Could you be a volunteer and help support vulnerable people in your community this winter?

Derbyshire County Council are working in partnership with community volunteer services across the county looking for volunteers to help support the work of their Community Response Unit during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

The Community Response Unit is for residents with no friends or family to call on who are:

• Self-isolating because either themselves or a member of the household is at risk
• Struggling to meet basic needs because of financial, social or health restrictions
• Pregnant
• Have underlying health conditions
• Aged 70 or over.

Volunteers could be asked to help with food shopping and delivery, collecting and delivering prescriptions, or checking up on people who are isolated with a phone call or online help to prevent loneliness, and checking whether there is anything they need.

To volunteer, under current restrictions, you must be aged from 18 to 70 and be considered fit and well to help out.

To volunteer residents need to contact their local volunteer service and register their interest.

If you registered your interest earlier in the year and were not contacted, please get back in touch with your local volunteer centre.

• 

Feeling Connected in North East Derbyshire and Chesterfield (https://dva.org.uk/feeling-connected/) wants to commission new project work in North East Derbyshire and Chesterfield which will help to break down the barriers people experience which stop them from feeling connected to others.

Projects in the range £501-£5,000

The ‘Feeling Connected Fund’ Call for Proposals document below has more information and details on how to submit a proposal.Call-for-Proposals-Feeling-Connected-in-North-East-Derbyshire-and-ChesterfieldDownload

Anyone interested is asked to send in a short proposal any time over the next four weeks (from 9 November to 7 December).

If you have any questions please contact Julia Cook on julia@dva.org.uk

Chesterfield Shared Space & Hub Project: ways to progress
(temporary name)
 

On Wednesday February 5th 2020, an enthusiastic & creative session was held at St Helena Campus, University of Derby, Chesterfield on the possibilities for a ‘Shared Hub or Space’ for the community in Chesterfield.

There was a wonderfully inspired response to this proposal which was recorded in a summary report here.

Of course COVID19 threw this project temporarily off course as most ideas were based on a physical hub.  But we won’t let go of this opportunity for collective growth!

Since then we’ve picked up where we left off and channelled that first great energy into new ways for the community sector to benefit from a collective approach.  Here are three steps forward: 

A Name for the project: – over to you please!!  Please reply to this email with your ideas for a name.
A Facebook Group – this will follow the choice of a name.
A Collective Procurement Project – this is already happening through the work of intern, Arjun Karavadra – in case you’ve missed the initial  information & survey, access it here. 
 

As soon as the Facebook is up-and-running we’ll be in touch and will keep you posted on the latest news! 

With very best wishes

The Derbyshire Voluntary Action Team

The aim of the workshops is to bring people together who are interested in poetry and writing poetry. 

The workshops are open to anyone interested in poetry, whether you are a beginner or experienced poet. Poetry really is an activity anyone can join in with.  Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme; many modern poets now use a free-flowing verse.  So, don’t be put off by any technicalities for writing poetry. 

The workshops will take place via zoom.  If you need any help with this please do not hesitate to contact Joanne Gordon via email on mail@tinnitussupport.org.uk .The first workshop will take place on Wednesday 18^th November 2pm – 3pm.
 
A simple acrostic poem to get you started:

POSITIVE
Poetry is an expression
Of feelings and emotions
Spilling out thoughts
Imagination laid bare on the page
Transcending our ideas and
Inviting you to join our 
Vibrant Community
Energised through verse

Read more about the Poetry Workshops HERE

Throughout Lockdown Freedom are offering the following services as detailed on their Social Media.

Freedom will continue to be available throughout Lockdown:

Food Parcel Collections from
Bolsover Market Place – Monday to Friday 9.30am to 2pm.
Clowne Methodist Church – Monday 9.30am to 2pm.
Tinsley Methodist Church – Tuesday 9.30am to 2pm.

Our Support Workers are available for telephone/internet calls.

Face-to-face support for those who struggle to use telephone/internet will be available BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Monday to Friday 3pm to 5pm at 5 Market Place, Bolsover.

The Georgia Bird Foundation are launching 2 new weekly online groups for people to come together, connect and keep our mental health in check! 

Going back into a national lockdown can be scary for us all and be a big trigger for anxiety. The Georgia Bird Foundation don’t want people to feel like they have to be in this alone! 

Virtual Choir launching on 5th November! No experience required, just a chance to make new friends, learn a new skill and learn some songs!

