In several H&F Cost Of Living Alliance workshops, local voluntary and community sector organisations have requested a single point of information for local VCS services and organisations. Such a centralised system would enable residents and referrers to find local community groups more easily, and raise the profile and accessibility of local community organisations.

To achieve this, Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been working with Sobus and other VCS Alliance Partners to develop an online signposting service: H&F Community Compass

What will H&F Community Compass do?

H&F Community Compass will connect people with the right services, support and advice that they need. It will also offer small and large VCS organisations opportunities to connect by providing:

• A searchable directory of services
• A digital platform to share accurate and reliable information in one place
• Information that is accessible and visually engaging
• Warm signposting and early intervention
• Community “what’s on” space

Who is providing the service?

Sobus is working with Ayup Digital to deliver the platform, in partnership with the Cost of Living Alliance partners and H&F Council. The data will be legally held by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

To see examples of what H&F Community Compass might look like please have a look at these examples:
https://connectedkingston.uk/                                https://hounslowconnect.com/

What will this mean for your organisation?

With more and more information and activities being online, having a digital presence promoting your organisation has become increasingly important. Accessing funding opportunities and a chance to showcase your service and what you do to support residents is vital but hard to do if you do not have an online profile.

Sharing your information

Sobus holds a directory of local VCS organisations. We would like to share some of this information with Hammersmith & Fulham council to load onto H&F Community Compass – but we need your consent to do so. From our database, we would like to share with the council ONLY the following information:

• Your organisations name
• Your organisations contact details and website
• A contact name at your organisation
• A short summary (2 or 3 sentences) of the services you provide.

Can we share your information?

Please click on the survey link – which will take less than one minute to complete! You will be asked if you agree to Sobus sharing your organisation’s name, contact info and service summary. You’ll have the options of Yes, No, or that you would like to review the information before deciding.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RLQ3XBT

Time is of the essence!

We want to get H&F Community Compass up and running by the beginning of September – so would ask you to respond to the survey as quickly as possible!
If you would like further information, please contact Sobus at info@sobus.org.uk or telephone 020 7952 1230.

We are really pleased that despite much publicity, some true and a great deal fake, there were no ugly scenes across our Boroughs on Tuesday evening. Your West London Chambers of Commerce has close communication with all Councils, Police, businesses and community groups in the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, and we are well placed to be a reliable source of accurate information.

However, in light of recent protests please find advice from the Police, to businesses of all sizes and sectors: Crime_Prev_Business_Advice-General-Aug-24.pdf (ukhospitality.org.uk)

The advice remains – “check your risk assessments and if not recently updated, update them. If you have lockdown procedures review these and if needed rehearse”.

Any issues/incidents call the police via 999 as there are additional, dedicated resources assigned to addressing these issues at this time.

For non-emergency situations, dial 101 to receive guidance and support from your community safety team.

Any hate crime witnessed or experienced should be reported, either directly to the police or via Tell MAMA on 0800 456 1226

For anti-Muslim hate crime, contact Tell MAMA on 0800 456 1226 or via www.tellmamauk.org

For antisemitic hate crime, contact Community Safety Trust on 0800 032 3263 or here Report Antisemitic Behaviour – CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community

You can also report hate crime here How to report hate crime | Metropolitan Police

Safeguarding your business during public events

Keep safe!

The team at West London Chambers of Commerce 

Following Mental Health Awareness Week in May, Unite (the trade union) has published findings that almost 70% of not-for-profit workers report anxiety related to work, with 68% reporting constant exhaustion and 66% sleeplessness. The relevant factors named by respondents include increasing workloads and the rising cost of living. More detail about the report is available on the Civil Society website.

For more information about workplace mental health for charity workers and volunteers, you can visit the NCVO or contact our team of employment law specialists to learn about how we can help.

Opening a bank account is an important step for any voluntary organisation. The new digital guide from UK Finance simplifies the process, by giving you guidance on how to choose, open and manage a bank account. Read more here.