The new EVOC website: watch this space
EVOC will be launching its new website this spring. We will be communicating with you in a whole range of new and better ways, including an online bulletin board and a brand new style EVOC newsletter.
We’ll continue to provide a free information service to Edinburgh’s voluntary sector, circulating your news and announcements via our distribution lists which reach thousands of readers throughout the city’s third sector. In order to do this more effectively, we will be introducing a new system of guidelines for content submissions.
In forthcoming issues of VSF News we’ll be announcing more details about these changes. We’ll be letting you know exactly how VSF News readers will be affected, as well as all of you who submit news for us to share with your citywide colleagues. We’ll also let you know the website launch date closer to the time when it is ready to go live.
We’re really excited about the developments happening here at EVOC. Our communications team is working flat out to turn our communications vision into a reality, and we can’t wait to share it with you. Watch this space!
All neighbourhoods
Countstaff needed for May election
Staff from the City of Edinburgh Council and certain partner organisations (listed below) are needed to work at the counts for the Scottish Parliamentary elections and the Referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system on Thursday 5 May and Friday 6 May. These counts are not electronic and staff are needed to count ballot papers in the traditional way.
Partner organisations: applications can only be accepted from these partners
Scottish Government
NHS Lothian
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service
The Scottish Parliament
University of Edinburgh
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Napier University
Royal Bank of Scotland
Staff are needed to work as count assistants at two separate counts:
Scottish Parliamentary Elections
These will be held on Thursday 5 May and the ballot papers will be counted after the close of poll at 10 pm overnight into Friday 6 May. We estimate that working hours will be from 9.30pm to 5am*. You will receive £100.00 net (£124.08 gross). Council staff will be granted a day's special leave on Friday 6 May.
* Please be aware, you will need to work on beyond that time if recounts are required.
Referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system
The count will take place on the afternoon of Friday 6 May. We estimate that working hours will be from 3.30pm to 8.00 pm*. You will receive £75.00 net (£93.06 gross). Council staff working at the count will be allowed special leave from 1 pm to travel to the count.
* Please be aware, you will need to work on beyond that time if recounts are required.
Arrangements
• The counts will take place at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston.
• Travel: parking is readily available at the Royal Highland Centre. Shuttle buses will be provided to and from Ingliston and details of a car sharing website.
• Payment: paid direct into your bank account by Friday 20 May 2011.
If you work for the council, departments have been told they must make it a priority to give staff time off to work at the count but your head of department will make the final decision on whether this can be granted.
You can find more information about working at the election and referendum counts in the following sections. Please take a little time to read through these as you will find the answers to any questions you might have.
If you are interested, please apply online in the How to Apply section. The closing date for applications is Friday 18 March.
Nominations are now open for the “Inspiring Volunteering Awards 2011”
This award ceremony is being organised by Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Compact Partnership
as part of Volunteers’ Week, the national celebration of volunteers and volunteering.
If you were one of the lucky ones invited along to the Awards Ceremony last year you’ll know just how moving it is, and just how much it means to the volunteers receiving the awards. Reading through the nominations is a tough job, almost each and every volunteer nominated is deserving of an invite, but at the end of day numbers are limited by the capacity of the City Chambers where the Lord Provost hosts the ceremony, so get your nominations in early!
The awards celebrate the accomplishments of volunteers and the major economic and social benefits they provide as a result of their voluntary activities. This year the award ceremony will take place on Tuesday 24 May 2011, when the Lord Provost will present 50 of Edinburgh’s inspiring volunteers with certificates to mark their achievements and contribution. This annual event usually takes place during Volunteers’ Week, which runs from the Wednesday 1to Tuesday 7 June 2011, so the ceremony is early this year!
You can view a short film on You Tube of Liz Bisset, a truly inspiring figure in the Craigmillar community who was awarded the Lord Provost’s “Inspiring Volunteer of the Year Award” last year, and then give some thought to who you’d like to nominate. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh can accept up to three individual nominations and one team nomination.
The “Inspiring Volunteering Awards” are a great opportunity to celebrate and say thank you to your volunteers for the special contribution they make, and given that places for this popular event are limited you should get nominating now! And don’t forget – your board members are volunteers too! The closing date for nominations is 6pm on Tuesday 22 March.
As 2011 is European Year of Volunteering, we will also be considering nominations for two Special Recognition Awards. There is one for an individual or team from Edinburgh, who are volunteering in another European country or for the benefit of another European country, and one for an individual or team from another European country who are volunteering in Edinburgh.
