improve their literacy skills in order to help their school-age children or for those who want to gain a qualification and improve their job prospects.

These courses can be delivered at the Ulster People’s College or at local venues. For further information and/or to arrange for a UPC tutor to discuss the courses with you, contact Tracey Loughens on 028 9033 0131 or email:tloughens@upclearn.org.

(9) Rights and Righteousness: Religious Pluralism and Human Rights

This conference organised by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish School of Ecumenics takes place in Belfast on 1 and 2 November 2007. The conference aims to stimulate productive and new discussions about the relationship between faith and rights and will be of interest to educators, clergy, academics, students and human rights practitioners.

The conference will ask:

• Do the same rights exist everywhere?
• What role do cultural and religious traditions have in the articulation of rights?
• Are human rights necessarily secular as some advocates would argue?
• By what means should we hope to achieve consensus when we differ?
• Can we agree on practical outcomes even if we don’t share an underlying philosophical basis?

Call for short papers

There is a call for short papers to present at the conference and the closing date for receipt is 15 June 2007.

Contact Louise Furber at NIHRC on 028 9024 3987, textphone: 028 9024 9066.

Information is also available fromwww.tcd.ie/ise/events andwww.nihrc.org.

(10) Inscape networking event

The Community Development and Health Network is hosting an ‘Inscape’ networking event in Enniskillen on 14 June 2007. The event is an opportunity to network with people from across the voluntary, community and statutory sectors who work in the field of community development and health. Participants can exhibit their work, find out about other local and regional projects and build links and partnerships with fellow participants.

A number of workshops will be available including:

• The Social Model of Health
• Latest RPA Developments
• Project Evaluation
• Community Development and Health work: an example of best practice
• Local Commissioning Groups
• Health Impact Assessments

In order to book a place, organise a stand to exhibit your work, or for more information, please contact Joanne at Community Development and Health Network on tel: 028 3026 4606, email:joannesweeney@cdhn.org or visitwww.cdhn.org/inscape.

(11) Setting the standard for work with parents

New National Occupational Standards for work with parents have been developed following widespread national consultation across the UK, and a period of piloting towards the end of 2004 and early 2005. In partnership with Parenting UK and Lifelong Learning UK, the Parenting Forum NI will be supporting local groups to implement new standards, as well as encouraging the uptake of accredited training by individual practitioners.

The training, which is accredited by City and Guilds at level 2 and level 3, is targeted at all paid or unpaid staff who are engaged in work with parents in any capacity. Unlike NVQs, the training is based on a credit system for each individual unit, enabling learners to either complete single units, to meet their own specific continuous professional development needs, or to complete full qualifications at either level 2 or level 3 depending on their role within the organisation. Therefore personal development programmes can be drawn up which can address all learner needs, from experienced staff with existing professional qualifications to new staff, who may need to complete a full qualification to achieve competence in their work with parents.

A number of seminars have been arranged to promote greater awareness of the standards, explore how organisations can implement them, give guidance on accessing free accredited training, leading to the achievement of new qualifications.

100 training places are available at colleges across Northern Ireland.

Dates and venues for seminars are:

Belfast - NI Commissioner for Children and Young People - 4 June 2007

Omagh - The Station Centre - 7 June 2007

Newry - Ballybot House - 15 June 2007

Contact Emma Campbell for details and to register on 028 9031 0891 or email:emma@pachelp.org.

(12) Join the street kids at Belfast City Carnival

Moleque de Rua, an exciting band that mixes traditional guitar, bass and keyboards with an intriguing array of percussion instruments based on recycled urban waste fusing traditional Brazilian rhythms with rap, rock, funk and blues, are back for this year’s Belfast Carnival from 9 to 23 June 2007.

The Beat is offering your community group an opportunity to work with the band, whose name means ‘street kid’.

If your group would like to participate in the Carnival, either through a music workshop with Moleque de Rua or a visual arts workshop to prepare props/headdresses, please contact Eileen on tel: 028 9046 0863 or email: eileen@belfastcarnival.org.

(13) Opportunity to tender

The Corrymeela Community is seeking applications from researchers/consultants to carry out an evaluation on the Youth in Community Reconciliation (YiCR) project. Up to £3,000 is available to the winning tender. Bids will be judged on value for money, use of appropriate methodologies and the experience of consultants. This work will be completed and a report made by 30 June 2008.

The closing date for making a tender is 16 June 2007.

For a copy of the Terms of Reference and any further information, contact Tara McHugh, Youth in Community Reconciliation Project Co-ordinator, on 028 9050 8082 or email: taramchugh@corrymeela.org.

Office Giveaways

Got some furniture or equipment to donate (or going cheap) to a voluntary or community group? Use this space to let people know what you’ve got.

Pick of the Websites

This week at the Assembly

An overview of upcoming business at the Assembly from 21 May 2007 to 25 May 2007

Support for Third Sector excellence

The new Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie, has given her support to leaders from the voluntary and community sector in their quest for business excellence

Focus on: Hands That Talk

A new members feature on the NICVA site

Make Your Move – new jobs this week on communityni.org

This section contains a random selection of the latest jobs from the CommunityNI website.

• Support Worker at SL-eight Project, Omagh
• Northern Ireland Director at Belfast Common Purpose
• Employment Officer at AMH New Horizons
• Network Coordinator at FOCUS

Submit your job - eNews does not carry full job advertisements, but if you would like your job to be one of the featured links, please submit your advertisement to the CommunityNI website using this link.

As the featured link slot is in great demand, to keep things fair, we can only make a random selection of three or four new jobs each week, and cannot guarantee that your job will be selected.

CommunityNI Diary

NICVA’s successful Community Diary now has a new home on the CommunityNI web portal. Submit details of your upcoming events in CommunityNI’s Events Calendar at www.communityni.org/index.cfm/section/events.

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

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communitybuyer.org

Are you a voluntary and community group looking for a product or service tailored to your needs? Maybe you are a supplier that could offer discounts to voluntary and community groups?

Check out www.communitybuyer.org - a listings service with a difference. It’s not just any old listings service but a genuine tool to help you find what you need.

Read reviews of suppliers and write one of your own. Get advice and support and find listings of suppliers that can do a real deal for the sector. Remember: ‘Need a supplier, try community buyer’.

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.orgor visit our member section.

The opinions, views or comments in this email do not necessarily reflect any views or policies of NICVA. In making information available from other organisations NICVA is not endorsing, privileging or guaranteeing its accuracy but acting as an information conduit in good faith.