13.08.2024 Update: Due to the popularity of the programme and number of applications received so far, HelpFilm have brought forward their closing date to Friday 16th August. HelpFilm has opened up their application process to all small charities with an income of under £1 million and who want and need a film made. This is a free offer and the film would be made by professional filmmakers based in your particular community and location.  If you are a charity looking to make a video then please take the time to complete the referral form. Please complete the following online form before August 16th for a chance to be considered for a film.    https://helpfilm.org/makeareferralwithus There are a total of 6 films available to be made. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis so the earlier the response, the better. However HelpFilm envisage reviewing everyone's application within two weeks of receiving it.

Dear potential contestant, dare I say potential winner… You are invited to apply to the 11th Dragons’ Den! Our Dragons’ Den community event is designed to enable residents and organisations to receive money and support to carry out projects that will benefit and improve the communities within Radstock and Westfield (including Writhlington, Clandown, Tyning and Haydon). Residents, groups and organisations are invited to apply to take part to win up to £1,000 each – and make good things happen in our community! The first 15 applicants will be given the opportunity to pitch, so get your applications in quickly once the application process is open!  The community* decides! Applicants will be making their pitch to the audience (made up of residents), who will vote for their favourite 5 projects. There will be up to ten winners! There will be cake! There will be fun and a chance to connect with the community and stakeholders (last time from Quartet Community Foundation, Somer Valley Rotary, and the High Sheriff of Somerset). The application form is simple and quick to fill in, all you need is an idea to make your community an even better place to live! The application process is open! Deadline: 5pm, Monday 28th October. Find out more here. For more details, please contact Rob:   robwicke@radstockwestfield.org.uk  /   07901950114   *Please note that only residents, volunteers and people who work in Radstock and Westfield area are able to vote, map here: About Us – Big Local | my Radstock | my Westfield ( radstockwestfield.org.uk )   Importantly, it’s the residents themselves who will decide which projects are their priorities. The event will take place on Friday 15th November 5:30pm to 7:30pm, at Westfield Sports and Community Centre, Westhill Road, BA3 3TE.

Community Catalysts and business consultancy Cool Ventures, two BANES Council commissioned services, are joining forces to provide information and support to local residents across BANES interested in setting up to work for themselves providing care and practical support at home. They are hosting a free event, called ‘How to Create Income by Helping Others’, at the Studio, 10 Palace Yards Mews, Bath, BA1 1NH on Wednesday September 25th between 9.30am and 2.30pm. Join us if you want to earn a living from making a difference in the lives of older and disabled people. With or without a background in professional care, if you have a passion to work with people and want to be your own boss, this event will give you the knowledge, resources and confidence you will need. We help you to use your talents and skills to set up your own small enterprise. More than 25 people have already completed our free development programme, generating an income from offers such as Nordic walking and falls prevention advice, to support with getting washed and dressed, or cooking a favourite meal at home. What we refer to as “community micro enterprises” can offer anything from cleaning, cooking, inclusive classes or activities, DIY, or trips out and more. This event is run by social enterprise Community Catalysts and business consultancy Cool Ventures, funded by Bath & North East Somerset Council and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Michael Auton, who is leading the project at Community Catalysts said, “For over ten years, Community Catalysts has supported lots of people across the UK to get set up offering creative and flexible care and support options. Now we are looking for passionate people in B&NES who want to help their community, work flexibly, choose their own hours, set a fair rate of pay and run a quality service. We are very excited to be working with Cool Ventures to provide complete wrap around support for people wanting to run their own care or home support focused business.” Sue Marchant, Managing Director for Cool Ventures, said "As the chosen provider of Business Support for Bath & North East Somerset Council, Cool Ventures is thrilled to partner with Community Catalysts for this event. This collaboration brings a unique opportunity for participants to benefit from the combined expertise, support, and advice of both organisations. We are proud to work together on this project and anticipate that it will be the first in a series of events aimed at assisting those aspiring to establish a small business in the care and help at home sector. By providing this essential help and support, we aim to make a significant positive impact on our local community." If you are interested in signing up for the ‘How to Create Income by Helping Others’ event, please visit the following link to register – How to Create Income by Helping Others - B&NES Tickets, Wed 25 Sep 2024 at 09:30 | Eventbrite For more information about Community Catalysts, contact Michael Auton, BANES Community Catalyst on michael.auton@communitycatalysts.co.uk, tel 07443 191851, or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CommCatsBANES For more information about Cool Ventures and the support they can provide new businesses, visit https://coolventures.co.uk/ or call 08000418293. This workshop is part of the Bath & North East Somerset Business Support Service, a West of England Combined Authority initiative, fully funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

As the Third Sector infrastructure organisation for Bath & North East Somerset, we deeply condemn the violent disorder perpetrated across the country. We stand in solidarity with the communities affected, including nearby Bristol. To anyone who has experienced hate crime in our region, we would like to highlight some local organisations offering support: Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI) - 0117 942 0060 SWAN Advocacy: Victims of Crime Advocacy Service - 03333 44 7928 SARSAS   - 0808 801 0456 Victim Support (Avon & Somerset) - 0300 303 1972 Avon and Somerset Police   - Call 999, if you or someone else is in immediate danger. Find contact details of organisations offering help and support to victims of hate crime, as well as how to report a hate crime: https://bit.ly/3Yy65IL SARI have also released guidance for those asking what they can do to help: https://saricharity.org.uk/what-can-you-do/ The Belonging Network are hosting a safe space on Thursday 22nd August, 10am - 3pm at Bath Abbey, for those people who have been most impacted by the current events; Muslims, Black people, brown people, minoritised ethnicities and immigrants. Find out more on their website here. Please feel free to share this with your networks and beneficiaries. For our members, organisational support or advice may also be available from Diversity Trust  and Voice4Change England .

