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The Upper Room

Upper Room Logo

The Upper Room is planning to build an entire new floor at St Saviour’s Church, in Shepherd’s Bush, which will effectively double our work space.  Whilst this work is being carried out we urgently need to find alternative premises to continue delivering our services.  Ideally we are looking for one decent sized room to deliver employment support for our UR4Jobs and UR4Driving projects and a small kitchen in which to prepare sandwiches for our UR4Meals project which feeds the homeless.  We may have to look to alternative premises to deliver UR4Meals but would like to keep UR4Jobs and UR4Driving together.

The work is anticipated to start around July and is expected to last 3-4 months.

Do you know of a community hall, or vacant office space, which we could rent on a temporary basis.  We would like to stay as close to our base in Shepherd’s Bush as possible for the sake of our clients.  Please email: operationsdirector@theupperroom.org.uk with any suggestions.

 

St Saviour Wendell Park Church

Cobbold Road | London W12 9LN

T: 020 8740 5688 | M: 07923 462 497

 

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Mental Health Equality in West London

The Tamil Community Centre, Ilays – Somali Community Centre, CAIA, HEAR and Race on the Agenda are inviting BMER community organisations in West London for a meeting on campaigning for mental health services provision in for Black, Asian, refugee and other minority ethnic communities.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday 10 April, 11.00-15.00 at the Centre for Armenian Information and Advice (CAIA), 105 A Mill Hill Road, Acton, London, W3 8JF The meeting will be the second of three and will be open to BMER community organisations across West London. The third session will take place in May 2018 (date to be decided).

Participants will:

–       Discuss what is needed for West London’s communities’ mental health equality

–       Decide on what to ask from the CCG, MHT and Local Authority

–       Plan the next steps of their campaign

If you have knowledge of the mental health needs of BMER people in West London you can register by emailing laurie@rota.org.uk. Places are limited so please tell us you want to come. We promote user-led projects and Experts by Experience.  

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Safeguarding in charities

Following recent events, the Charity Commission would like to remind ALL trustees to take safeguarding extremely seriously. Safeguarding should be a key governance priority for all charities, not just those working with groups traditionally considered at risk.

As your regulator, we expect charities to meet these expectations.

Our advice is that you should now:

  • Undertake a thorough review of your charity?s safeguarding governance and management arrangements and performance if you haven?t done so within the last 12 months.
  • Contact the Commission about any safeguarding issues, or serious safeguarding incidents, complaints or allegations which have not previously been disclosed to the charity regulator.

Our regulatory role is to ensure charities comply with their legal duties, manage any incidents responsibly and take prompt steps to protect the people affected by it. We cannot look after the safety of your people for you and we do not investigate individual incidents for you.

Find more information about what and how to report to the regulator. More information about safeguarding responsibilities for trustees, and the role of the Charity Commission and other regulators, is below:

Safeguarding is a key governance priority for all charities, regulator reminds trustees

Regulatory alert to charities – safeguarding,

Strategy for dealing with safeguarding issues in charities

Charity Commission Logo

 

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Do you want to beat Type 2 diabetes? There’s an app for that!

Patients living with Type 2 diabetes in North West London have seen significant improvements to their health thanks to new smartphone health apps.

In partnership with Imperial College Health Partners, the North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) offered more than 400 patients from 18 GP practices across North West London the opportunity to trial the digital apps over four months last year.

The results

  • Patients saw a significant reduction in body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and blood sugar (HbA1c) levels
  • patients lost on average two to three kilograms of weight
  • 118 patients participating provided details of their medication, of those 20 per cent were able to stop taking the diabetes medication metformin during the trial.

​The apps, welcomed by leading UK charity Diabetes UK, aim to support patients that are unable to or choose not to attend diabetes education classes to help control their diabetes. They encourage healthy eating and exercise and, educate people on how to manage and control their condition.

Dr Tony Willis, diabetes Clinical Lead for the North West London Collaboration of CCGs said: “The results have been beyond our expectations. Historically, the education classes on offer for patients with Type 2 diabetes have seen low attendance. There was an excellent uptake of patients completing the trial using the apps. This alongside the clinically significant improvements in HbA1c, blood pressure and weight; show just how well people respond when they can receive support at the click of a button.” 

Rachael Glover, Improving Care Manager at Diabetes UK, said: “Diabetes is the most devastating and fastest growing health crisis of our time, affecting more people than any other serious health condition in the UK, more than dementia and cancer combined. Everyone learns differently and it’s important that people with diabetes can access a range of tools to help them manage their condition.  Diabetes UK welcomes this new work, which shows how technology is being used to widen the options available for people with diabetes.”

