News, Funding, Events and More for Barnet's VCFSE Community from Inclusion Barnet
Welcome to the Community Organisation Support Newsletter from Inclusion Barnet for Barnet Together!
As we enter summer, we have been continuing to build upon the foundational work of the past few months in partnership with Barnet Together organisations, who are delivering incredible support to Barnet's VCFSE sector.
We ran a successful fundraising support training early last month as well as welcoming members into our Colindale office to have various 1:1 meetings with the National Lottery as well as ourselves.
We will be running our next member network meeting in July after the upcoming general election. The in-person session will focus on health inequalities with a special speaker attending. Additionally, member organisations can book a 1:1 slot with Natalie from the Lottery as well as an online or in-person meeting with the COS team by choosing a slot from our bookings page.
In this month’s newsletter, we are promoting various opportunities from across the Barnet Together partnership, including funding opportunities and the chance for members to sign up to a range of events.
(For VCFSEs looking for focussed support, funding, news and events for their work with Children, Young People and Families, please contact Young Barnet Foundation).
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Our next Member Network Meeting in July
After our last successful session around fundraising support, we will be running our next member network meeting in mid-July after the general election for our members. The them is around addressing health inequalities with an intersectional lens in our communities in Barnet through networking with members and hearing from an expert speaker.
We have decided to place this event after the general election due to other commitments in the run up to it from the Council and other partners. It will be run in-person at our Inclusion Barnet office in Colindale.
Please watch out for an invitation via email soon landing in your inbox and register online via the link provided!
1:1 member bookings available
You can now book personalised one-to-one support sessions online with the Inclusion Barnet Community Organisation Support Team if you are an existing member! Whether you're seeking assistance with fundraising strategies, organisational development, or any other aspect of your work, our team is here to provide tailored support to help you thrive. And the best part? You can book your session conveniently to meet online or offline, whichever suits your preference! We will do the online meetings on Teams or Zoom and the offline meetings will take place at our office space in Colindale.
We have a special colleague from the National Lottery Community Fund, Natalie Denner, who will be providing one-to-one support sessions for Reaching Communities fund applications. These are available on the following date:
- Tuesday 11 June from 2-5pm
The Reaching Communities Fund starts at £20,001 with no upper limit. It can support your project for up to 5 years. Please make sure to read this eligibility criteria before booking as only eligible groups towards this grant will be able to have a 1-1 with Natalie.
Faith and Peace Walk on National Clean Air Day
There will be a Faith and Peace Walk in Edgware on Thursday 20th June organised through Middlesex University and the Barnet Multi-Faith Forum.
They will be meeting at 4.30pm at Edgware Underground Station. The midpoint is St. Margaret’s Church and the finale is at OneStonegrove finishing at 8.30pm!
If you’d like to join us, please register with Eventbrite using this link.
Barnet Heatwave Health Preparedness Workshop
The aim of this workshop is to prepare for heatwaves. It will take place on Tuesday 4 June, 10am-12pm online.
The session will cover essential information on how to prepare and act during heatwaves and two interactive workshops.
- Workshop one: Lessons learned from previous heatwaves, discussion of what worked and what didn't work well?
- Workshop two: What do we need to do protect the most vulnerable groups this summer?
The workshop is for Barnet-based organisations working with vulnerable groups including:
- babies and young children (under the age of 5 years)
- older aged people (75+ years)
- pregnant women
- people with severe and chronic illness
- people experiencing homelessness
- people with alcohol or drug dependence
- people who live alone and may be unable to take care of themselves
- people with serious mental health problems
Event Security
The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime are in collaboration with SAFE by CST for this online event. This session will focus on EVENT SECURITY.
This session is one of SAFE's core webinars aimed at organisations hosting large events and designed to raise your awareness of security measures to ensure the safety of large numbers of people.
This is an online event on Monday 8 July, 6pm – 7:15pm.
Please click here to register and for further details.