In Kind Direct is a charity that distributes consumer products donated by companies, like toothpaste, shampoo, period products, toilet roll, laundry supplies, baby essentials, household items, clothing and toys to voluntary, community and charitable organisations.  All for a fraction of the retail price.     Last year they distributed over 342,000 hygiene packs alone and saved organisations across their network £26m.  They also use insights, research, and partnerships to tackle the root causes of going without.   Whether you need products to supply your own services and activities, or to give out to the people you support, join their network for free and start saving : inkinddirect.org/register

The Diversity Trust has recently launched a new five-year project which has been funded by National Lottery Community Fund. The aim of this project is to influence social change to create a fairer and safer society for LGBTQ+ people across the South West. To do this, the Diversity Trust aims to develop and strengthen LGBTQ+ networks and organisations, increase voice and influence of local LGBTQ+ people, create meaningful volunteering opportunities and increase offers of a safe community. The first step of this project is to re-establish a connection to the LGBTQ+ Network across the B&NES area, by getting professionals who can influence decision making together and start the conversation. By building this network, the aim will be to listen to people who identify as LGBTQ+ and feed this information back into local government, health services, criminal justice and much to identify gaps in how LGBTQ+ people access services and to provide them with the tools to thrive in their communities. Through this network we hope to arrange community-based events where LGTBQ+ people can hear firsthand from different professionals and how they can be supported, as well as using these events to identify barriers and come up with solutions to breaking them down. The Diversity Trust want to ensure that they are listening to what the community is telling us and feed that learning back to funders to demonstrate the impact we are making to people’s lives. The Diversity Trust has had success in establishing these types of networks in both Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and with the support of the community is hoping a similar project will be able to be successful in B&NES. The Diversity Trust have already established some interest in this project from organisations in the area, but they would like to hear from more and would like to hear from LGBTQ+ people across the region. For more information or to become involved in the network please contact our LGBTQ+ Voices & Representations Coordinator Tim Birkbeck (They / Them). You can reach them by e-mailing: Tim.Birkbeck@diversitytrust.org.uk The Diversity Trust would also like to extend a huge thank you to the National Lottery, without their support this project would not be possible.

Below is a selection of current funding opportunities available to charitable organisations across B&NES. The 11 opportunities below are listed in order of closing date, and separated into two sections; Local and National. Local Opportunities Crime Prevention Through Sport Fund 🪙 Up to £5,000 This fund is for projects in the West of England that use sport and physical activity to reduce violence, crime and anti-social behaviour for young people.  In B&NES, the areas of delivery include Keynsham, Bath City Centre, Whiteway & Twerton, Paulton, and Midsomer Norton. Managed by Wesport in partnership with Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership, and funded by The Office of The Police and Crime Commissioner. Deadline: Monday 29th July 2024 - Find Out More Quartet Community Foundation Express Grant Programme 🪙 £5,000 Funding is available to support local grassroots groups and small-to-medium sized organisations working to: strengthen communities experiencing inequalities and disadvantage; and/or improve the lives of local people who face difficulties and have limited access to appropriate or affordable services and support. A grant can be towards any reasonable cost, including running costs, project costs and capital costs if you already have most of the funds needed. No deadline - Find Out More National Opportunities Rosa's Stand With Us Fund 🪙 Up to £25,000 Set up to address the critical lack of investment in frontline organisations supporting women and girls who experience male violence. For women’s and girls’ organisations with an income of between £100,000 - £500,000. Deadline: Tuesday 30th July 2024 - Find Out More The Fore - Autumn 2024 Funding Round 🪙 Up to £30,000 over 1-3 years The Fore funds small charities that make a big impact, offering unrestricted funding to help applicants grow, strengthen, become more efficient or resilient.  Registration opens from 12pm on 24th July to 12pm on 31st July. Deadline: Registration closes at 12 midday on Wednesday 31st July, and the application deadline is 5pm on Monday 9th September - Find Out More WCIT IT4Good 🪙 Up to £15,000 WCIT is offering small grants of up to £15k for tech projects in four focus areas: digital inclusion, education, IT for charities, and public understanding of IT. WCIT also convenes learning exchanges for charities embarking on AI projects. Deadline: 5pm on Wednesday 31st July 2024 - Find Out More Benefact Group - Movement for Good 🪙 Up to £10,000 This funding is available to charities supporting one of the 4 chosen themes: rural or community development; education and skills; heritage, arts or culture; and climate change or environment. Benefact Group are looking for projects or innovative initiatives with clear outcomes and benefits. The funding can be used within 3 years and for a blend of core funding and project costs. Deadline: Friday 2nd August 2024 - Find Out More The Kings Fund GSK Community Health Programme 🪙 Up to £10,000 This programme is open to registered charities that are at least one year old, working to tackle health inequalities. This fund is for small charities with income between £20,000 - £150,000. Up to 15 charities will receive up to £10,000 in unrestricted funding, alongside training and development valued at £3,500. Deadline: 5pm on Monday 12th August 2024 - Find Out More VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme 🪙 £2,000 - £150,000 The scheme is designed to help voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to deliver more efficient services for people and communities, by saving money on their energy bills. The funding would help implement recommended independent energy assessment measures to reduce energy costs and support the delivery of frontline services. Deadline: Wednesday 14th August 2024 - Find Out More Lloyds Bank Foundation: Deaf and Disabled people's organisations 🪙 £75,000 This funding pot is for small, local charities and CICs which are led by deaf and disabled people. Applicant organisations should be working directly with deaf and disabled people to support them in any barriers they face.  Organisations can apply for a three-year unrestricted grant of £75,000 (£25,000 given each year). The funding can be used on any costs that further the organisation’s purpose.  Deadline: 5pm on Wednesday 28th August 2024 - Find Out More The Kings Fund GSK Impact Award 🪙 £4,000 - £50,000 This fund is for registered charities working in a health-related field. Eligible charities are those that are at least 3 years old, with an annual income between £150k - £3million. Funding is unrestricted for up to 15 winners, and free training and development is also on offer. Deadline: 5pm on Friday 30th August 2024, for stage one applications - Find Out More Consortium LGBT+ Futures: Equity Fund 🪙 A total pot of £500,000 is available through small grants of between £100 and £25,000 The second round of this funding, enabled by National Lottery players, will focus on supporting user-led LGBT+ organisations working with targeted under-represented and under-resourced communities. Eligible applicants must be England based, non-profit groups or organisations. Deadline: Thursday 21st November at 12 noon - Find Out More Clothworkers Foundation Open Grants Programme 🪙 Typically £5,000 - £20,000 dependant on your project The foundation awards grants to UK registered charities, CICs, and other registered UK not-for-profit organisations (including special schools). Grants are awarded towards capital projects including: buildings; fittings, fixtures and equipment; and vehicles. Eligible organisations must work within one of the 10 programme areas. Deadline: Unspecified - Find Out More More funding opportunities can be found via the BaNES Funding Finder - Click Here 3SG member organisations also benefit from free access to our Funds Online  account, allowing you to search a library of over 8,000 funders giving a combined total of £8 billion. If you're a member,  head to the Resources page here to find out more.  You can find out more about 3SG membership here , or get in touch via contact@3sg.org.uk

