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Everyclick and Clear Channel Outdoor have launched the 2009 Everyclick Charities Challenge, a competition that encourages charities to boost their fundraising efforts whilst competing to win the largest charity competition prize in the UK - a high-profile advertising campaign across 1,500 Clear Channel Outdoor sites,  providing estimated opportunities to view 192 million times. Charities of all sizes can register to compete at www.everyclick.com/awards. The competition starts on 15th October 2008. This is an outstanding opportunity for charities to win invaluable advertising and exposure for their campaign. Last year’s winners, Diabetes UK saw a three-fold increase in take-up of the Diabetes 2 risk assessment test, as a result of their poster campaign.

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7 October 2008
© WCVA

The charity has placed posters around the online virtual world to coincide with its Silent Assassin awareness-raising campaign. Users of the virtual world can teleport themselves to the charity’s virtual HQ where they can find information on the condition.

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9 October 2008
© Third Sector Online

Speech given by Stuart Burgess, the Chair of the Commission for Rural Communities and the Government’s Rural Advocate, to the North West Rural Affairs Forum’s Uplands Conference, 9 October 2008. Download page: www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/publications/list/sESID/6/

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8 October 2008
© NewStart

Councils are powerless to prevent a plague of betting shops appearing in  deprived areas, local leaders are warning. Under the Gambling Act 2005, which came into force just over a year ago, councils have no power to reject applications for new betting shops based on the number of bookmakers already open in an area. It means poorer areas with low rents are becoming a magnet for high-street bookmakers, several of whom are implementing large-scale expansion plans. In some areas, as many as six betting shops are now operating within yards of each other – a problem the LGA believes will become more widespread unless action is taken. “It’s very worrying that we’re seeing this growth in betting shops in poorer  areas,” said Cllr Chris White, chair of the LGA’s culture, tourism and sport board.
With money a big concern for most people at the moment, it increases the danger that those who can least afford to spend will be tempted further into debt. Betting shops have always been a traditional part of the high street, but in large numbers they can prove detrimental both to the character of an area and to the spending habits of residents,” Cllr White said. During consultation on the Gambling Act, councils called for the power to restrict the number of bookies on the high street (pictured). The LGA now wants the government to implement this power and has written to sport and tourism minister Gerry Sutcliffe to request a meeting on the issue.

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8 October 2008
© LGA

Thirty-eight voluntary sector organisations are set to receive a share of £30m of funding to take over disused local authority buildings. The BLF has told the organisations that they have passed the first stage in the assessment process to receive money from the Community Assets Fund, which it operates on behalf of the Office of the Third Sector. The grants range from £150,000 to £1m.

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8 October 2008
© Third Sector Online

Yorkshire Forward is investing £170,000 of funding from the Rural Development Programme for England in a pilot programme that will enable essential retail businesses in rural locations to diversify and add to the services that they offer. Successful businesses applying for support from the Rural Retail Support Programme will benefit from help up to a total value of £10,000 support per business. This can cover both specialist advice to the business and small scale capital investments in developing the business for the future. The programme will be managed and delivered on behalf of Yorkshire Forward by Business Link Yorkshire, the organisation providing free support for businesses in the Yorkshire and Humber area, offering information for any business, no matter what its size or stage of development. Having identified the basic requirements of the business with Business Link Yorkshire, the package may include access to the services of a specialist business adviser with an understanding of the issues facing retail businesses in rural areas. The business adviser can help the business assess the underlying business, look at new opportunities, the local market and take forward any actions that result from this assessment. In addition to specialist support, grant support will be made available for essential capital improvements identified in the action plan. This could include internal or external improvements to the property that will increase the viability of the business, making a shop more attractive to a wider range of customers, or investing in equipment needed to develop new income streams. The Business Link’s business adviser can help retail businesses in rural areas assess whether they are eligible for this grant and how to apply for it. Qualifying businesses need to be the only essential retail service in that community, and already be considering significant changes to the services they offer. They also need to be prepared to invest in the changes along with the grant support. Businesses benefiting could include village shops, or independently owned petrol filling stations and public houses that already offer a wider range of products for sale to their rural community. Andy Tordoff, Assistant Director of Environment at Yorkshire Forward said, “Yorkshire Forward aims to support the development of rural businesses and encourage them to diversify to meet the needs of their customers and the local community. Investing in pilot projects like this helps us to develop a way forward that supports communities at a local level.”

