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Volunteers’ Week 2018

Volunteers' Week Logo

Over 21 million people volunteer in the UK at least once a year and this contributes an estimated £23.9bn to the UK economy. Behind these big numbers is a big contribution.

These 21 million people are a shining example of how we can all make a big difference to individuals and communities every day from improving the environment we live in, spending time with those who may otherwise be lonely and contributing to a range of other essential services and support. We believe such a big contribution is worth a big celebration!

Volunteers’ Week is a chance to be part of the UK’s biggest celebration of volunteering, recognising the contribution of volunteers in their communities across the UK.

NCVO is the national lead for Volunteers’ Week in England, and the week is led by our UK partners, WCVA, Volunteer Scotland, and Volunteer Now.

Date: 1st – 7th June 2018

Location: Events held across the UK

Volunteers’ Week is a long-standing, popular event in the voluntary sector, established in 1984. It is supported and celebrated by small grassroots organisations as well as larger, household-name charities, who together run hundreds of events across the UK. These events showcase and celebrate volunteers and the contribution volunteering makes in our communities.

People celebrate in a range of imaginative and creative ways, and you can see some of the best photos from last year’s events on our Volunteers Week Pinterest board.

Click here to go to the Volunteers’ Week website.

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Garden Volunteer Opportunity – Shepherds Bush

If you’re interested in being a community garden volunteer come and visit the Elgin Close Resource Centre on Tuesday 1st May and Tuesday 8th May from 10am to 12.00pm or Tuesday 15th and 22nd May from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.  We are looking for volunteers that will help to transform and maintain the community garden at the Elgin Close Resource Centre and Extra Care Services.  No experience is needed.  You will be provided with any training you need.  Some sessions will involve helping to run gardening and recycling workshops with younger and older people. The address for the centre is 1-3 Elgin Close, Shepherd’s Bush, W12 9NH.

If you are interested please email Deb Culmer (debshcga@gmail.com) or call Jennifer Thaxter on 020 3815 2186 for more information.

Click Here for the Flyer.

This is an exciting new gardening project in partnership with Elgin Close Resource Centre, Hammersmith Academy and Hammersmith Community Gardens Association (HCGA)

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Shepherds Bush Families Project & Children’s Centre – Trustee Opportunity

 

Shepherd's Bush Families Project

Shepherds Bush Families Project & Children’s Centre is now in its 30th year and supports Families who are homeless and those living under acute housing stress. We are looking to increase the number of trustees currently on our board. Are you energetic, committed and passionate about helping children, young people and their families improve their outcomes! Are you flexible and willing to think ‘out of the box’ if so we need you!

This is a voluntary role and we need someone with a variety of skills, knowledge and experience and a commitment to support the development of our important work with families and children and young people in the borough.

The Board of Trustees’ are the accountable body for Shepherds Bush Families Project & Children’s Centre.  The Board is currently made up of trustees who have an interest in the work of the organisation and specifically family homelessness.  Supported by the projects CEO, the Board meets 4-6 weekly to review strategy and performance, Trustees may also be meet in between to review progress on specific activities through formal and ad-hoc subcommittee meetings.

Trustees are pivotal in supporting the organisation at a strategic and governance level. Whilst this may seem like a daunting role it can in fact be very rewarding and offers Individuals the opportunity to learn more about the voluntary/charity sector, acquire skills and knowledge that may be used for their personal CV’s and allows individuals to share their own knowledge and expertise with others.

We welcome applications from a range of backgrounds and cultures.

This is a rewarding and important project. If you are interested in volunteering as member of the Board of Trustees and you would like further information, please contact us on 020 8749 2371 or email tinamayers@sbfp.org .

Website: www.shepherdsbushfamiliesproject.org

We will be holding an Open Day event at our centre, 58a Bulwer Street, W12 8AP, on Friday 4th May 11-2pm. Please come along if you would like to see the work we do and get further information

 

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Volunteer Week 2018

Health Watch Logo

The countdown to Volunteers Week 2018 has begun!