Positivi-tea coffee morning launching on 7th November! Different things will be happening each week in the group from guest speakers, mindfulness sessions, activities and just a general natter! 

For more information or to join, please send an email to georgiabirdfoundation@gmail.com and the zoom links will be sent out!

Autism Information & Advice are recruiting a new full-time advisor. The successful candidate will respond to contacts via the service’s initial points of contact – such as answering the service’s help-line and responding to emails. The advisor will then triage the contact and provide up to date, relevant and accurate information and advice to the contact – which could be an individual living with ASC, a parent or carer, or a professional. The primary purpose of the advisor role is to show empathy and understanding, provide initial information and finally signpost to specialist information and advice on benefits, entitlements, debts, housing, relationships and family and to ensure relevant referrals to specialist agencies are processed. The role will also support with the service’s evaluation and reporting processes, promotion, and literature and content development, as well as the deliverance of Autism awareness raising training.

Location
Citizens Advice Mid Mercia – initially working from home with some visits to the South Derbyshire office (owing to current COVID-19 guidelines) and then working from the South Derbyshire office.

Pay scale
£20,849

Work Pattern
37.5 hours a week, 9-5, Monday – Friday, excluding public holidays

You can download the Job Pack HERE

To appy visit https://www.citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk/vacancies/
to download the application form and send to staff@citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk

Life Dronfield is a community charity based in Dronfield (www.lifedronfield.org)

This year Life would like to put together care packages to support those in our community who will be isolated over the Christmas period. This year more than ever we want those that are alone to know that someone is thinking of them and cares for them.

We are therefore asking for donations to enable us to deliver as many boxes as possible. We need items such as tea, coffee, jams, biscuits, chocolates, jigsaws, puzzle books, cosy socks and toiletries. We would really appreciate any donation that you are able to make.

If you would like any further information on this project please feel free to contact Becky Taylor at beckytaylor@lifedronfield.org

Wednesday 11th November 2020
6.00pm – 7.30pm 

A FREE interactive online session for anyone interested in the community & voluntary sector in Chesterfield – delivered for you by Community Chesterfield & the University of Derby. . .

putting the UNI in the COMMuniTY!

Voluntary & community organisations really need people to help support and guide their organisations. They are particularly keen to have people with fresh perspectives who may never have considered being a trustee before!

• Would you like to make a real difference to your local voluntary sector?
• Would you like to learn more about how organisations are run and managed?
• Could you bring enthusiasm, passion and a fresh pair of eyes to the table?
• Do you enjoy planning for the future and want to share those skills?
• Is working with people your joy?

Being a trustee is a rewarding and interesting role, it offers you the opportunity to use your talents to benefit an organisation, and develop and learn new skills to support your own future.

We hope to talk about the role of a trustee, as well as introducing you to some current trustee vacancies.

Session Leader

This discussion will be guided by Bev Crighton, External Engagement Lead for the University of Derby. Bev’s teaching work has included: Developing Skills for Business Leadership, Corporate Social Responsibility, Managing Human Resourcing, Employability, Reward and Performance and Business Skills. Her research interests include: Employability, Working from Home (implementations and advantages of) and Management Skills in the Workplace.

Booking and more information

Being able to promote your charity or voluntary sector organisation’s services clearly and in a professional format is important to build your credibility with statutory organisations and funders, and to attract donations.

Kate Dawson, whose runs Chesterfield-based Well Read PR, recognised that many not for profits need help creating high quality marketing materials through her work with Community Chesterfield, (delivering a series of marketing and PR workshops) and has teamed up with Hayley Beaumont a graphic designer to offer affordable design and communications services.
Kate and Hayley are both passionate about working with organisations which are making a difference to people’s quality of life.

“My skills as a storyteller means I can help charities get across a strong message about their work, whilst Hayley can help charities and groups develop their own recognisable brand identity, whether they are starting from scratch and need a new logo or want a set of brand guidelines to help them create a more consistent look and feel across all their materials,” explained Kate.

More details can be found on Well Read’s website at https://wellreadpr.com/branding/ including a pdf which gives a breakdown of the services on offer with costs.

Members of Derbyshire Voluntary Action can claim a 10% discount on jobs booked in up to and including Friday 27^th November (Black Friday) by emailing Kate at kate.dawson@wellreadpr.com quoting DVABlack in the email title.