Does Your Group Need Support, Information and Guidance?

Grow now has a new Groups Development Worker in post, her name is Maria Van de Vorst. She is there to support all voluntary and community organisations within Wiltshire offering support, information and guidance. Please get in touch, support is a phone call away, call us on 0845 034 5250 or email maria@developecs.org.uk.

 

VCS Awards - Submit Your Nominations!

Wiltshire Council and NHS Wiltshire are keen to acknowledge the contribution made by the VCS to the well-being of Wiltshire residents. The Wiltshire VCS Awards scheme, which has been designed to recognise good practice and good performance, encourage sharing of success stories and to celebrate the many excellent and innovative things happening in the county.  It will culminate with an evening Awards Ceremony on 19 October 2010. Is your team working on something exceptional or innovative that is helping to transform the lives of people in Wiltshire?  Are you proud to share the work you are doing with your colleagues. Full details and how to apply can be found on www.wiltshire.gov.uk/vcs.

 

Be Aware - Tax and National Insurance E-mail Refund Scams are on the Increase and Very Plausible!

Be informed - They arrive in your e-mail in-tray as “Tax Refund Notification” - or something very similar - stating that it is from HM Revenue & Customs – this is normally seen some where in the e-mail - with an e-mail address that will be along the lines of [mailto:secure@hmrc.gov.uk]. The e-mail will call your attention to a payment refund of £…….. that you have failed to collect and then go onto ask for your bank details so they can deposit the “refund” into your bank account via online banking. Find out more about what to look out for and how to you can report these emails here.

 

Funding Information for Wiltshire  

The following funding information is provided by Charities Information Bureau – South & West (CIB). For further information, or to speak to a funding advisor, please call (01380) 729279 or email: enquiries@cibwilts.org.uk. To register for access to our FREE funding database, please visit: www.cibsouthandwest.org.uk. COMMUNITY TRANSPORT SMALL GRANTS FUND -  Funding is intended to support local community projects which help people who are without access to transport to access services and facilities in Wiltshire and Swindon. TORCH TROPHY TRUST -  To enable volunteers and groups to develop their skills as coaches or officials to assist their club, organisation or community to develop their chosen sport. Bursaries are intended to help volunteers and groups develop talent; improve their knowledge; enhance their skills; encourage sports at a grassroots level.

 

Use of Free Shop in Chippenham for Community Groups

With the support of Emery Gate and Borough Parade, empty shop units have been offered for temporary use for promoting the River Festival and as a Community Point.  Subject to space, voluntary and community groups are all invited either to place leaflets or posters, or put up a display stand and help to man the Community Point for some times between 10 am and 4 pm.  For more information please contact John Clark at info@chippenhamriverfestival.co.uk.

 

Colour Printer Offered to a Worthy Cause!

An individual has contacted GROW to offer up for free an Epsom Colour Stylus 3000 A3 printer, it's in good working order, and has been kept fully serviced by Epsom. Comes with all the relevant disks and some colour cartridges. The donor will also help to set it up for you if needed. Available for immediate collection from Chippenham. Contact Beth at GROW if you are interested!

 

Wiltshire Parking Strategy - Consultation Now Open!

The consultation on the Local Transport Plan draft Parking Strategy is now available for viewing at http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal.  Wiltshire Council would welcome your comments on this document - there is the opportunity to respond to specific questions and make general comments at a number of points in the document. The consultation will run from 9am on Monday 12 July until 5pm on Friday 3 September

 

Wiltshire & Swindon Users Network - Supporting Service Users to Speak Out

Who are we? We are people who receive services or payments from Wiltshire Council or from Swindon Borough Council, or who use public, community and health services, and have got together to form a Network group. What are our Aims? To give people the chance to speak up,  To help people work with us in a good way, To work towards changing services to meet our needs. Who is the Users’ Network for? Anyone aged 18 years of over, who lives in Swindon or Wiltshire, who uses public or community services. These include: People with a sensory impairment, People with a physical impairment, People with hidden impairments such as mental health difficulties, People with learning difficulties and Older people. If you want to find out more about WSUN you can contact Denise Cooper, Outreach Development Worker on 01380 872924. Denise is also happy to visit your group to let you know more about the work of WSUN.