Voluntary Action Newsletter – 17 March 2022
17 March 2022
Beat the street
23 March – 4 May 2021
Grab your trainers: the streets of Islington are about to turn into a real life interactive game.
From March 23 to 4 May, schools, communities and families are invited to take the Beat the Street challenge, which rewards people for ditching the car and walking, cycling or rolling around the borough. The game is free to take part in and open to everyone. Teams that clock up the highest number of active travel miles are in for a chance to win book or sports equipment vouchers. People pick up a free card and then, once the game is underway, use them to store points on special sensors called ‘beat boxes’ which are appearing on lampposts across the borough. Find out more and join at www.beatthestreet.me/islington
Train the Chair by Talk for Health
Friday 25 March 2022 – 10am-4pm – online
This one day training with Nicky Forsythe is designed to give you the Talk for Health model and style of peer group facilitation. This empowers members of the community to a join the Talk for Health Cafe and Chair & Share Group Facilitation Team and/or start your own self generated group with known contacts.
This is an essential training if you are interested to develop into the role of Volunteer Chair & Share Facilitator. For details about the workshop view here.
4in10’s BIG Coffee Morning – Children England
Wednesday 20 April 2022 – 10am-12.30pm
On the theme of face-to-face opportunities, the 4in10 London Child Poverty Network is holding a large event in its coffee mornings series IN PERSON on the 20 April at Toynbee Hall. If you’re a 4in10 network member, or thinking of becoming one, they invite you to join them from 10am till 12.30pm for free tea, coffee and biscuits and a platform to frame the issues that matter to you – and an opportunity for you to gain support from your VCS peers.
• You will be able to help us shape the future of the 4in10 Network.
• Get involved in London Challenge Poverty Week opportunities!
• Learn about the direct and indirect support 4in10 can offer you and your organisation in 2022! More info here.
The Power of Networks – Local Village Network and the City & Islington College
Friday 6 May 2022 – 17:00 – 21:00
Let’s get together
Local Village Network and the City and Islington College Presents: The Power of Networks community event.
Celebrate the young people of our community, the volunteers that give their Power of an Hour, and the businesses and organisations that support the mission.
A night of entertainment and networking at the Islington Business Design Centre and a chance for you to show your support for youth within your community. For more details
The Impact Hub King’s Cross – applications are open for The Circular Start Up.
This opportunity, free for your community to develop business skills and start their own environmental businesses. The application’s deadline is the 27th of March. Participants with low-moderate income, without university degrees, underemployed or unemployed and from ethnic minorities will be prioritised. Visit website or contact: angelica.santodomingo@impacthub.net.
A new Charities Act became law on 24 February 2022
The Charities Act 2022 has just been passed and makes some technical changes to charity law. These changes won’t have a big impact on most charities day-to-day, but are intended to simplify the regulation of charities and make it easier for charities to do things like amend their governing document, spend permanent endowment and sell property. The Act will be implemented over the next year and a half. Russell Cooke Solicitors will be updating on when the most important provisions come into force, and will also be sharing more detailed guides on the changes that are most relevant to you. Read more here.
FSI and NCVO partnership becomes new home of Small Charities Coalition Helpdesk
Today the Small Charities Coalition (SCC) announced that the FSI (the Foundation for Social Improvement) and NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) have come together to secure the SCC Helpdesk and other key services to ensure small charities can still access vital help and support following the winding down of the small charity membership body from 31 March 2022. Link to the full statement
https://www.thefsi.org/single-post/press-release-fsi-and-ncvo-partnership-becomes-new-home-of-small-charities-coalition-helpdesk
Free Covid-19 tests end on 1 April 2022
From 1 April, the Government will end free lateral flow tests (LFTs), except for the over-75s and over-12s with weakened immune systems, social care workers and NHS staff. Everyone else will have to buy a test from pharmacists or other retailers. The current guidance on voluntary COVID-status certification in domestic settings no longer recommend that certain venues use the NHS COVID Pass. Further details of all of the ‘at risk’ groups that can still get free tests will be announced later in March 2022.
Islington Council wins the GG2 award in the Local Government category.
The GG2 Diversity Hub are the UK’s premier awards for inclusion, diversity and leadership. Islington council’s ‘Challenging Inequality Programme’ was recognised for its wide-reaching and long-term ambition to tackle inequality, injustice, and discrimination through promoting inclusion. The award was announced at the event on Tuesday 8 March 2022.
Ukraine Crisis – Organisations in Islington
Ukrainian Information Service – London
The Ukrainian Information Service is an information bureau established in London. UIS London liaises with government officials, think tank organisations, the mass media and charities working to raise the profile of Ukraine in the UK.
Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants offers English lessons and a Support Service to help people overcome practical difficulties and activities including art and writing, gym, yoga and much more.
Islington Refugee and Migrant Forum works in partnership with other voluntary sector organisations and services by sharing resources, improving access and building capacity.
Migrant Law Project provides free legal advice and support to organisations working with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Point of contact for practitioners, NGOs, groups and activists working with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to share information about current issues of concern.
HealthProm provides support to migrant women from Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia living in Islington, Camden and across London. This support includes free English classes, mental health support groups, employment support and provision of advice on information on local services, health, education and immigration. Our staff and volunteers speak both Ukrainian and Russian, as well as some other regional languages.
Let’s Talk Islington survey
Islington Council is talking with and listening to everyone in our borough about how we can improve life for all, together – and they want to hear from you. Take the survey and have your say, before it closes on 27 March 2022.
By completing the survey, you can enter our prize draw for a chance to win Love2shop vouchers which can be used in 20,000 restaurants, shops or attractions.
Healthwatch Islington is awarded funding for a further nine years.
From 1 April 2022 Healthwatch Islington will be continuing their services for up to nine years with secured funding from Islington Council.
They have helped share information and gather experiences from residents all over the borough, improving access to mental health and well-being services, highlighting the needs of deaf patients, influencing a model for social and emotional health support for young people, and making it easier for residents to access their social workers. Visit website.
Can you spare an hour for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI)
The RNLI Mayday collections are on Tuesday 3 May 2022. They are looking for volunteers for the London-wide series of collections in main train stations and to undertake bucket and contactless collections. The money raised will help keep people safe this summer, when thousands will get into danger by the water around the coast and in the Thames. Choose where you can volunteer and more info here.
Debt Free London – Bus and Helpline
The bus has been stopping at locations throughout London in March with professional advice on board to discuss any debt worries. There is one last stop in Islington on: Thursday, 31 March – Hold – The Living Centre Behind British Library / St. Pancras Station from 10am – 4pm. However the 24-hour helpline will run until 22 May 2022 – 0800 808 5700
Mayor of London – Metropolitan Police – Community Outreach Funding 2022/23
The creation of a Community Outreach Fund is looking to support community led groups, charities and external partners, with a particular focus on those from the black community; by offering the opportunity to bid for grant funding in the development of initiatives.This will directly support the MPS in attracting more females and people from underrepresented groups, with a specific focus upon the black community, where confidence in policing is low. They are providing seminars throughout March and April 2022. For Fund prospectus and application form and more details here.
Apply for funding to create a green space in your local area!
Islington Council are looking for ideas to help improve unused spaces in the borough. Residents, businesses and community groups are invited to apply for council funding to bring their green ideas to life. Islington Greener Together is all about helping local people turn unloved grey space into welcoming green space. From on-street planters and food-growing areas to community orchards, we welcome all ideas. You don’t need to be an expert gardener to apply, we will support you to maintain the green space and keep your plants growing. Applications close 29 April 2022. Find out more: www.islington.gov.uk/IslingtonGreenerTogether
forum+ is celebrating its 20th Birthday this year!
Founded as Camden LGBT Forum in 2002 and rebranded to forum+ in 2019, they are celebrating 20 years of supporting the local LGBTQ+ communities across Camden and Islington. Throughout the year they will be sharing memories on social media and joining together for special celebration events and activities to mark their milestone 20th Birthday. Visit website.
NFP Workshops – Bid Writing
Monday 21 March 2022
Monday 4 April 2022
Monday 25 April 2022
Workshops are held online via Zoom 10.00 to 12.30 Each workshop costs £95.00. This workshop will explore and offer advice on common rejections of applications and will guide you through making a successful application. Click on date for info and to book.
Action for Race Equity (formally BTEG) – Business Support Masterclass
Wednesday 23 March 2022 – 10am – 11.30am
Tuesday 29 March 2022 – 2 – 3.30pm
The Enterprise Support Programme is helping Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic-led businesses across Islington to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
This free masterclass will take you through: Understanding the importance of good finance; How to build your annual budget and forecast for sustainability For more information on the programme, please visit our website at www.actionforraceequality.org.uk or email tara@actionforraceequality.org.uk. Book through Eventbrite here
Five Key Building Blocks for Managing Organisational Change
Thursday 31 March – 10:00 – 11:00
Part of the City Bridge Trust – Bridge Programme support collection. This workshop will provide advice for those wishing to drive change through an organisation.
About this event Is your team or your organisation ready for change? Are you ready for the changes you may need to make to adapt your services and continue to deliver great outcomes (or even better ones) for your beneficiaries? We will present a simple model to help you reflect on some of the key questions you need to address when planning a change within your project, team or within the organisation as a whole. More info & book here.
