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News for June 2008
| Community E-Bulletin June 2008 | |
| Organics | This months highlights... |
| Reuse & | - Quality of Life Partnership? more... |
| Recycling | - Launch of REconomy more... |
| Networking | - Loads of Awards to apply for more... |
| Eastern | - Composting Cookbook more... |
| Region | - Going traveling? see featured website more... |
Local News · Voluntary Sector News · Regional + National News · Funding News
Awards · Tenders · Jobs · Website of the Month · Freebies
LOCAL NEWS
New Home for ECORRN ECORRN celebrated the opening of its new office on 6th June to coincide with Recycle Week. We now have a dedicated office in TREE's new Chelmsford community shop. It is fantastic to have somewhere so central and being based with one of our most active members is a definite plus. We are very grateful to TREE for providing the space. If you need to contact us for information and advice, support and promotional work, or simply for a chat then our new phone number is 01245 351 579. If you want to drop by then the address is: 8 Hoffmanns Way, Chelmsford, CM1 1GU. Essex celebrates Recycle Week in style Essex saw a huge range of recycling activities and events to celebrate Recycle Week. Ranging from reusable bag giveaways at civic amenity sites, to an extremely successful high street stall in Colchester, to a Junk Swap in Springfield Park Baptist Church – Essex reuse and recycling organizations were extremely high profile. The Junk Swap was so successful that the tables were 3-people deep! It has taken a while but the idea of reuse and recycling has become firmly entrenched in the minds of Essex residents and they are now keen to do more. This is an excellent time to get out there and promote your activities. Don't forget to let us know what is going on! Working in Partnership – are we managing it? The Essex Partnership hosted a Sustainable Essex event on 10th June. The purpose of this is to create a new partnership group to coordinate strategy and implement Local Area Agreement (LAA) indicators. Discussion focused around how to structure the group and define membership. The proposal document and notes will are available here. During the event ECORRN expressed concern that the seven identified existing partnerships, who all gave presentations, were all Council-led partnerships. Furthermore, although it was stated that these seven were selected purely for convenience, the proposal document then proposed that these seven chairs were given automatic membership of the new group. This proposed membership included a total of 12 statutory representatives, 1 commercial representative and 2 voluntary sector representatives. These voluntary representatives will be expected to speak with authority on transport, waste, biodiversity, housing, energy, volunteering and infrastructure. Although we are pleased to see the number of voluntary sector representatives increased from the initially proposed 1, we are still concerned that this leaves Essex with yet another group predominantly composed of council officers. Also, the diversity of issues that fall within the remit of this partnership body will be extremely difficult for even two representatives to adequately cover. We would propose that organizations like ESTIC, the Association of Essex CVSs, ECORRN, or the Rural Communities Council be represented rather than all the seven council-led partnerships being automatically placed on the management board. ECORRN does not believe that this proposed structure reflects true partnership working or engagement of the community and voluntary sectors. We are preparing a formal response to the stakeholder event outlining our concerns. We would urge other organizations to write to Dan Gascoyne, Head of Partnership Delivery at Essex County Council, at dan.gascoyne@essexcc.gov.uk to express their concerns or find out more information. Bidding for BASIS BASIS is a large funding stream that is currently open for applications from infrastructure organizations. The catch is that only one project will be funded per County so we need to truly work in partnership to make this happen. The Essex, Southend and Thurrock Infrastructure Consortium (ESTIC) are taking the lead on putting a bid together with support from ECORRN, the Rural Communities Council for Essex and local CVSs. The bid is very much about provision of services to frontline organizations – your organization – so we need to know what support you need most. Is it help with money management? Income diversification? Trustee and Volunteer recruitment? Mastering the mysteries of the internet? Our current approach, based on speaking to members, is a bid focusing on managing money, from proper presentation of accounts to securing good value services to income diversification. Is this appropriate for you? Would one of the possibilities above be more useful? You can either contact me at ecorrn@googlemail.com or Maureen Frewin, Chair of ESTIC, at mfrewin@hotmail.com. Local Food ECORRN will be coordinating a meeting of all organizations interested in applying for the Local Food Fund, which has a pot of £50 million to distribute. If you would like to get involved then please e-mal me at ecorrn@googlemail.com. Anglia Ruskin University Chooses2Reuse The university is the latest organisation to host the 3 branded Choose2Reuse bins. Employees will be able to leave good-quality donations in the bins on 24th June. The donations will then be taken along to local charity shops in Chelmsford. It is hoped that this will become a regular feature at the university, reaching both students and staff.
