Here you can keep up with the latest from Reading’s 1000+ voluntary organisations and other voluntary sector news from around the area.
Compass Recovery College prospectus for April to June 2021
18 March 2021
Compass Recovery College continues to run free mental health and wellbeing courses All their courses are co-produced; designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges together with mental health professionals. Their aim is for everyone to feel listened to in a safe space, with the opportunity to connect with others. Everyone is welcome ...
Catalyst have Community Connector opportunities in Reading – paid work for young people through Kickstart
18 March 2021
Catalyst have created a ‘Kickstart in the Community’ project that offers young people paid work as ‘Community Connectors’ This is a new type of role within their Community Investment team that will help young people develop transferable skills, confidence and a local network. Working alongside Catalyst’s Community teams, Community Connectors will use their local knowledge to ...
RBC are recruiting for Shared Lives Carers
18 March 2021
Becoming a Shared Lives Carer is rewarding and can make a real difference for the people we support RBC are recruiting carers who can offer support and companionship to help a vulnerable adult reach their potential and lead a fulfilling life. Download the advert here. About the Shared Lives Scheme At the core of the Shared Lives Scheme ...
Join us to discuss emerging priorities and how we can work together – 24 March 2021
18 March 2021
RVA is hosting a series of workshops for the Reading voluntary sector to explore how we can together support our communities over the next year and beyond. The first workshop is on 24 March from 3.30pm to 5pm. Join us to hear presentations from partners reflecting on the priorities emerging from the Berkshire West Health and ...
Vaccination centre volunteers nominated for Berkshire High Sheriff award
17 March 2021
The Watlington House vaccination centre volunteers have been nominated for a Berkshire High Sheriff award! Congratulations to them and everyone nominated for the awards, which recognise outstanding service and contributions to the community throughout the last very difficult year. The full Berkshire-wide list of nominees can be found here. The winners will be announced at a virtual ...
Citizens Advice Reading wellbeing workshops
17 March 2021
Life can bring us lots of concerns and worries, especially at the moment Citizens Advice Reading are now offering wellbeing workshops. These are free one-off introductions to: understanding anxiety living with low moods and managing stress Currently they are all online, so you can attend in the comfort of your own home. They last one hour and are run by ...
Blog: transferring your aims for equality, diversity and inclusion into tangible actions
17 March 2021
In my last blog, I outlined some steps you could take on your journey to better Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in your organisation (you can read that here). As promised, I wanted to share some experiences of being on Step 6 of the journey at Reading Voluntary Action (RVA). We have been discussing our priorities ...
New phone number for victims of domestic abuse in Thames Valley
16 March 2021
Flag DV, a free legal advice group for domestic abuse victims, now has a dedicated phone line The number is 01635 015854. Flag DV provide a free appointment with a Family Law Solicitor to any victim of domestic abuse in the Thames Valley. All referrals come through the website, www.flagdv.org.uk, however, the lack of a phone line ...
Localgiving Magic Little Grants – applications open until 31 October 2021
15 March 2021
The Magic Little Grants 2021 programme promises to be even bigger and better than ever. This gives grants of £500 to small charities and community groups thanks to the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Funding can go towards any of the below projects: Improving mental wellbeing Enabling community participation in the arts Preventing or reducing the impact ...
The voluntary sector and Covid-19 – monthly barometer survey by Nottingham Trent University
10 March 2021
The Centre for People, Work and Organisational Practice at the Nottingham Trent University have teamed up with NCVO and Sheffield Hallam University to conduct one of the largest UK-wide monthly surveys of the impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary sector. About the project The impact of Covid-19 has manifested throughout every corner of the UK voluntary, community ...
Get involved with Wokingham International Day
10 March 2021
Wokingham Town Council is looking to put together an event in Wokingham that celebrates cultural diversity – on a suitable and safe date in the future. They are looking to build relationships and create partnerships in this first instance. Gemma Cumming, Arts and Culture Officer said: There is a particular interest in ensuring we are celebrating the ...
‘Green prescriptions’ – Age UK Berkshire and partners launch communal allotment
10 March 2021
Age UK Berkshire is partnering with local organisations to help boost the mental health of local people with anxiety and depression during the pandemic and beyond. Starting this spring, Age UK Berkshire will join forces with Involve Community Services, Twyford Parish Council and Twyford’s GP surgery to launch weekly gardening and growing sessions at the allotments ...
Writing an inclusion statement for your organisation
9 March 2021
If you have started or are proceeding on your journey to improve inclusion within your organisation, you may have started thinking about writing a impact or position statement that states your intentions and reflects the values you would like your organisation to represent for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Here are some suggestions that may help: 1: ...
Barchester’s Charitable Foundation – rolling funding
8 March 2021
The focus of the Barchester’s Charitable Foundation is about connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community. Applications are supported that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged. In particular they support: Older people 65+ Adults (18+) with a physical or learning disability Adults (18+) with mental health problems They are a unique charity that ...
Cameron Grants for Innovation in Mental Health
8 March 2021
The organisation offers small cash awards from the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust to support innovation in mental health The objectives of the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust (CGMT) are to raise awareness of suicide, to urge all who are suffering in silence to speak up and ask for help, and to support people, especially young people, who ...
Vaccinating carers across Berkshire West
4 March 2021
The vaccination programme in Berkshire West has been gathering pace and is delivered through: 12 GP-led centres 1 pharmacy 1 mass vaccination centre at the Madejski Stadium in Reading The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisations (JCVI) have developed a priority list based on people’s risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19. Carers are included in group 6 for ...
Berkshire Vision – remote activities in March and employability programme
3 March 2021
Berkshire Vision’s March activities programme for blind and partially sighted people across the county Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, the two face-to-face activities won’t be able to go ahead, but the remote programme will continue as planned, including hot chocolate tasting and pottery painting. Download the programme for March here. Employability programme Berkshire Vision’s employability programme, ‘Eyes on ...
Coronavirus testing for staff and volunteers – guidance from ACAS, ICO and DCMS
2 March 2021
Your organisation may already have staff and volunteers in key worker roles or you may be planning for reopening of services. Here are some resources that we have gathered to help you consider best practice and the law when considering coronavirus testing for staff and volunteers: ACAS has published this guidance on agreeing testing arrangements with ...
Mental health toolkit for practitioners working with families
26 February 2021
Mental health toolkit from the Troubled Families Programme The set of tools and resources below are being shared by DHSC, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and MHCLG to local partners working with children, families and communities. (Information about the Brighter Futures for Children Mental Health Support Team, and online resources such as Kooth, can ...
NHS Blood and Transplant Covid-19 Plasma Donor Campaign
25 February 2021
NHS Blood and Transplant is currently leading an urgent programme to enable a planned UK trial that could produce a vital treatment to save more lives. This requires plasma donations from patients who have had Covid-19 and are now recovering. We welcome all donations but are seeking donations in particular from recovering male patients who are 18-65 ...