At Healthwatch Central West London we are currently planning this year’s celebration, so make sure to check for more information coming your way.

If you haven’t volunteered with us before, or are looking to get involved again, why not check out our current volunteering roles on our website, or speak to us at volunteer@healthwatchcentralwestlondon.org

Click here to go to the Volunteering section of the Healthwatch website

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Calm Mediation – Volunteer roles – two opportunities

Calm Mediation have two volunteering opportunities available. Please click the links below for details of the roles

For more than 20 years Calm Mediation have been helping people to resolve conflict.

We provide the following services in the London area:

Mediation in the community
Helping neighbours, families, young people and others to resolve conflict in their lives.

Mediation in the workplace
Supporting employers and employees to resolve conflict at work.

Restorative justice
Helping victims and offenders to move forward in the aftermath of crime.

Training
Teaching the skills of conflict management, mediation and restorative justice.

Originally established as CALM (Confidential and Local Mediation) in 1995, we amended our name to Calm Mediation in October 2016. We are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registration no. 1161807.

 

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London Marathon update from Young Hammersmith & Fulham Foundation

Young Hammersmith and Fulham Foundation Logo

Please support our first ever fundraiser 

Support @beneckett as he runs 👣 the London Marathon for us.

We’ve been a bit quiet lately as we’ve been busy working on many things. Design and consultation on our Theory of Change continuesWe will be recruiting for some really exciting roles soon

Plus we edge closer to our BIG launch on 10th May! Today though we would like to ask for support for our first ever fundraiser, BenEckett

Ben is running the 2018 LondonMarathon for us with all funds raised going into our Small Grants scheme. These Small Grants will be awarded to our Smaller Members to help support them in the the great work they do for Children and Young People.

Here is the link if you want to support Ben

Even £2 can make a huge difference as we can win a bonus £1000 from Localgiving #localhero

This is judge on how many different donors we get not the total amounts donated so please help where you can as this money will make a big difference to our Members projects.

We will be back in touch soon with a more comprehensive update on Young Hammersmith & Fulham Foundation and opportunities for you.

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Fulham Good Neighbours plan another bumper Parsons Green Fair

Fulham Good Neighbours Logo

We will be transforming Parson’s Green by staging a super fun day this coming July, and raising money to support our work with local older people in need. To learn more about our charitable work, please visit http://www.fulhamgoodneighbours.org/our-services

Parsons Green Fair attracts around eight thousand visitors and this year we will have more than 100 stalls including charities, organisations, and small businesses creating awareness for their products or services. Lots of those who have already booked to take part come back year after year, which confirms the event’s popularity. All indications are that this year’s Fair – on 7th July 2018 – will be bigger and better than ever.

The event will be opened officially at 11.30am by the Chair of Fulham Good Neighbours Robert Fryer and the Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham (TBC).

 

The main stage programme includes:

12.00pm         Music ‘All – A School of Music for All

12.30pm         Slice/Cupcake Family Club

12.55pm         The Little Dance Academy

1.20pm           Stagecoach Theatre Arts – Fulham

2.00pm           La Sylvaine School of Dancing

3.00pm           Albert & Friends Circus Skills

3.30pm           Magician – John Clayton

4.00pm           Pinky & Roxy Magic Show

4.30pm           Fulham Brass Band

On the Children’s Stage acts will also include a Magician and a performing dog. Other attractions include Carousels, Bouncy Slide, Bouncy Castle, Trampolines, plus ‘Punch and Judy Shows’ and ‘Riffham’s Donkey Rides’ and a Petting Zoo.

A wide range of refreshments will be provided at the event including offers from; Il Pagliacci, BBQ,  Bombay Street Food, Jerk Spice, Heavenly Crepes and much more.

We are still looking for local volunteers who could act as Event Marshalls; to find out more please visit us at https://www.parsonsgreenfair.org/get-involved All those interested in having a stall are encourage to contact info@fulhamgoodneighbours.org as soon as possible.

The main event sponsor is Marston Properties but we are grateful to all other sponsors like Strutt&Parker.