VOLUNTARY SECTOR NEWS
Changes to Charity Law The third and fourth commencement orders of the Charities Act 2006 have been made, bringing a number of provisions into force. These include: - the new statutory definition of 'charity' - accounting and reporting changes to bring the legal framework for charities up to date - a requirement for professional fundraisers to state how much they are paid when asking for public donations - establishment of the Charity Tribunal Charities with an annual income below £25,000 will no longer have to submit their annual accounts to the Charity Commission under plans approved by the regulator. The threshold is currently £10,000. For more information see: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk New technology to process Gift Aid claims on shop donations Eight charities are to install a new system to manage Gift Aid claims on items donated to their shops. The new software, from technology firm Merlin, is a development of a similar system by E-Productive that was launched after being piloted by Sue Ryder shops in 2006. The charities that will use the new system have not yet been named. The system was launched after a successful pilot scheme in selected shops run by Oxfam and Big C, the cancer research and support charity for Norfolk and Waveney. To claim Gift Aid on donated items, charities must contact the donor once the donated item has been sold to obtain permission to claim tax relief on the sale price. Merlin claims that its system is quicker than other alternatives because donated items are given barcodes, which means that it is not necessary to enter information manually. When an item is sold, a letter to the donor is triggered asking for permission for the charity to claim tax relief on the item. Donors have 21 days to respond. Guide to turning your organisation into a volunteer magnet The second edition of 'Turn your organisation into a volunteer magnet' has been published.Forty leaders in the field of volunteer management, from Australia, Britain, Canada, Italy, New Zealand and USA share what they have learned about making your organisation attractive to volunteers. The guide is packed full of top tips and compelling case studies on topics ranging from recruitment and retention, to diversity and creative programme management. This resource has been written by managers of volunteers for their peers and is free to download. www.volunteeringmerseyside.org.uk/h...5&Itemid=61 Energy efficiency scheme targets charities A scheme to help charities fight rising gas and electricity bills by reducing their energy consumption has been launched by energy firms Bizzenergy and Gazprom. The Charity Utility Initiative provides organisations with equipment to help them identify areas in which they could reduce energy consumption. The Government-approved 'smart meters' take readings every half hour, allowing clients to know exactly how much they are using at any point of the day and implement more efficient measures. Under the new scheme, each participating organisation will also be assigned an 'energy-efficient manager', responsible for analysing consumption levels, collating reports and helping to reduce overall costs. The CUI will train the managers, who will be recruited from the National Disability Register in a drive to get more people with disabilities into permanent employment. "Recent price hikes mean charities are struggling, but often do not have the time to analyse their energy consumption," said William Campbell from the CUI. "This scheme helps tackle that problem while also providing secure employment for skilled individuals who may otherwise struggle to find work." So far, Leonard Cheshire, Making Space and Friends of the Elderly have signed up to the initiative. Source: Hannah Jordan, Third Sector Online, 27 May 2008. www.thirdsector.co.uk Europe-wide accreditation scheme for environmental volunteers will be launched in September. The Environments for Learning programme is based on the European Qualification Framework and will provide a way of recognising and assessing skills and knowledge that volunteers learn informally through volunteering. The programme is being developed by UK environmental volunteering charity BTCV and six partner organisations from across Europe. It will allow skills learned through volunteering in one country to be recognised in another. "This will be especially important for our younger volunteers, who often take time out before, during or after studies," said Anita Prosser, head of international development at BTCV. "It will also benefit those de-motivated by studying, who learn new skills in a friendly and informal setting". It is funded by the European Union's Leonardo da Vinci programme for improving the quality of vocational education and training in Europe. Source: Emma Maier, Third Sector Online, 22 May 2008, www.thirdsector.co.uk The Decline of Local Authority Grants for the Third Sector: Fact of Fiction There has been a growing perception that funding for the third sector has not only changed in recent years – in terms of where it comes from, how it is accessed, and what it can be used for – but that it has significantly reduced. In particular, 'grant' funding from Local Authorities appears to have faced the greatest decline, with more 'restricted' types of funding