A New Initiative by Wiltshire Print Group and Footfall Direct The GivingPrint scheme was launched a couple of months ago by Wiltshire Print Group and Footfall Direct. This initiative isn’t just another service—it’s Wiltshire Print Group and Footfall Direct’s way of saying “Thank You” and giving back to those who make their work meaningful. It’s a heartfelt initiative designed to support charities and community organisations by offering them what they do best: high-quality digital printing, absolutely free. In the world of charitable organisations, every resource counts. Effective communication and outreach can make a significant difference in a charity's ability to serve its community. That's where GivingPrint steps in—a unique initiative dedicated to providing free printing services to charities, community groups, and CICs. Whether you need flyers, posters, or display boards, GivingPrint is here to help you spread your message and amplify your impact. What is GivingPrint? GivingPrint is a programme that offers registered charities, community groups, and CICs access to free printing services. The initiative is designed to support these organisations' promotional efforts, ensuring they have the materials they need to reach their audience effectively. By leveraging the GivingPrint Fund, charities can receive up to £150 in free printing each month. Additionally, through the support of your networks, you can build up printing credits for even greater flexibility. How Does It Work? The GivingPrint initiative operates through two primary channels: 1. The GivingPrint General Fund: Charities can apply directly to the GivingPrint General Fund for free printing credits. Each month, the fund allocates a budget and distributes up to £150 each in printing services to successful applicants. The application process is straightforward and takes just a few minutes, making it accessible even for the busiest organisations. 2. Nomination by Supporters: Supporters of your charity can nominate their preferred organisation when placing printing orders with Wiltshire Print Group or Footfall Direct. This nomination directs a portion of the order value into your own Private GivingPrint Account, which you can use whenever you need printing services. Why Choose GivingPrint? GivingPrint stands out as a valuable resource for charities for several reasons:   Cost Savings : Printing costs can add up quickly, especially for organisations operating on tight budgets. GivingPrint alleviates this financial burden, allowing charities to allocate more funds directly to their cause. Ease of Use : The application and nomination processes are designed to be user-friendly and quick. You can apply for funding in just a few minutes, and your supporters can easily nominate your organisation with a simple click. Community Focus : GivingPrint prioritises small to medium-sized charities, particularly those with a single location. This focus ensures that the resources are directed where they can make the most significant impact. Promotional Support : The initiative emphasises supporting charities in their outreach efforts. GivingPrint helps organisations enhance their visibility and engagement with the community by providing free printing for promotional materials. The scheme started in May 2024 and it has already helped several charities: “We want to say a massive thank you to Wiltshire Print Group for our wonderful new volunteering leaflets, kindly gifted to us through their #GivingPrint scheme! ” - Jenna Lloyd, Founder, Alderbury Clothing Exchange “Massive thank you to Wiltshire Print for supplying our lovely new ‘Sponsor An Adventure’ letters. They were really well received at the National outdoor Expo and we hope that the letter from Ben, one of our ex-participants will encourage lots of other people to make a small monthly donation to ‘Sponsor An Adventure'” - Louise Balaam, Director of Fundraising and Engagement – Youth Adventure Trust “Thank you to Wiltshire Print for asking Larkrise Community Farm to be a part of their #GivingPrint scheme. Our new leaflets look fantastic! The colours really stands out and the quality is exceptional. Thank you for getting these ready so quickly and answering all our questions!” - Lucy Allen - Asset Manager, Larkrise Community Farm Where’s the catch? Apparently, there is no such thing as a free lunch!  However, we met Frances Drewett, the GivingPrint coordinator, at the “Driving Positive Change” Conference at Bath Racecourse in June 2024, and she explained the reasoning behind it to us.  “Most companies will take a percentage of each sale and assign it to a marketing budget and spend it with the likes of Google or Facebook.  We prefer to spend that money helping local charities and get noticed for that rather than helping the shareholders of massive multinational companies!” said Drewett, “It is the best thing we have done and is making such a positive impact on the team as well as the local community.  I still get people contacting us concerned that the scheme is a scam and I try to assure them that it makes good business sense for all parties, all we ask is that they spread the word about the work we do for them in return.” How to Get Involved If you're a charity looking to benefit from free printing services, the process is simple: 1. Apply to the GivingPrint General Fund: Visit our website and fill out the application form. Provide as much information as possible to help us understand your needs. Once your application is received, a member of their team will contact you to finalise the details and answer any questions. 2. Encourage Nominations: Spread the word among your supporters and encourage them to nominate your charity when they place orders with Wiltshire Print Group or Footfall Direct. This will help build up your Private GivingPrint Account, giving you more resources to support your work. 3. Share the Opportunity: Let other charities know about the GivingPrint initiative. By sharing this resource, you can help ensure that more organisations benefit from free printing services. A Win-Win-Win for Everyone The GivingPrint initiative is a win-win-win for charities, the community, and the companies behind the scheme. By supporting local charities through free printing services, GivingPrint helps organisations save money, reach more people, and ultimately make a more significant impact. At the same time, companies that participate in the nomination process can feel good about contributing to a worthy cause, knowing that their support is making a real difference. In conclusion, GivingPrint is more than just a printing service—it’s a community-focused initiative designed to empower charities and enhance their outreach efforts. By providing free printing for promotional materials, GivingPrint helps organisations amplify their message, engage their audience, and further their mission. If you work for a charity in need of printing services, don't hesitate to apply. And if you're a supporter, remember that your nomination can help make a significant difference. Together, we can help charities have the resources they need to succeed. For more information and to apply, visit www.givingprint.org .

The University of Bath’s School of Management is delighted to announce the return of the Rotork Community Challenge! For the past 10 years the University of Bath’s School of Management faculty have partnered with the University of Bath’s Student Union Volunteering Department with the aim of encouraging small teams of students to volunteer their time and skills in October and November to add value to local charitable organisations. They are now looking for a new set of ‘challenges’ that will allow up to 12 teams, each consisting of 6 or 7 students, to get involved with. What are they looking for? Projects that a team of up to 7 students can deliver sometime between the end of October and the end of November. Please see linked document for some examples of past projects. Many of the students involved in this scheme are international and will be put into teams working with other students that they have probably not met before. Therefore, a part of their challenge may well include language and cultural barriers, as well as the short time given to deliver the project. Usually, the students really embrace this opportunity and will go above and beyond the brief to deliver a successful event or project. However, your time will be needed to support them throughout, as this is a learning experience for these students and things can of course, go wrong along the way. The important learning for the groups is around how they then deal with any problems and work together to come up with solutions and a positive outcome for the charities involved. Your project will be helping them to develop their teamwork, problem solving, communication and leadership skills, to name but a few. N.B Fundraising projects will not be accepted. Next Steps Please complete the application form here giving as much detail as possible about the challenge and the benefits for your charity or community group. You may submit as many projects as you like but each one must be on a separate form. The application deadline is 23rd August. The projects will be launched to students in early October and the students will have an opportunity to choose which challenge they would prefer to deliver. If more than 2 challenge applications are received, there will be a shortlisting to achieve this number. Therefore, some challenges may not get selected to go through to the final round. However, there are other groups of students who might then want to take up some of these projects and other ways they may be able to work with you in future. The student group’s will deliver their results as part of a presentation evening during late November and all charities will be invited to attend this event, where an overall winner will be announced! Please note, charities are asked to support the students during this challenge and therefore please consider whether you are able to dedicate some of your time and can remain contactable throughout this period. Furthermore, once the final projects have been set you will not be able to change your challenge or request additional tasks from the students, therefore please ensure that you are satisfied with your challenge application before you submit it to avoid any last-minute changes. The University of Bath’s School of Management looks forward to receiving your challenge projects application by close of play on August 23rd and thank you in advance for your support.

