The Local Government Association (LGA) has launched a new programme to support councils seeking to innovate and develop pioneering initiatives to boost digital inclusion in their communities. The Digital Pathfinders Programme will award up to £20,000 per council in England and Wales for projects that advance digital inclusion, digital connectivity such as broadband and mobile improvement programmes, and cyber security to support residents, the council, businesses and local places.
The LGA will help councils to deliver their proposed initiative which should be scalable, sustainable and transferrable between authorities.
The deadline for expressions of interest is 12pm on the 10th September 2021.
Councils, health services, charities and faith organisations across Suffolk and north east Essex are collaborating to support refugees from Afghanistan as part of a scheme to provide sanctuary for those most at risk of persecution by the Taliban.
Click here to read the briefing from the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System
They redirect business end-of-line, surplus and discontinued stock to the most deprived communities in the UK.
Giving World have a wide range of products available to support your beneficiaries, including clothing, toiletries, baby products, toys, bedding, kitchen equipment and other household items, books, crafts and ambient foods.
Their website is regularly updated with new stock so register here (no charge) to receive stock updates and access goods as and when you need them.
Charities with HSBC accounts face a host of new charges from November after the bank announced it will charge a £60 a year fee just to keep the accounts open.
The bank has also introduced charges for branch transactions including a 0.4 per cent fee to pay in and withdraw cash, a charge of £4 on a £1,000 donation, and a fee of 40p to deposit a cheque.
Charities will also be charged a 1.5 per cent fee when withdrawing change over the counter for fundraising events.
For more than a decade the bank has allowed charities and non-profit organisations to manage their finances for free, as long as they made no more than £100,000 a year.
But the bank said it has had to increase its prices to more accurately reflect the cost of providing and maintaining a business bank account, and the value and benefits of the proposition.
HSBC contends that its £5 monthly account fee is lower than standard banking tariffs and its offer is competitive, while the new account is not subject to the £100,000 annual income cap so will be available to a wider range of charities.
The bank would not say how many customers will be affected, but confirmed it is writing to all the charities involved to make them aware of the changes and to support them to reduce charges by migrating from the use of cash and cheques to electronic transactions. It stressed that it had not taken the decision lightly.
Membership bodies have warned that the increased costs will reduce the ability of charities to deliver services in the communities they serve.
Rebecca Young, lead policy and influencing manager at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, pointed out that 81 per cent of voluntary organisations have an income of less than £100,000.
She added: “Any increases in unnecessary costs and banking charges will reduce the funding that can be invested in the key work of charities and the difference they make in every community.”
Clare Mills, head of communications and external affairs at the membership body Navca, said: “With HSBC introducing charges for charity accounts, many organisations will be faced with meeting these costs or dealing with the significant administrative and time burden that changing banks involves – and it’s unclear at this stage if other banks will be adopting the same new charging structure.”
Mills said that Navca has been working with the Charity Commission and UK Finance to make the banks aware of the many difficulties charities and voluntary organisations face every day with their banking.
Rita Chadha, chief executive of the Small Charities Coalition, said that HSBC could have given charities more notice.
She added: “All organisations need to make money, but the banking charges being introduced by so many high street banks are doing nothing to ‘level up’ our nation.
“We would encourage all banks to look at the contradiction between their own CSR policies and their commitment to inclusion.”
A HSBC UK spokesperson said: “Over the years, we have made significant enhancements to our business banking proposition to meet the evolving needs of our customers.
“We are committed to supporting UK charities and not-for-profits and are confident that our offer remains very competitive.”
Vodafone has announced the launch of charities.connected, an initiative allowing UK charities to apply for free data.
The aim is to help individuals and families supported by charities, as well as enable organisations to improve their own digital capacity.
According to the 2021 Charity Digital Skills report, almost half of charities (45%) have had to give their users devices, data or support to enable them to get online and 20% said they had to cancel services because they did not have the skills or technology needed to deliver them.
Vodafone UK general counsel and external affairs, Helen Lamprell, said: “At Vodafone, we’ve put tackling digital exclusion at the heart of our business with our pledge to connect one million people by the end of 2022. We hope that by giving free connectivity to charities across the UK, we can enable them to better support their local communities, particularly those that are digitally excluded. We want to support projects big and small – please help us share this offer so we can reach as many charities as possible.”
Registered charities can apply for SIM cards with 20GB of data, plus free calls and texts every month for six months.
Multiple SIMs can be requested and repeat applications can be made if the organisation has a range of digital exclusion projects underway.
SIMs will work in any SIM-enabled device, for example, a phone, tablet, laptop or Mifi dongle.
The online application form includes proving information on how free connectivity will support the project and the number of people set to benefit.
On the 22nd September at 16.00 arranged by Citizens Advice Essex in partnership with FRP.
Charities, small and large, will face unprecedented challenges in the coming years. If you’re a charity trustee, what are the warning signs that there could be trouble ahead for your charity?
This timely webinar, provided by experts in charity restructuring and insolvency, examines the lessons to be learnt from charities that have experienced distress and some of the root causes that could have averted crisis if addressed earlier.
To create a robust digital fundraising strategy and campaign with appropriate comms to increase income reach
Develop strategies for growing income and delivering an excellent supporter experience through email, paid social and other digital marketing channels
To carry out our advertising, executing digital campaigns through email marketing and banner advertising
To develop and maintain Google Ads to expand the reach of Age Concern Colchester & North East Essex.
