Notice Board

Manchester Community Central
MACC is proud to announce the launch of Manchester Community Central, the new support service for Manchester's voluntary and community sector. This is a new service being delivered in a partnership between MACC, Voluntary Action Manchester and Community Network for Manchester. We believe this represents a bg opportunity for improving the infrastructure support for Manchester's diverse voluntary and community sector. Click on the link below to download our first ever press release!
Download: manchester_community_central.pdf

Welcome Ian!
We welcome aboard Ian Williamson who has recently joined MACC in the new post of Operations Manager. As a growing organisation, MACC has identified the need to increase our management capacity: the creation of this new post is a reflection of our commitment to continuous improvement in our performance and in being able to make sure we make best use of our resources in delivering our role to bring together commissioners, providers and service users.

Bye Bye Jackie
Jackie Kilbane is leaving MACC on 25th September 2009 after 3 years with us in the post of Development Worker for Health and Wellbeing. During her time here she has brought inspiration and creativity which has seen the Health and Wellbeing Network build some highly successful partnerships and a positive approach to the role of the voluntary and community sector. MACC has been very lucky to have had Jackie on board during the last three years and she'll be missed by us all.

Be in the know...join the MACC mailing list!
Join our rapidly expanding mailing list to get the latest updates from MACC on your chosen areas of interest. You can choose from Health and Social Care, Children and Families, Health and Well-being,Older People, Voluntary Sector Development, Mental Health, Advocacy Services and Community Engagement. If you're not already on our list, it’s simple to join, just;

   1. Click on the link below,
   2. Open the form,
   3. Complete all sections and,
   4. Email to our Administration Worker >email< .

We will send you information via email and/or post as you wish on your chosen interests... and it's all for FREE.
Download: contact_details.doc

Mary Shaw (1925-2009)
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Mary Shaw, a familiar face among those in Manchester working to improve health and social care services in the city. As a parent-carer, she looked after her daughter who has Downs Syndrome and helped to establish Landridge House as a day centre facility for adults with learning disabilities. She was also Deputy Chair of the Manchester Carers’ Forum, having been a founder member and a member of Manchester Learning Disability Partnership Board. Mary had been a member of MACC's Executive Committee since 1997 and had always had some involvement with the work we do - includind being an active member of the Manchester Older People’s Network Core Group. She will be greatly missed by her family, friends and colleagues.

CAMHS Training Programme 2009
Dates have now been arranged for the 2009 Programme of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Multi Agency Training. The training has been developed to suit all frontline workers from all establishments, including education, social services, health and the voluntary sector and all training is FREE. It consists of a one day introductory course which covers:
•    Children and Young People’s Mental Health and available services
•    Mental Health in the context of Child and Adolescent Development
•    Early Identification of Mental Health Problems and looking at how we respond.
The introductory days are followed, later in the year once again, by the programme of workshops looking at more specialised topics.
•    (0-11 Years) - 26th February 2009, Kings House, Oxford Road
•    (11-18 Years) - 11th March 2009, Forum Centre, Wy/shawe
•    (0-11 Years) - 24th March 2009, MANCAT 1 Central Park
•    (11-18 Years) - 31st March 2009 (to be confirmed)
For more information or to book a place, please contact Tara Davies, Project Worker, Public Health Development Service, Mauldeth House, Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7RL. Tel: 0161 882 2307 or email Tara.Davies@manchester.nhs.uk

Charities and Banks
In the current state of the banking system, many charities are increasingly concerned about the security of any savings (such as reserves) they may have. While much of the press attention has naturally focused on personal savings and those of large businesses, small and medium sized voluntary and community sector groups have so far received little attention. Groups who have  managed to build up some savings over the years may be concerned about whether or not they are vulnerable.

If a bank or building society collapses, the Financial Services Compentation Scheme can pay 100% of the first £50,000 of a claim. FSCS protects private individuals and some small businesses - which includes the vast majority of charities. Whether a charity is covered will depend on how it is constituted and partly on its size as an organisation. As a guide, the FSCS website defines small companies as organisatinos which meet two of the following criteria:

- Turnover: not more than £6.5 million
- Balance sheet total: not more than £3.26 million
- Total number of employees: not more than 50

More information is available on the FSCS website:
Link: Financial Services Compensation Scheme updates

Campaign to fight the stigma of dementia
The Alzheimer's Society has launched a national campaign based on its research into the experiences of people with dementia. This is seen as a five year mission to bring dementia "out of the shadows" and draws comparisons with the way cancer was treated as a secret and shameful subject until only a couple of decades ago. Below are links to the campaign homepages and to the report on the BBC News website, both of which feature interviews with author Terry Pratchett about his own experiences of "coming out" following his diagnosis.
Link: Out of the Shadows campaign
Link: BBC News

DAST newsletter
The Drug and Alcohol Strategy Team at Manchester City Council (known as "DAST") has released the first edition of a new quarterly newsletter for groups in Manchester interested in issues for carers and families of people with substance misuse problems. This edition includes a questionnaire to gather the views of carers and service users which will inform the DAST's future work.
Download: catalyst_july08.doc
Link: About DAST

MACC Credibility Check report
During Spring 2008, MACC engaged a freelance consultant Judith Emanuel to carry out a series of informal interviews with some of the people we work with on a regular basis in both the voluntary and statutory sectors. The aim was to learn more about how MACC is perceived and gather views on our strengths, weaknesses and future development. Judith's report is now available and we've decided to publish it in order to set a baseline against which to compare ourselves in future and encourage further feedback.
Link: Credibility Check report (Word)

Website changes
Since it was first launched in 2004, MACC’s website www.macc.org.uk has been getting more and more visitors - and we’re pleased that most of these are people who visit the site regularly. However, other than the addition of the Online Forum in 2006, it  hasn’t really been updated to reflect the changes in our work.

As of June 2008, we've started to add a lot more to our site so that it becomes a more useful resource for local voluntary and community sector organisations: not just providing information but more publications, briefings and even some tools for you to use. We’re adding some new sections including one dedicated to our general work in developing Manchester's voluntary and community sector and our Business Improvement Service.

Please let us know if you have any ideas for things you’d like to see on MACC’s website.