Jac Davies 020 7385 8850

Parsons Green Fair Administrator

Fulham Good Neighbours Footer Banner

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Could social investment work for your organisation?

From the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations)

Watch this new animation from our partners at Good Finance UK 

the Good Finance UK website is full of useful information, tools and resources including…
…a quick profiler tool to help you work out if social investment is right for you
…a blog with loads of tips like these five for 2018
…a directory of investors and advisors
…upcoming events around the country
…guidance on how to measure your social impact

Click Here for more information, case studies and events

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Don’t be an April Fool; be a Local Hero!

Localgiving’s annual Local Hero campaign launches on 1st April and runs until 30th April 2018.

Each year, Local Hero highlights the incredible ideas and feats of local charity fundraisers.

Throughout April, all participants will be ranked on the Local Hero leaderboard according to the number of unique online donors who sponsor their page. At the end of the campaign the winning fundraiser will be awarded a £1,000 donation to their cause. Many more prizes will be announced soon.

Whether you’re a runner, a painter or an abstainer this is an amazing chance to help a local charity or community group near you raise their profile and raise some extra funding. All you have to do is set up a fundraising page and persuade as many people as possible to donate between the 1st and 30th of April.

Click Here for Key facts, Leaderboard info, how to Take part and FAQs

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Alzheimer’s Society Service – Side by Side

The Alzheimer’s Society is launching a new service in Hammersmith and Fulham for people with Dementia called Side By Side. Side By Side seeks to reduce the loneliness and isolation that people with Dementia can often face as a result of their diagnosis with the help of volunteers who ‘befriend’ a person with Dementia and enable them to actively participate in their local community.

Side by Side is an Alzheimer’s Society service which helps people with dementia to keep doing the things they love with the support of a volunteer.

Our free one-to-one support makes it easier for people with dementia, who might sometimes feel isolated or find it difficult to leave their homes, remain active and feel part of their local community.

By doing things like going for a walk, to a football match, or joining a local class together, our volunteers can support people with dementia to take up hobbies and get out and about. Or, they might simply visit them at home for a cup of tea and a chat. What they do together is entirely based on what the person with dementia wants.

How does Side by Side work?

  • Side by Side connects people living with dementia with local volunteers who provide free one-to-one support, in person, or over the phone.
  • What they do together is based on what the person with dementia wants. Volunteers can help people access local groups, such as art or fitness classes. Or they might simply visit them at home for a cup of tea. Volunteers can provide support in the day time, evenings and over the weekend.

Why is Side by Side important?

Our research shows that 40% of people with dementia in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have felt lonely recently. A third of people with dementia in the UK live on their own. Side by Side offers people with dementia opportunities to interact socially and take part in activities. This helps maintain a good quality of life for them and gives carers time for themselves.

Statistics:

  • A third of people with dementia lose friends following a diagnosis and nearly two-thirds (62%) of people with dementia who live on their own feel lonely (Dementia 2013: The hidden voice of loneliness.)
  • Our research (Dementia 2014) shows that 40% of people with dementia in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have felt lonely recently. This is often caused by anxiety and loss of confidence. It can lead to depression, poor health and speed up the progress of dementia.
  • As dementia progresses, relating to the world is more difficult without stimulation. Many people with the condition feel trapped in their own homes, with almost one in 10 only leaving the house once a month (Dementia 2014).

Side by Side will:

  • Help us to reach more people with dementia who live alone.
  • Help reduce loneliness and social isolation amongst people with dementia.
  • Increase the number of people who volunteer for Alzheimer’s Society, providing a network of support for people with dementia.

Side by Side will also:

  • Encourage and support people with dementia to keep up their hobbies and interests, or to take up new ones and get out and about.
  • Establish a free service for people affected by dementia across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • Make it easier for people with dementia to feel part of their community and access places like their local library, park, café or community centre.

For more information please contact:

Danny Branch (Side By Side Co-ordinator)

Tel: 0208 5630001

Or email: sidebysidehammersmith&fulham@alzheimers.org.uk

 

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