Voluntary groups or charities playing a vital role in keeping people safe from harm, helping victims of crime or delivering activities that are making their local communities safer places to live and work, are being given the chance to apply for funding to support their work.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available from the independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF) which manages the High Sheriffs’ Fund and other charitable funds that support community safety initiatives across the county.
The Loneliness Engagement Fund provides small grants between £15,000 and £50,000 to organisations who can engage with target groups at high risk of loneliness. The fund will give out up to £260,000 of grants in total.
£ 26,131 (35 hours per week) Part-time hours will be considered for the right candidate
We are seeking a skilled and motivated Projects Manager to lead the development and delivery of projects and income generating services across Essex.
We now need a person with project management and business development skills to deliver a diverse range of projects and services. Reporting directly to the CEO your role will include identifying new opportunities and putting them into practice. This is an exciting opportunity to develop a new role within our charity which benefits from great support from the local community in Essex.
Action for Family Carers is a thriving charity which for over 30 years has been providing support for adult carers and young carers – people with unpaid, caring responsibilities for others. We are a Carers Trust Network Partner and Trusted Charity. We provide information, befriending, counselling, wellbeing activities, young carer clubs. Activity groups and day care across Essex, working within schools, with GP practices and in a variety of community settings.
Projects Manager
£ 26,131 (35 hours per week)
Part-time hours will be considered for the right candidate
Based in our Maldon, Harlow or Colchester office
Your role:
Spotting opportunities and making new projects happen
Ensuring effective and efficient project/service delivery
Managing staff and monitoring performance
Establishing positive relationships with funders
You are:
Able to manage multiple projects, services, staff and budgets
Proactive and keen to help develop new opportunities
Skilled in the use of IT and social media
Good at communicating and working with people at all levels
We offer:
Full induction and relevant training.
Contributory pension scheme.
An opportunity to make a positive difference for carers and families in Essex
A chance to be part of a person-centred, supportive and friendly team.
For an informal conversation about the role please contact James Clarke on 01621 851 734.
Applications will be considered as soon as they are received.
Action for Family Carers is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from all sections of the community. Registered Charity No: 1127164
This trauma-informed network provides an opportunity to meet and reflect on trauma informed work, and share insights and ideas.
About this event
What is it?
A UK-wide network that provides an opportunity to:
Meet and reflect upon trauma informed work
Share insights and ideas
Collaborate with others
Share challenges
Find solutions to embedding trauma informed practice
Who is it for?
Anyone with an interest in working with trauma and in becoming trauma informed
Colleagues who are already delivering their core work in a trauma informed way
Where and when?
Online: Thursday 11 November, 2-4pm
Speaker: Aimee Ramiah, Senior Safeguarding and Wellbeing Manager, Safer Places
For you if you work in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
If you do not live or work in one of these regions but would still like to attend, you are welcome to book a place at this meeting or visit our website for details of other network meetings.
The North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance have announced a major virtual community conference with Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the Institute of Health Equity (UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health).
Taking place on Monday 11th October, titled Communities Can…Build Back Fairer, the conference aims to raise awareness of how living through Covid for the past 18 months has highlighted a host of inequalities in health outcomes.
Tracy Rudling, CEO at Community360 said: “The conference is the first phase of a commitment from local leadership that we are not going back to the status quo, there must be systematic change to ‘Build Back Fairer.’ This also comes on the back of our ‘Communities Responding to Crisis’ report which was co-designed by Community360 and the University of Essex.”
She added: “Colloquially called ‘We Are Not Going Back’ internally at Community360, our first ambition is to establish a community voluntary sector leadership forum. There has never been a better time to form such an alliance of local leaders and community champions.”
Keynote speaker, Professor Sir Michael Marmot has led research groups on health inequalities for nearly 50 years. He chaired the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas, set up in 2015 by the World Health Organization’s Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) and chaired the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), which was set up by the World Health Organization in 2005, and produced the report entitled: ‘Closing the Gap in a Generation’ in August 2008. At the request of the British Government, he conducted the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010, which published its report ‘Fair Society, Healthy Lives’ in February 2010. This was followed by the European Review of Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide, for WHO EURO in 2014; Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On, in 2020; Build Back Fairer: the COVID-19 Marmot Review in 2021; and the Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, for WHO EMRO, also in 2021.
Sir Professor Michael Marmot said: “Taking action to reduce health inequalities is a matter of social justice. In developing strategies for tackling health inequalities, we need to confront the social gradient in health not just the difference between the worst off and everybody else.” Said Sir Michael Marmot. He added: “There is clear evidence when we look across countries that national policies make a difference and that much can be done in cities, towns and local areas. But policies and interventions must not be confined to the health care system; they need to address the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. The evidence shows that economic circumstances are important but are not the only drivers of health inequalities. Tackling the health gap will take action, based on sound evidence, across the whole of society.”
