MODA and IslingtonCAB’s partnership project aims to provide training and technical support to 100 community organisations over the next two years to obtain Quality Mark or other recognised quality standards appropriate to relevant organisations. This project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. We are now in the process of receiving and considering applications for support.
For information about the project or how to access any of the services it will be offering please contact: Victor Momodu 020 7561 7457 email victor@islingtoncab.org.uk ; Suj Ahmed 020 7561 7459 email suja@islingtoncab.org.uk. To download the information leaflet click here.

In 2005/06 Moda provided 1-2-1 capacity building support to 20 BME community organisations in the areas of Project Development, Strategic Planning, Quality Systems and Standards, Fundraising and Effective Management. This project is funded by the City Parochial Foundation. We are now recruiting new organisations for our 06-07 programme. If you are looking for fundrasing and technical support to develop your organisation further, Moda`s BME Capacity Building Project can provide the support you need. If you like to be short-listed for support please fill this form and forward to info@moda.org.uk or for futher information please contact our Outreach Development Officer Alex Yang on 020 8432 9590, or email her at Alexyangzi@yahnoo.com.

MODA’s Director Dr Kamal Rasul has been awarded a bursary by Building and Social Housing Foundation to participate in a week-long study visit to Solar Hosuing Renovation project in Gardsten, Sweden in May 2006.

The study visit, which expected to involve visitors from all parts f the globe, will provide a unique opportunity to explore the role of innovative community housing projects , local environment and tenants’ participation in contributing to sustainable cohesive local communities. The wonderful innovative aspects of this unique important project will undoubtedly be admired and enriched by the international visitors and provide stimulation and inspiration for exchange of ideas, information and experiences. We hope to share some interesting aspects of the visit with the readers of MODA E-Bulletin and in the next issue of MODA’s magazine.

The Solar Housing Renovation in Gårdsten project consists of the restoration of 255 apartments in ten buildings arranged in courtyard formation. Each courtyard has been defined as a ‘social and technical unit’ for the 80 - 90 households living in the buildings surrounding it and the courtyard spaces have been developed to facilitate greater interaction and cooperation between the residents. The involvement of all local residents was an important element of the project and they were involved from the earliest stages, with an empty apartment set aside for liaison with the architects and housing company about their future homes and living environment. The residents were organised into groups to deal with special tasks such as safety issues, community rooms and facilities. The architects cooperated with the residents during the design phase, especially with respect to community areas and facilities.

For further information about the project click here.

22 May 2006, The Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, London SW1Y 4EE

Popular year on year, the Refugee Council is delighted to host its annual evening of comedy at the venerable Comedy Store in London. For an evening we welcome onboard the comic professionals to perform for supporters of The Refugee Council. Join Steve Gribbin, Hils Barker, Jeff Innocent, Ian Stone and others for what promises to be a laugh-your-socks-off-night in aid of the work of The Refugee Council.

For further information and to book your tickets click here or telephone: 020 7346 6739.

Sound of the Tembur: Mysterious Heritage - Aynur & Mikail Aslan Ensemble
Friday 9 June 2006, 7:30 pm; Queen Elizabeth Hall

Two rising stars of Kurdish music meet in London for a unique concert focusing on Alevi, Kurdish and Dersim music, with traditional songs accompanied using both traditional and modern techniques. Described as a new star of Kurdish music, Aynur sings in the Kurmanji, Zazaki and Sorani dialects of Kurdish and has already performed throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Mikail Aslan, who sings in the Zazaki dialect of Kurdish, founded his ensemble in 2002 to expand his traditional musical style using jazz elements.

