,

Today is Big Advice Day!

Small Charity Week Banner

Click the image above to go to the Big Advice Day page

Big Advice Day aims to provide small and local charities and community groups across the UK with access to free learning, advice and support, ensuring small charities are equipped with the information they need to help them be sustainable, keep their doors open and support their many beneficiaries

The FSI Small Charity Advice Hub
Didn’t get the opportunity to access advice on Big Advice Day? Why not try the Charity Advice Hub – a telephone support hub that matches requests for advice with expert volunteer advisors throughout the year. These one to one hourly advice sessions will reopen in July!

To register your interest in receiving advice please let us know via this link.

Share your Experience
We continue to recruit our team of Volunteer Charity Advisors to help deliver the Advice Hub throughout the year, so if you have voluntary sector experience and are willing to volunteer your expertise for a couple of hours per month (a commitment of hours to suit you!), then register your interest with us.

You can make a direct difference to small and local charities and community groups by sharing your experience in any of the following areas: building organisational strength, strategy and business planning, fundraising and income generation, marketing and communications, campaigning and public affairs, governance, volunteering and HR, financial resource management or impact reporting and measurement.

This flexible volunteering opportunity is perfect for any voluntary sector professional seeking to build on their skills and experience, someone wanting to keep involved in the voluntary sector or just someone wanting share what they know.

Join our volunteer team and help us to create a world filled with independent, effective and accountable charities with the belief, passion and capacity to achieve their vision.

To register your interest in giving advice, follow this link.

Facebook to kick off the Livestreaming of Big Advice Day workshops

After the success of last year’s livestreaming of our Big Advice Day workshop, we now bring you not one but three live workshops! Details on each of the three workshops are below. Simply visit our Facebook page at the stated times to enjoy the livestream.

Date: 19th June 2017
Location: Your desk!
Workshops:
How Facebook can work for your non-profit
Includes: Creating a Facebook strategy based on your goals / Raising awareness and funds / Using Facebook’s advertising platform
Time: 10.10am-10.50am

Is your strategy driving you in the right direction
Includes: Practical tips / insights based on the FSI’s experience of delivering strategic consultancy services / A clear process / Useful tools to undertake effective strategic planning.
Time: 11.10am-11.50am

Using your impact to tell your story
Includes:  Case studies of charities that have used their impact data effectively to tell their story / Provide a useful and practical framework for considering your own impact communications
Time: 16.10pm-16.50pm

#ILoveSmallCharities
Be sure to use the hashtag #ILoveSmallCharities to keep us trending on twitter. And while you’re at it, join in our #ILoveSmallCharities Competition for the chance to win £££ prizes.

Click Here to join the competition

 

/by
,

AdviceLocal from LASA

Advicelocal – https://advicelocal.uk – local guide to help with benefits, work, money, housing problems and more

People looking for help with benefits, work, money or housing problems will find advicelocal.uk a useful, free source of help and information.

It’s easy to use. By just entering a postcode and choosing an advice topic anyone can find tailored information for their local area, including details of independent advice organisations who can help get the advice and support they need.

Advicelocal helps with questions relating to: welfare benefits and tax credits; council tax; debt and money advice; housing and homelessness; employment and work issues, disability and social care; and asylum and immigration.

There’s a widget you can use if you’d like to add advicelocal search to your site. See https://advicelocal.uk/for-organisations#get-the-widget. You can also find advicelocal on Twitter @advicelocal.

Lasa is a social welfare law and tech charity. Established in 1984, we’re dedicated to supporting organisations in their use of technology and the delivery of social welfare law advice to the disadvantaged communities they serve.

Find out more about our services:

Website: www.lasa.org.uk
Email: info@lasa.org.uk
Follow us: @lasacharity
Call us: 020 7377 2748

lasa.org.uk | rightsnet | advicelocal | universalcreditinfo | pipinfo | wcainfo | socialcareinfo | counciltaxhelp | revenuebenefits | benefitmythbuster

/by
,

Is the CIO structure right for your organisation?

Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) are now the most popular form for establishing new charities and this extensively updated second edition illustrates the benefits of the structure as well as the pitfalls.

CIO Cover Pic‘Gareth Morgan is well known for his interest in and mastery of the detailed, technical aspects of charity administration and in particular of CIOs. As a barrister specialising in charities, I shall continue to make use of this clear, detailed and practical book both for checking specific points and to recommend to my clients, especially those thinking about establishing a CIO.’  Francesca Quint, Barrister – Radcliffe Chambers

A must-read for anyone considering establishing a new charity in England, Wales or Scotland to ensure they’re using the structure most suitable for their needs.

It contains the new procedures in England and Wales from 2018 for direct conversion of charitable companies to CIOs (and CIC to CIO conversions from later in 2018). For Scotland, it contains new OSCR procedures from 2016 for unincorporated charities converting to CIOs. This edition also contains more on the practical implications of CIO constitutions which depart from the Charity Commission models.

Overall the guide offers a full range of practical information and will help you decide your organisation’s next move.

Click the cover image to get your copy from the DSC website.

 

 

/by
, ,

Job Opportunity – Apprentice Business Support Officer

Tri Borough Logo

A new Apprentice Business Support officer position covering the bi-Borough of RBKC and City of Westminster has become available in Children’s Services Department

An exciting apprenticeship opportunity has arisen for an Apprentice Business Support Officer to join the busy Children’s Services based in Kensington Town Hall and Frampton Street. The Short Breaks Service is going through an exciting period of change. While we have always supported families who are living with a disabled child, we are looking at developing our Business Support Services. A highly motivated individual is required, who can help to shape the development of this new team. We are looking for an enthusiastic and responsible person able to work in an ever changing environment and willing to learn new skills.

Closing date: 25th June 2018

Click Here for more information, including the Job Description and to apply

/by
, , , ,

The FSI is excited to launch our next set of 90 minute webinars.

These webinars have limited space as they include short activities and interaction with the trainer along with opportunities for Q&A throughout the session. Our aim is to improve our member’s knowledge, skills and confidence, so from the comfort of your desk you can receive an overview on the following fundraising and governance subjects:

Thursday, 5th July

  • Strategy & Business Planning
  • Develop Your Fundraising Strategy 
  • Demonstrating Your Impact

Wednesday, 11th July

  • Fundraising from Trusts & Foundations
  • Developing Corporate Relationships
  • Developing Your Case for Support

Tuesday, 17th July

  • Supporting & Managing Volunteers 
  • Major Donor Fundraising 
  • Community & Events Fundraising

Click here to Book now

Venue: Your desk!
Cost: £5, full details on our deposit policy available on our website.

/by
, ,

International Friendship Day (Monday 30th July)

The International Day of Friendship exists to  encourage everyone to make friends with more people and to develop strong ties of trust. We can all contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability.

So why not make your community a little more stable by getting together and celebrating each other’s company?

Click Here to get more information.

/by
, ,

Hiring a person with Autism Day (Wednesday 18th July)

Autism Writing

Autism is far more common that most people realise. In the UK today, a little more than 1 out of every 100 people are on the autistic spectrum. Individuals with autism can have exceptional talents and can prove themselves to be invaluable assets to any business, but still there remains a stigma attached to bringing autism into the workplace. But a recent Labour Force survey estimated that only 15% of adults with autism are in full-time employment.

Click Here to find out more information.

/by
,

World Youth Skills Day (Sunday 15th July)

Skills for All Logo

Young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continuously exposed to lower quality of jobs, greater labour market inequalities, and longer and more insecure school-towork transitions.

That is why education and training are key determinants of success in the labour market. But surveys show that a large number of youth have low levels of achievement in basic literacy and numeracy.

Click Here to find out more information.

/by
, ,

Learning Disability Week (19th – 25th June)

2018 Learning Disability Week - Logo

This year’s Learning Disability Week will be all about health – with a big focus on the Treat me well campaign. Around 8 in 10 working age people with a learning disability have one that’s mild or moderate, but fewer than 2 in 10 are in employment.

The treatment people with a learning disability get in hospital results in 1200 people dying avoidably in hospital each year.

To sign up or find out more, click here.

/by
, , ,

It’s Day 1 of Small Charity Week – I ♥ Small Charities Day!

Small Charity Week Banner

So join the # Competition to win £££
Yes, it’s finally here! Small Charity Week 2018 has begun! Kicking off with our #ILoveSmall Charities competition, you could win up to £450 for your small and local charity or community group simply by asking your supporters to say why they love you.

There are three ways to enter (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), all of which will help raise the profile of your organisation and give you the opportunity to win the cash prize. Winners are the charities with the most messages of support on each social media platform.

Prizes
#ILoveSmallCharities Twitter competition – winning small charity gets a £150 donation
#ILoveSmallCharities Facebook competition – winning small charity gets a £150 donation
#ILoveSmallCharities Instagram competition – winning small charity gets a £150 donation

How to enter:
Ask your supporters to take a photo of themselves holding up a poster (downloaded from our website) that reads:
“I love (your charities name) because (why you love them)”.
Or they can take a video of themselves with the poster, shouting out loud about why they love your charity.
Then simply post it to either Twitter, Instagram or the Small Charity Week Facebook page (or all three).

How you win:
The charity which manages to get the most individual messages of support on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook from June 18th -23rd June will receive a donation of £150.

Visit our website for details on how your supporters should enter their messages, poster templates, supporting materials and the full rules.

Click here for details on how to enter

Check out the I ♥ Small Charities Day Blog click on the logo at the top of this page to read a great blog on Online visibility: where do you start?

 

/by