Chief Executive Officer/Operations Manager Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Pay Grade: Salary: £36,016 Holiday
Entitlement: 30 days
Responsible to:
Integration Support Services Board of Trustees The post of CEO/Operations Manager will be central to the growth and development of ISS and will play a leading role in the promotion of positive policies and practices on issues relating to Migrants, Refugees and other BME groups. Integration Support Services is a small charity based in Harlow, West Essex which consists of a small team of paid staff and volunteers.
The charity provides various services for the local community of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and BME groups living in Essex and Hertfordshire. The examples of the services provided by ISS are English lessons for adults, social events, talking groups, immigration advice, women’s group, children’s Saturday club, hate crime report centre, etc. The CEO/Operations Manager will have executive responsibility for the strategic development and management of the organization, the preparation and implementation of the ISS strategic plan as developed, and for the growth and expansion of the organisation, under the supervision of and with the support of the Board of Trustees.
Reporting to the Chair and the Board of Trustees/Directors, the CEO/Operations Officer will have overall responsibility for service delivery, advocacy, policy development and research programmes. The Covid 19 pandemic caused the charity to move all its services online. Previously we had a predominantly face-to-face service delivery model. We are financially stable with good funder relationships. Integration Support Services has a track record of good service delivery since it was founded by a group of migrant volunteers in 2007. This is due in no small part to the dedication and hard work of our staff and volunteers. ISS board of trustees keenly anticipate the challenge of 2021 and beyond: we are looking for a Chief Executive who can share this challenge by planning strategically, delivering change, providing leadership and piloting us confidently through rapidly changing times. The board are confident that with the right leadership ISS will be able to overcome all difficulties and turbulent times in our way.
The Sanctuary is for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis but do not require hospital admission. We are open from 5pm – midnight, 365 days a year.
How to Access Support
Call 111, select option 2
Your needs will be assessed and could be that you are referred to the Sanctuary. You details will be forwarded to the sanctuary team and they will make contact with you as soon as possible. You will be provided with an empathic ear for you to talk freely.
You will be provided with information around coping strategies and how to access the help you need.
We can only accept people who have been referred into the service, there is no drop-in.
During lockdown we are offering mainly video and telephone support, however if this is not possible a visit to the sanctuary can be arranged.
The new year brings a list of new books for fundraisers to get their teeth in. Here are three that have just been published or are due out shortly, covering Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, imposter syndrome, and the role of charities in an era of greater scrutiny.
What Have Charities Ever Done for Us?
Journalists Stephen Cook and Tania Mason’s new book is an attempt to rebalance the debate about the role, value and integrity of charities.
Published a year after the coronavirus pandemic hit, it highlights how charities have been among the first to respond to the social and economic crisis, while often having to furlough staff and operate on much reduced donations.
The reporting period (1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020) falls six months before and six months after the Coronavirus pandemic began.
The report highlights how the regulator responded by focusing its efforts on producing guidance in collaboration with other sector organisations to help fundraisers and the public fundraise and donate safely.
The Annual Report also shows how the nature of enquiries the regulator received changed over the period, as fundraisers adapted to the restrictions on social contact, and the volume of complaints received fluctuated across the year, reflecting times when public fundraising methods were paused.
#ReclaimSocial, the yearly viral campaign that aims to reclaim social media for good goes live today, 5 February.
Now in its fourth year, the campaign encourages charities and individuals to share inspiring and positive stories of how they use social media to make a difference, nominate heroes who brighten up their feed, thank supporters, volunteers and teams, and share the impact of work from the last year.
Previous years have seen the likes of Miranda Hart, Rob Delaney and feminist journalist Mona Eltahawy spreading positivity to followers, as well as charities like WWF UK, Samaritans, Macmillan Cancer, Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), The Big Give, Giving Tuesday, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention getting involved.
Almost 9,000 voluntary sector organisations were making use of the government’s furlough scheme at the end of last year, according to new figures.
Data published by HM Revenue & Customs shows more 7,200 charities and almost 1,500 community interest companies and societies made use of the scheme in December.
An overall total of 741,285 employers used the furlough scheme over the course of the month, the data shows.
Individual information on the number of employees that were on furlough during the month was not part of the published data.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was launched in April last year and offered grants to UK employers to furlough employees who were unable to work because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Since October, 1.2 million employers had received grants of £41.4bn via the scheme.
Concerns have been raised about significant fraud in the scheme, primarily via employers claiming grants but not passing them on to employees.
