Friday 30 March 2012

Co-operative Group has funds available for Mid Wales

The County Times this week has an article stating that the Co-operative group has £15,000 available for community groups and charities in Mid Wales, during the first 6 months of the year.  Grants between £200 and £2000 are allocated every two months.  More funds will be available later in the year as well.

Application forms are available from:
www.co-operative.coop/communityfund   or phone 0844 262 4001

(Source:  County Times)

Wednesday 28 March 2012

VILLAGE SOS HITS THE ROAD AGAIN

Dates for the free 2012 roadshow have been released.  

Go to:http://www.villagesos.org.uk/uk-news/village-sos-roadshow-2012 for more details.

Powys Groups Heritage Lottery Success

Between March 2011 and February 2012, Powys groups have managed to secure £388,150 worth of heritage Lottery funding for a variety of projects - congratulations to you all!  We would love to hear how your projects are going.

Heritage Lottery Fund: New fund to be announced soon

Heritage Lottery Fund will shortly be announcing a new grant programme awarding between £3,000 and £10,000 to explore, share and celebrate the heritage of a community.  Further information will be available early in April, but if you would like to be first to hear about it, look out for information on the HLF Wales facebook page.

(Source: Heritage Lottery Fund)

Friday 23 March 2012

POWYS FUNDER'S FAYRE 2012 - DIARY DATE

Following on from last year's highly successful event, we will be running the 2012 Funder' Fayre in Newtown on:
FRIDAY 27TH APRIL 2012

If you want a chance to talk to funders face to face then put the date in your diary today.  PAVO Development Staff will also be available to talk to, and its a great opportunity to network with other groups.

Details will be confirmed via this blog, the e-brief and the PAVO website as soon as they are available.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Book your place now! Are We Ready, Commissioning & Tendering in Powys

Hafod a Hendre, Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd, 10am - 3.30pm


What will be covered?
●     Make sure your organisation is ready by finding out about the latest developments from the Welsh Government - Value Wales, Sue Lloyd Selby
●     Come and hear the Third Sector Perspective - Carl Cooper, CEO PAVO
●     Come and hear the Commissioner’s Perspective from Powys County Council and Powys (t) Local Health Board - Barbara Smith, Mike Green and others
●     Participate in a Q&A session and ask questions directly of Commissioners panellists include Welsh Government, Local Authority and Local Health Board decision makers
●      Find out about putting your organisation in the best position - Jon Matthews
●      Explore and prepare for collaboration through attending workshops

Who is this for?
●     3rd Sector organisations looking for opportunities to deliver services especially around health & social care, mental health, children, young people & families.
●     3rd Sector organisations who look to collaborate with others to bid for contracts
●     Local Authority and Health Board staff who wish to be updated on Commissioning and Tendering processes in Powys

Reserve your place urgently as space is limited by contacting PAVO Helpdesk
e-mail:info@pavo.org.uk  Phone:  0845 009 3288

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Ystradgynlais Roadshow a success

Many thanks to all those who attended the Roadshow in Ystradgynlais yesterday, it was great to see you there, and we hope you found it as interesting as we did.

Would you like us to come to your area? - Get in touch and let us know, we could be heading your way soon!

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Improving your fundraising hit - article of interest

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/mar/13/improving-fundraising-applications-success

Is this something you can identify with, how have you found making applications?  Let us know.

PAVO COURSE - TRADING

(10am -1pm)  Wednesday 21st  March 2012 
Cost £10 per person
Venue - DRC, Unit 30, Ddole Road Enterprise Park, Llandrindod Wells

By the end of this course participants will be able to:
·  assess their potential for trading goods or services;
·  understand the processes involved in developing a trading idea;
·  develop a competitive advantage;
·  know where to go for further information, help and advice.

Who should attend? 
It is intended for those with a responsibility for strategic direction and fundraising and is suitable for fundraisers wishing to gain an insight of how trading can assist organisations to become financially sustainable.

PAVO Tel: 01597 822191

Click, connect and learn with Sustainable Funding Cymru

WCVA’s Sustainable Funding Cymru (SFC) project is launching an exciting new service to third sector organisations in Wales. Their popular range of training courses for 2012 offers the opportunity to extend learning beyond the classroom by accessing and sharing materials online.

The Learning Zone provides the Welsh third sector with the ability to connect and learn online on funding and finance issues. The benefits of online learning are well documented and feedback from learners is that they wanted a more flexible way to learn.  In particular, trustees who simply don’t have the time or are unable to travel.