Tickets: £22.50 £20.00 £17.00 £12.50; Booking Fee: £1.50 Members: 75p
To buy Tickets please visit http://www.rfh.org.uk/main/events/133325.html

Promoted by:Mustafa Gundogdu
Sponsored by Froots Magazine

22 and 23 May 2006, 9:45am to 5pm; Venue : East Croydon

Do you know the difference between immigration appeals and asylum support appeals? Would you like to give advice to asylum seekers about their asylum support appeals? Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) is a second-tier advice agency providing legal advice about asylum support appeals to advisors working in voluntary sector agencies and refugee community organisations. We also provide training on asylum support issues.
This free 2-day asylum support training covers topics such as: What housing and welfare support is
available for asylum seekers; How to challenge NASS decisions; How to prepare an asylum support appeal and represent someone at the Asylum Support Adjudicators. The training includes a trip to the Asylum Support Adjudicators to observe a hearing in action!
If you are interested please contact: Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP); Cornerstone House, 14 Willis Road, Croydon CR0 2XX, Tel : 020 8684 5873, Eiri@asaproject.org.uk

2-3 May 2006, LVSC

Newsletters are a valuable communications tool, but many lack the confidence to know where to start. This LVSC course helps you master the basics of writing, proof-reading and editing, and looks at the design and print production processes that will enable you to produce your own newsletter. For further information click here or contact learning@lvsc.org.uk.

The Big Lottery Fund is pumping £165 million of Lottery money into helping communities build healthier lifestyles through its new Well-being programme.

The Fund’s new Lottery good cause programme has a three-pronged focus, which aims to improve mental wellbeing, make people more physically active, and encourage children, parents and the wider community to eat more healthily. The Fund plans to maximise the impact of the £165 million by encouraging organisations to work across the programme’s three strands and work in partnership to deliver regional and national portfolios of projects in England dedicated to making communities healthier. The programme aims to promote and encourage partnership working within the health sector and across other sectors to increase participation and innovation. Grants will range from £1 million upwards and be made for a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years. Changing attitudes and the stigma associated with mental health will be tackled along with developing preventative approaches to common mental health problems, including stress, depression and anxiety disorders. The funding will improve the ability of communities to organise and run projects that provide opportunities for people to become more active and will encourage those with the most sedentary lifestyles to increase their activity levels in daily life. By providing healthy choices to everyone the healthy eating strand will enable greater access to wholesome foods and increase knowledge of healthy foods to encourage improved eating habits.

More information and application packs at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk or on 08454 10 20 30.

Are you a refugee or have you been granted asylum? Do you have an idea that will change your community? Then RISE, UnLtd’s Refugee Integration Awards Scheme may be able to help!
If you're a refugee or have successfully been granted asylum, and have an idea that will change your community, we can help get your project off the ground. RISE has been set up with the Home Office to encourage refugees in England to set up projects that will make their communities a happier, safer, healthier and more just place. We will be giving awards of between £500 and £5,000 to help individuals and small groups of refugees turn their ideas into reality. Refugees from anywhere in England are welcome to apply for money to transform their ideas into projects. UnLtd will provide dedicated support including; training opportunities, tools and resources to ensure you develop your own skills as well as helping you develop your project. The scheme will fund and support more than 75 refugees over two years and will benefit over 2,000 people in the community.

For further details and application forms, please click here or contact:
North of England: Alex Sobel: alexsobel@unltd.org.uk
South of England: Alex MacLeod: alexmacleod@unltd.org.uk

The Government has announced the launch of the National Sports Foundation (NSF). A total of £34.5 million is being invested over the next two years to enable the NSF to lever in private sector private investment into grass roots sport in England. Constituted ‘Not for Profit ‘organisations involved in providing sports facilities will be able to apply for funding to the NSF who will match donations from commercial bodies and individuals. For each £1 that is secured from a commercial or private sponsor, the Foundation will match it £ for £. Applicant will need to raise a minimum of £55,001 to qualify for the matched funding. The key priority areas for the NSF over the next two years are; 2012 Kids - getting more children and young people playing sport; Women into Sport - involving more women in playing sport; and Fit for Sport - investment in clubs, coaches and volunteers in local communities.
Further info on http://www.nationalsportsfoundation.org/index.html (Source: Grantsonline).

Connecting Community Plus, Community Grants programme support the Government's 'Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society' strategy to increase race equality and community cohesion.

