nicvanews February 2011

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This month’s round up

This month sees the sector focus and prepare further for the impact that may result from the final Budget allocations by Government departments in Northern Ireland.

In January, the NI Executive announced an extension to the Budget consultation deadline and the period now closes on 16 February. We hope the consultation meetings that NICVA has arranged with each Department will be useful in helping to formulate your responses, and we’ve included a list of the remaining meetings. NICVA is also committed to dedicating researchers to the next stage – monitoring the effects of the cuts.

NICVA is conscious of the need to seek out smart solutions for the sector in these tough economic times. One possible solution, which merits further exploration, is in more collaborative working. NICVA is launching a new partnership, with CO3 and Stellar Leadership, to deliver a partnerships, collaboration and mergers support programme to the sector and we’ve included more information in this issue, along with an expression of interest form.

When economies need to be made, it is often tempting to make them in the area of training, but successful organisations invest in the skills and leadership of their staff. NICVA’s new training calendar is included with this mailout and has been developed in response to the needs identified by our members and the wider sector, as well as NICVA’s observations on our current working environment.

We’ve also included our new Vital Links training calendar. These free events hope to help voluntary and community sector organisations understand how the institutions of government work and learn how to lobby successfully for change.

Finally, we include our usual list of funding deadlines and a look at other events, consultations and publications. Armed with all this knowledge and training, we hope your 2011 will be a good year.