Learners are able to access resources prior to training and after attending an event. Specific resources can also be made available to those learners unable to attend the face-to-face sessions, who still want to find out more about sustainable funding.

To launch the site, SFC has created a short 15 minute course on Welsh Language Awareness, providing an ideal opportunity to try the Learning Zone firsthand before their forthcoming funding courses are released. Over the coming months there will be a greater number of courses available for public access and for those who attend SFC’s training sessions. Subjects include bid writing, tendering, working with outcomes, planning for trustees, raising funds for capital projects and trust fundraising.

To access the Learning Zone simply go to http://sfclearningzone.org.uk (do not add ‘www’ before the website address). 

(Source:  WCVA)

Wednesday 7 March 2012

GWIRVOL MILLENNIUM VOLUNTEERS YOUTH VOLUNTEERING GRANTS

The GwirVol Millennium Volunteers grant strand supports organisations offering volunteering opportunities to young people aged in 14-25 in Wales.
Not for profit and public sector organisations can apply for grants of up to £10,000 towards the cost of providing 200 hours of volunteering opportunities for young people working towards the Millennium Volunteers Award of Excellence.
Grants are available to cover costs including:
*            Travel.
*            Subsistence.
*            Training.
*            Administration.
*            Support for volunteers from staff.
Projects must take place in Wales and begin after September 2012 and complete before 31 March 2014.
The deadline for applications is 13 June 2012 (2pm).


Powys Volunteer Centre Volunteer of the Year Awards 2012

Do you know someone who has proved an inspiration to others through their volunteering?
Is there a group or organisation that you know of that has made a real difference to the community through their volunteering activity?
Is there someone that has made an outstanding contribution over the years that you feel deserves recognition?
Why not nominate them for a Powys Volunteer Centre “Powys Volunteer of the Year” award.
The nomination form and rules can be found here, if you require the form in word format please contact the PAVO Helpdesk on 0845 009 3288 or email: info@pavo.org.uk

Closing date for nominations Friday 27th April 2012

Crowdfunding - what do you think?

Here's an interesting article about crowd funding:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/mar/07/crowd-funding-community-projects

What do you think?  Would it work for your group or community - let us know.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Updated Gift Aid guidance from HM Revenue and Customs

HM Revenue and Customs (Charities) has updated guidance on Gift Aid
declarations and provided new model declarations. For charities designing
their own declaration form, there is a new checklist of the minimum
information that must be included - HMRC is aware that many declarations in
use are not in accordance with the legislation. HMRC has also apologised
for an error in the previous guidance which mistakenly states that records
of Gift Aid declarations need only be kept for four years, rather than the
necessary six. See HMRC news item
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/new-model-declarations.htm, or direct to
the guidance at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift_aid/declarations.htm 

GWIRVOL GRANTS 2012-13


GwirVol is pleased to announce the launch of the 2012-2013 round one youth volunteering grants.
The aim of the GwirVol Youth Volunteering Grants scheme is to support the delivery of a wide range of new volunteering opportunities in Wales and overseas that will support the step change in access to volunteering for young people aged 14-25 and especially for disadvantaged young people. The GwirVol grant scheme offers five different strands of funding.
· Creating Opportunities: For organisations looking to create new youth volunteering projects, new youth volunteering roles or to recruit more young people into existing volunteering roles. Creating Opportunities grant applications can be for up to a maximum amount of £10,000.
· Promotions: For organisations looking to promote the benefits or challenge the perceptions of volunteering to young people or about young people to their local communities. Shout it out! grant applications can be for up to a maximum amount of £3,000.
· International: For organisations looking to develop overseas volunteering opportunities that benefit young people and their communities in Wales as well. International grant applications can be for up to a maximum amount of £30,000.
· Millennium Volunteers: For organisations looking to recognise the commitment young people give to volunteering through offering the 200 hour award of excellence. Millennium Volunteers grant applications can be for up to a maximum amount of £10,000.
How to apply:
You can get more information and download the application forms and guidance at http://www.gwirvol.org/en/grants/
The deadline for applications is 2pm Wednesday, 13 June, 2012.
GwirVol also runs the StreetGames grants which are open all year with no closing date. If your organisation involves young volunteers in sports activities go to StreetGamesgrants now!

(Source: WCVA)