Latest Newsletter and Training Calendar available

Learning Together Cheshire and Warrington have just published their latest Newsletter and Training Calendar . 

The Training Calendar is a digest of training opportunties listed on the LTCW website from February until May 2012.

Download the Newsletter here

Download the Training Calendar here

Diversity Festival

Chester University (Various sites)
6^th February to 17^th February 2012

The University of Chester is very proud of its annual Diversity Festival. The festival has been shortlisted for 2 national awards and is recognised as an example of good practice within the sector.

February 2012 will be the 7th year they have held a festival and the theme this year is ‘Active Diversity’ to reflect both a link to the London 2012 Olympics and to highlight the importance of taking a proactive approach toward promoting equality and diversity.

The 2012 Diversity Festival is taking place from 6-17th February with many events taking place throughout the fortnight. The Diversity festival is open to the public, students and staff.

The Festival provides a unique opportunity to experience different cultures and perspectives. Please see the attached full timetable containing more information.

The website will be continually updated:
http://www.chester.ac.uk/about/diversity-and-equality/diversity-festival

This is a very exciting event, theyhave Paralympic athletes, top academics, inspirational businesswomen, the fight against worldwide poverty and much more, please do find the time to attend some of the great events we have taking place.

E-mail equality@chester.ac.uk  to book your place on some of their events today!

There are some small grants of up to £5000 available from Cheshire East Council on the NW Chest portal if you are interested. There is a fairly short deadline.

It is called Early Intervention & Prevention Children & Families Small Bids Fund and can be accessed from this link

The Small Bids Fund is intended to strengthen small voluntary, community and faith organisations and informal groups in Cheshire East so that they are able to provide early intervention and prevention support and/or activities for local communities. Organisations are invited to submit proposals for a funding that adds value to or develops existing provision.

Funding will be for development delivery occurring during April 2012 – March 2013. Funding value ceiling of £5,000. Funding will be used where there is an evidenced demand or need that is not being met. Only one award per organisation per year – no future funding is guaranteed nor implied by a successful funding application for 2012-13.

Closing date for expressions of interest 16^th February 2012

Report of the Task Force established to consider how to cut red tape for small charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises

This is a common sense document about the need to cut red tape – You may find this useful within your organisations.

Click here for Link

CONFERENCING FACILITIES at BARROWMORE

Are you looking for the ideal facility to :

• Hold an important meeting?
• Deliver a specific Conference?
• Train members of staff in a neutral environment?
• Simply have an away day to inspire your team?

You are! Then Barrowmore can accommodate your need and provide the perfect solution. Situated in the heart of rural Cheshire, just 6 miles from the centre of Chester, with its wonderful history going back to Roman times, is Barrowmore Estate. They have approximately 85 acres of prime Cheshire Bluebell Woodlands, Nature Walks, and an Enterprise Estate with over 40 SMC’s. The core Charity, providing support in many ways for people with a disability, our professional Music Technology Studio based around the current Government initiative for Music Awareness and the Training Centre complete with 4 Lecture Rooms, 2 Meeting Rooms, 2 Modern IT Suites (1 PC based an 1 Server based) All the rooms are comfortably furnished and equipped with the latest technology. This combined with ample parking facilities means that your time at Barrowmore will be both relaxed and rewarding. Their friendly staff are on hand to meet , greet and make your event a success.

There is a choice of delicious lunch time buffets available on request and refreshments will be provided to keep you going throughout the day.

Take advantage of the Summer Season Offer (and we know that cost is currently a worry, so that’s why we believe in value for money) and receive a fantastic 10% off listed prices if you place a booking with us before 30th June 2011. For details of Terms & Conditions then call on Tel: 01829 742562 or email: barry@barrowmore.org.uk  

Voluntary Sector North West  has published briefing #36 on the Big Society, which focuses on the draft implementation plans of the Cabinet Office and Communities & Local Government.

These draft Departmental Structural Reform Plans will significantly influence the cuts and the Spending review (due to be published 20 October).

The purpose of this briefing is to introduce:

• The coalition government's Big Society agenda
• The draft Structural Reform Plans that will influence the October’s Spending Review 2010
• Members of the coalition government driving forward the Big Society agenda
• The main and various areas of implementation and linked questions

The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) have recently published a resource booklet on the safeguarding agenda. 

It is intended to help organisations develop appropriate policies and operating principles to ensure the safety of all learners.

The booklet can be downloaded from this link - WARNING : although it is a PDF document it is a large file (4.5MB) and it has 226 pages, so you may want to be selective in how you print it!