The National Lottery: Apply to be Part of The People’s Projects 2022/2023!

We’re back with The National Lottery, ITV, UTV and, for the first time this year, the Sunday Mail, to support community projects across the UK to receive a share of over £4 million in National Lottery funding.

This year we’re giving community organisations the chance to apply for National Lottery funding of up to £70,000. We’re looking for the best and most imaginative ideas from organisations that are already doing great work in their local community.

Shortlisted groups will take part in a national campaign, with the winners being decided by public vote.

Find out more and apply

Deadline for applications is 12 noon on Friday 7 October 2022, or when we have reached our limit for applications for this fund if that’s sooner.

 
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For Women CIC: Update News

Hello, We are back!

So many new, amazing things to tell you.

  1. We have an office!

@ Brompton Library
210 Old Brompton Road SW5 0BS

Nearest transport: Tube: Earls Court. Bus: C1, 328, 74

Monday-Friday 10am/4pm

  1. Autumn schedule

We are ready with our Autumn schedule and soon we will be sending out the September calendar. We will have activities remotely and face to face.

  1. Women’s Hub

Once a week every Monday we will offer a Women’s Hub from 12pm to 3pm – a space where women can come to do activities but also socialise or seek information and advice. Starting from 19th September!

  1. Out & About

We will continue to offer a monthly outing and in this month is…Buckingham Palace on Friday 30th September. Stay tuned and reserve your ticket!

  1. Volunteers

We are looking for two volunteers to support us during our activities. Watch out for the application form!

  1. Social Media

Follow us on Twitter: @ForWomenCIC and Instagram: @forwomencic

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

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Shop & Donate Social Supermarket Fighting Food Waste & Food Poverty

Shop and Donate CIC is a social supermarket fighting food waste and food poverty, where the customer’s contribution goes towards supporting food banks, key workers and helping vulnerable residents affected by COVID-19.

What is a social supermarket?

A social supermarket is a shop that sells discounted food to people on a lower income. We operate as a traditional supermarket but at reduced prices (e.g., selling at 70% less than high street prices).

How does Shop and Donate work?

With Shop and Donate you can shop for groceries or buy a box for another person online and we can deliver for £6.75, next day delivery anywhere in the UK.

If you come to our physical store you can subscribe to our loyalty program where you can get £15 worth of groceries for only £5 and your 10th purchase is free of charge.

Reducing the costs of food ensures our customers are well fed and can afford other essentials such as housing and utility costs. This along with the low-cost products distinguishes it from the other supermarkets. The food is still in good condition and would otherwise be sent to landfills by big retailers for a variety of reasons including items packaged and weighed incorrectly and over-production.

How the loyalty program works

For just £5 you can get £15 worth of groceries or 10 items. Along with this, we also offer each customer a loyalty card where they can get every 10th order for free.

Items you can take:

  • 4 x Low-value items
  • 3 x Medium-value items
  • 3 x High-value items

Why are the items categorised?

All of the items are categorised by Low, Medium & High-value based on a mixture of retail price, volume, “use by” / “best before” dates, and the demand of the stock. This way we can make the best use of the stock we have and ensure fairness. For example, it would not be very fair if one member took 10 jars of coffee leaving none for anyone else!

What products we have

The food sold in our supermarket is very varied. We have breakfast (tea, coffee, cereal), tinned goods, pasta, rice, and fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some toiletries.

Where you can order from

Our customers have the option of buying products directly from our physical or online supermarket as well as from our e-commerce partners, such as Too Good To Go, Deliveroo, Karma Life, Amazon, and eBay.

Our team and suppliers

Overall, we have a team of about 15 people who are dedicated and of various experiences and ages. As well as volunteers who are experienced in admin, finance, HR, customer service and fundraising, we are already connected to a variety of suppliers who can provide us with goods. The goods are sourced from mainstream supermarkets, local shops, donations from members of the public, and food redistribution organizations such as Fareshare, Giving World, Banquet, and supermarkets like M&S and Lidl.

Come and join us!

The social supermarket runs from our office based in Victoria, however, we are looking to expand the supermarket and reach more people. This will also provide a great opportunity for members of the local community to become involved in the project, as we will be able to provide them with voluntary and work experience opportunities in addition to also offering access to affordable low-cost food and products.

