Helping older people to stay independent in Suffolk
Age UK Suffolk can now offer more help to people over the age of 60 who want to remain living independently in their own homes, following a successful re-launch of its Independence Advisors Service as a result of a new partnership with Supporting People Suffolk.
To request a visit from an Independence Advisor call Age UK Suffolk on 01473 288048, or email
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or write to Age UK Suffolk at 14 Hill View Business Park, Old Ipswich Road, Claydon, Ipswich, IP6 0AJ.
“The Independence Advisors Service offers a home visit from a friendly, well informed advisor” said Independence Advisors’ Manager, Marsha Janssens, today. “We can visit anyone over 60 wherever they live in Suffolk and the visit is free. Our Advisors are able to discuss any issue that is affecting someone’s daily life and give accurate information and advice about services available to help people stay independent.” Mrs Janssens continued, “We can also help people take action on the information and access local services if they wish, or to consider other housing options if their home is not meeting their needs.”
“The Independence Advisors Service has been running successfully for 5 years in partnership with Suffolk County Council, but a recent injection of funding from Supporting People Suffolk will allow us to expand the service, employing more advisors to meet the high demand for visits” said Mrs Janssens. “As part of this new funding we will be particularly seeking to offer our service to older people living in the county’s Sheltered Housing schemes, in order to assist residents to be fully informed about services available to help them stay living independently for longer.”
Age UK Suffolk is a local independent charity working with and for older people and their family carers in Suffolk. It provides a range of services and support including information help desks, benefits advice, an independent advocacy service, befriending, support for people with dementia and their family carers, day centres and home helps.
'All Under One Roof' - An environmental information day – for the whole family
When you hear the words 'climate change' and 'global warming' do you feel helpless, unable to do anything about it or does it feel so remote, you haven't got the time or the will to do anything? Maybe, you are at the stage of wanting to know a little bit more but you are not sure how or where to go and if you did, would it really make much difference?
On Saturday July 16th between 10am and 4pm, Bungay is hosting an Environmental Information Day. This is a free event giving everyone an opportunity to browse the different stands without any pressure, a time where you can find out if there is more that you and your family can do.
This event is being held in the Orange Hall at Emmanuel Church, Bungay, NR35 1BH and will have a variety of stands and displays incl. Recycling, composting, double glazing, loft insulation, wood-burning stoves, water softeners, solar panels, biomass boilers, ground source heat pumps, green funerals, rain water harvesting, and an electric car. You will be able to find out about Sustainable Bungay and the various projects that they are involved in, The Suffolk Climate Change Partnership and displays from a scientific perspective and our own solar panel journey.
All Things Greener, the Eco shop from Harleston will be selling a selection of their environmentally friendly products, Greengrow – an organic co-operative in Ilketshall St Andrew will have a selection of vegetables on offer and there will be a stall selling recycled toys and games as an example of recycling.
Tea, coffee and light lunches will also be available. Please put July 16th in your diary and come along to see if you can make a difference.
Gathering Intelligence about Voluntary Sector Cuts Nationally
We would like to draw your attention toThe Voluntary Sector Cuts website whichwas launched at the end of January to help to build a nationwide picture of how government spending cuts are taking their toll on the voluntary and community sector (VCS). It gives VCS organisations the opportunity to share their concerns about funding cuts and how they will impact on their ability to deliver vital services. It is a joint project bringing together the NCVO, ACEVO, Volunteering England, the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS), Compact Voice and the nine Regional Voluntary Networks from across the country (Regional Voices).
Over 100 cuts have now been reported to the site. These are in addition to 68 reports that were copied over from NCVO's cuts project last year. Around 6,000 visits have been made to the site since it launched, suggesting that roughly 1 in 60 visitors is reporting a cut. Another success has been the twitter feed which tweets every time a cut is reported, providing a powerful record of the impact of cuts in real time. You can find cuts in your area or theme on the "cuts by region" page, by using the filters on the right hand side. You can also download the whole dataset from Google Spreadsheets
VCS organisations can use it to report any cuts they may have experienced and to make use of the data in reports.
