14 July 2017
PSIAMS Systems shortlisted for Social Enterprise Award at the Celebration of Innovation Event and Awards 2017
PSIAMS, working in partnership with Dudley CVS, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award celebrating the best of innovation in healthcare around the region.
PSIAMS has been given the nod in the Social Enterprise category of the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN)’s second annual Celebration of Innovation awards.
More than 250 people from across the West Midlands’ NHS, industry, academia, third sector and patient population will gather at the Hilton Metropole at Birmingham’s NEC on 20 July.
The awards were established to recognise and celebrate the work of individuals and organisations in developing better healthcare and increasing wealth for local people, and the ceremony will provide an opportunity to celebrate achievements from across the West Midlands.
More than 100 entries were submitted across the 12 categories, which will now be assessed by a panel of experts to choose the eventual winner.
PSIAMS Systems is a social enterprise that has enabled a collaborative approach to health care across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, allowing the sector to scale and present new solutions to divert and reduce the pressure on statutory health services.
Dr Christopher Parker, Managing Director of the WMAHSN, said: “We are delighted that PSIAMS has been shortlisted for an award in the Social Enterprise catagory.
More than 100 entries were submitted and while it was a very tough decision to shortlist entries in the light of such a strong field, the other judges and I were in agreement that PSIAMS entry showed an astonishing breadth of scope and an approach that is truly innovative, transforming patient care, providing solutions to significant challenges and breaking down barriers across our region.”
PSIAMS was first developed to support the work of Dudley CCG’s (Clinical Commissioning Groups) collaborative work with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector on demonstrating their impact.
Mark Ellerby, Director of PSIAMS said: “Our work is not just about putting information into a system. We connect solutions together; marketing, peer-to-peer support, referrals to other services.
The outcome is that it huge amounts of time is saved and that allows valuable resources to be redirected to frontline services. PSIAMS can be delivered at a single or multi-organisational level.
In Dudley, our team has created a single, collaborative platform for over 30 organisations and over 200 users to operate from. Perhaps our greatest impact has been the way organisations now work and think about data and outcomes; whether that’s moving from paper to digital or office to mobile, our clients are more data and outcomes focused. This approach has also given the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector a means to contribute to the NHS’s Local Digital Road Map by ensuring data is now digital.
Since our formation as a company less than 18 months ago, we now work with around 45 health and wellbeing organisations across the West Midlands and beyond. Our customers include Dudley CVS, Integrated Plus, Changes UK, BID Services, Beacon Centre, Langstone Society, Lunch on the Run, Dudley Mind and Age UK Dudley. We have also created 6 jobs.”
For more information on PSIAMS systems, contact hello@psiams.com
20 January 2017
Woodside Crafts trustees Chris George and Martin Marston with Dudley CVS Small Groups Development Officer, Becky Pickin
A Dudley-based social enterprise that helps people with mental health related issues is celebrating becoming a registered charity.
Woodside Crafts grew when a small group of people at Woodside Day Centre in Holly Hall started making wooden products in group workshops as a therapeutic way to support living with mental ill-health. Group members quickly realised that they could sell their products to raise money for developing the group.
With lots of ideas for improving the skills and well-being of people living with mental ill-health, the group members contacted Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) for support. Dudley CVS helped the group members to form a social enterprise, by giving training on their responsibilities and supporting the group to develop its official paperwork to register as a company.
Since 2014 Woodside Crafts has managed a shop on King Street in Dudley, where it sells hand-crafted products, runs workshops for people with mental health issues and other needs, and challenges the stigma associated with mental ill-health. The group has been a regular at craft fayres and community events, showing how creativity can empower and change the lives of people with mental health issues.
After raising enough income to become a registered charity, Woodside Crafts again asked Dudley CVS for support. Dudley CVS and Woodside Crafts worked together to develop their application for charity status to the Charity Commission, which was quickly granted.
Trustee of Woodside Crafts, Christine George sad, “It has been such an amazing journey, especially seeing members develop their skills, grow in confidence and feel part of society again. We hope to continue promoting mental health, raise more awareness and of course welcome more members.”
Dudley CVS is a charity that supports people and organisations in Dudley borough to make a positive difference in the community. Dudley CVS also helps individuals or groups to set up, run and develop successful voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises by providing free-of-charge training, support and guidance.