Finchley Sharing Space is a community hub that supports climate and social action where Barnet residents can join together to share ideas, skills, food and stuff; creating a circular economy, and connected, resilient communities. It is run by the community, for the community with a range of topics covered in response to what residents in that area find of interest, and include F.E.S.T activities: Fix, Eat, Swap, Talk events. The Sharing Space is running as a 12-week programme between Late March-July with an event taking place each week on Wednesdays 5pm-7pm) at the Finchley Church End Library (a walking distance from Finchley Central Tube Station). There are also three sessions at JVS (Golders Green) where Barnet residents will demonstrate how to cook delicious vegan foods. The next event is on Wednesday 5th June, 5pm-7pm at JVS Golders Green.
ERSA Employability Day 2024
We are excited to announce the upcoming ERSA Employability Day 2024, taking place on Friday 13th September. This event serves as a platform to highlight the incredible efforts and achievements of our partners and skills provider network in empowering individuals and fostering employability. We invite you to join us in showcasing the impactful work you've been doing to support individuals on their journey towards sustainable employment. ERSA Employability Day is an opportunity to celebrate collaboration, innovation, and the positive outcomes that result from our collective efforts. We encourage your active participation and look forward to highlighting the invaluable contributions of our network.
We have included some resources to assist with this and please do let us and ERSA know if you have any special plans for the day. To do this please contact Henry at empday@ersa.org.uk
Join the first-ever Digital Inclusion Summit on 20 June 2024, a free online event hosted by Charities Digital. Designed for charity professionals, this summit will provide essential digital skills and knowledge to help bridge the digital divide. Whether you're a digital novice or an expert, gain insights to create a safer, more inclusive digital world. Don't miss this invaluable opportunity!
Inclusion Barnet Community Organisation Support Membership
Become a Community Organisation Support Member Today!
Do you need help finding fundraising opportunities? Do you need support to raise your organisation’s profile? Do you want to attend training sessions, gain advice on business planning, and network with other VCFSE organisations?
Our Community Organisation Support team at Inclusion Barnet, working in partnership as Barnet Together, supports the vital role that voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations play in our vibrant and diverse borough. Whether you need help in identifying the right fundraising opportunities, advice on governance or business planning, or to find new ways to raise your organisation’s profile and reach new audiences, our Community Organisation Support team are here to help your organisation adapt and thrive.
Our Community Organisation Support team is here for you!
Join our FREE membership to access:
🌟 one-to-one support sessions
🌟 grant / funding advice and support
🌟 planning and marketing support
🌟 networking opportunities
🌟 partnership development
🌟 training sessions
🌟 monitoring & evaluation tools (Upshot)
🌟 advice about setting up an organisation.
Latest Funding Opportunities
We’ve had lots of new members join us recently, so we thought that our dedicated section on grants could cover some well-known grant opportunities, some web pages and resources to watch out for, and some new grants.
Our ‘surprise of the month’ grant, which is one that was new to our grants team, this month goes to the Synergi Fund. They offer grants of £5000 to organisations who work at ‘the intersection between abolition, mental health and racial justice’. This fund is open to organisations of all types of unregistered / constituted structures, with a yearly income of less than £50,000. This funding round closes on June 14th.
Are you a registered charity looking for a way to improve or develop a space that benefits your local community? If so, look no further than the B&Q Foundation who offer up to £10,000 for buildings or indoor projects, or up to £5,000 for garden projects. You can read their Grant FAQs here. Their next funding round opens on July 22nd, and closes 9th August.
King Charles III’s Charitable Fund offers small grants of up to £5000 per year to approximately 100 charities per year. Charities must have completed two years of activity and have an annual income of less than £1 million pounds.