What did patients say?

Patrick Hingston, from Hammersmith and Fulham, living with Type 2 diabetes said:
“I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2001, it has been a gruelling journey but now I am smiling. When my GP spoke to me about these new apps, I was desperate to try anything. I logged on, got some equipment sent to me, changed my diet and my physical activity. I started going on lots of walks which I have grown to love. I recommend this to anyone who is living with diabetes, having difficulty losing weight and getting their HbA1c down because mine has reduced dramatically. I am delighted to have made a turnaround and want to keep it that way. I want to thank my doctor for putting me on this trial; my results have given me so much joy.”

Patients that took part were from a mix of ages, ethnicities and social backgrounds who are often ‘hard to reach’ through traditional methods of care.

The three apps trialed were Changing Health, OurPath, and Oviva. Patients reported that the apps were easy to use, they felt more motivated, better informed about food and enjoyed the tips and advice on hand.

What’s next?

The North West London CCGs are currently working on an ‘information hub’ for both patients and clinicians to find information and training courses on diabetes. The apps will be one of the services on offer to ensure that every patient living with Type 2 diabetes in NW London will get access to personalised support and information to improve their diabetes and their overall health and wellbeing.

If you have Type 2 diabetes and need support talk your GP about the services available in your area. Stay updated with our work and watch videos on how other people, like Patrick are benefiting from these apps by visiting www.knowdiabetes.org.uk.

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Healthwatch Spring 2018 Newsletter

Healthwatch Logo

You can now read our first newsletter of 2018, by going to our website by click our logo above.

Click Here to open the Newsletter via the Sobus Website

In this issue we talk about Dignity Champions, Charing Cross Hospital, social isolation in Kensington & Chelsea, and young people in Westminster.

 

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Disqualification rules for Trustees and Senior Managers of Charities

From 1 August 2018, changes to the Charity Commission rules mean there will be more restrictions on who can run a charity.

There are two key changes and actions you may need to take if you are disqualified.

The above is an extract from this document on our website.

For more information go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/automatic-disqualification-rules-for-charity-trustees-and-charity-senior-positions

Or if you want to discuss this further, then please contact Nigel Jacques on nigel.jacques@sobus.org.uk

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Civil society strategy: have your say

Have your say on how government can work with and for civil society to tackle challenges and unlock opportunities to build a stronger society now and in the future. This consultation closes at 9am on 22 May 2018.

Link to consultation page for more info and documents: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/civil-society-strategy-have-your-say

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Leadership Diversity of UK Charities

We know that the leadership of our charities in the UK is not sufficiently ethnically diverse.

It’s confirmed again this year with ACEVO’s Pay and Equalities Survey 2018. Published at the beginning of February, it found that only 3% of charity chief executives who took part were from BAME backgrounds, and that this percentage has actually fallen over the last ten years.

It’s the case that “a shamefully small number of civil society CEOs are from a black and minority ethnic background”, according to Vicky Browning, Chief Executive of ACEVO. She calls on us to “collectively prioritise action to break down the barriers and bias that exist within the voluntary sector.”

And it’s not only CEOs. Senior management teams and trustee boards are not diverse enough also, with the 2017 edition of Third Sector’s Diversity Report finding that 10% of senior management teams and 10% of trustees of the 50 charities they surveyed were  non-white.

Please see the Diversity Report here.

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Charity Technology Breakfast Briefing: Is blockchain the future for charities?

Join us at the first in our series of breakfast briefings exploring the opportunities and challenges facing charity IT leaders. These interactive seminars provide a unique forum for open debate and an opportunity to connect with your peers.

The first event will seek to answer the question ‘Is blockchain the future for charities?’

To understand a little more about that question and to help you decide if this briefing is for you, Click Here

This event is run in partnership with Charity IT Leaders.

This event is designed to provide space for charities to debate with other charities. As a result, there are no corporate spaces available and we will withdraw places booked by non-charity delegates. We will issue a refund minus an administration fee of 15%.  

Click here for more information including; the programme, speakers, prices and venue.

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Small Charity Week 18th – 23rd June 2018

Get your Charity Ready 
There are a range of opportunities available on the Small Charity Week website for your small charity to take advantage of, with many more opportunities and activities to come.

Today we have launched our I Love Small Charities Day Competition information and our Celebration Day toolkit to give you enough time to gear up and prepare your charity and your supporters in advance.

 

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