replacing the more flexible 'unrestricted' forms. In response to this, the Finance Hub commissioned BRAP to seek evidence to confirm whether this perception was 'fact or fiction'. BRAP made contact with 90 Local Authorities across the nine English regions, from which telephone interviews were conducted with key staff in 77. In addition, 15 third sector organisations were also consulted. Whilst the vast majority of Local Authorities failed to have detailed information available about the levels of funding supplied to the third sector, of the 27 that did, evidence shows that a total of £36,464,052 was distributed via grant aid three years ago. In the 2006/07 financial year, this amount had been reduced to £31,709,359, approximately 87% of that three years before. When the estimated figures from a further ten Local Authorities were added, the amount three years ago was shown to be £37,647,052 having reduced to £ 32,928,059 in 2006/07. This was again approximately 87% of the previous amount. Even allowing for the estimated figures of the latter figures, evidence suggests a trend of declining funds. This decline may be greater if inflation is allowed for. The findings suggest that underpinning these changes have been the shift towards a 'contract culture' and commissioning, greater competition for a dwindling pool of relevant funds, and the growing influence of Local Strategic Partnerships, Local Area Agreements and Government policy. Source: www.financehub.org.uk/local_authority_grants.aspa National Trust publish cook book for compost A brand new book is set to notch up a National Trust first by becoming the first 100 per cent biodegradable book published by the organisation. Sold in National Trust shops and online, 'How to 'Cook' Compost' is completely compostable and the ultimate book to help you with green living. Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper, with a cover made from 100 per cent recycled fibres and using only vegetable-based inks, 'How to 'Cook' Compost' is wholly biodegradable; meaning that once you become an expert in composting, you can always make another use of this book and add it to your garden's growth. The book contains top tips on how to make the best compost for your garden's needs, including a handy, easy-to-follow guide to making and using compost, how to make the right type of compost from the waste materials you have, and how to make the best use of compost in your garden. Recycling anger over skip arrest An environmental campaigner has been arrested for taking four plastic chairs from a recycling centre. Genny Bove, 46, from Wrexham, said the chairs were dumped in a general rubbish skip and were due to go to a landfill site rather than being recycled. She is on bail, but called it a "waste of police time and resources". Wrexham Council said "rooting through skips" was dangerous and banned, but it would not press charges. North Wales Police confirmed it was investigating. In a statement sent to police, Ms Bove admitted taking the four garden chairs on 2 May from the Brymbo Household Recycling Centre at Lodge in Wrexham. The centre is run by Waste Recycling Group (WRG) on behalf of Wrexham Council. Ms Bove said there was no victim because the chairs were about to be sent to a landfill site, which she said went against the council's own waste policy. She was arrested after the incident and said her DNA and fingerprints were taken. She said: "I cannot believe that any reasonable person would think that removing usable items from the landfill skip constitutes theft, still less decide to call the police and ask them to waste valuable police time investigating this alleged offence. "I would have thought that almost anything else the police do would be a higher priority." Ms Bove said she was initially offered a caution, but declined because she did not feel she had committed a crime. She is waiting to see if any further action will be taken. A North Wales Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we received a complaint that plastic chairs were stolen from a recycling centre on 2 May. "On 8 May a local woman was arrested on suspicion of theft and has been released on police bail pending further inquiries. We are duty bound to investigate all allegations of criminal offences and this includes theft." A council spokeswoman said: "The police were called when a lady refused to put items back into the skip after being found rooting through the skips and removing items from them. "This practice is clearly very dangerous and not allowed under any circumstances. We have not pressed any charges." She added: "The civic amenity site recycles over 60% of the waste taken there and where people have furniture to recycle we advise them to go to Second Circle which has the facilities for the correct storage." Ms Bove is a founder member of Freeconomy Wrexham, an organisation which stages "bring and take" events to encourage recycling. Fellow founder James Whelan said: "I'm behind Genni on this one. It doesn't exactly send out the right message about recycling." Community initiatives site launched A website has been launched by a social enterprise to promote awareness of community initiatives and services in England and Wales. The site, at www.communityprojects.biz, provides free advertising space for community groups and for local projects that are supported by MPs, peers, the police, celebrities or sports personalities. The site has been created by the Community Projects community interest company, which will seek funding from local authorities, government agencies and local businesses. The organisers say projects such as youth groups, environmental schemes or childcare facilities can use the site as well as local amenities including theatres, swimming pools and football teams. They have also offered to create a free web page profile for community groups that outlines their aims and objectives, as well as start-up assistance and help with grant applications. Source: Mathew Little, Third Sector Online, 27 May 2008, www.thirdsector.co.uk