HMRC told the Public Accounts Committee last year that up to 10 per cent of grants could have been affected by fraud and error. In addition, the National Audit Office found that nine per cent of surveyed employees reported working illegally while furloughed at the request of their employer.
HMRC said its goal in publishing this data was to deter fraud and help employees spot cases where their employers were failing to pass on furlough cash.
Anna Powell-Smith, founder of the Centre For Public Data, said that although the release of the information was a step in the right direction in terms of transparency, the data was not sufficiently detailed and did not allow for a meaningful analysis.
She said that when HMRC published company numbers alongside the company name it would allow for a more complete picture, because more than one-third of the companies in the HMRC data cannot be linked to Companies House records purely by name.
“The release was significant because there is evidence of organisations accessing the scheme but not passing it on to employees,” she said.
“But I’d really like to see the data on payments prior to December, as it could help reclaim some of last year’s fraud losses.”
David Kane, a freelance data scientist who has worked at 360Giving and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, questioned whether charities were over-represented in the records that could not be matched because they had used their registered charity name.
“So 7,000 is probably an overestimate because of this issue, but an underestimate because there will be some charities in the bits of the data that Anna wasn’t able to match,” he said.
“Hopefully, if they publish a version with company numbers, that would make it a lot easier to find the actual charities.”
Charities are being encouraged to make use of the government’s revised youth job creation scheme after it was made simpler for employers to get involved.
The Kickstart scheme provides funding for six-month job placements for 16- to 24-year-olds who are at risk of long-term unemployment.
It has created more than 120,000 roles across all industries since it was launched in September, the government said.
The first phase of the scheme required organisations to have a minimum of 30 vacancies to be eligible, making it harder for many charities to take part.
But the government has removed this minimum requirement, meaning that if a charity wanted to create one new job it could apply directly to the scheme.
Previously many charities were only able to get involved if they partnered a gateway organisation, such as a membership body or local authority, which could co-ordinate applications from many different charities and submit on their behalf.
Duncan Shrubsole, director of policy and communications at the grant-maker the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, said the change of requirements should enable more voluntary sector organisations to use the scheme.
“The Kickstart scheme offers an opportunity for charities to create much-needed new jobs for young people and have costs covered by the government for six months,” he said.
“At a time when charities are seeing rising demand alongside financial challenges, opening up the scheme so that small charities can apply directly without needing to create 30 new roles means the scheme is more much more accessible and will, hopefully, enable more charities to benefit.”
Brave Futures is a nature-based group therapy programme set up to support clients who have experienced grief, trauma, addictions, social isolation, anxiety and depression which has affected their mental health and wellbeing
Wilderness Foundation UK are delighted to be able to offer FREE places on a first-come-first-served basis, while late referrals will be put on waiting list. This 8 week programme will accommodate Adults and Children groups and cover referrals from the Essex area only.
Time: 10.00-15.00
Schedule: 1 day a week for 8 weeks
Group Size: Max 8 People
Location: Chatham Green/Mann Wood, Chelmsford, Essex
Grassroots children’s/ youth clubs in Essex (not including Southend & Thurrock) have been closed due to the pandemic, and many are hoping to re-open soon.
We have some support designed specifically to help re-mobilise these clubs-
1.) A grant of up to £500 to help with club reopening costs related to Covid-19 (Open Now! Until February 22nd 2021)
2.) Telephone support, guidance/ risk assessment advice that you might need to help (Available from the start of Feb- end of March)
re-open
1.) Grant for remobilising grassroots children’s & youth clubs in Essex
This grant is designed to support small, local not for profit voluntary children’s and youth groups/clubs only.
The grant can cover Covid-19 associated costs with the reopening of these groups/ clubs. (applications open from 13/01/2021-22/02/2021)
What can these costs include?
Covid-19 related hygiene costs (e.g. Hand sanitizer, soap, face masks, gloves, increased venue cleaning or equipment costs.)
Covid-19 related Infrastructure costs (e.g. Plexiglass screens, wall mounted dispensers, signage, increased venue hire costs
to comply with social distancing.)
Covid-19 related volunteer training costs
Subs money covered for one term (up to £40 per child/ young person) for families struggling to pay subscription fees to
Voluntary, not for profit children’s or youth clubs who are affiliated to a national or Essex based governing body.
Who can apply?
Small, local grassroots and not for profit children’s and youth clubs who do not have support of this kind available through local or national affiliated bodies. This might be-
Community based and not-for-profit youth or children’s clubs, uniformed organisations, sports or physical activity groups, musical theatre groups and many more!