ENDS
For further information contact Helena Norman, Communications Officer, Dudley Council for Voluntary Service. Tel 01384 573381.
Email: comms@dudleycvs.org.uk.
19 December 2016
Becky Pickin, Small Groups Development Officer at Dudley CVS with Dudley Deaf Theatre trustees Bob Habberley and Jeff Clarkson
Dudley Deaf Theatre becomes a registered charity
A Dudley-based theatre for deaf and hard of hearing communities is celebrating after successfully applying to become a registered charity.
Dudley Deaf Theatre (DDT) grew out of a project to bring performing arts to the deaf and hard of hearing communities, run by some members of Dudley Deaf Social Club and Black Country Touring. Members of the group co-ordinated accessible productions that could be enjoyed by deaf and hard of hearing individuals as well as the hearing community, working with theatre companies, interpreters and venues to ensure that everyone could enjoy theatre. The group also provided comedy and drama workshops for people from the deaf and hard of hearing communities, thereby teaching new skills and increasing people’s confidence.
After some successful shows and workshops, the group members decided to set up Dudley Deaf Theatre as a charity in its own right and contacted Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) for support. Dudley CVS staff provided guidance and information about the implications and benefits of charitable status and supported the group to develop the paperwork and procedures registered charities need to have in place. In just a few months, Dudley Deaf Theatre was up and running and was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission.
Jeff Clarkson, trustee of Dudley Deaf Theatre, said, “We’re over the moon to achieve charity status. We’re looking forward to the opportunities that being a charity will bring and to staging some brilliant shows that people from the deaf and hard of hearing communities can participate in and enjoy. We’re so grateful for the support that Dudley CVS have given to help us achieve our goals.”
Dudley Deaf Theatre plans to hold further performing arts workshops for deaf and hard of hearing communities and to provide accessible shows for those communities in the new year.
Dudley CVS is a charity that supports people and organisations in Dudley borough to make a positive difference in the community. Dudley CVS also helps individuals or groups to set up, run and develop successful voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises by providing free-of-charge training, support and guidance.
ENDS
For further information contact Helena Norman, Communications Officer, Dudley CVS. Tel 01384 573381.
Email: comms@dudleycvs.org.uk.
14 December 2016
Trustees and volunteers from Hawbush Community Gardens Georgina Biggs, Michelle Betteridge and Trevor Counley with Becky Pickin from Dudley CVS and Jess the dog#
Hawbush Community Gardens becomes a registered charity
A Brierley Hill community centre, garden and allotment is celebrating after successfully applying to become a registered charity, just in time for the first ever Local Charities Day.
Hawbush Community Gardens is an oasis tucked into the Hawbush estate, where over the past few years, local residents have come together to tend the site. Residents and volunteers have created beautiful community allotment space alongside a handful of private allotments open for local people on a first come, first served basis. The facility also has a centre offering indoor space for different types of activities that bring the community together.
In early 2016, the group contacted Dudley Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) for guidance on whether Hawbush Community Gardens could register as a charity. Dudley CVS staff provided all relevant information about the implications and benefits of charitable status and supported the group to develop the paperwork and procedures registered charities need to have in place. In less than a year, Hawbush Community Gardens gained a board of trustees and had its application for charity status accepted by the Charity Commission.
The news has come just in time for the first ever Local Charities Day on 16th December. Local Charities Day is a government initiative that aims to celebrate the great work local charities do every day of the year, which is often overlooked in favour of well-known national charities.
Michelle Betteridge, trustee of Hawbush Community Gardens, said, “We are absolutely delighted to achieve charity status and thank Dudley CVS who have been a huge support with our application. I am quite sure that we wouldn’t have had the confidence to do this without Dudley CVS support. We’re now really looking forward to next year and working with local residents to make Hawbush Gardens a valuable resource for the community.”
Hawbush Community Gardens is now planning to run a variety of outdoor and indoor projects on the site in the new year, from biodiversity activities, health and fitness and fun, educational activities for the community.
Dudley CVS is a charity that supports people and organisations in Dudley borough to make a positive difference in the community. Dudley CVS also helps individuals or groups to set up, run and develop successful voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises by providing free-of-charge training, support and guidance.
ENDS
For further information contact Helena Norman, Communications Officer, Dudley CVS. Tel 01384 573381.
Email: comms@dudleycvs.org.uk.
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