A Series of Fortunate Events
The Support Fenland project moves from discovery to delivery phase with a series of events and the offer of one-to-one support.
By Victoria Hopkins
This week I have been celebrating two months since I joined the Support Fenland team. Before I head off for a well-earned break, here is her quick update for you all.
In our last blog we updated you on the themes which had come out of your feedback. In case you missed it, here are the six themes:
- Help us to come together to do more.
- Help us to think about our future.
- Help us to recruit and keep volunteers.
- Help us to raise our voice both within and outside of Fenland.
- Help us stay up to date with guidance that we need to know about.
- Help us for the long term, not for 12 months.
You can read more on this blog post.
We also mentioned that our support events will be starting in July. And now, we are pleased to announce that our first events are live and available for you to book.
One-to-one Support
From 1 July charities and community groups that who would like one-to-one support can book an appointment with me. You might like help with recruiting new volunteers; the structure of your group; your business plan; or an upcoming funding bids. Whatever the reason is, I am available to help. You can book at a time which is convenient to you using an online booking system. I will be available during business hours on a Tuesday & Thursday and every other Thursday evening between 6 and 8pm.
Networking Meetings
On 21 July at 7:30pm we will be hosting the first of our new regular Fenland networking events. The events will be monthly (except for August) and we will alternate between mornings and evenings across different days of the week. There will be opportunities to talk to groups from your local area about what you are up to, what your challenges are, and how you can support each other.
The theme for the first event will be “Connecting”. We have some ideas for future themes including funding and volunteering, and we would love to hear your suggestions too. Comment on this blog post or bring them along to the networking event.
You can book your place here.
Working Together workshop
On 5 August at 10am we will be hosting a workshop on “Working Together”. As we all know there are lots of benefits in organisations working together to deliver activities and projects. You can raise awareness of your offer; learn and share new skills; increase your impact; attract new funders; and even reduce your costs – these are benefits available to very small as well as larger groups. Although the words collaboration and partnerships can appear daunting this does not have to be the case. This workshop will focus on joint working both formally and informally, as well as the key points to consider to overcome the common pitfalls.
You can book your place here: Working Together – Looking at ways of joint working – Training & Events – Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service (cambridgecvs.org.uk)
Following the workshop I will be available to talk to you about specific joint working arrangements that your group is interested in putting in place. Whether that is helping to facilitate conversations between groups or reviewing your arrangements, you can book a catch-up online here.
We are still working on the programme of events for September onwards, and we will update you on those with a future blog post
All of our Support Fenland events are hosted by CCVS & Hunts Forum and are free for any charity or community group working in Fenland.
There are other events hosted by CCVS and Hunts Forum which you might also be interested in attending, which you can find on our websites:
www.supportcambridgeshire.org.uk/training/
www.cambridgecvs.org.uk/training-events
www.huntsforum.org.uk/training-events/