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6 October 2008
© Yorkshire Forward

Shelter Cymru’s Information Matters to Rural Communities Project is working in the smaller rural communities of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. The project started in October 2007 and it has been funded by The Big Lottery Fund for 3 years. Research has shown that homelessness and poverty is more hidden and stigmatised than in urban areas. Also, many rural communities have limited local advice and support services, as these services are located in the larger towns. The project aims to improve the lives of people by raising awareness and improving the take up of rights in relation to housing, debt and welfare benefits to prevent homelessness and alleviate poverty. This will be achieved by working with groups that are already established in the smaller rural communities to distribute 3,000 packs across the 3 counties. The packs contain information on housing, debt, welfare benefits, rural well being and contacts to obtain specialist advice. The pack is available to download from the library. Download: www.sheltercymru.org.uk/shelter/uploads/pdf/InformationMatters.pdf

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9 October 2008
© Shelter Cymru

Youth Music has 3 open funding programmes aimed at 0-18 year olds. Funding is available for not-for-profit organisations in England for 6-24 months towards sustainable projects that involve an element of musical training and development. Grants of £5,000 - £30,000 are available. Deadline for applications 15 December 2008. Website: www.youthmusic.org.uk/looking_for_funding.jsp

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8 October 2008
© Church Urban Fund

A North East green project has formed the first UK wide community owned energy supply company which could soon be handling £millions. Community Renewable Energy (CoRE) has set up the new company to sell energy and provide other financial services to the growing number of community owned renewable energy systems. Its first customer is likely to be a district wood heating system supplying heat to 80 houses and a school in Middleton-in-Teesdale. “Selling energy in today’s European wide market is a complex business,” said Keith Richardson, Chair of CoRE, “It is a major obstacle to many community owned renewable energy systems as they have to deal with regulators, sell energy and bill customers, trade in Renewable Obligation Certificates and much more.”

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10 October 2008
© CORE

The Office of the Third Sector and Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) are inviting expressions of interest from organisations wishing to become the national partner to deliver the £70m Communitybuilders programme. The programme is designed to support investment in multi-purpose, inclusive community-led organisations at the neighbourhood level. It takes forward a commitment within the CLG Communities in control: real people, real power. The purpose of the programme is to support the government’s commitment to build more cohesive, empowered and active communities. It is designed to empower citizens and communities by strengthening the resilience of selected community organisations within England through a mixture of financial and advisory support to: improve governance and management capacity, strengthen financial systems, foster partnerships and provide coaching and mentoring; undertake feasibility studies to bring forward investment proposals; develop, improve and acquire assets and enterprises to secure future sustainability. Further information on the tender process is available through the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) website.

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8 October 2008
© Office of the Third Sector

Public buildings could be opened up for free or at subsidised prices for use
by adult learning groups, Skills Secretary John Denham announced today, as he
pledged to work with Culture Secretary Andy Burnham to secure better access to
libraries, museums and colleges. The proposals form part of Skills Secretary John Denham’s promise to bring to
life a new vision to help adults learn for pleasure and personal or community
development, and were endorsed by respondents to the recent consultation,
Informal Adult Learning - Shaping the Way Ahead. A report on this consultation
was published today. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham today launched his review of
public libraries, asking how they can modernise, embrace the digital age and
better involve their local communities. The DIUS consultation, which began in January 2008, has kickstarted a
discussion on informal adult learning for the 21st century and received a
welcome 5,500 responses. DIUS will work closely with partners over the coming
months to develop a comprehensive strategy on informal adult learning.