3SG's Social Prescribing Project Manager, David Jenkins, recently headed to London to join the 5th International Social Prescribing conference. Here, David shares what he learnt and the highlights of the event. On the 18th & 19th June, I was fortunate enough to attend The International Social Prescribing conference at The University of Westminster. On my journey to London (17th ) I was apprehensive as to what the two days would be like. After a jam packed tube to my hotel I was already done with London but I knew things would get better. After checking in, I donned my running shoes (my social prescription) and set off over London bridge, along the Thames, before looping back. After some lovely Italian food on Bermondsey street it was time for bed and I was woken the next morning by my alarm. I'm not usually someone to exercise in the morning, but when your routine changes you have to adapt. I thought a run would be the best way to start my day.  I arrived at the conference in plenty of time, a little early in fact, so I witnessed the last minute rush that is customary with any event. After some initial networking it was time for the welcome and key note speakers. The Vice Chancellor of The University of Westminster welcomed us, and promoted the initiatives they are working on to tackle some of the issues experienced by students. He did promise that the café and food available was of a good quality so I was excited to see what lunch had in store (unfortunately it was disappointing). The key highlights from Day 1 were as follows. Caitlin Muhl: What is Social Prescribing (SP)? Achieving Global consensus on the definition through a consensus study with experts from 26 countries across the globe. This was music to my ears as both myself and many others within B&NES were grappling with the definition and language around SP more generally. The definitions have subsequently been included within the B&NES draft framework document, so this talk in itself was enough reason to attend. I knew from this moment on that the conference was going to be worthwhile. Cormac Russell: Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop facilitated by Cormac earlier in the year. One of the slides Cormac shared was ‘ There can be no wellness without fairness’. This relates to the wider determinants of health, and the impacts deprivation can have on quality of life and life expectancy. As always the main focus was on the strengths (presents) of communities as opposed to deficits. One key slide stated ‘ First By the People; and With the People & then For the People but not To the People’. To end the day, there was an awards ceremony. It was great to see some organisations from Bristol be recognised for their amazing work. Fingers crossed some activities within B&NES will be recognised this time next year. After a jam packed day it was time to head back to the hotel. I visited the same Italian for some more delicious food. It’s safe to say it didn’t disappoint, again. Day 2 was again a tightly packed agenda. It started with a Laughter Yoga Session, run by Sara Kay the founder of Serious Laughter. Sara had been clinically depressed in 2016 and life was a bit grim (her words not mine). A chance laughter workshop at a wellbeing day changed all that. As mentioned on the website Sara went ‘From serious and depressed to joyful and vibrant’. I highly recommend anyone running future events to consider Sara and the team. Particularly to start the day or after that slump post lunch. Following on from this it was great to learn more about the positive impact Social Prescribing has had on Children and Young People (CYP) across the country. This links in with Sir Michael Marmot principles in relation to CYP: Give every child the best start in life Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives. This leads on nicely to the speaker of the day, and the speaker of the conference, Professor Sir Michael Marmot. Yes some of the statistics were rather doom and gloom but as he displayed ‘ To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing’ Raymond Williams Welsh Novelist & Critic 1921-88. I’m looking forward to reading some of his books, as well as the many journals he has published. I came away from this speech inspired to ensure that I’m always advocating for fairness and equality. On the whole it was a great two days. A couple of suggested improvements would be: Better quality food: particularly when several speakers had advocated for good food to help prevent ill health Longer breaks: to help ensure people could travel between lecture halls Greater access to the outdoors: perhaps a SP activity run in a local park/ green space. There were several arts/crafts activities in the foyer which were brilliant. If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via david@3sg.org.uk

Last Thursday, the nation spoke and a historic victory for Labour was secured. Britain woke up to a change of government, and many may be wondering what this could mean for the charity sector. Positively, Starmer's Cabinet includes 8 members with charity sector experience, which equates to a quadrupling of charity experience at the top of government. Overall, this Cabinet has the strongest charity sector background in history, and a well balanced mix of backgrounds and experience. These are optimistic signs, but change is unlikely to happen quickly. Locally, Wera Hobhouse MP retained her seat in Bath, Dan Norris MP won the new North East Somerset & Hanham seat, with the rest of B&NES represented by Anna Sabine MP , who won in Frome & East Somerset. Congratulations to our MPs. For those interested in finding out what this new government may have in store for the sector, we have compiled a selection of articles, resources and expert analysis which may be useful to review. Articles Charities at the Cabinet table Pro Bono Economics have shared an excellent analysis that looks at the make-up of Starmer's Cabinet and its encouraging levels of charity sector experience, as well as the hopeful consequences and Nicole Sykes' expert insights - Read Article Labour's priorities - our guide for the charity sector NCVO shares their analysis of what the new government may mean for the charity sector, what we can expect in the short term, and what charities can do now - Read Article Sector leaders call for fresh approach to working with civil society following Labour's landslide win UK Fundraising has collated a variety of responses from sector leaders, sharing their positions, hopes and requests for the new government - Read Article Election 2024 - What That Means for Charities & Why We Must Act Now Charity Excellence Framework shares their assessment of the future ahead for the sector under the new Labour government - Read Article Making the first 100 days of a new government count Charity Comms believes now is the time for charities to ramp up their external communications and influencing, and shares advice and ideas for campaigning in the first 100 days of our new Labour government - Read Article Voluntary sector 'essential' to Labour's plans for renewal, Starmer tells charity leaders At the beginning of the year, Third Sector published an interesting article detailing Starmer's vision for a 'society of service' - Read Article Creating Growth: Labour's Plan for the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Labour have a published sector plan for the arts, detailing how they plan to strengthen and develop Britain's creative sectors - Read Plan Partners for Change New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) have published recommendations for the new government on working with charities, including recommendations for charities and funders - Read Article What would an Office for the Impact Economy mean for charities? Pro Bono Economics explores what the senior Labour figure, Sir Stephen Timms', suggestion of an Office for the Impact Economy in the new government, could mean for charities - Read Article Resources Lloyds Bank Foundation has published a Toolkit for People and Communities work . Now that the we know the result of the election, charities can start influencing work in earnest. Download the toolkit here. Pro Bono Economics has created an interactive tool to identify MP's with charity experience, broken down by parts of the sector and location. View the free resource here. Events Citizens Advice Data Insights: Labour's First 100 Days Citizens Advice - Tuesday 16th July, 12:30 - 13:45 Register Here A New Labour Government: Exploring the impact on Charities & Campaigns Fundraising Everywhere - Wednesday 17th July, 10am - 11am Register Here How should small charities approach public affairs? Blume and Public Affairs consultant, Kate Stephens - Friday 19th July 10am Register Here