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Get involved in Suffolk County Council’s divestment of services - ‘Your Place’
SCC have now identified a number of services as requiring a local community based approach to divestment, including libraries, country parks, youth clubs and school crossing patrols The timetable for this work is tight, with SCC looking to make some decisions on services from July 2011.
If you or your group are interested in running a divested service or you would like to be involved in the solutions being developed in your community, do contact your County Councillor as soon as possible or give your response through the consultation processes currently underway – more details can be found on the Suffolk County Council website detailed below.
SAVO, along with other member of the VCS Congress, are challenging SCC to make the process of divestment as clear and cost effective as possible, to enable people to participate and to protect the services needed and valued by the people of Suffolk.
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Need support?
SAVO along with other Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations, will be offering training and support to developing local solutions in communities and would be happy to hear from you if you feel that you need support to offer or develop a community project. Contact
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Important consultation about Suffolk's library service
The consultation, entitled ‘Have your say on the future of Suffolk's libraries’, started last month and ends on 30 April. It is a direct invitation to local businesses, community and voluntary groups, local councils and individuals across Suffolk to have their say about running their local library differently and at reduced cost to the council.
Read more
As a result of reductions in the county council’s funding, the library service will need to cost Suffolk County Council (SCC) at least 30% less to deliver within three years. As part of the New Strategic Direction (NSD), which is being developed to help protect services throughout the current financial climate, the County Council is looking for new, innovative ways of running Suffolk’s libraries.
This first phase of the consultation will focus on inviting innovative ideas for running library services differently. All ideas will be reviewed, and the next phase will involve formal invitations to express interest, which would be followed by meetings to discuss detailed plans.
SCC state that all ideas will be considered, and the County Council's Cabinet will review a paper outlining the latest position when it meets in July 2011. The next phase will involve formal invitations to express interest.
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We Are What We Do Suffolk
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, according to the philosopher Confucius, or the philosopher Lau Tzu, founder of Taoism (Daoism), depending on which reference material you use. Pittacus stated that the measure of a man is what he does with power and Jean Paul Sartre shortened it to form part of Existentialism: a man is what he does. These phrases have over the years been taken by thousands of genuine philosophers, cod-philosophers (not fish that talk or men who point to cod as examples of how we should live!), politicians, snake-oil salesman and mystics and been done to death. Each has, through repeated use, reached the level of meaningless cliché and yet still they retain an attraction – based, perhaps, on an element of logic and a hint of universal truth that they both encompass.
We Are What We Do is relatively new, web-based, initiative that combines the notion of a journey with the belief that people, on some level, define themselves and are defined by their actions. Through the use of national and international campaigns, social networking, media-savvy stunts, celebrity endorsements, business common sense, concentrated local actions and individuals taking simple first steps, the organisation/campaign has gained prominence. Now it wants to consolidate its successes and make its philosophy concrete on a regional level, in Suffolk.
The Suffolk variant of the website will be on-line at the end of April. In the interim we (everybody at SAVO and in the wider community and me – Tony Mudd), must rattle the cages and rip up the rule book in an effort to find fantastic and marvelous ways to let every citizen in Suffolk know they do have power, they can influence their surroundings, those further afield and the world! All they/we have to do is start the journey with a single simple step, one action.
Along the way we’ll consider, adapt and coordinate all the ideas that are suggested, use traditional and new methods and media to get the message out there. We want people to join in, at first as individuals and then, as part of their journey, as loose associations and groups; all acting as a force for change for the better. We also want existing groups and organisations to come on board, to join in and to promote a way for people and communities to unite and to influence the future. A real Big Society with real muscle. And along the way we will have excitement, fun and parties, celebrations of successes and of the people: the local heroes, who make each success possible.