Women and Gambling Related Harms – Free Staff Training
GamCare is the leading national provider of free information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling related harm. They have a range of free training available for staff and volunteers to raise their awareness of gambling and give them the skills and knowledge they need to best support the people they work with. It’s a two hour interactive workshop. For more info see flyer here.
Interactive Trustee eLearning Courses
NCVO, in partnership with the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI), have created an accessible, interactive trustee eLearning course. This interactive, flexible course lets you study in your own time and at a pace that can fit around your schedule and priorities. Trustees play an important role in making sure charities are well managed and can achieve their aims. Understanding your duties as a trustee will help you run your charity effectively, keep to the law and make a bigger difference. More info & book here
Locality London surgery sessions for community organisations
As part of their City Bridge Trust funded London Spotlight programme, Locality are offering free bite sized ‘surgery’ sessions with their consultancy team.
You can gain valuable insights into topics including: Funding, Local Data, Social Impact and Organisational Health.
For more details and to book your Spotlight session please click here or contact liba.ravindran@locality.org.uk
Make a difference to the lives of other parents in Islington – The Parent House Mentoring Project
Tuesday 3 May – 12 July 2022. Course held every Tuesday 9.30am – 12.30pm
To get involved you will need to attend 10 weeks of training at Level 1, commit to a work placement opportunity and be open to learning new skills. Once you are a Mentor you will gain qualifications at Level 1 & 2 in Peer Mentoring, make a contribution to your local community and explore routes to employment. More info and to book
Human Trafficking Foundation – Lived Experience-Led Training
Free online modern slavery training for London-based councils, police, NHS and community groups.
The Human Trafficking Foundation has been working with an inspiring group of survivors, and parents of survivors, to develop unique modern slavery training for professionals in London. The training has been designed by the trainers with lived experience in order to include the topics they think are most important for professionals to know. The purpose of this training is to embed lived experiences into learning to help improve understanding, attitudes and services available. The training will be held in small groups. For more info and to book a date here.
In addition to this, SPACE – an organisation working to improve the response to Countylines exploited children and highlight lived experiences of victims (through their families), is delivering Modern Slavery training with specific insight into this type of (child) criminal exploitation. For more info and to book a date here.
These training sessions are available throughout March 2022 and are open to police, local authority, NHS and community groups in London. Please help spread the word. If you are unsure if you should attend, please contact robyn@humantraffickingfoundation.org
A B Charitable Trust
Grants: £10,000 – £20,000
Status: Charities
Priority Groups: Refugees and asylum seekers, prisoners and penal reform and human rights
Objectives: Work with vulnerable, marginalised and excluded people in society,
Deadlines: 30 April 2022 – Decisions in July 2022
Visit Website
Allen Lane
Grants: Up to £15,000 (average £5,000) Grants for up to 3 years
Status: Organisations with a turnover less than £250k
Priority Groups: LGBT, asylum seekers & refugees, offenders and ex-offenders, gypsies and travellers’, people with mental health problems, or experiencing domestic abuse or violence
Objectives: Beneficiary groups that will make a lasting impact
Deadlines: On going – End of March 22 for June 22 meeting
Visit website
The Architectural Heritage Fund Project Viability Grant
Grants: up to £15,000
Status: Charities or social enterprises
Priority Groups: Projects involving the acquisition and conversion of an historic building
Objectives: To work out whether a proposed use for a building will be economically viable. The grant will contribute towards the cost of exploring different options for reuse or testing a single option
Deadlines: Applications can be submitted at any time and you will normally get a decision in 6 to 8 weeks.
Visit website
Austin and Hope Pilkington
Grants: £5000
Status: Charities – Operating costs: Minimum £2m
Priority Groups: The Arts: Young and BAME people in the early stages of their career
Objectives: We are prioritising projects supporting performers and creative.
Deadlines: 1–30 April (Round 2)
Visit Website
Charles Hayward Foundation
Grants: Small grants up to £7,000. Main grants 1-3 years, £20,000 to £50,000 per annum.
Status: Charities: Small grants less than £350K income per year. Main grants with an income of more than £350K per annum.
Priority Groups: Small grants: Social & Criminal Justice and Older People. Main grants Social & Criminal Justice and Heritage & Conservations.
Objectives: They predominantly fund capital costs, and occasionally project funding be offered for start-up or development activities.