£6.00 for £15.00 worth of shopping -10 items 

£12.00 for £30 worth of shopping -20 Items

£24.00 for £60 worth of shopping -40 Items 

We sell on shop and donate .org/ eBay/Deliveroo/Shopify Amazon  

We deliver anywhere in the UK next Day -£11.07 

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Sorting out Your “Elevator Pitch”, by Sue Spiller, Sobus CEO

The concept of a “elevator pitch” isn’t new.  The idea is that a slick salesperson can persuade or win over a client in the time it takes a lift to go from the ground to the top floor with an exciting, compelling or persuasive pitch – but it’s not something that we in the voluntary and community sector tend to always do well, or think is the right approach for us.

Networking or pitching?

It’s not the case that your elevator pitch should be trotted out every time you meet someone.  Quite the opposite in fact.  Pitching is something you do when you know a person is interested in your offer and you need to grab their interest and get over the key points of your offer quickly.  Networking is about building relationships for the long term.

The best example I can provide for you is Daphine Aikens, the founder and former CEO of Hammersmith & Fulham Foodbank.  Daphine would often be invited to meetings or events where she would come into contact with other organisations, business people, notable and high net worth individuals.  At those events, Daphine never spoke about what support HF Foodbank needed – instead, she focussed on sharing straightforward stories about the people the organisation was supporting and what they had experienced that brought them to Foodbank.  Time and time again, this resulted in individuals reaching out to Daphine afterwards to ask how they could help or work together.

So when do we need an elevator pitch? Read on

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Free Carbon Monoxide Awareness Workshop

The risks of carbon monoxide poisoning increase as we move towards Autumn and Winter. The Gas Safe Charity continues to offer more of their popular and free carbon monoxide awareness workshops. Aimed at front line staff and volunteers, they help people who work in the homes of vulnerable people to be more aware of the risks and to help prevent poisoning taking place. The interactive workshop lasts an hour. To find out more and to book, please click on this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/115618952399

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Listen to Act Looking for a New Administrative Support Officer

Full time – £28,000 per year.

Central London office location to be confirmed – hybrid with regular days in the office, work from home, and frequent face to face meetings as required.

Listen To Act is an organisation that is changing, adapting and seeking to have a greater impact for more people across a wider geographical area. Formerly Healthwatch Central and West London, we are entering an exciting time of growth and development, building on our years of expertise and engagement with local communities and public services. Moving to a more commercial approach, diversifying our income and reducing our reliance on public sector procurement, we will be consolidating and growing our range of patient and public engagement services.

We are looking for an excellent administrator, ideally with significant finance and budgetary experience. The successful candidate will be extremely IT literate, with significant experience of Microsoft Office, experience of SAGE or other similar finance software, as well as a range of other online software including an awareness of CRM, data collection systems and procurement portals.

Reporting directly to the CEO, the Admin Support Officer will support the whole organisation with project planning and coordination, responding to tenders, and pulling together trustee board papers and monthly management accounts.

If you are interested in the role, please send an up to date CV, with a brief cover letter detailing how you meet the requirements of the person specification to hello@listentoact.org.

The job description and person spec can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/AdminSupportOfficer

For an information conversation about the role, please email rikki@listentoact.org.

Closing date for applications is the 12th September 2022.

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What Makes a Successful Capacity Building Program? by Nigel Jacques, Sobus Head of Organisation Development & Enterprise

Successful implementation begins at the individual level, where capacity building activities increase a worker’s knowledge and skill. An individual who’s been empowered to facilitate change can impact their organisation and their community. All individuals in our membership organisations can access SOLID our online training package. Take a look SOLID – Sobus

However organisations, whatever their size, do need to consider their overall progression, their ability to adapt to change and their ability to become more sustainable. Or as someone put it recently, “In the current environment it is an ability for the organisation to survive!”

Sobus has highlighted the 5 stages of capacity building.  Organisational Development – Sobus . In this you can see where your organisation is on a scale. You may do things in each stage but unless you fulfill all the criteria of that stage and the stages beforehand your organisation’s progression and development will need some consideration.

If you would like to know more about the 5 stages and would like an assessment then please contact Nigel at Sobus; nigel.jacques@sobus.org.uk

 

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