nicvanews September 2010

This month’s round up

As the summer draws to a close, news of impending budget cuts has rightly caused concern in our sector, but we believe that voluntary and community organisations offer a smart solution to the tough economic decisions that lie ahead. Our Smart Solutions in Tough Times the sector to help ensure that voluntary and community organisations are not seen as an easy target for cuts that government departments may have to make. We are gathering evidence, holding roundtable meetings with government departments and one to one briefings with Ministers, MLAs and key officials, and briefing Assembly committees to encourage government departments to treat the sector fairly and guard against the unintended consequences of any decisions made. See page 1 for details.

This month sees recruitment for the third and final year of the Community Leadership Programme, which aims to build the leadership capacity in grassroots community organisations. If you’ve been thinking about joining the programme but haven’t taken the plunge, this is your last opportunity. See pages 2 and 3.

In today’s tough economic climate, it is more important than ever that any funding opportunities are taken advantage of, and that organisations give themselves the best chance possible by making good funding applications. The next NICVA Members’ session on 1 October will help you improve your fundraising success - see the enclosed brochure for details.

As ever nicvanews brings you a raft of training and funding opportunities and a featured member profile of Housing Rights Service. If you’d like to be featured in a future edition, please contact the editor - see below for details.

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