London Catalyst - Partners for Health is offering grants to support new projects or service developments aimed at tackling poverty and improving the health and well-being of individuals with limiting health conditions or disabilities. Priority is given to initiatives within Greater London (inside the M25), with an annual grant budget of approximately £300,000. Project grants range from £1,000 to £5,000 and are typically awarded to organisations with an income under £500,000. The application deadline is 31st July.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation offers Small Grants for charities with an annual income between £25,000 and £500,000. These unrestricted grants range from £1,000 to £5,000 per year for up to three years and can be used flexibly by the recipients, who must report on their use of the funds. The grant requested must not exceed 20% of the charity's average income over the past two years. Key areas of focus include Early Years, Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND), Domestic Abuse, and Dementia.
Barnet Ukraine Fund
Are you an active member of the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) operating within the London Borough of Barnet? Are you an IB member, or a member of the Young Barnet Foundation? If yes, you can apply for between £200-£2000 to run activities which support the further integration of Ukrainian refugees arriving and living in the Borough. Read more here.
Fix The Digital Divide Fund
Good Things Foundation have launched grants for digital inclusion!
Digital Inclusion Capability Grant, Round One - Fix The Digital Divide - 2024-25: A £6,000 grant for Network members to help develop your organisation's capacity to deliver digital inclusion support.
Closes: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12pm
Digital Inclusion Impact Grant, Round One - Fix The Digital Divide - 2024-25: Either a £3,000 or £6,000 grant for Network members to help you support local people with connectivity and digital skills support.
Closes: Thursday 6 June 2024, 12pm
You can't apply for an Impact Grant and a Capability Grant at the same time, but can have held one previously.
Ongoing grants from last time
The National Lottery Community Fund
An oldie, but a goodie! The National Lottery Community Foundation ‘Awards For All’ funding is a great place to start. They offer grants between £300-£20,000. They also offer another grant called 'Reaching Communities' which starts from £20,001+. If your organisation hasn’t applied to the National Lottery Community Fund for Awards for All funding yet, we recommend trying!
The YAPP Charitable Trust
Have you heard of the YAPP Charitable Trust? They offer grants to registered charities of £3000 per year for up to 3 years for organisations with a total annual expenditure of less than £40,000.
The Wakeham Trust
The Wakeham Trust is a volunteer-run trust which offers grants to micro-scale community projects, and has recently added education to its list of funding priorities.
The Trust aims to help small groups who are working to make a difference for others. Projects which might find it difficult to secure funding from larger organisations are prioritised.
There is no deadline for applications. Find out more here.
News & Opportunities
North Finchley Pop-Ups!
Join a series of free community events this Spring
Join us for ‘North Finchley Pop-Ups!’ – an exciting new community festival filled with local performances and activities. These events are the first of their kind, offering a pilot programme of free activities for the community, following the Cultural Action Plan for North Finchley.
Located in the heart of the town centre, our goal is to unite the community and celebrate the incredible local talent. The events will launch soon-to-be transformed public spaces outside the artsdepot and Tally Ho, following the Wayfinding Action Plan.
Taking place between Wednesday 29 May and Thursday 20 June, each Pop-Up explores a different theme, meaning something for everyone. Expect singing, dancing, kid’s activities, local wares, creative workshops and great food. You can find out more here.
Please send any enquiries to hello@northfinchleytowncentre.co.uk
Age-friendly Barnet Information Session
Tue, 18 Jun 2024 13:00 - 14:00
Pippa Mannerings, Age-friendly Coordinator from Age UK Barnet will be providing a free 1-hour information session on the Age-friendly Barnet initiative.
Last June, Barnet joined the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities. Age-friendly Communities look to provide good-quality options for people in later life to continue to contribute to their communities. Those options can include paid employment or voluntary work as well as being engaged in democracy.
Good-quality volunteering has a measurable positive impact on mental health. And paid work can benefit wellbeing as well as finances. Yet often, the opportunities for these diminish with age.
This session will give an overview of the World Health Organisation’s framework for Age-friendly Communities, and focus on how to create age-friendly environments in our workplaces to make sure that all opportunities are age-inclusive.
This session will take place online via Zoom, you will be sent a Zoom link via email a few days before the session. Please register here.