We will gain what we put in and more besides, we will be at the forefront of a national and international movement for change, change for good. We have the opportunity to be the first step on a journey that can change everything and we can be happy to defined by that! So let’s all take the step…
You can contact Tony with any ideas, thoughts etc on
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or
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or check out the national website at www.wearewhatwedo.org
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The first Suffolk Annual Adult Learner Awards
Have you met a learner who has inspired you?
Are you aware of a learner who has changed their lives through learning?
Do you know a Tutor or Volunteer who has gone the extra mile?
Adult Learners Week will run from 14th– 20th May 2011. LEAP supported by Suffolk Learning Consortium have joined forces with Suffolk Partnership for Informal Adult Learning(SPIAL) to organise their very own ‘Suffolk Learner of the Year Award’.
The categories are as follows:
- 65+ Learner of the Year Award
- Digital/Technology Learner of the Year Award
- Inspirational Learner of the Year Award
- Tutor Award
- Learning at Work Award
- Learning Project Award
- Outstanding Family Learners of the Year Award
- Volunteer Award
The full criteria and simple nomination forms can be downloaded from the Leap Website: www.Leap.ac.uk. All nominations must be returned by 5pm, Monday 4th April 2011.
Please return to: Louise Barley, Leap Assistant Manager, University Campus Suffolk, Waterfront Building, Neptune Quay, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ or email
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The actual event will take place at the UCS Waterfront Building on Thursday 19th May 2011, 6pm to 8pm where the winners and runners-up will receive their awards and the fantastic learning opportunities available in Suffolk will be celebrated.
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Support STEPS Baby Hip Health Week : 13th -19th March 2011
The aim of the annual Baby Hip Health Awareness Week is to continue to raise awareness amongst parents and health professionals of the vital need to check babies' hips during the first few weeks of life to prevent unnecessary pain and disability in later years.
In the UK alone, up to 2,000 children a year are diagnosed with Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), which describes a range of conditions from mild instability to total dislocation of the hip. Early detection means DDH can often be corrected by a simple outpatient treatment, but a later or missed diagnosis can leave a child requiring hospital stays, operations and potentially a permanent disability. This is something personal to our hearts as one of the SAVO staff has a child recently diagnosed at a later stage of DDH. Being aware of the signs of DDH from an early age is vital.
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Advising Voluntary and Community Groups on Funding Issues – Online Course
There are still places available on the Advising Voluntary and Community Groups on Funding Issues - On-line course starting 11th April 2011. Fit4funding is offering their innovative online course for funding advisers. This course is the online translation of fit4funding's face to face OCN accredited course for giving Funding Advice. It is aimed at individuals whose work involves advising community and voluntary groups on funding and funding related issues; for example, specialist funding advisors, community or umbrella agency workers whose remit includes giving funding advice, or people new to giving funding advice.
Fit4funding has successfully delivered this Open College Network Level 3 accredited course to learners face to face for over 8 years, training well over 1000 funding advisors in England and Wales. This version of the course will be delivered completely on-line with two very experienced and fully qualified f4f funding advice e-learning tutors, who will offer individual support and guidance throughout.
The course runs over an 8 week period and requires learners to commit to approx 4 hours participation per week. Learners can work at their own pace and in their own time, and will engage in a range of inter-active experiences and networking opportunities with other learners.
The course will cover:
The role of the funding advisor
Good practice in giving funding advice
Diagnosing groups' needs
Clarifying complex funding criteria
Giving feedback on draft applications
Voluntary sector funding trends
Course start date: 11th April 2011 for 8 weeks
Enrolment date: 4th April 2011
Course cost - £295.00 for voluntary and community sector organisations; £395.00 for statutory organisations
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Invitation to SAVO Health Symposium
You are invited to SAVO’s first Symposium on 28th March at Saxon House, Age UK Suffolk, Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds. 9.30 -3.30. The Symposium addresses: No Decision About Me, Without Me: Health, Suffolk and the Voluntary and Community Sector.
