Skipton Building Society have two grants for local  groups, one for charities and one for non-charities.  See web pages for appropriate forms.

Non charities – www.skipton.co.uk/about_us/communityContributionAward.aspx

Charities – www.skiptoncharitablefoundation.co.uk/

One of our local groups has let us know about the Nisa-Today’s and Costcutter Supermarket grant scheme, Making a Difference – Locally.

Over 2,000 Nisa-Today and Costcutter supermarkets which display the Making A Difference – Locally logo each has an amount to distribute to local charities and good causes. If you are interested in letting your local store know about your group, ask inside your local store (check first that it is displaying the Making a Difference – Locally signage). The Making a Difference – Locally website states that:

“The retailer has the freedom to donate to any charity or good cause in their local area, whether it be donating money to a national charity or a small sports club which is in need of new equipment, it is entirely up to the retailer…Suggestions are always welcome. If you speak with the retailer and express your ideas it is possible that they may decide to choose the charity or good cause that you want to receive a donation. You are strongly encouraged to make suggestions to your local participating retailer. This charity is designed to help the community – your community.”

Contact: Making a Difference – Locally
Telephone: 01724 282 028
Website: www.makingadifferencelocally.com/home

What is it?

The Employment Advice Service (EAS) provides free one-to-one human resources andemployment adviceto managers and trustees from the voluntary and community sector in North Yorkshire and York.

 Funded by the BIG Lottery the EAS project was set up in July 2009 in partnership with the Local Support and Development Organisations withinYorkandNorth Yorkshire. The team work closely with Selby District AVS to provide support and advice to organisations.

Who are they?

Based at the North Yorkshire and York Forum in Easingwold, the EAS team (Bob Curry, Jane Hudson, Maggie Lawton and Abby Popely) has considerable knowledge and experience of HR practice and employment law and its application in the voluntary and community sector. 

What do they do?

They understand the challenges faced by voluntary and community organisations in employing people and provide impartial advice on good HR practice and employment law to managers and trustees. 

Over 280 organisations have accessed the service since the project started and from January to May 2011 23 trustees have worked with the advisors. 

They have access to a very wide range of resources and have created many model guides, policies and procedures, together with template letters and forms on a wide range of topics such as employment contracts, equality, discipline, grievance and absence management. These are user-friendly, sector specific and can be easily adapted to suit your organisation. 

Examples of how they’ve helped local voluntary organisations include: 

• Giving specific advice on how to handle a disciplinary meeting providing bespoke letters and face to face detailed instructions to trustees to ensure they felt confident when dealing with the situation
• Reviewing an organisation’s HR policies and providing model documents on any missing relevant paperwork
• Guiding a manager through the process of managing a long term sick employee which included providing a letter to send to a GP along with advice on the type of contact to have with the employee
• Advising Trustees on how to make changes to terms and conditions e.g. reducing sick pay entitlement, changing working hours. 

What’s in it for you?

You can contact the team to discuss any specific problems or issues you might be experiencing regarding your employees and you will be provided with tailored advice to deal with this. 

They can provide support on HR and employment issues such as recruitment, employment contracts, performance management and redundancy. 

An advisor can visit your organisation and carry out an HR heath-check where a review of your current policies and procedures can be completed. This will give you peace of mind that you have everything you need in place to operate as an effective employer and to help avoid any costly employment tribunal claims. 

The EAS provides low cost, high quality training courses, workshops and conferences across North Yorkshire and York. If you have a specific training need, they will try to meet it. 

How can I contact them?

They can be contacted on 01347 825710 from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday or by email to employment.advice@nyyforum.org.uk. All telephone calls and emails are kept strictly confidential. 

Go to http://www.nyyforum.org.uk/index.php/employment-advice.html for further information

TAI CHI

Gentle exercise for the other fifties.

At Community Centre, Scott Road, Selby – every Monday at 4.30 pm (except Bank Holidays) £3 per session which is 1 hour

Contact: 01757 705777 or just come along on the day

JustGiving and Vodafone have launched a service to allow fundraisers and charities to receive donations by text message without incurring set up or network charges.

There is a new ‘Health and safety made simple’ section to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) website – you can also download and print off the guidance.  Visit www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/ where you will find the necessary basics and links for more resources and key issues.

In addition to this the HSE has created a new web-section for voluntary organisations managing low risk activities, go to www.hse.gov.uk/voluntary/.

There is also a specific checklist for managers of a village or community hall, at www.hse.gov.uk/voluntary/village-halls

The 02 It’s Your Community awards support projects that bring people together and benefit local communities.  The awards will fund sustainable projects that help local communities and are small enough to benefit substantially from a £1,000 award.  www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk

THE NORTH YORKSHIRE REWARD GRANT FUND

The Fund was created in recognition of the contribution of local voluntary and community organisations to the performance achieved by partners as part of the Local Area Agreement 2007/10 under the auspices of the North Yorkshire Strategic Partnership. 

The grant scheme is funded from the Local Area Agreement Performance Reward Grant received by the Council from Central Government.  The Fund is available to provide small grants to voluntary and community organisations in the North Yorkshire area. 

Applications will only be accepted from voluntary organisations, community groups and small charities based in, and serving the communities of North Yorkshire and with an income of less than £50,000. 

Grants are available up to a maximum of £5000 for projects which help communities to meet priorities that are within the North Yorkshire sustainable community strategy at the time that the grant is made.

For details of the North Yorkshire sustainable community strategy.

In part B of the application process you will be asked to demonstrate how your application meets these priorities.

We have a very straightforward online application process however if for any reason you are unable to apply in this way an application pack can be requested from the office.

Please ensure you have read the guidance notes and then to apply online

The website is : www.tworidingscommunityfoundation.org.uk

Selby AVS recently conducted a survey of local community centres and village halls, and the activities taking place there.  The information has been collated onto a spreadsheet, and is attached.

Many thanks to the organisations who took the time to fill out the information and return it to us.

Hope it’s useful to everyone.ACTIVITIES SURVEY ANALYSIS DEC 2010