Recruit and coordinate fundraising volunteers, companies, community groups, etc for fundraising on our behalf
Manage and monitor and create engaging content for all of our social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. as well as other marketing and communication materials (including our website)
Work across-team to ensure coordinated and cooperative fundraising approaches
Improve the integration of online and offline channels
Source direct delivery branded products and create WooCommerce store
Write press releases and be the main contact point for press engagement with the CEO.
Skills and experience
Experience working in a digital fundraising/marketing and/or communications role.
Proven track record of digital fundraising, income generation, social media, and use of google analytics and SEO
Educated to a degree level ideally in, Digital Fundraising, Marketing and/or Communications
Have demonstrable experience in producing high-quality written content, presenting compelling cases for support and impact information
Maintaining and developing successful donor relationships through timely and appropriate communications and engagement
Planning and managing digital fundraising and marketing activity
Ability to write clear and jargon-free copy reflecting the brand and values of Age Concern Colchester; to edit and proofread to a high level of accuracy.
Personal Qualities:
Self-starter, motivated, results-driven
Friendly with a positive attitude
Be passionate about all things digital, with a focus on e-commerce
Able to work independently, manage deadlines and prioritise work in a fast-paced environment
Excellent time management skills
Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills
Excellent attention to detail
Good at working as part of a cross-functional team
Flexibility in responding to urgent requests, whilst maintaining and adjusting work schedules.
Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines, producing accurate work
Desirable, not essential:
Experience using Adobe Suite and WordPress, Buffer, Mailchimp, and Facebook Business Manager, Google analytics, Dotdigital. Experience in film & Podcasts.
This is a permanent role for a maximum of 20 hours a week between Monday – Friday 9am-5pm. Salary dependent on experience and hours to be worked.
We aim to be an equal opportunities employer and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
To join a high-performing team in a charity with a great current and future growth plan apply today.
The East of England Leadership Academy in partnership with Tricordant has developed a range of interactive sessions to support you as leaders working on the Integrated Care agenda to understand the world of your partners across heath, care, voluntary, community, social enterprise and faith sector.
We recognise there are significant and unique challenges facing transformation leaders in 2021: reset and recovery requirements, the ongoing pandemic, the backlog of waiting patients, increasing unmet need, an exhausted workforce, and of course, legislative change and associated restructure of NHS bodies including the planned statutory establishment of Integrated Care Systems from April 2022.
These sessions will give you an opportunity to hear from leaders operating within Integrated Care Systems, Primary Care, Local Authority /Adult Social Care as well as the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise and Faith sector. We will be joined by leaders from across the East of England and discussions will be facilitated by our partners, Tricordant. To hear more from your colleagues please do register to join these bite size 1 hour sessions.
Contract: Full Time (37.5hrs), Fixed Term Contract until end of March 2022. This role is funded externally, with the option to extend subject to funding availability.
We are looking for a highly self-motivated, driven, and creative individual to join our innovative and engaging organisation. Seize this opportunity to develop our Big Bike Revival programme and engage with local community cycling clubs, initiatives which are integral to helping us achieve our goal of getting millions more people cycling.
Cycling UK is the national cycling charity delivering community-based behaviour change programmes to increase cycling participation levels in traditionally hard to reach groups across the country. As part of our Behaviour Change and Development Team, you will be helping run these projects and engaging to help more people cycle, more often.
Tell us why you are the person to drive impact in this capacity and change lives.
Explore the job description for full details on this exciting opportunity. Complete the application form expressing why you are the right candidate for this opening and send to recruitment@cyclinguk.org.
Focus on gearing your supporting statement to exemplify how your skills and experience match the requirements of the role, directly referring to both the job description and person specification. This enables the selection panel to assess your relative strengths against the specified criteria.
Apply before 09:00am on 06 September 2021
We are an inclusive organisation and would particularly welcome applications from candidates from a broad range of backgrounds. We strongly believe that diversity strengthens our work. If you are already passionate about cycling, that’s great, many of us are too! But if you are simply really excellent at what you do, no matter what your background, that is what matters most to us.
LGPS, 28 days annual leave, perkbox benefits, agile working, professional development
Job category/type
Fixed Term – Full Time
Closing Date; 5th September
The Adult Inclusion Officer role as part West Essex Adult Inclusion Lifestyle Project provides a unique opportunity to shape and deliver a newly commissioned project across West Essex.
We are looking for a dynamic, organised and self-motivated individual to work across three geographic areas to support adults with learning disabilities to improve their physical and mental health in order to live active and fulfilled lives.
You will be responsible for the recruitment, training and development of volunteers who will be deployed to support adults with learning disabilities across West Essex.
You will also work closely with the Adult Inclusion Lifestyle Occupational Therapist in upskilling local service providers to offer inclusive services and assist in the development and delivery of new activities across West Essex.
The successful candidate will have experience of volunteer management including recruitment and training of volunteers.
They will have knowledge and experience of developing and delivering health and wellbeing interventions and experience of working with people with disabilities.
You will have excellent inter-personal, communication and motivational skills and be able to work autonomously and flexibly.
Experience of monitoring and evaluating the success of projects is desirable.
The successful candidate will be able to develop and sustain effective relationships with clients, their carers and families, volunteers and wider stakeholders and proactively promote the wider services offered by Epping Forest District Council, Harlow Council, Uttlesford Council and wider providers.
If you would like an informal chat about this fixed term contract role, please contact Fabrizio Ferrari, Public Health Improvement Officer, at Epping Forest District Council on 07538523771
To make an application, please visit the Epping Forest Council website
Epping Forest District Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.