He will be joined by other guest speakers from Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Essex and ESNEFT as well as local citizens who will be sharing their stories.
Mark Jarman-Howe, Chief Executive, St Helena and Chair, North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance said:
“It is becoming all too clear that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in access to support and health outcomes for our communities. All partners in the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance are determined to do everything in our collective power to turn the curve to address this. The Communities Can virtual conference is both an opportunity to share learning and a rallying cry for us to build back better together.”
Vicki Decroo, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group said:
“We know that the Pandemic has significantly impacted our communities, services closing especially during lockdowns have meant that some residents have not be able to access the full range of community activities and services that they may have needed to remain physically and mentally well and active. We are also aware that this has caused some of our inequalities to widen.
Whilst some communities have come together and are even more connected, we are aware that others have found finding a path through lockdowns more difficult or have had to close or reduce the social activities that previously supported the community to remain connected.
As a collective Alliance of health and care partners, we have achieved a great deal in our immediate response, however, the challenge of tackling our inequalities has never been higher and the Communities Can conference provides us a real opportunity to address this through whole system action”.
Dr Rebecca Warren is a lecturer in Accounting at the University of Essex and together with Dr Alix Green have been collaborating with Community360 on the ‘Communities Responding to Crisis’ report:
“Both Dr Alix Green and I are delighted to be speaking at the conference. To understand and respond to this national crisis we must unpack the human lived experience at the local level. The voluntary sector landscape has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis response in multiple ways and through the development of this report we have a sense of the absolute and immediate human impact of what this means for people delivering these services during the pandemic.”
Colchester Borough Council Strategic Director of Customer and Relationships, Pam Donnelly said:“I am extremely proud of how local stakeholders, including volunteers, organisations and charities have adapted throughout the pandemic. By working in partnership, we have united to support some of the most vulnerable members of the local community, in the context of unprecedented challenges.
“While we have come together for the benefit of our residents, we are still facing challenging levels of inequalities across North-East Essex as a result of Covid-19. That’s why it is crucial that we continue working together to tackle these issues. This will ensure that we offer the community access to the resources and support needed to assist the borough’s recovery from the impact of the pandemic.”
Dr Oonagh Corrigan is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Anglia Ruskin University and will be speaking at the conference. She is a highly experienced qualitative health researcher with a reputation for leading research that produces regional, national and international impact.
“People are naturally social in nature and with life becoming more isolated during and post-COVID-19 as we engage in social distancing and working from home, our follow-up calls revealed that many people were finding life very difficult when these organisations were not available to them.” Said Dr Corrigan. “We believe these groups will be of huge importance for the health and wellbeing of communities in the post-COVID-19 world, and recommend they are promoted and funded appropriately, with group leaders encouraged to apply for grants and given free training. GPs could even ‘socially prescribe’ joining up with a community group.”
“After the conference, it is important that we keep the conversation going.” Said Tracy Rudling.
“We hope local leaders will come together to strengthen leadership culture and create a collaborative call to action, a unified and consolidated voluntary and community sector leadership forum in Colchester which will fight for a less unequal society and challenge the cultural norms. It will be known as the Marmot Community Sector Leadership Forum and the first meeting will take place following the conference. We would love any local charitable organisations operating across the Borough to join us and will be releasing further information on this soon.”
The conference takes place on 11th October 2-4.30pm and is FREE to attend
Social media and technology company Facebook is being urged to take safeguarding concerns seriously following the launch of its new fundraising software.
Facebook is in the process of rolling out new products throughout the rest of September and October that could increase a charity’s capabilities on the platform’s advert manager.
The company said in a statement: “Non-profit organisations who are onboarded to the Facebook Fundraising tools now have the option to bring their donation advertising campaigns onto the Facebook platform with On-Facebook Donation Ads.
“This new signal-resilient product enables your organisation to benefit from Facebook’s personalised advertising solutions with two new custom audiences: previous donors and previous fundraiser creators.”
It will allow charities to measure conversions, their return on advertising spend within the platform’s advert manager, and understand which advertising tactics are having the most impact.
In addition, donors will have the opportunity to share their contact information.
But Charities Against Hate, a campaign group that includes representatives of more than 40 charities, warned that while the update provided a great opportunity to raise money, charities must never disregard the huge dangers of their audiences becoming the victim of hate via those platforms.
A spokesperson for the group added: “Online hate, bullying and racism has a devastating impact, and we remain unconvinced that the platforms are doing enough to tackle this.
“We would urge any charities using Facebook to raise this issue with the platform as a matter of urgency – and to get in touch with us at Charities Against Hate to find out how we are evolving to serve the sector and bring together people interested in tackling this scourge.”
Caroline Bernard, director of communications at the Young Women’s Trust, which is a member of CAH, said: “Young Women’s Trust uses Facebook extensively for engagement with young women and for raising vital funds to continue our services.