REGIONAL + NATIONAL NEWS
Launch of Reconomy CIC The Furniture Re-use Network, Community Composting Network, Community Recycling Network UK and London Community Recycling Network have created a new community interest company (CIC) to work together more effectively across England. REconomy CIC will provide representation, development support, guidance and information for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations working to manage resources sustainably. The networks own equal shares of REconomy CIC and the new team will be drawn from all four networks, based in London, Bristol, Sheffield as well as the regions. Each network will continue with its own work, and the new company will be the vehicle for closer working where appropriate. REconomy CIC will provide a stronger, more coherent voice in our dealings with Government, industry and other partners. Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn has welcomed the contribution of community recycling groups to encouraging recycling and reuse, and called on the sector to build on its progress to date with the help of £4 million from DEFRA. ASDA under fire after attack on council recycling Thousands of tonnes of packaging are needlessly ending up in landfill because hundreds of local authorities only collect the "bare minimum" of material, retail giant ASDA has claimed. The supermarket said on Monday that millions of people found it difficult to recycle its packaging - even though 93% of it was recyclable - because of a "postcode lottery" of recycling services. As a result, it said it would be fighting against Government proposals to introduce a pay as you throw "tax" because they were unfair. However, local authority recycling officers and the waste sector reacted with fury to ASDA's allegations, saying that they were an "outrageous" attempt to shift blame for sending packaging waste away from retailers. And, the Waste & Resources Action Programme criticised ASDA's use of WRAP data saying that the supermarket had used data which did not even cover recycling banks. Joy Blizzard, communications officer for the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), said: "This is the best piece of blame shifting I have seen in a long time. LARAC would like to know how 92% of ASDA's packaging can be classed as easily recyclable when it clearly isn't. If it was, then local authorities would be collecting it already." The FRN has teamed up with Britain's only social enterprise provider of domestic and commercial energy EBICO EBICO do not charge a fee for people with pre payment meters. The traditional energy companies charge these customers a premium which means that the poorest people are often paying the highest prices for their electricity and gas. The FRN has agreed to promote EBICO products and they are inviting FRN members, from anywhere in the UK to join them. There will be a payment of £10 for each customer that switches to EBICO which will be split evenly between FRN and the member involved. If you are interested in participating in this initiative, please email pauls@frn.org.uk and head the email 'Fuel poverty'. WRAP launches new guidance to help local authorities improve participation in recycling schemes WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) have produced new guidance - Improving Low Participation Areas (LPA's) - Effective Communications Planning which comprises detailed questions that help local authorities to identify LPAs and to understand how to enable residents in these areas to recycle more. For more information see link: www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/news/wrap_launches_new.html
FUNDING NEWS
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Launches New Funding Strands The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is launching three exciting new approaches to its funding: a new funding strand based on Food, a pilot programme of work in Northern Ireland and a Finance Fund. Food: Aims to promote an understanding of the role of food in enhancing quality of life. We are interested in work that influences policy and practice across a range of food-related areas, enabling as many people in the UK as possible to access, prepare and eat nutritious, sustainable food. The budget is £3million over the next three years. Finance Fund: Offers financing to projects or organisations that can demonstrate the need for investment and the capacity to manage the demands of non-grant funding. Arrangements could include loans, guarantees, equity or quasi-equity finance. At this stage, the programme will not be open to unsolicited