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9 October 2008
© Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills (National)

Landmark report published on World Mental Health Day. Health Secretary Alan Johnson today welcomed publication of a landmark international report, which highlights that mental health services in England are leading the way in Europe. The report from the World Health Organisation, published to mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, showed that: England directs 13.8% of the health budget towards mental health - highest level in Europe among those who submitted figures. We provide high levels of access to mental health care, with 12.7 psychiatrists per 100,000 population, compared to the European average of 8.9. Access to mental health nursing care is also higher than average, with 51.9 nurses per 100,000, compared with the European average of 18.7. England are the only country to provide a comprehensive network of specialist early intervention teams. England is one of only three countries to provide comprehensive access to assertive outreach teams. England has 23 mental health beds per 100,000, reflecting continued focus on moving mental health treatment out of institutions and into the community.

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10 October 2008
© Department of Health

A £2m programme to share knowledge and good practice in revitalising market towns has been launched by Action for Market Towns (AMT). The Towns Alive initiative will run over five years, supported by £1m from the Big Lottery Fund. Aimed primarily at AMT’s 400 members, it will help build skills within market town partnerships to help them tackle key pressures affecting their futures. A market towns academy will develop and run training programmes to boost the business skills of market town partnerships. One of the first pilot courses planned will focus on leadership skills. ‘Those partnerships which have been successful have been those with good heads,’ said Chris Wade, chief executive of AMT. It’s about developing their business skills so they can get on and secure their future.’ A market towns ‘knowledge hub’ will collate and coordinate research and policy studies affecting market towns to bring greater weight and influence to national and regional policy. One of the first campaigns will be on the issue of community-led planning. A ‘towns-for-towns’ programme will use peer-to-peer learning to help towns share knowledge and good practice.

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8 October 2008
© NewStart

Today (Thursday, October 9, 2008), Dr Stuart Burgess the Government’s Rural Advocate and Chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) is launching a wide-ranging inquiry into the future for England’s upland communities. England’s uplands correspond to ‘less favoured areas’ and can be found in the north and south west and in areas along the Welsh border. The English uplands
occupy 18 per cent of the country’s land area and have special significance, not just for their contribution to rural economies, but also their key role nationally in landscape conservation, recreational activities, biodiversity, heritage and water management. Speaking at the North West Rural Affairs Forum’s annual conference in Cumbria Dr Burgess said: “I am delighted to be here today to launch this important inquiry into the future for England’s upland communities. By their very nature,
upland communities face tough conditions. I am continually impressed by the energy, industry and determination of the people living and working there and also by their current and potential contribution to wider environmental and other ambitions. But it was the concerns being expressed in these upland areas that led to me stating my intention to the Prime Minister to establish an
inquiry examining how England’s upland communities can best equip themselves to thrive in the twenty-first century. “My visit to Cumbria last year, to see first-hand the impacts of livestock
movement restrictions on hill farmers and the wider economy, revealed a much wider set of concerns and inter-related issues regarding the future of upland areas. I have since visited the south west, Yorkshire and most recently the north east to explore these important issues with local communities and to begin our preparations for the inquiry. These visits have proved invaluable in increasing my understanding of the issues and helping to identify the specific challenges needing attention. Today I am announcing what the inquiry is intending to achieve and the start of an extensive period of consultation to hear views from people and organisations up and down the country, before
preparing a full report this time next year. The inquiry will aim to identify and evaluate the key drivers of change in the upland communities of England, and to develop and promote realistic policy
recommendations that enable and equip these communities to move towards more secure, economically prosperous and sustainable futures. The CRC’s distinctive contribution to this issue stems from our role as the Government’s advisor on economic and social challenges in rural England. We are very grateful for advice and support from Natural England, the Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities, who have key roles in strategic planning and delivery. We are very grateful also for the advice and support from the Regional Rural Affairs Forums. We look forward to continuing our close work with all of these partner organisations and of course with the upland communities and their representatives.”