The Coalition Government is introducing legislation that makes fundamental changes to the NHS. The formation of GP consortia, the end of Primary Care Trusts, trumpeting the VCS and Social Enterprises as providers of choice, a patient focus of ‘No decision about me, without me’ – in short, a radical transformation is taking placed across the landscape of Healthcare in Suffolk.
What will be the impact on the Voluntary and Community Sector? Is it an opportunity or a threat, or both?
Examining the Experts:
A panel of VCS movers and shakers will receive and examine presentations from key change players, including Suffolk’s Director of Public Health, GP Consortium Leads and the Chief Executive of Suffolk PCT.
In the next few days, SAVO will be publishing the draft of an independent report to look at the potential impact on the VCS of health changes. Paul Rowley, formerly a Director of Social Services, examines the scope of the Government’s new agenda and offers challenges and solutions for the Voluntary and Community Sector
Contributing to development:
Following lunch, having heard the evidence, attendees will be invited to debate, discuss and offer perspective and solutions to form the final SAVO report - A report to shape the future of how you, your organisation and your beneficiaries relate to how Health Works in Suffolk.
We hope you are able to join us; contact
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t: 01473 273273 for more details.
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SOS for Small Voluntary and Community Groups
West Suffolk Consortium of Voluntary Organisations has joined forces with SAVO to develop the SOS project (Small Organisation Support) for voluntary and community groups and community-minded individuals in the West Suffolk area. Funded by West Suffolk Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) the project provides a range of friendly and informal 2.5 or 3 hour workshops to help groups develop their skills, become more effective, comply with the law and develop good practice. Packed with practical tips and useful resources, all the sessions are FREE!
So if you are someone who is thinking of starting a small group or you have already started but want to learn more about running a committee, organising events, managing volunteers and much more, why not book for one or more sessions?
The workshops are running over the next 12 months in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket, Brandon, Mildenhall and Sudbury and the early workshops include:
March 16 - Morning - Writing Good Funding Applications - Newmarket
March 30 - Evening - Business and Project Planning - Mildenhall
April 5 - Morning - Setting up a new group/initial planning - Sudbury
April 12 - Afternoon - Trustee / Management Committee - Bury St Eds
Roles and Responsibilities
April 13 - Evening - Trustee / Management Committee - Newmarket
Roles and Responsibilities
April 19 - Evening - Writing Good Funding Applications - Sudbury
If you require more detailed support, groups and individuals can receive FREE mentoring support.
For further details, contact the relevant organisation in your area:
Bury St Edmunds contact Bury St Edmunds Volunteer Centre on 01284 766126
Sudbury contact Volunteer Centre Babergh on 01787 242116
Haverhill contact Haverhill Volunteer Centre on 01440 708444
Newmarket, Brandon & Mildenhall contact The Voluntary Network on 01638 608049
or Robin Hodgkinson at SAVO on 01473 275194.
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Second Year of Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund to open soon
The Department of Health's Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund (HSCVF) will be launching its second local grant scheme in Spring 2011. The local grant scheme 2010 funded 43 projects across England. Although the interest in the fund in 2010 was high, there were few applications from the East of England.
Information about the Fund
The HSCVF provides a combination of grant funding and support to organisations, aimed at enhancing their capacity and ability in the health and social care field. The HSCVF differs from many other grant funding schemes as it aims to help organisations grow and develop, not just provide a short term input of grant monies. This is why the HSCVF gives equal priority to:
· A package of support to build organisational capacity that will assist with longer term sustainability, as well as
· Financial provision through grant awards.
Local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations will be able to submit a maximum of one application. Applicants will be asked to apply under one of the following themes:
· Theme 1: Patient-led NHS
· Theme 2: Delivering Better Health Outcomes
· Theme 3: Improving Public Health
· Theme 4: Improving Health and Social Care
The local grant scheme funds and supports local projects targeting health inequalities and promotes innovative approaches to volunteering in the health and social care field.