The Community Grants will help locally managed organisations run local projects that make a difference in their local communities. The first round of the fund is open for applications until 5th July 2006. Grants up to £12,000 are available with £1,000,000 to distribute. Applicants will need to submit proposals that demonstrate successful delivery of key priorities for the fund, and it is expected that the majority of grants will be between £6,000 - £12,000. All funding from this first round must be spent by 31st March 2007. The fund has four key priorities: Improving the experiences of people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds in relation to access and outcomes from public services - education, employment, health, housing and the Criminal justice System Increasing the confidence of people from BME backgrounds that public services are delivered in a fair and equitable way; Tackling racism and extremism; Bringing together communities from different races and faiths, and promoting a shared sense of belonging (community cohesion). Criteria for the fund, further information about the Government's strategy ‘Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society’ and application forms and detailed guidance notes to help you complete the application form are available on their website.
If you would like them to send the application form and detailed guidance notes on how to complete the application form, to you please call the helpline Tel: 01223 400343 or Email: ccplus@cdf.org.uk. To visit the website click here. (Source: CIB)

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has been contracted by Comic Relief to distribute grants to voluntary sector services for young carers during 2006 and 2007.
Young carers are children and young people who have a caring responsibility for a sick or disabled family member. They take on caring responsibilities that are inappropriate to their age, such as personal care for a disabled adult or emotional care for a parent with a mental health problem. In addition, they are often responsible for younger siblings and all the household chores. For some young carers this means missing school, physical ill health and stress or sleepless nights. To find out more about young carers, visit our young carers website. The Grants Programme will be open to all voluntary sector organisations who wish to work with young carers. Grants of up to £25k per annum will be made available to 12-15 organisations from across the UK to develop high quality support projects over three years, with a 50% taper in the third year. The good practice and learning from these projects will contribute to a tool kit of knowledge for all Young Carers Services to utilise. In addition there will also be a small grants programme, funding about 50 Young Carers Services to give one-to-one support to around 200 of the most vulnerable young carers, helping them to stay in school, to cope with the stress of caring or to develop their skills and confidence. We believe that no child should have to take on caring roles that are more appropriate for an adult. Sadly, this situation is the reality for many children and we hope that this partnership will help many young people to be children as well as carers.
Application forms and guidelines are now available to download on the Small Grants and Large Grants pages of their website. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, 142 Minories, London EC3N 1LB Tel: 020 7480 7788 Fax: 020 7481 4729 Email: help@carers.org. To visit the website click here. (Source: CIB)

There is a new section in the LVSC library for groups interested in carrying out community research or for anyone needing to find out facts and figures about their community. It has been developed by LVSC in partnership with ARVAC (Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community sector) and DSC (Directory of Social Change) and is accompanied by PC access to statistics signposted through an excel spreadsheet. To see the list of new community research acquisitions click here. For further information on LVSC library and information services click here.

"Planning for the Future: a Conference for the Voluntary and Community Sector in Central London" was held on Thursday 9 February at the Methodist International Centre at Euston, and was attended by over 70 delegates from a variety of voluntary and community sector organisations. This conference, funded through central London ChangeUp, was a first step in raising awareness across the sector of what some of the sub-regional issues affecting it are and what the CLCVS Network is trying to do to address them. The final report from the conference is now available online and can be downloaded from CLCVS website (click here).

ActionAid is one of the UK's leading development agencies working in a unique partnership of people fighting for a better world for over six million of the poorest people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Following 2005, ActionAid UK is expanding its capacity for advocacy and campaigning as well as recruiting replacements for two existing posts. As part of a dynamic Policy and Campaigns team you will be key to raising ActionAid's profile as an effective campaigning voice on global poverty.

The posts require staff who are energetic, enthusiastic, with the ability to demonstrate sound political judgement and have an excellent understanding of development issues, together with strong presentation and negotiation skills. You will devise strategies to enthuse existing and potential supporters, ensuring they play a full role in achieving political change, linking our existing and future campaign priorities. If you have a track record of success in developing public campaigning, and want to work for one of the largest developing agencies in the UK and over 40 countries, then we want to hear from you.

Campaign Co-ordinator (permanent jobshare post, 21 hours)
Campaign Co-ordinator (maternity cover jobshare post, 21 hours)
£38,243 pa (pro-rata £22,946 pa)

This new post offers an opportunity to lead our new and exciting public campaign initiative. With experience of leading and implementing campaign strategies, you must demonstrate excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills, along with good political judgement. This is a varied and challenging role, which calls for excellent project management, relationship building and organisational skills. Ideally you will also have an insight into gender issues and women’s rights.
One half of this job share has just been appointed but is about to go on maternity leave. Therefore we are advertising for one permanent post and one temporary maternity cover.

