The Government is introducing a temporary new right to statutory unpaid Emergency Volunteering Leave via legislation currently going through Parliament. This does not apply to workers in firms with less than 10 staff.
The Coronavirus Bill, which will be presented for its second reading on Monday, makes provision for workers to take up to four weeks unpaid leave with expenses covered by government.
Many organisations are already asking how they can help during the Coronavirus outbreak. WLB are working with our partners in the public and non-profit sectors to assist with signposting members of the business community to where you can offer support.
Read our briefing note on where you can direct your support in our seven boroughs of: Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon and Hounslow.
Read our Community Action Briefing Note
From Brompton Bike Hire to Frame, here are a few inspirational actions that the West London Business team has spotted from companies in response to Coronavirus. We hope these provide creative and timely inspiration as you reflect on how your firm can adapt your talents and capabilities to support those in need of support.
We think funders should take a supportive and pragmatic approach to helping the organisations they fund throughout this period.
Sourced from NCVO by Nigel Jacques, Sobus Organisational Development Officer
After a week of high-level discussions between charity leaders and national government, it’s sadly all too clear that amidst the COVID19 crisis our political leaders are not taking the threat to the charity sector and its millions of beneficiaries seriously enough.
We must now mobilise every voice so that the message gets through loud and clear to all politicians, the press, and the public. If you’re feeling frustrated, scared, or just wondering what to do, don’t worry, you’re not alone! You can make a difference by putting that energy into action!
Many charity infrastructure bodies have now put out guidance and assistance.
Sobus has received feedback from several organisations on service delivery and their concerns in the present COVID 19 crisis.
Many organisations are having to scale down services for a variety of reasons whilst others are facing increasing demand.
Most organisations will also face financial pressures during this period. Funding is obviously critical and funders are beginning to respond to this situation.
The GLA and City Bridge have created an emergency fund for community and voluntary sector organisations. “The emergency scheme will be coordinated by London Funders and will be available to organisations facing immediate financial pressures and uncertainty because of the coronavirus. These include increasing demands for services, higher staff absences, fewer volunteers and lower donations.” More details will be available next week on the London Funders website: https://londonfunders.org.uk/
Sobus is also in contact with local funders and appraising them of the situation and will keep update local organisations on developments.
There is also guidance for the Charity Sector from the government during the COVID crisis: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector
Sobus would like local organisations where possible to forward any updates on services, or initiatives in addressing needs in the current situation.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has published information and guidance about coronavirus intended to help community and voluntary organisations and volunteers to decide next steps they may need to take in light of the spread of the covid-19 virus. Their page is updated daily with the latest government advice and what this means for voluntary organisations, as well as signposting to useful information from other organisations.
Grants of between £500 and £10,000 are now available to charities, CIC’s, CIO’s and voluntary organisations working for the benefit of communities or beneficiaries within the City of London and its housing estates across London. The Stronger Communities Fund is part of the City of London Corporation Central Grants programme and has been separated into the following sub-themes: Developing stronger neighbourhoods and communities; and promoting community health and wellbeing. There are two grant rounds a year and projects must be completed within a twelve-month period. The closing date for applications for the current funding round is the 24th April 2020. Click here
DSC and other leading charities have met with the Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Diana Barran, to discuss charities’ role in the COVID19 pandemic and how beneficiaries, volunteers and charities themselves may be affected. Read more
Working from home offers people more flexibility and were you a remote company, you could build a culture where people set their own hours and work at their own pace. However, under these circumstances, you may decide it is important that people maintain their normal office hours and are expected to be online and responsive within those hours.
Make a plan — the first important thing now is to set aside time to come up with a plan if you haven’t already. If you don’t have a People team in situ, it’s a good idea to assign this transition to a small task force internally.
Find a quiet space — ask your team to think carefully about where they will work, if at home. Do they have a room they can use as an office? Do they have access to a quiet space for calls? As schools are closed along with offices, having a quiet call at home will be challenging.
Get IT support backup — you will need redundancy in case your current IT person is sick or just overrun.
Prepare for at least two months of fully remote working — better to be over-prepared.
Also address mission critical questions:
– Can everyone login into everything?
– Does your team know who to call if their device crashes?
– Does your team have contact info for your Dedicated Customer Support person for the tools you’re using regularly? (e.g. at Zoom, Salesforce, etc.)
– Does your team know how to forward calls to their mobile?
Have you check out these 18 online DSC training courses ?
With all modules delivered at an introductory level, course themes include:
Not only that, but they are all only £5.99 each! Look online to find out more.
sobus
20 Dawes Road, London, SW6 7EN
Telephone 020 7952 1230
Email info@sobus.org.uk
Registered Charity No.1071089
and Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No.03471416
Sobus is a new Community Development Agency for Hammersmith & Fulham. It has been created through the merger of the Community and Voluntary Sector Association Hammersmith & Fulham (CaVSA) and the Fulham Community Partnership Trust (FCPT). Building on the strengths of both organisations, sobus aims to provide a wider range of support services for local charities, community groups, social enterprises and start up businesses.