Competition for the fund is likely to be high. It is anticipated that around 45 organisations will receive funding up to a maximum of £50,000. Funding can be sought for 2 or 3 year projects. Criteria for applying include: having a track record in health and social care activity, and having policies on equality, health and safety, and safeguarding of children and adults already in place.
Pre-application Events
Pre-application events have been organised to:
· provide further information on the programme's remit
· guidance on completing the application process
· the opportunity for one-to-one discussions with organisations about the eligibility of their project ideas.
Half-day information events will be held in Birmingham, London and Leeds to interested VCSEs.
For further information, contact Ashfa Slater,Volunteering Fund Programme Manager; Helpline number: 0845 172 8058
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Royal Wedding Bank holiday – what it means for staff
The Royal Wedding on the 29th April this year gives us an additional Bank Holiday. How does this impact on your staff’s holiday entitlements?
Statutory annual leave is 28 days (5.6 weeks) for a person working a five-day week, representing 20 days leave entitlement under the EU working time directive, plus time off equivalent to eight bank holidays (New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter, early May, late May and August bank holidays, Christmas and Boxing Day). For part-time workers, the entitlement is pro rata.
If the contract of employment says nothing about holidays, a full-time employee is entitled to 28 days/5.6 weeks (pro rata for part-time) with no additional entitlement to either ordinary or special bank holidays (like the Royal Wedding Holiday on 29 April 2011). If the contract specifies a certain number of days or weeks (which must be at least 20 days/4 weeks) plus bank holidays, the employee will be entitled to the Royal Wedding Day or another day in lieu, or for part-timers a pro rata number of hours.
Detailed information about statutory annual leave and bank holidays, including how to calculate entitlement for part-time, casual and other atypical workers, is on the Business Link website here
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Paul McKenna gives me the Creeps
This month’s musings from SAVO’s Chief Executive. Find out why Jonathan shudders on seeing Paul McKenna and what really makes him happy!
On a train rattling from Liverpool Street home, I stumbled across a review of a new book by Paul McKenna who guarantees to be able to make you happy. Perhaps it’s unfair to form judgements on the basis of someone’s review of a book, it might be a gross calumny on the fellow – but he really came across as an odious piece of something that you’d quickly scrape off your shoe after you’d trodden in it. Those that know me would, I hope, say that I’m not someone who quickly jumps to opinions about people, so I guess this opinion is not just based on this review, but rather my exposure to Mr McKenna over his chequered career. His recommendations on happiness perhaps confirming a deep-seated loathing he brings out in me (thankfully a rare sensation I have).
What then sparked this reaction? (Especially as it won’t mean he sells any less books, or lose any sleep over my thoughts/opinion). His new book, his new programme for happiness, seems to sit firmly on the idea that to be happy, you must totally cut out of your life people that aren’t happy. He seems to suggest that associating with people that are miserable will sap your energy and that therefore you should only link up with those people that ‘charge’ your batteries. I suppose I ought to buy his book and check whether this is what he is saying, but a second review I read seemed to confirm that this was his premise – and I certainly don’t want to financially reward him for this misanthropy.
Applying his thesis would seem to be an argument for creating a ‘Happy’ elite who shun anyone with a slightly grey cloud hanging over their day or life. However, the numbers in this elite would seem to be constantly contracting as you need to have people at least as happy if not happier than yourself – so any off day and you get blackballed from the elite. Secondly, I think this is stupid, because my own experience of happiness is that it is relative – therefore having a benchmark of meeting a really miserable person when you are having a slightly off-day can leave you realising that your life is actually better than you are currently assessing it to be. In short – you are happier than they are and therefore avoiding them makes you less happy.
I do agree that being happy is an important way of evaluating your own life; but the musings of a hypnotist trying to make a quick buck seems to add little to the equation. And now having used this as the basis of a Blog, I feel unhappy that he has made me waste time on his stupid theories. Back to a much better way of making myself happy … Friends / Volunteering / Biggles / Football / Scouts / E-harmony etc etc … even if the people I encounter are not wearing the sunniest of smiles.
Tools for the VCS 
