Disability Hustings

/by

Disability Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Deaf Association are holding a hustings for Disabled and Sensory Impaired people on Friday evening at 6.30pm for a 7pm start at Allia in Peterborough. Details of the venue can be found here

Disability Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Deaf Association have local leaders of all the main parties in attendance to answer questions and hopefully the local press will be covering the event.

www.cambsdeaf.org/election

To register with the opportunity to ask a question to the MP’s on the night follow this link: https://form.jotformeu.com/cambsdeaf/deaf-and-disabled-election-hustings

Please find attached a further link to an article by Nikki Fox the Disabled correspondent for the BBC on what disabled people should expect at polling stations to make voting accessible: It highlights that this is not as straight forward as it perhaps could be:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50492140/nikki-fox-on-the-hurdles-and-options-for-disabled-voters

It extremely important that disabled people, their families and their carers get the opportunity to ask their questions to all the political representatives here in Peterborough, so please book your space.

 

 

Capacity Building Partnerships

/by

Next year,  Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council will be jointly commissioning the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Capacity Building Partnership(s) contract.

In Cambridgeshire, this service is currently provided by Support Cambridgeshire (a Partnership of Hunts Forum of Voluntary Organisations, Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service and Cambridgeshire ACRE).

Both Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council are looking for suggestions on how to shape the service they commission, and have compiled a short survey which can be found here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/TW7A6/.

Any organisation or individual which is interested in sharing their views should complete the survey by Friday 13 December 2019.

The Portal Tops 300K

/by

The Support Cambridgeshire self-funding Portal (SC4C) goes from strength to strength with local Cambridgeshire community organisations raising in excess of 300K by using its free self directing funding search potential (a 1164% increase on the previous year).

Over the past 12 months, the Portal has been visited on 5,860 occasions with 506 new registered organisation using the search facility and 650 repeat visitors.

The top 5 search areas continue to be Youth engagement, Older people, Education, Disability and Volunteering.

So our advice is to register and use the Portal: Simply click here to start your journey. You can use the Portal repeatedly without cost: All we ask is that when you receive an electronic  questionnaire about how good or bad the site is you provide your honest opinion. This feedback helps us to improve the site, making it easier for more groups or organisations to use the service.

Here is what some users have said this year:

SC4C is incredibly easy to navigate. Its a really useful resource for community organisations.

We raised 50K off the back of a SC4C search: Its so simple and easy to use.

I use SC4C every week when searching for funds. If you use it in conjunction with the funding alerts it really does help.

If you need some help registering then please contact info@huntsforum.org.uk and put SC4C in your title line.  

Wanted: Your Health and Care experiences

/by

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is the independent champion for people using local health and care services.

Their job is to listen to what people across the area have to say – good and not so good.

Can they help raise some of the issues your organisation, group or users are facing?  What’s working well or where could things be improved?

People tell Healthwatch about recent visits to GPs, dentists and opticians as well as clinic and hospital visits.  They also share views on care services in and around Peterborough.

Any information you give Healthwatch is logged and shared anonymously with the people who make decisions about local services and who can make change happen.

Can they help you too?

They area always looking for opportunities to spread the word about local organisations with GPs and patient groups too.

They might also be able to pass on your details to members of the public calling our Information Service for health and care support, help and advice.

Their engagement team are out and about at events across the area every week – could they come and talk to you too? Please get in touch.

Like to share your feedback and experiences?

 

Meet Caroline Tyrrell- Jones – National Trustee Week

/by

It’s National Trustee Week and Hunts Forum took the opportunity to talk to one of their latest Trustees, Caroline Tyrrell- Jones.

Name: Caroline Tyrell – Jones.

Born: Hammersmith in West London.

Early Years: Great Dunmow and Saffren Walden in Essex.

Residing: Been resident in Cambridgeshire since 1975.

Caroline is currently employed as a Communities Programme Manager for Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Healthwatch champions the views of local people who use health and care services.

This is Caroline’s first foray into the world of Trusteeship, becoming a member of the Hunts Forum Board in April of 2019.

Why did you become a Trustee?

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough reside in the Maple Centre, which is managed on behalf of Huntingdonshire District Council by Hunts Forum. I became interested in the work of our host and decided the best way to learn more was to join the Board. Although I am relatively new and still finding my feet, I am enjoying the experience.

Would you encourage others to volunteers as a Board Member?

Absolutely. The more people that put themselves forward as Trustees, the better local organisations become. There are lots of challenges at the moment, not least the financial context in which Charities work, so the more people that bring their experience and skills to bear the better Charities can navigate the current climate.

And here’s some more things you may wish to know about Caroline:

Favourite food: Winter comfort food (stews, casseroles and the like).

Favourite football manager: Frank Lampard

Favourite pastime: Caroline runs regularly with her local club.

What’s on the bucket list: Racing BMW’s at Silverstone.

Footnote:

There are lots of local organisations who are desperate to find volunteer Trustees. Give it a go – you may be surprised at the results..!!

If you wish to become a Board member at Hunts Forum please contact julie@huntsforum.org.uk

 

Volunteer for Cambridge Conference 2019

/by

Volunteer for Cambridge was first initiated by Cambridge City Council in 2015. It began life as a free annual fair where local community organisations could promote both themselves and their volunteering opportunities to members of the public who might be interested. Extremely successful events have taken place over the last few years, with over 80 organisations and 800 delegates in attendance. The 2019 conference took place on the 4th November 2019 at the Meadows Centre in Cambridge. The keynote presentation was provided by Veronique Jochum of NCVO who talked about their Time Well Spent Research.  

This was followed by a series of workshops on varying aspects of volunteering.

Session 1 was labelled How inclusive are we?: Facilitated by Hannah Touey of the Arthur Rank Hospice with support from Eddie Stadnik and Suzan Murrad from the Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum, this session examined what we can do as organisations to overcome the barriers that some people face when attempting to volunteer, how do we better reflect the communities we serve and are we doing enough as a sector to encourage volunteers.

Session 2 was labelled How flexible are we?: Facilitated by Vic Hopkins of Food Cycle, with Chris Pursell and Ania Udalowska from Anglia Ruskin and Kerrie Thackray from Girl Guides East, this session debated such issues as can we let people pilot volunteering opportunities without commitment, can we accommodate those with a limited time offer and how responsive are we to volunteer interests and skills.

Session 3 was about Making volunteering attractive and relevant?: Facilitated by Roxanne de Beaux of Camcyle, Marika Newman of Eddies and Lorraine Payne from Citizen’s Advice, this session examined issues such as do we know what volunteers want, how effective are organisations at retaining volunteers and what recognition or incentives are on offer.

The final session was labelled How do we make business volunteering work for everyone?: Facilitated by Peter Griffiths of Ingleton Wood, Hetti Wood and Abi More from Rowan, Heidi Mulvey from Cambridge University Press and Maria Varallo from Illuminate, this session examined topics such as do we as a sector know what business wants, how does the sector build engagement with business and how can we partner for greater impact.

If you want to know more about the Volunteer for Cambridge Conference then please contact Bridget Keady (Community Funding and Engagement Officer) at Cambridge City Council by E-Mailing bridget.keady@cambridge.gov.uk

 

 

Help us improve our website