On 27th June, local charity, ReMind UK (previously called RICE), welcomed guests to their Memory Clinic and Research Institute for Brain Health in Bath, to launch their comprehensive ‘Guide to Living Well with Dementia’ in Bath and North-East Somerset.  The event was attended by over sixty guests including the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Michelle O’ Doherty.   The Mayor of Bath was given a brief tour of the ReMind UK Centre, based on the Royal United Hospital site, and introduced to guests including people with a dementia diagnosis, carers, staff and volunteers to learn about the work of the charity’s Memory Clinic, Research Institute for Brain Health and post-diagnosis support services. Following refreshments, the guests heard speeches from Melissa Hillier, CEO and Tom Welsh, Research and Medical Director at Remind UK and Nicky Moorey, a trustee and recent carer.   Remind UK’s new guide is free and aims to provide a resource for people living with dementia and those who care for them.   It consists of two sections, an advice section and a detailed directory of dementia-friendly services and resources available both locally and nationally. The advice section features tips to help those newly diagnosed and their families access support and connection opportunities.  It explains brain health, different diagnoses and what to expect and provides practical ideas spanning legal issues, medical considerations, home assessments and emergency planning, as well as practical ways to maintain wellbeing for both the person diagnosed and the carer.   The directory includes useful resources, as well as a day-by-day listing of activities, groups and event providers to help people plan ahead. Both sections will be regularly updated and are available to download from the ReMind UK website at www.reminduk.org/get-support  or a limited number of hard copies are available on request.   Melissa Hillier, Chief Executive Officer for ReMind UK said: “We were delighted to welcome the Mayor and so many supporters to the launch of our new Guide to Living Well with Dementia.  All were keen to learn about how ReMind UK supports families and carers through our memory clinic, our research activity and our post-diagnosis support for people living with dementia and families.  Dementia affects so many families in the UK and by 2050 it could impact over £2million people so ReMind UK’s work is vital to provide ongoing support for local people and to research future treatments.”   The Mayor of Bath, Councillor Michelle O’ Doherty, said of her visit: “It was inspiring to hear about the breadth of research and support activity ReMind UK is delivering to help people with dementia from diagnosis onwards in Bath and North-East Somerset.  Please help spread the word to friends and family of the many ways they could get involved with ReMind UK, from downloading a copy of the new Guide to Living Well with Dementia, to volunteering, fundraising or taking part in clinical trials to aid research into dementia treatments.”     Martyn Creeth, is a carer for his wife Sarah who is a patient at ReMind UK said: “This is such a brilliant and positive resource for people who have been recently diagnosed with dementia and their carers in the local area. Remind UK has produced this Guide with great care and attention to detail. It is intuitive to use and is a ‘one stop shop’ for everything you might need to know about living well with dementia. Having access to an online version via the website also means the resource can be kept up to date and relevant for people to use.”   ReMind UK is the new name for the Research Institute for the Care of Older People, RICE.  The rebrand followed thorough market research and engagement with those affected by dementia and the public, to inform the new identity and website as part of a National Lottery funded expansion to ReMind UK’s support provision to help more people affected by dementia. The aim of the new branding was to create an easily remembered name and to clarify what the charity does to help those impacted by dementia through its research, memory clinic and support services.    To download the guide visit Guide to living well with dementia - ReMind UK    Or to get involved with ReMind UK’s challenge events, fundraising, research studies or volunteering contact Melissa Hillier at melissa.hillier@remindorg.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. Rounding off Small Charity Week, we have a bumper spotlight to share with you, featuring the wonderful We Get It ! We Get It became a registered charity in 2020, and have been instrumental in supporting many local people affected by cancer, providing much needed emotional and wellbeing support, ever since. Dee from We Get It kindly shared a bit more about the charity. Read on to learn all about the amazing work they do and the impact they've had. Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? We’re a charity on a mission to make sure people living with cancer and beyond, don’t do it alone. We Get It was formed as a community group in 2018 and became a registered charity in May 2020. Our founder, Laura Phillips, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in her early thirties and following treatment she was desperate for emotional and wellbeing support, to talk about her experiences with people who understood what she’d gone through. Realising that there was nothing like that in Bath, she founded We Get It to ensure that no one has to face cancer alone. The charity is led by people with lived experience. Are you working on any big projects at the moment? Watch out for our new 'We are more than just cancer' videos. Featuring our community members, we will be starting to share these shortly to illustrate how they are not defined by cancer. We expect them to be hugely powerful in inspiring others to make use of our support and live well with and beyond cancer. We're also working in collaboration with Children's Hospice South West and Dorothy House again on the second 'Strength in Style Fashion Show', to be held at the Bath Assembly Rooms on the evening of Thursday 26th September. Be sure to save the date! Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? We won the Charity of the Year Award at the Bath Life Awards this year. We were delighted to win this competitive, coveted award in just three and a half years of being a registered charity. The best thing about the win is that it will help more people hear about We Get Its support and be inspired by how our cancer community continue to live well with and beyond cancer. We are also the current holders of the BaNES Community Awards Charity of the Year Award. Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? Everybody is affected by cancer. We have all heard the '1 in 2' statistic. You can support us by SHARING what we do, by telling someone with cancer or caring for someone with cancer about We Get It and the support we provide. You can also CONNECT us with anyone willing to help us achieve our goal to help more local people affected by cancer. Can you tell us a little bit about your charity's impact? All the key cancer-facing healthcare professionals in the area cite our services as filling a gap in local support for people with cancer, who struggle to find peer support following their medical treatment, and continue to refer them to us for this reason. An increasing amount of referrals to our support services also come from our growing community, social media followers and as a result of the growth in our local profile through our award wins and so on. The combination of the above has resulted in our cancer community growing quickly. This includes attendance at our weekly Get Togethers which continues to climb. In 2023, we helped 169 more people coming to these events alone, who had just been diagnosed, or were living with or beyond cancer, compared to 2022 (535 vs. 366 attendees). What are the benefits of being a small charity? We find we are more 'agile' than some of the bigger, longer-established charities. We can respond to developments, explore opportunities and take action more quickly. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? Apart from getting to know and working with the fabulous 3SG team, the chance to meet and learn from other 3SG members is hugely valuable. The 3SG organisation provides us with so many other benefits too, including being a source of information for our charity on a multitude of topics, and enabling us to promote our news, events and vacancies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the We Get It website to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a   voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here . Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. We're approaching the end of Small Charity Week, but we still have two amazing local charities to showcase! Anna from Clean Slate Training & Employment was recently kind enough to chat with us about Clean Slate, to tell us more about the great work they do supporting low income household, the projects their currently working on, and the benefits and challenges of being a small charity. Read on to hear from Anna... Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? Jeff Mitchell founded Clean Slate in 2006 and its' money skills initiative, Quids in! in 2008. He wanted to build on what he had learned as a MD at the Big issue which is that thousands of people just need the right support and the right opportunity to be able to help themselves back onto their feet. Since then Clean Slate and Quids In! have been supporting low income households around financial inclusion, digital inclusion and employability. In the last year we helped 937 people make total financial gains of £817,787.77. Are you working on any big projects at the moment? Apart from our Money guidance programme which includes support around digital inclusion and employability we are currently distributing supermarket vouchers to those of our clients in greatest need. This has been funded by B&NES Council via the Household Support Fund grant. Alongside this we are excited that soon some more of our coveted Peer Worker Placements on our Elements Programme will become available soon. Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? Participants of our Elements Peer Worker Programme have been extremely successful recently in gaining employment after their work placement with us. We are extremely proud to say that currently 100% of our front line staff are former Peer workers helping others overcome tough times. Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? Sharing our success stories and keep referring households on a low income! What are the benefits of being a small charity? We are flexible and can adapt quickly to changing needs. When Covid hit we were able to re invent our 100% face to face service delivery to 100% remote delivery which allowed us to grow quickly across several regions in the UK. We have been working locally for a long time and understand the needs of each area we work from well. We have fantastic networks and developed amazing partnerships with other small and medium sized organisations over the years which we value highly. What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these? One word and that is FUNDING (long term, core etc)! The funding landscape has become incredibly competitive. It is very hard to plan long term if not impossible. Hanging on from one short term/unsecure contract to the next does not allow to offer security to our staff that we value so highly and as a result of that we loose well trained and incredible passionate staff members on a regular basis which are, in the middle of a recruitment crisis, very had to replace. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? Being connected to all the other amazing organisations across B&NES, being kept up to date, the training and events organised. B&NES would not be the same without 3SG. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the Clean Slate Training and Employment website   to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a   voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here . Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. Today we're delighted to introduce a brand new social enterprise in Bath: Bath Arts Collective! Bath Arts Collective have achieved a lot in their short time so far, read on to find our more about this great initiative! Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? We are Bath Arts Collective, a community interest company that drives, develops and contributes to a collaborative, vibrant and varied arts & events scene in Bath and surrounding areas. Our three Directors - Kate Hall, Kate Abbey and Jasmine Barker - have between them an award-winning track record of creating, producing and marketing over 2,500 events across books, music and film festivals. We launched in November 2023 with a clear purpose to set up a social enterprise that puts cultural collaboration and connection at the heart of everything we do. We create our own programme of curated events specifically around books, film, art and music; provide consultancy services on events programming, production and marketing for venues and organisations and work pro bono on projects that seek to broaden and diversify events and audiences. Bath Arts Collective has also set up BACE (Bath Arts Culture & Events) bringing together over 47 arts organisations and venues across the city by creating a network that meets regularly to support each other and collaborate. Are you working on any big projects at the moment? Yes! We have a sell-out event with fashion designer and Great British Sewing Bee judge, Patrick Grant, in collaboration with Heritage Services and the Bath Spa National Centre for Fashion & Sustainability. Patrick's new book is called Less and he'll be in conversation with Lizzie Heffer talking about how having fewer, better things can make us happier. And we're hoping the sun stays out for our BRLSI's BRILLIANT DISCOVERY WEEKEND - a free family fun event (29/30) to celebrate 200 years of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. We're taking over the BRLSI building and Queen Square with music from Music Workshop and Orchestra of Everything, craft activities, dressing-up, games, building workshops and an exhibition. Bath Arts Collective is consulting on a year's project to support BRLSI in their mission to reach new audiences. We've also created a special dino-tastic city trail linking Queen Square visitors to find their way down to the Holburne Museum where the brilliant Forest of Imagination is running the same weekend. Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? Bath Arts Collective created, produced and marketed a brand new festival called Curious Minds: a festival to ignite ideas (March 2024) - 35 book talks, film screenings, writing workshops, walks and live performances running across 8 Bath venues. This whole project was developed and delivered in under 15 weeks and we sold 1275 tickets, welcomed big names including Jeremy Bowen, Bryony Gordon and Robin Ince, partnered with local charities including Julian House and Bath Mind, trialled grief writing workshops and supported a number of local writers and creatives. Curious Minds will return in 2025. We supported the Holburne Future Collective (a talented group of 18-25 yr olds) and The Holburne Museum with the creation, marketing and delivery of the very first Holburne Pride (14/15 June 2024) - an incredible weekend of talks, films, crafting, comedy and evening silent discos and drag shows that lit up the museum, inside and out. We've also pitched for, and won work with a range of interesting names including BRLSI, Salisbury Cathedral, Ryedale Festival, Persephone Bookshop, Stratford Literary Festival, National Trust and Lammemuir Festival. Bath Arts Collective is also very proud to have supported 8 young people (18-23 yr olds) with work placements where they've gained valuable experience in festival and event management, attended live events and got involved with social media. Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? Please sign up to our social media and newsletter at www.batharts.co.uk and then come along to our events pr share details with friends and family. We love hearing about great festivals and experiences that people have had in other cities so do please tell us what you'd like to see in Bath. What are the benefits of being a small charity? We can create our own opportunities, built around supporting and developing our vision, mission and purpose and are able to be agile in how we work. Bath Arts Collective can see immediately the impact we make with each event, festival, project and are able to curate and shape our work where it is most needed. What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these? Funding is scary and burnout is real! This is the first social enterprise (and business) that we have set up and we are incredibly ambitious for Bath Arts Collective. Securing money and making sure we are are not stretched too thin with resourcing is always going to be a challenge. We often don't have time to research and apply for funding or sponsorship as we are too busy staying on top of the day to day workload. Some shared resource across grants or funding across the city would be amazing. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? We've loved how welcoming the networking events are and how we have a space to share our story and hear from others. Third sector is a wonderful space to be working in and 3SG do vital work in bringing us all together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the Bath Arts Collective website to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here. Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. Halfway through Small Charity Week, and next up we are pleased to spotlight Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath! Find out more about this excellent organisation below... Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath, is one the Therapy Centres of Trauma Recovery UK. Trauma Recovery UK is a specialist Charity founded in 2011, with our Head Quarters in Oxford and Trauma Recovery Centres around the UK. We are specialists in Trauma Recovery, helping families recover from complex trauma. We help children, young people and young adults (aged 3 to 24) recover from multiple and complex trauma by providing specialist trauma recovery focused creative therapy. We also work with the parent/carer of children up to age 16 in our parent support groups to provide holistic support. This helps them move from psychological shock through to recovery, reducing the multi-faceted impact of trauma. We help families as they piece their lives back together until a wholeness can be found. Are you working on any big projects at the moment? We are continuing to help families from BANES and the surrounding region through our Therapy Centre in Bath. From September 2024, our Bath Centre will also offer Therapeutic Mentoring to children and young people, to support with the foundation of safety and stability, meet ongoing therapeutic needs, help children and young people gain confidence and develop social skills. Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? We are delighted that over the last 13 years since being founded, we have fundraised and spent over £2million on helping families recover from trauma! This is a huge achievement, and we are so pleased to have provided such significant help! We have also been independently evaluated, through funding from The National Lottery. In Spring 2019 Canterbury Christ Church University produced an evaluation report for Trauma Recovery UK in relation to the outcomes of TRC client data, which found that 98.8% of a sample of 250 children who received our specialist support were positively impacted and had significant clinical reductions in the severity of their trauma symptoms. Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? We hugely appreciate the incredible efforts of local people in supporting our Charity! It makes a big difference, and we know changes lives. We are especially very grateful to our Restorers, who have committed to supporting us on a monthly basis. Their generosity helps us as we plan for the future and ensure that we are providing ethical long-term support to families who desperately need our help. We would love to see areas and Local Authorities working cohesively together to support all aspects of recovery, including the specialist work that we do, and we will continue to work hard to secure the funding we need to continue to help children, young people and families recover from trauma. How many people does your charity support and what is the impact of your support? Since 2011, we have delivered over 25,000 hours of Trauma Recovery Focused clinical work provided to over 1,600 clients and developed our service involving the feedback from client families. In the last academic year, data compiled through our End Evaluations found that: 100% children and young people who graduated from therapy reported a reduction in a range of trauma symptoms! It’s a privilege to support so many courageous families on the journey of recovering from multiple and complex trauma. What are the benefits of being a small charity? Despite there being a national shortage of trauma Therapists in this field, we have been joined by Therapists who have been drawn to the compelling vision of our Charity because of our integral focus on recovery rather than management symptoms which is inspiring and motivating in their work. Our high values are integrity, honesty, transparency, kindness, teamwork, and as such, we work closely together to support one another with the varied skills and experiences we each bring to the team. What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these? Children and young people have the right to access specialist support to recover from the things that have happened to them, such as trauma, yet this is not currently reflected in appropriate funding available for specialist charities, such as ours. Instead, there is a national landscape where many services are funded to provide short term support but not specialised trauma recovery support. We see families recover from the multifaceted impact of complex trauma – resulting in seeing lives restored –however with more funding and support from statutory providers we would be able to have more of an impact and help more families. We need to see those in positions of power understand the cost effectiveness of trauma recovery work as evidenced by decades of research. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? We really appreciate the regular e-updates that share local news specifically focused to helping Charities in the area. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the Trauma Recovery Centre website to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here. Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. To mark Day 2 of Small Charity Week, we're delighted to showcase the great work of Golden Oldies Charity! Read on to find out more... Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? Our Golden-Oldies Charity, fondly known as ‘Goldies’, delivers FUN daytime social 'Sing&Smile' groups and additional events, open to everyone but aimed primarily at isolated adults aged 65+. Goldies activities support mental health, physical wellbeing and independent living by bringing communities together for fun, friendship and activity. Goldies was founded by Bath-based musician Grenville Jones, well known local choir Leader, in 2007. Grenville knows first-hand the positive social effects of singing in a group. “I wanted to grab the atmosphere of fun and friendship and bring it to anyone who might sometimes find themselves feeling lonely, through daytime ‘sing-alongs’. Goldies is for everyone. You don't have to be able to sing, it's not a choir, but fun social groups where we enjoy the popular hits of the 60s onwards, chat, laugh and dance.” In B&NES Goldies host 15 fun social Sing&Smile groups reaching an average of 240 people every month, which we run alongside popular additional events including intergenerational activities with local Primary Schools, Age Awareness days, concerts and festive celebrations. Are you working on any big projects at the moment? In April this year Goldies hosted a fabulous intergenerational day at Bath Pavilion, bringing together 5 B&NES Primary Schools, 2 local choirs and attendees from all Goldies Sing&Smile sessions from across the county. Everyone had the chance to perform individually and to sing all together, with everyone up dancing and laughing together at the end of the day. At the request of the schools and Goldies participants who had a wonderful time, we plan to provide more events like this over the next 18 months. Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? With all Goldies Sing&Smile groups closing during the COVID Lockdowns, our charity took a bold leap and moved online, with twice weekly Sing&Smile sessions accessible through our website and YouTube. This included our popular sing-along music with onscreen lyrics, movement to music exercise and important information from the NHS. We were also extremely proud of our attendees who battled with learning new IT skills in order to join us online. On returning to face to face activities, many of our Leaders braved learning to use new technology (iPad/Projector/Screen) instead of songbooks. This equipment has enabled us to keep providing our popular movement to music videos, which can be shown on screen, whilst making sessions more sustainable (no need to print hundreds of songbooks) and making sessions more COVID safe (no passing of books from group to group which can be dirty/contaminated). Participant and Session Leader feedback has been very positive with people reporting a preference to using the projectors over the books. There have been comments about ease of accessing the sessions, ability to move and dance more, a general feeling of being more immersed in the sessions and better able to engage with other participants. Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? We are always on the look out for new Session Leaders and are keen to recruit someone to take on a role in and around Bath in particular. This can be done as a volunteer or we can offer payment of £25 per session (approx. 1.5 hours) plus £0.40pm in mileage. You don't have to be a great singer, but it helps to be able to carry a tune. Our Leaders love a good chat, are happy engaging and supportive people, who are keen to give a little back to their local community. Goldies will provide all the equipment, training and a DBS check, please get in touch with the office if you're interested events@golden-oldies.org.uk . We always welcome new volunteers at our Goldies Charity shop in Keynsham too. If you can spread the word about Goldies, that is really beneficial. Maybe you know someone who would enjoy joining us - parents/neighbours/friends. Find out details about your local session on our website https://www.golden-oldies.org.uk/bnes.html or get in touch with the office for more details. We can provide you with flyers for your local area too. What are the benefits of being a small charity? As a small charity we are able to direct a higher proportion of our funding into the delivery of our services, rather than into core costs. We also have better knowledge about the needs and wants of the local communities we serve in, we can collaborate with other local support services to ensure these needs are met. What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these? Funding is always the biggest challenge for a small charity, so being able to access a database of funders through 3SG is incredibly helpful in finding some of those smaller trusts and foundations are are less well known. There is a bit of a blurred line around what is classed as a small charity, it's usually income based but this can vary (from £50,000-£1,000,000) depending on who you're talking to. Some clearer guidelines would be welcome so charities can approach the right funder without wasting their, and the funders, precious time and energies. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? 3SG are fantastic communicators, we always feel like we know exactly what's going on in B&NES. If we have a problem or a project we are working on, 3SG are quick to offer contacts with other groups who could help/join us. We have sourced new Session Leaders through the Job section of their website, found new potential funders through the Funds Online Access, and we are looking forward to making new contacts at the Ageing Well Forum event at St John's Foundation Courtyard on Tuesday 18th June. Thank you 3SG!! Stories from Golden Oldies Charity attendees: "I live with my mum who has been my carer as I'm blind, but now she has Dementia, we care for each other. There aren't many activities we can do together that we both enjoy, but Goldies is definitely one of them! We always feel so welcome and leave feeling so happy in spirit and light in body. I can't see the words, but it's songs I know off by heart anyway and mum remembers from her youth, so it's perfect." "Goldies sessions give me a 'real boost' in mood and with my physical health. I suffer from a really bad back, but when I’m relaxed at Goldies I just can't help myself and I always get up and dance. I think Goldies is brilliant and it makes me feel good, but that feeling doesn't just last for the session, it lasts for several days after." Goldies Session Leader Carole commented; “A new lady came who has lung problems, she took her oxygen levels when she got to Goldies and found they were low. After the session the reading was excellent, she’s now told her doctor how singing with Goldies is so good for you.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the Golden Oldies Charity website here to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here. Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too. In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts. Kicking off Small Charity Week, we are pleased to introduce Bath Gateway Out & About! Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity? We support 60 adults with learning disabilities to partake in social and leisure activities, that would otherwise be inaccessible for them. The founder Becky Morgan started this up after working many years with children with learning disabilities and recognising that when a child turned 18 years of age there were no provisions for them. There are always projects in the pipeline and our priority for the near future is to have a pop-up charity shop. This will satisfy three aims; giving work experience skills for our members , raising awareness and raising vital funding to continue our work. Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share? We are proud of every achievement our members make. One of our members ran and completed the Bath half Marathon and another member performed with Music man at the Royal Albert Hall, absolutely fantastic ! Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work? Local people can help us by signposting local events, venues, opening contacts for us within our community, raising awareness, we are very open to consider all options that come our way. Friendly smiles also welcome ! What are the benefits of being a small charity? By being a small charity our members have become like an extended family. Everyone knows one another, fantastic friendships have been formed, and we manage to retain our personal level support. We are present ! What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these? The main challenge is costs . We are 100 percent self funding and unfortunately everything has a price. It is also very hard to find openings, such as chosen charity opportunities with local businesses, help to secure an empty premise for a pop up shop, help to get discounted entrance rates . Help to write funding applications, help finding volunteers. Charitable discounts could be more freely available and negotiable and bid writing simplified and expedited. As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member? Involvement, networking opportunities, signposting, lovely staff and invaluable offers! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the Bath Gateway Out & About website here to learn more about what they do! Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/ Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures. If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here. Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk

DBS aims to protect the public by helping employers/voluntary organisations make safer recruitment and employment decisions, and by barring individuals who pose a risk to vulnerable groups from working in certain roles. Over the coming months, a Regional Advisor for the Disclosure and Barring Service will be delivering several free virtual workshops specifically for voluntary organisations within the South West region. The workshops are relevant to any staff who hold responsibility for providing advice and making decisions about the level of DBS check that should be applied for, and/or those with responsibility for safeguarding and disciplinary processes within their organisation. The workshops are all free and will be delivered via MS Teams. Further information regarding each of the workshops can also be found via the links should this be helpful in promoting them. DBS Disclosure Workshop - Voluntary Sector - South West England – 27th June 2024 10.00am-Noon DBS Barring and Legal Duty to Refer Workshop - Voluntary Sector - South West England – 24th July 2024 10.00am-Noon DBS Update Service masterclass - Voluntary Sector - South West England – 30th July 2024 2.00pm-3.00pm DBS Disclosure Workshop - Voluntary Sector - South West England - 28th August 2024 1.00pm-3.00pm

In celebration of Volunteers' Week, we are shining a spotlight on the incredible volunteers helping communities and charities across Bath & North East Somerset. In order to champion the contribution of our volunteers, and give recognition for all they do, 3SG has spoken to several local volunteers to hear their stories. Each day over Volunteers' Week (June 3rd - 9th), we will be sharing a unique volunteer story. On behalf of all charities, community groups and Third Sector organisations of Bath & North East Somerset - Thank You to all those who give up their time to volunteer. We hope by sharing these spotlights, we can highlight your efforts and inspire others to get involved. Helen As we near the end of Volunteers' Week 2024, we're wrapping up our spotlights with one last story from local volunteer, Helen. Helen describes herself as a "retired lady with a passion for literacy and a love of children". She is currently volunteering for RSVP West, where she gets to use her passion for good, by supporting young children with their reading at Twerton Infant School. What motivates you to volunteer? A wish to give back to my local society; a sense of satisfaction in doing something that I know makes a real difference to reading attainment in young children and hence overall academic achievement in primary school and beyond. What have you learnt from your experiences? That even the most reluctant reader can be persuaded that books are fun! That you can never predict what a 6 year old will say! That all children blossom and gain in self confidence when given well-earned praise for effort, and that, despite all the modern technology, young children still love a hand held book shared with them :) Have there been any stand alone moments or stories from your volunteering that you'd like to share? A reluctant reader who turned as he was heading back into class and said " I really enjoyed reading with you, can we read again next week?" What advice would you give to someone looking to start volunteering? Give it a go, don't worry about not doing it right, people will help you if you get stuck. It gives back way more to you in personal satisfaction than the time you give to it. What is your favourite thing about volunteering? The feeling that I am making a difference for the children I read with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interested in becoming a volunteer? The B&NES Community Volunteer Service (https://bathneshealthandcare.nhs.uk/wellness-community-volunteer-services/become-a-volunteer/ ) (run by HCRG) holds weekly drop in sessions at local libraries, as well as virtual 1-2-1’s. Upcoming drop in sessions: Bath Library Thursdays at 10-12pm: 4th July Midsomer Norton Library Wednesdays at 10-12pm: 26th June and 31st July Keynsham Library Mondays 10-12pm: 24th June and 29th July To book a virtual appointment to discuss your volunteering interests with an advisor, please call the team on 0300 247 0050 or email bathnes.volunteerservices@hcrgcaregroup.com You can also subscribe to 3SG's monthly Community Newsletter, and 3SG's Volunteer Whatsapp group, to be kept up to date with new, local volunteer opportunities, on a monthly basis. Check out our Volunteer page for more information, and where else to find opportunities.