“While this latest feature is a positive development, we urge Facebook to take safeguarding issues into account to ensure that any instances of hate or abuse are immediately addressed.
“This issue affects charities across the board and we need to be able to deliver on our fundraising objectives in a positive way and in a safe space.”
This episode is part one of three in the Difficult Conversations series. The series will explore creating safe spaces for conversations around D&I, how to be an ally and get your team on board, and being ok with getting things wrong and making genuine changes.
In this episode, we’re joined by Jon Cornejo, anti-racism consultant with JMB Consulting and campaign organiser with Charity So White and Lily Lewis, Founder and CEO of The Pocressi Initiative and workshop facilitator for Let’s Talk About Race.
This episode explores the current climate, the importance of anti-racism work and the need to start having difficult conversations about race and other protected characteristics which are often on the fringe and marginalised. The episode will also focus on how we need to and can ensure minorities and oppressed groups have safe spaces while this work is ongoing for the organisation.
Charity Fraud Awareness Week (18 – 22 October 2021) is an award-winning campaign run by a partnership of charities, regulators, law enforcers, representative and umbrella bodies, and other not-for-profit stakeholders from across the world.
The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of fraud and cybercrime affecting the sector and to create a safe space for charities and their supporters to talk about fraud and share good practice.
Why is it important?
All charities, NGOs and not-for-profits are susceptible to fraud and can be targeted. Those providing services and supporting local communities may be especially vulnerable to fraudsters attempting to exploit current national and global crises to carry out fraud and cybercrime. This means that now – more than ever – charities need to be fraud aware and take steps to protect their money, people and assets from harm.
Who is it for?
trustees, directors, board members, staff and volunteers
organisations that represent the interests of the sector and/or act as their voice
accountants, auditors, solicitors and insurers acting as professional advisors to the sector
regulators, law enforcers and policymakers working to safeguard the sector, and
anyone else who wants to protect the sector and the crucial work it does.
The East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund aims to support the work of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE) that are creating or adapting services or activities that will have a positive impact in the communities where the East of England Co-operative trades in Norfolk, Suffolk and North East Essex.
Funding applications
Applications for the next round of the Community Cares Fund are now open!
Funding applications must address at least one or more of these key areas:
Community Action – including the development of physical and virtual spaces, and services that bring communities together.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Food Justice for all – including access to, and sharing knowledge about good quality, nutritious food.
Who can apply and size of grants
Please ensure you read the information below before completing our eligibility checker
The Fund will award grants of between £1000 and £5000 to support the work of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSE), charities and parish councils looking to create or adapt services or activities to address local needs in the areas of Norfolk, Suffolk and North East Essex where the East of England Co-op trades.
To find out where your nearest East of England Co-op food store, travel branch or funeral branch is click here to go to our store locator. Select the option for ‘All branches’
Applicants to the East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund will need to have:
a management committee of at least three members
a governing document/constitution with a dissolution clause
a bank account with two unrelated signatories living at separate addresses, who must both sign for all withdrawals
an equal opportunities policy
annual accounts
management accounts (if your accounts are less than six months old) which show income, expenditure, reserves (split by restricted and unrestricted)
relevant safeguarding policies if you are working with young people or vulnerable adults.
The East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund is administered on our behalf by Suffolk Community Foundation working with Essex and Norfolk Community Foundations.
By applying to the East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund you agree to share your data with the East of England Co-op and the Community Foundations and understand that you may be contacted for publicity purposes.
The window for applications for this round closes on Friday 8 October 2021. Please note funds are limited for this round, and the Fund is likely to close early if oversubscribed.
Funds from this round will be awarded at the start of 2022.
Successful applicants will be required to take part in marketing activities with us to promote the East of East Co-op Community Cares Fund and the work the group is undertaking in the community.
If you would like to apply for a Community Cares Fund grant, please complete our Eligibility Checker. It will only take a couple of minutes.
The Community Cares Fund was set up in April 2020, as a response to the Coronavirus pandemic and our desire to allocate our community funds to charities and organisations looking to adapt, enhance and deliver much needed services to the most vulnerable in our communities during this incredibly difficult time.
Our initial Fund of £230,000 was quickly added to by our generous members who donated their dividend to the fund.
With the support of our members we were able to support foodbanks helping families at crisis point, young victims of domestic violence, unpaid carers struggling in lockdown and vulnerable people shielding at home to get the medical supplies they needed.
A number of smaller but no less valuable donations were also made to a variety of groups and charities across our region.
Over the past year, the Community Cares Fund has enabled us to be much more responsive to the needs of people in our communities and direct our support to where it is most needed. To allow us to continue this good work, we have decided to direct the majority of our community support though the Community Cares Fund and working with the Community Foundations in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk to open it up for charities and groups to apply for grants of between £1000 and £5000.