People in Lower Gornal have rallied, mobilised and rolled up their sleeves to reopen the Friday night youth club at Lower Gornal Youth Centre, and I’ve really enjoyed supporting them to make it happen!
community group
DY1-stop shop: Open door for anyone involved or wanting to be involved in community initiatives, charities or enterprises
On Wednesday 2nd March, Eileen and I are launching DY1-stop shop! We’ll be throwing open DY1’s doors to anyone who wants to chat through anything to do with:
- Setting up a project or group – information and guidance on how to get started, what routes you could take, how to get support
- Running a charity or voluntary organisation – you might want information on leading an organisation, responsibilities of being a trustee, compliance, help with rules and paperwork, finance, planning
- Recruiting and supporting people to help run your group or activities – you might be looking for volunteers or helpers to make great things happen
- Getting more active in your community – you might be interested in volunteering, joining local groups, clubs and organisations
- Connecting with other organisations
Whether you’re from an existing voluntary group, charity or social enterprise, or you’d like to do more to support your community, come along to get your questions answered, generate ideas and feel supported all over a friendly cuppa!
Drop in on us anytime between 10am and 1pm in the coffee shop area of DY1, Stafford Street, Dudley, DY1 1RT. This will continue on the first Wednesday of every month.
We’re looking forward to meeting you there!
Can you name two or more local charities?
Source: gratisography.com
If you can name two or more local charities, you’re part of only 10% of the public that can – that’s according to research carried out by TSB Bank as reported by Civil Society.
Future in safe hands: working with Dudley Youth Council
As everyone’s winding down for Christmas, I’ve been thinking about things I’m looking forward to in the new year when I come back to work re-energised. One group I’m really excited to be working with more closely is Dudley Youth Council.
Join us during Trustees Week
“Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They play a vital role, volunteering their time and working together to make important decisions about the charity’s work. Trustees’ Week is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference.”
From the Trustees’ Week website
Celebrating our work with people, communities and organisations
I’m really pleased to share the work I and my wonderful colleagues have done to support individuals, communities and organisations last year. The Dudley CVS Annual Report outlines how we’ve been connecting and inspiring people and organisations to achieve positive change and championing their work. It covers the year April 2014-March 2015.
Building groups, building friendships: Black Country Integration Project
On Friday evening I had the pleasure of visiting the Mayor of Dudley’ parlour to celebrate the launch of one of my groups, Black Country Integration Project.
A year in the life… Supporting small groups
Photo credit: Lotus Carroll / Source / CC BY-NC-SA
It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about our annual report, a review of how, collectively, we have helped to build caring, vibrant and strong communities where everyone can achieve their potential. I enjoy taking a step back and looking at what small differences I may have made throughout the year, so I’m inviting you to take a glimpse of my personal snapshot of 2014-15 (April-March), supporting small community groups, voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises.
Missed opportunities? Demonstrating our worth online
Photo credit: mkhmarketing / Foter / CC BY
A study published by Lloyds Bank has reported that more than half of charities lack ‘basic digital skills’, especially compared with small business. You can read the full report here.
The study particularly focuses on the lack of understanding about how a web presence can increase donations and other forms of finance, but it also chimes with one of Dudley CVS’s priorities for the forthcoming year and one of the key findings of our recent state of the sector survey – voluntary and community organisations would like some support with telling their stories online.
Being able to demonstrate your impact online, at a time when organisations cannot solely rely on grant-funding alone to survive, might expose your organisation to new sponsors, supporters, crowd-funders, investors, donors, businesses looking to fulfil their corporate social responsibility principles. But the reasons may not be purely financial. Having a web presence can be empowering for your organisation and the people you support; you can run campaigns, dispel myths, inspire people, connect, share and learn.
But what do you think? What do you think about the report? What has an online presence allowed you to do more easily? What are the barriers to getting your organisation on the web? Is it resources, skills in tech and design or anything else? How could we all support each other to grasp new opportunities that the digital world might offer?
Celebrating Mayor’s Civic Awards winners
I was delighted to see that some of the fabulous voluntary and community groups that we support had been recognised for their diverse achievements at this month’s Mayor’s Civic Awards.
Dudley CVS blog 