Deadlines: small grants funding is ongoing. 2022 deadlines for the submission of applications for Stage 1: 6 May 2022, 12 August 2022, 4 November 2022
Visit Website
The Fore Fund
Grants: up to £15,000, which can be spread over up to 3 years
Status: Any registered charity, CIC, CIO or Community Benefit Society with turnover of under £500,000 in the last financial year is eligible to apply
Priority Groups: Marginalised groups
Objectives: Fund small organisations working with marginalised groups and led by people in the community that may have found it hard to access trust and foundation funding in the past
Deadlines: Registration: Tuesday 19th April 10am, Application Deadline for Registered Organisations: Monday 9th May 5pm, Funding Decisions Announced: July 2022
Visit website
The Fat Beehive Foundation
Grants: £2,500
Status: Charities under £1m
Priority Groups: Environmental protection or climate change mitigation
Human rights, Equality and Diversity, Social justice / Refugees / Housing, Education, Art & culture, Health and wellbeing, Prisoner rehabilitation
Objectives: Grants for websites and digital products
Deadlines: Trustees’ meetings are I April, July, October, and January.
Visit website
Foyle Foundation
Grants: one-year grants of between £1,000 and £10,000
Status: charities with an annual turnover of less than £150,000 per annum
Priority Groups: Currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community either directly or through online support if possible
Objectives: Cover core costs or essential equipment, to enable ongoing service provision, homeworking, or delivery of online digital services to charities that can show financial stability.
Visit website
John Lyon’s Charity – School Holiday Activity Fund
Grants: Up to £5,000 You may apply to the School Holiday Activity Fund once a year for a maximum of three consecutive years.
Status: Charities
Priority Groups: For children and young people during the school holidays
Objectives: Deliver fun and accessible activities for children and young people during the school holidays
Deadlines: Applications to the School Holiday Activity Fund can be submitted at any time, but must be received by the Grants Office by the following deadlines: Easter – 4 weeks before Easter Monday; May half-term – 25 April; Summer holiday – 1 June; October half-term – 21 September; Christmas holiday – 16 November;
View website
https://staging.jlc.london/grants/our-grant-funds/school-holiday-activity-fund/
The Percy Bilton Charity
Grants: Large grants: one off payments for capital expenditure of approximately £2,000 and over i.e. furniture and equipment; building/refurbishment projects. Please note that they do not fund running costs. Small grants – Donations of up to £500 towards furnishings and equipment for small projects. This programme is more suitable for smaller organisations.
Status: Organisations and individuals
Priority Groups: Disadvantaged/underprivileged young people (persons under 25) People with disabilities (physical or learning disabilities or mental health problems) Older people (aged over 60)
Objectives: Social workers may apply on the behalf of individuals who have a disability or mental health problem, or who are over 65, for grants to purchase basic furniture, equipment and clothing.
Deadlines: Applications may be submitted at any time and will be considered at the next appropriate Board meeting. Applications for Small Grants are considered monthly.
Visit website
Thomas Wall Trust
Grants: of up to £5,000
Status: Charities with an annual turnover between £10K and £500K
Priority Groups: Disadvantaged people (aged 18 and over)
Objectives: Support a project or running costs for a charity that equips with the communication skills ready for employment.
Deadline: 2 May 2022
Visit Website
Yapp Charitable Trust
Grants: Maximum of £3,000 per year for up to three years
Status: Charities with annual expenditure of less than £40,000
Priority Groups: Elderly people Children and young people aged 5 – 25 People
Objectives: People with physical impairments, learning difficulties or mental health challenges Social welfare – people trying to overcome life-limiting problems of a social, rather than medical, origin (such as addiction, relationship difficulties, abuse, offending) Education and learning (with a particular interest in people who are educationally disadvantaged, whether adults or children)
Deadlines: Applications are accepted at any time.
Visit website
The Islington Funding Toolkit enables organisations to easily search a database of current and upcoming funding programmes.
The updated VAI Funding booklet is out now. The booklet is divided up into eight different sections, this will make searching easier as you will now be able go directly to the sections that you are interested in. Check out our latest: Funding Booklet (doc) / Funding Booklet (pdf)
Grant Givers Movement – Ethics in Philanthropy
This report captures the perceptions of 166 individuals working in the grant giving sector (predominantly in the UK), in a wide range of roles and seniority. The report interrogates the details of ethical philanthropy and grant making. It seeks to explore two overarching questions: firstly, to question the ethics of philanthropy itself, linked to the origins of wealth. Secondly, it seeks to explore how ethics play out in our grant making practice, and how grant makers can shift their practice to be more equitable, and to respond to the calls for much needed reform. Read the report here.
Sustain – Good Food for all Londoners: Tracking council action on food
Sustain has published their annual ‘Beyond the Foodbank and Good Food for London’ league tables and series of good food maps. (link to find out how Islington ranks with other boroughs). They shine a light on each council’s approach to food partnerships, household food insecurity and the wider food economy. Read report here.
