Community Action Northumberland | CANNY News April 2011

'CANNY NEWS' bulletins are sent each month, between the quarterly hard copies of CAN News.
As always, if any of the information included might be of interest to your colleagues and friends, please forward this bulletin to them.
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Contents

CAN's Spring Conference
CAN training events for committee members and officers
Room to Let
Water charges update
Is your land registered?
New HSE online resources
New Northumberland 'Energy Club'
'MyDonate' launched
Community Renewable Scheme funding
Local Giving
Sign up for Northumberland News
Vacancies: The Witness Service
The 'U'
Forum Focus

CAN's Spring Conference
Community Action Northumberland's Spring Conference is to be held on Thursday 11 May at Ponteland Memorial Hall. Refreshments will be served from 1.30pm with business beginning at 2.pm.

Following a CAN news update and some discussion on our proposed new legal status, the main topic of the event will be on Community-Led Planning and the new opportunities of Neighbourhood Plans, with a range of guest speakers, and home-made cakes.

For more information and a booking form click here.

Management Committees: CAN training events for committee members and officers:
CAN are running 3 training events during June, for people who help to run voluntary organisations and local groups.

These events will help to demystify what is involved, as well as pointing to examples of good-practice and also basic requirements.

Venues: Belford, Stannington and Hexham. For more details click here.

Office to let in Morpeth Town Centre
The office is on the first floor of Tower Buildings, our HQ in Morpeth, with views South towards Carlisle Park.

It is available to interested voluntary organisations from Tuesday 3 May.

The size is 10' 3" x 11' 8" - approx 119 sq ft (3.56m x 3.13m - approx 11.14 m²): sufficient room for one or two people together with their desks and other furniture.

Charged on a break-even basis, the offices in Tower Buildings are occupied by voluntary organisations which are happy to work together and share communal facilities such as the meeting-room, waiting room, WCs and kitchen.

Annual charges are approximately £1600 per annum (rent and services).

Contact Carol Megson at CAN on 01670 517178 or carolmegson@ca-north.org.uk

Concessions to Surface Water Drainage Charges for Community Groups
Village halls, scout huts, churches and other community groups throughout the country were alarmed to receive massive water charges relating to the run-off from their roofs and car parks.

DEFRA has now introduced some new concessions to this so-called 'Rain Tax', which Northumbria Water are looking to implement in our area. Full story on our website.

IS YOUR LAND REGISTERED?
A charity's building and land is one of its most significant assets and, for village hall and community building charities, the building is the very core of their continuing existence.

The charity's long term success depends upon it having a suitable building which is properly maintained and managed to allow maximum usage by its beneficiaries.

Trustees of any charity which owns land are advised to ensure this land is registered with The Land Registry.

Trustees are responsible for the protection, management and supervision of the land. The process of successfully maintaining and running a charity's property can be quite complex and CAN are able to advise and guide trustees in various ways.

HSE LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched new online resources designed to help voluntary organisations understand when they have duties under health and safety law and to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy in complying with them.

These have been developed by HSE in response to recommendations in Common Sense, Common Safety, the Government-commissioned report on the UK health and safety system.

Information at HSE website. This information also featured on our Forum.

WEST NORTHUMBERLAND COMMUNITY BUILDINGS CONSORTIUM LAUNCHES NEW 'NORTHUMBERLAND ENERGY CLUB'
West Northumberland Community Buildings Consortium – now with 53 members - was set up in 2008 as a charitable organisation to support community buildings and village halls in West Northumberland.

The 'Northumberland Energy Club' is a new venture, offering village and community buildings and village halls and other businesses - such as shops and pubs, the opportunity of joining together with others to obtain discounts. The idea is a simple one - combining the buying power for small businesses and organisations to enable cheaper prices for electricity, gas and telephone to be negotiated.

Membership of the Club is free and the savings could be huge, as all the members work towards a common renewal date.

Further information can be found on our Forum webpage: www.ca-north.org.uk/forum/4-community-buildings/89-new-northumberland-energy-club-launched

BT LAUNCHES NEW FUNDRAISING SERVICE 'MyDONATE'
BT has launched a new fundraising service called MyDonate, which is a free to use, not-for-profit online fundraising service for UK charities (charities that are registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, or HMRC for charities in Northern Ireland and CASCs).

BT promises that the service with MyDonate has no commission costs and no fee - charges which do apply with other charitable giving websites like JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving - which should mean that your charity gets the full donation.

For more information visit the MyDonate website

NEW FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR COMMUNITY RENEWABLE SCHEMES
Energyshare has made £500,000 of funding available for community renewable energy projects.

British Gas has committed to distributing £3m via the energyshare fund to community renewable projects over the next three years.

A community group can apply for up to £100,000, and must have the objective of saving or generating energy locally, must be supported by their local community with the project benefiting the local community, and have a tangible and lasting impact. For more information on the fund and to register an interest visit the Energyshare website.

Localgiving
Localgiving.com is a social enterprise owned by the Community Foundation Network (CFN) and the Ardbrack Foundation, both registered charities dedicated to supporting local charities.

CFN is the national body of the 57 Community Foundations in the UK. In 2009 they distributed £56m to 17,000 local charities.

Unlike other online giving websites that only list charities large enough to be registered with the Charity Commission, Localgiving.com includes small community organisations vetted by their local Community Foundation.

The current featured charity on the website is local organisation and Network member – GATEWAY INTO THE COMMUNITY – which is based in Hexham but carries out social, learning and leisure activities for people with learning disabilities across west Northumberland. SEE THEM at:- http://localgiving.com/charity/GatewayintotheCommunity

To learn how your charity could benefit from online giving visit:- http://localgiving.com/home

SIGN UP FOR NORTHMBERLAND NEWS
Northumberland News, the council produced resident magazine for everyone living in the county, is changing.
If you would like to receive this new quarterly email version please visit the following web link and enter your details: www.northumberland.gov.uk/extra

THE WITNESS SERVICE
Bedlington Magistrates' Court needs volunteers to provide practical/emotional support to witnesses, their family and friends when attending the Magistrates Court.

INTERESTED?
For more information and an informal chat please contact Liz Crosby (Manager)
TEL/FAX: 0191 2961499
E-MAIL: Elizabeth.Crosby@victimsupport.org.uk
Next core training is due to start on 19th May

Local Manager, The U, Northumberland
The Young Foundation is recruiting for an interesting new development post in Hexham, to create a citizen's university, to promote and support positive action by local people in their own communities and neighbourhoods.

It is a 12-month post, with a tight deadline for applications of 4 May. Further information from our website.

Forum Focus
A new feature highlighting some of the varied posts on our forum.

Grassroots Grants £59k for Northumberland closing date 27/5/11
Additional funding available to groups in Northumberland

Introduction to Volunteering - 4th May Alnwick or 11th May Berwick
Interested in volunteering? Workshop sessions providing an opportunity to meet organisations looking for volunteers

HEXHAM HEALTH AND WELLBEING DAY
Health and Wellbeing Day on Thursday 12 May 2011 at The Function Suite Hexham.

Broadband Explained
Link to a very informative guide to Broadband

AUDIENCES NORTH EAST - ONLINE SURVEY
Online survey into the people of Northumberland and their current engagement with arts and culture in their area.

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