Please help Volunteer Centre Edinburgh by completing the nomination process online if you can, alternatively you can request a copy by email or post by contacting Lara Celini
or Sarah Howard on 0131 225 0630.
Volunteer Centre Edinburgh will notify all organisations by Monday 18 April as to whether your nominated volunteer/s will receive their award by post or as a representative at the event. Regretfully the venue doesn’t have the capacity to allow all nominees to collect their awards on the day, but the organisers are committed to issuing a certificate for every volunteer nominated, so even if your volunteers can’t be accommodated at the ceremony itself you’ll be able to present it to them yourself, or better still organize something special for your volunteers and get your Chair or director to present them.
Commissioning Plan for Children and Families Care and Support Services 2011-2016: Draft for Consultation
Please see the draft Commissioning Plan for Children and Families Care and Support Services 2011-2016.
It sets the context for consultation and discussion from February to May 2011 and will also inform the production of Children and Families service specific plans between March and August 2011.
This draft plan should be read in conjunction with the Council’s overarching draft commissioning strategy for care and support services.
Make-Up Workshop: fundraising for Health All Round
Health All Round is holding a fundraising Make-Up Workshop on Wednesday March 23 from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Community Room, Springwell House, Ardmillan Terrace. There will be a Raffle with great make-up and brush prizes to win.
All proceeds from the workshop will be donated to Health All Round relocation fund.
The workshop content will include:
- Make-up Application
- Skin Care
- Using Brushes
- Day and Evening Make-up
- False Lash Application
The cost is £5 at the door, and £1 Raffle Tickets.
For more information see the event flier.
Scottish Strategy to End Child Poverty: Roundtable Discussion Forum Report
Poverty Alliance has published The Scottish Strategy to End Child Poverty: Roundtable Discussion Forum Report.
The Child Poverty Act, which came into force in October 2010, sets out specific targets to ‘eradicate’ child poverty by 2020. The Act requires the Scottish Government to draw up a three year strategy which must set out what steps the Scottish Government intend to take to meet the specific targets by 2020 and, as far as possible, to ensure that children in Scotland do not experience socio-economic disadvantage.
The Scottish Government has undertaken a consultation process on the Scottish Strategy, and the aim of this roundtable was to provide a forum for expert stakeholders to feed into the consultation in a more in depth, discursive manner. Representatives with expertise in child poverty were invited from a range of organisations and sectors including local authorities, NHS and the third sector.
The roundtable focused in particular on what is needed within the Scottish Strategy to ensure that action to meet the overall targets is taken forward and prioritised at a local level – drawing on how local delivery works now, and how it can work more effectively in the future.
Key themes from the discussion are summarised in this report.
Scottish Parliament Hustings in Broughton High School
Come along on Friday 18 March at 1.30pm to put your questions to the prospective candidates for Edinburgh Central.
Access to Broughton High School is from East Fettes Avenue (opposite Inverleith Park). Lothian Bus Services: 24, 29, 42, 37, 47
If you have any queries please contact Nicola Ross on (0131) 332 6316.
Hale Trust: World Without Walls in Kilomathon Scotland 2011
Hale Trust is fielding two entrants in Kilomathon Scotland 2011 which takes place in Edinburgh on Sunday 17 April. Colin Campbell and Seong Pak, our Team HALE runners, have begun a rigorous training schedule for the event in order to raise funds for the
World Without Walls workshops. These workshops give people with disabilities the chance to take part in creative activities such as photography and explore issues that are important to them.
Please consider supporting Colin and Seong. You can follow their progress and make a donation on their Just Giving page.
Presentation Skills: one-day training
This one-day course is aimed at anyone who would like to improve how they deliver either formal or informal presentations. The course will focus on helping the participant identify the knowledge and skills needed to plan, prepare, and present a presentation.
Participants will be asked to examine how they can practically improve the presentations they already deliver; and how they take this learning back to their workplace.
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Describe the key stages required to plan, prepare for and deliver a presentation
- Understand how best to target key messages for maximum audience retention
- Implement skills to retain audience engagement during presentations
- Explore techniques for overcoming nerves
- Plan how learning can be taken back to the workplace.
The course is very interactive and learning will be through individual and group exercises, self-reflection, handouts, group discussions and practising delivering presentations.
Wednesday 30 March from 10am - 4pm (1 day course) at EVOC, 14 Ashley Place Edinburgh EH6 5PX
Cost: Voluntary:£99 / Private/Statutory:£119
Support and Supervision: Getting off to a positive start! (3 days)
This 3 day course is aimed at people who have responsibility for offering one to one support and supervision to staff and/or volunteers. It is designed to meet the needs of those who are new to the role and those who would like to refresh their skills and knowledge.