Closing date: 9am, Monday 24th April 2006
Interview: 8 & 10 May 2006

Campaigns Officer Corporates (permanent, full-time)
Campaign Officer HIV & AIDS (permanent, full-time)
£30,656 pa

Opportunity for two committed, ambitious and talented people who bring strong campaigning experience. We’ll look to you to get our messages to ActionAid supporters and the public through doing research and writing campaign policy reports, developing campaign materials, developing relationships with other campaigning organisations, and working with the media. One post will work primarily in the Food Rights Campaign Team on trade justice and corporate accountability issues. The other in the HIV & AIDS Campaign Team, primarily on access to treatments. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of and commitment to the relevant campaign priority. Both posts will also work as part of a team of campaigners on ActionAid’s exciting new public campaign initiative, linking all our campaign priorities.

Closing date: 9am, Monday 24th April 2006
Interview: w/c 8 May 2006

To apply, please download an application pack from www.actionaid.org.uk; by email to jobs@actionaid.org.uk; write to HR Department, Hamlyn House, Macdonald Rd, Archway, London N19 5PG enclosing an A4 SAE for an application pack; by fax at 020 7561 7516, quoting the relevant ref. no (see website). Please return by email the completed application form and equal opportunities form to jobs@actionaid.org.uk. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ActionAid warmly welcomes applications from all sections of the community and we aim to promote diversity.

£28,538 per annum (pro rata), incl. Inner London Weighting plus 5% contribution to our stakeholder pension scheme. The closing date for applications is 10 am on Tuesday 2 May.

VSRA is looking for a part time Funding Adviser (2 days per week) to join our expanding team and work alongside our Groups Development Officers, Community Accountant and other part time Funding Adviser to support individual voluntary and community groups in Hammersmith and Fulham.
The successful person will have worked with a wide range of voluntary and community organisations; have an understanding of the fund raising needs of the charitable sector; experience of fund raising from a wide range of sources; and experience of training. Information and application forms can be obtained from Anju Bhatt on 0208 748 6345 or email info@vsra.org.uk

Training and Community Learning Co-ordinator, Barnet Voluntary Service Council
Pts 32-34 £26,310 incl. OLW pro rata. Fixed term to end June 2007. Part time, 18 hrs a week.

BVSC is an infrastructure organisation offering a range of services to the voluntary and community sector in Barnet. We aim to improve the effectiveness, range and quality of voluntary/community groups by enabling access to practical support services and facilities and providing/facilitating training events.

This post will be responsible for: Planning, co-ordinating and co-delivering the BVSC core training programme for the development of voluntary/community organisations. Facilitating a Community Learning Forum to develop voluntary/community organisations providing learning opportunities to the broader community. Developing partnerships and learning initiatives between voluntary/ community organisations, local colleges/universities, local authority and other statutory agencies. Influencing planning/decision making at strategic levels and on workforce development sub-groups.
This is a rewarding/challenging role and an excellent opportunity to make a real impact on infrastructure development for the benefit of the local sector.

North London CVS Partnership, Partnership Development Officer
Pts SO1/29 £24825 incl OLW pro rata. Part time 28 hrs per week, fixed term for one year. Barnet.

The NLCVSP is the sub-regional partnership for the Councils for Voluntary Services in Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest. This is an existing opportunity working to the Sub Regional Co-ordinator to support the implementation of the North London Infrastructure Development Plan. You will need a good understanding of the voluntary/community sector and ideally have experience of: Development at a strategic level with cross sector partners; Project management skills; Experience of event management; Administration of partnership of network meetings; Website development and newsletter skills to provide sub regional information.

For application packs for either of the above posts contact Brenda at BVSC on (020) 8364 8400, or write to BVSC, 52 Moxon Street, High Barnet, Herts EN5 5TS. The closing date for both posts is Monday 24 April. Interviews will be held on 12 or 15 May.