applications. Up to £15million will be available for funding of this kind. Further information: Laura Lines 020 7297 4711; www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk The EON SOURCE Fund The fund has been developed to support community energy projects which either result in the production of energy from a sustainable source or which reduce the amount of energy used by a community organisation. The fund is available to community groups, charities and not for profit organisations across England, Scotland and Wales and we invite applications for grants of up to £30,000. Examples of the types of organisations we have granted funds to in the past include schools, local-based and national charities, special education colleges and wildlife parks. We are not able to support residential or business projects. We have secured funding for 2008 and welcome applications from qualifying organisations. Deadlines for 2008 are:Friday 3 October 2008. If you are unsure as to whether your project might be eligible for a grant from the SOURCE Fund, take a look at the funding criteria and the FAQ section. www.eon-uk.com/about/2689.aspx
AWARDS
Call to find UK charity hero The search is on for the £30,000 winner of Gordon Brown's 'Nobel Prize of the Charity World'. The Beacon Fellowship Charitable Trust is urging people to nominate individuals who have made a significant charitable contribution in giving time, money or skills to a specific cause for the 2008 Beacon Prize. For more information visit http://www.beaconfellowship.org.uk/index.asp The Guardian Charity Awards 2008 It's never been more important to nurture innovation and excellence among smaller charities, which are so often overshadowed by the big players of the voluntary sector. It is typically the smaller organisations that have the fresh thinking, flexibility and reach into communities that make the crucial difference to people's lives. For the past 16 years, the Guardian Charity Awards have set out to showcase best practice among small and medium-sized charities and help them win the profile and funding they need to move forward. To the big players, the message is: sorry, this is one set of awards you cannot enter. The awards are aimed at charities delivering practical solutions to present-day problems. So long as the objective of your charity is improving social wellbeing in its broadest sense, and provided other entry criteria are met, nothing is ruled out. How to enter Download an application form from the link on the left of this page.To request more application forms call 01727 898146, or email charityawardsapplication@guardian.co.uk Application forms should be submitted by 5pm on Friday August 1 2008 Lets Recycle Awards – Community Recycling category letsrecycle.com is delighted to invite entries for the 2008 Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management. The Awards, now in their fifth year, are renowned for showcasing innovation, dedication and success in recycling and sustainable waste management. Relevant categories include: The Best Community Recycling Initiative (sponsored by Greenstar) This award will recognise the achievements of a social enterprise/community recycling project to delivering improved recycling and waste management services and can include projects such as re-use, recycling, composting, education, minimisation and associated activities. The entry can involve a partnership with a local authority or the private sector but the social enterprise/community sector activity must represent at least 50% of the activity. The judges will be looking for the commitment shown by the social enterprise or community group and at the achievements made. Submissions are likely to include testimonials, data, reports and other information. For more information go to: www.letsrecycle.com/awards/categories.html
TENDERS
JOBS
FREEBIES
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
www.Stuffyourrucksack.com The website enables travellers to give practical help to places they visit by bringing things that are really needed. It's not about taking sweets and pens to encourage chilidren to beg; nor is it about handing out money to people who might tell a good story but whose scruples are far from good.It is about helping small, legitimate organisations that get little or no help from their government or from local or international NGO's. It's about travellers helping other travellers to give practical assistance to people who have the least, but often give the most. You can tell the website what is needed and find out what to take.
AND FINALLY...
'Unicorn' born in Italy A roe deer with a single horn in the middle of its head has found fame as the "Unicorn" of Tuscany. The 10-month-old deer was born in captivity at the Centre of Natural Sciences, a nature reserve near Prato. While single-horned deers have been spotted before, this particular buck has a uniquely central horn, thought to be the result of a genetic flaw. "This is a demonstration that the fabled unicorn, which we all know from icons and legends, probably was not just a fantasy. It was probably an animal like this one, with a natural anomaly," said Gilberto Tozzi, the director of the centre. The mother of the two deer was brought to the park several years ago after being hit by a car in the Apennine mountains.