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Describe the aims, key functions and potential benefits of effective support and supervision
- Negotiate a support and supervision agreement which will get you and your supervisee off to a flying start
- Use a variety of frameworks and interventions to support you to offer positive effective support and supervision including: taking a coaching approach; giving effective feedback; listening to the whole message and encouraging reflective practice.
The course is designed to encourage lots of discussion, sharing of ideas and learning from each other as well as small group activities, practise sessions and reflection time.
Monday 4 April, Tuesday 5 April and Wednesday 6 April, from 10am to 4:30pm, at EVOC, 14 Ashley Place Edinburgh EH6 5PX.
Cost: Voluntary:£270 / Private/Statutory:£300
Mental Health in Hard Times
The fifth in a series of mental health conversations will focus on Mental Health in Hard Times. What impact will recession have on our mental health? How will it affect us as providers and users of services? How do we get through these hard times?
Speakers include:
- Pippa Coutts, Scottish Union for Supported Employment
- Geoff Huggins, Mental Health Division, Scottish Government
- Mike Marsland, OCD Scotland
- Steve Platt, Public Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Discussion will be followed by drinks and more conversation. There is no fee for participation, but please register your attendance by email . The venue is accessible. All welcome.
The event takes place on Monday 28 March from 5.00 to 6.30 pm at the School of Social and Political Science, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 6th floor, George Square, University of Edinburgh.
Play@home mini conference
The City of Edinburgh Council Play Development Team, in partnership with North Edinburgh Arts Centre, have organised a mini-conference to share the findings of a report based on its 1-year play@home project in North and East Edinburgh.
The conference will be packed with practical play ideas (based on play@home principles), music and movement, opportunities to network with other professionals from Health, Social work, Education and other early years services; and give you an insight into how this parenting project has run and its successes.
The conference will hear from parents who have participated, and find out how play@home has made a difference to their family's lives.
This free conference will take place on Thursday 31 March at North Edinburgh Arts Centre and will run from 10am to 3pm (lunch is provided).
For all booking correspondence and enquiries, please contact Margaret Westwood.
Scottish Drug Forum conference: drug deaths
Scottish Drug Forum will be holding a one-day conference, Tackling Drug Deaths, on Wednesday 30 March in Glasgow.
This conference will hear from international speakers on responses to drug deaths and includes working briefings on
• near-miss overdose as a trigger for intervention
• realising the full potential of naloxone by looking at international practice
Beyond overdose deaths, the conference will look at other means of preventing drug-related deaths through
• safer injecting and learning from the anthrax outbreak as regards what can be done about drug contamination
• identifying and intervening with drug users at risk of suicide
Please see the event flier and booking form or contact Austin Smith
, Policy & Practice Officer, for further information.
Art in Architecture LLP: Community Involvement Masterclass with Nick Wates
Local authorities, practices, property developers, landowners and community groups increasingly have to involve local people in planning, design and development issues.
But what is the best way of involving people in the planning and design of their local areas? Are the benefits of community involvement being fully realised? And how do you choose between the bewildering range of approaches?
The RUDI one day masterclasses are engaging and enjoyable with a focus on interactive learning and ‘real life’ situations. Participants are encourage to raise debate and there are plenty of opportunities to learn from other attendees and hear about their situations.
This Community Involvement Masterclass with Nick Wales is being held on Friday 18 March in Edinburgh. It is being run in partnership with
For further information see the RUDI website or contact Ross McEwan on 0131 555 2280 or 0775 261 2607.
back to top 
Leith
Leith decides.... you decide on your local priorities!
Do you live or work in Leith? Come along to McDonald Road Library from 3.30 pm on Thursday 24 March.
Two topics will be addressed:
- The Shore traffic calming proposal
- priorities for the 2011-14 Local Community Plan.
This is your chance to influence where the Partnership's resources are focussed in your area for the next 3 years, and also to learn about traffic calming proposals for The Shore and ask questions.
For more details, see the meeting programme or contact Loraine Duckworth, Partnership Development Officer, on 0131 529 6194 or on mobile 07826 878377.
back to top
South West
Hailes Quarry Park is holding a Spring Clean event on Friday 18 March from 12pm to 2pm.
For more information please contact Abby Boultbee on 0131 445 4025 or see the flier.
back to top
Send us your news
Do you have any news to be circulated among the Voluntary Sector Forums? For inclusion in the next issue, please send your announcements and events dates to Julia.
back to top
|