Please let them know if you have any access requirements in order to attend this event.
The Meeting Room is open
We are delighted to inform you that The Meeting Room within the Broadwalk Centre is relaunching for bookings after a brief closure for maintenance and improvement works.
Ahead of the room’s official reopening this month, we wanted to ensure previous users of The Meeting Room such as yourself had the first opportunity to book The Meeting Room, again completely free of charge.
Alongside the room’s relaunch, we have also streamlined the booking process. To make an enquiry to book, you should now send your request and provide the information outlined below to edgware@ballymoregroup.com
- Name
- Email address
- Organisation / charity name and registration number
- Booking request information (use this section to provide us with as much information as possible regarding the nature of your booking)
The North London Degree show 2024: Creative Landscape
We would like to invite you and colleagues to attend the opening night of The North London Degree show 2024: Creative Landscape. The show brings together exhibitions, performances and screenings by graduating students from a range of arts, design and film programmes. This year's theme was inspired by the ever-changing landscape of the creative industries and the diverse skillset required to thrive within them. Individual graphical icons representing a plethora of skills — experimentation, problem-solving, digital expertise, and curiosity, to name but a few — coalesce in unique clusters that relate specifically to the Art, Design and Film School courses at Middlesex University.
The event takes place on Thursday 6th June between 5pm and 9pm, in the Grove Building of our Hendon Campus, and would love it if you could join us. Please RSVP to me by Friday 24th May.
In addition, the show is open to the public until Friday 13th June, so if you are unable to attend on Thursday 6th June, there is still the opportunity to visit. Please find more details and booking information via this link.
South Asian Heritage Month - get involved!
South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) runs from Thursday 18 July until Saturday 17 August. Along with providing learning opportunities for others, the month enables people of South Asian heritage to reclaim their history and identity by sharing their own stories and experiences.
The theme this year is ‘Free to Be Me’ which encourages us to celebrate unique identities and voices. Barnet Council will be working with residents and communities to celebrate SAHM across the borough. To get involved, email community@barnet.gov.uk.
Training & Resources
Delivering great Volunteer Inductions
Join us for this 45 minute training, exploring what to include within a volunteer induction to help you successfully onboard new volunteers.
During this session we will cover:
- Welcoming volunteers
- Practical matters to consider
- Helping volunteers get the most out of their role
- Access and support needs
- Creating an induction checklist
This training will take place online via Zoom and will be delivered by Volunteering Barnet. You will be sent a Zoom link via email a few days before the session.
Please let us know if you have any access requirements in order to attend this event.
Time & Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: online
The Open University volunteer training
Are you always looking for trainings for volunteers? Or perhaps you’re an entry level member of staff in your charity and you’d like to show your commitment to continued learning? Or maybe you’re a manager that would like to help develop the skills and knowledge of the staff you are responsible for. The Open University have a FREE online course, called ‘Working in the Voluntary Sector’.
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of different roles and activities in voluntary organisations
- Understand how to work with other staff and volunteers in a team or organisation
- Use and apply knowledge of the voluntary sector to work or volunteering experience
- Link this learning with personal or career goals
Expert Impact Mentoring
Have you heard of Expert Impact Mentoring? If you’re a Social Entrepreneur, for example running a CIC or an organisation operating with positive social or environmental aims then Expert Impact runs a ‘Human Lending Library’ – you can apply to be matched up with a mentor here.
Sign up to receive Barnet Together Alliance partners' newsletters...
- For support and information regarding Food Banks/Food Poverty, please email Barnet Food Hub.
- For support and information regarding Volunteer recruitment and management, please sign up here.
- Resources for Children, Young People and Families can be accessed here. (For Young Barnet Foundation members only).
- To receive Barnet Council's Barnet First eNewsletter for residents, please sign up here.
- Keep up-to-date with sustainability news in Barnet.
If you have any community news to share or want to get in touch with the team, please email: communitysupport@inclusionbarnet.org.uk