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9 October 2008
© Commission for Rural Communities (National)

forum3, the leading forum and event for not-for-profit recruitment, today launches a best practice networking guide in advance of its event on October 10 where 15,000 people from the Third Sector will gather. Knowing how to network can quickly turn into a job lead or a future contact. On the other hand failing to network can as easily result in losing a potential employer. In order to help people make a great impression, forum3 has outlined the 11 core principles for becoming a networking extraordinaire. Ranging from how to prepare and introduce yourself to choosing the right dress code and making the best follow-up call. The guide has something for everyone attending any event, large or small. The full guide can be downloaded at:
www.forum3.co.uk/download/forum3%20how%20to%20network%20guide.pdf

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9 October 2008
© Forum3/1888

A charity has claimed an increasing number of Britons are eating unhealthily as a result of soaring food prices in the credit crunch.
Christians Against Poverty (Cap) revealed nearly a third of adults said their diet consisted of cheaper meals in an attempt to save money. A survey by the charity of 2,000 people showed nearly half of 35 to 44 year olds said the credit crunch had caused them to eat a less healthy diet. Matt Barlow, Cap’s UK Chief Executive Officer, said with the right support people can be helped in the current financial downturn. “While many would concentrate solely on the impending crisis, we want to underline how there is a solution for those trapped by debt in the UK,” he said. As a result Cap has published advice including healthy, inexpensive recipes for families and tips on saving money but still eating well. The survey also revealed food bills have soared in the past 12 months with families spending £1,040 more a year on average.

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8 October 2008
© CAF

A National Skills Academy for IT, announced today and due to open in 2009, will bring together an unprecedented, sector-wide collaboration of employers, educators and stakeholders to meet the skills needs of the IT workforce. Information technology (IT) skills are critical to the growth of the UK economy. There are currently over a million IT professionals in the UK, with 141,000 new recruits needed every year. The IT industry is predicted to grow at five times the rate of the workforce as a whole and recent research suggests that optimising the ICT capabilities of the UK economy is worth as much as £35 billion a year. Karen Price, Chief Executive of e-skills UK said: “e-skills UK is delighted to be working with employers across the sector to get the skills academy off the ground. It offers a unique opportunity for employers to take collective responsibility for the skills and accreditation of the IT workforce, with innovative development programmes and qualifications that are valued by the sector. I believe this will play a major role in helping the UK become a world leader in IT in the coming years.”

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8 October 2008
© e skills UK

A charity has called for children’s rights to be incorporated in to UK law. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has asked the Government for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to be legally recognised. This comes after recent recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for the British Government to follow other European countries in implementing the law. David Bull, Executive Director of Unicef UK, said despite good intentions, children’s rights are still not at the heart of policymaking in the UK. “The sheer number of recommendations made in the UN Committee’s report shows the scale and urgency of the problem,” he added. Assessing how well the Government have implemented the UNCRC since 2002, the committee made the suggestion ahead of its next assessment in 2014. Gordon Brown has committed to halving child poverty in the UK by 2010 and has vowed to put a stop to it altogether by 2020.

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8 October 2008
© CAF

Black and ethnic minority organisations face an uncertain future as they await government guidance on single group funding. Organisations serving single minority communities are continuing to
experience funding cuts despite July’s High Court ruling against Ealing Council’s decision to end its funding of Southall Black Sisters (New Start, 25 July). The Iraqi Association has lost almost half of its funding in the last few years in what director Jabbar Hasan claims is a shift away from single group
refugee organisations by mainstream funders. He has urged the government to look at the impact of the move away from single issue funding before it is too late. ‘The idea that single issue groups will not lead to cohesion is being adopted by others,’ he told New Start. ‘But every refugee group has unique needs. We share some issues such as migration and housing with other ethnic minority
groups, but we also have projects for the elderly and youth and if these are not funded as Iraqi groups then they can’t be successful.’ He said funding streams were now moving from single issue groups towards mainstream organisations that support generic issues facing refugees.

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8 October 2008
© NewStart

The JRF’s recent public consultation revealed a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society. This Viewpoint continues the discussion about modern ‘social evils’ on the theme of ‘distrusting and fearful society’. Anna Minton argues that the cause of growing fear and distrust is visible physical inequality and segregation in the environment, combined with a commercially driven media with a vested interest in promoting fear. For more information on Social Evils visit www.socialevils.org.uk Download this Viewpoint (PDF, 120KB): http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/pdf/2282.pdf Weblink

8 October 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation