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Notice Board
A Volunteer Centre for Manchester at last!
MACC is delighted to announce that our new Volunteer Centre for Manchester is now open for business. This brings to an end the many years during which the city was without a generic volunteering agency linked to the national volunteering network.
Volunteer Centre Manchester will champion volunteering within the city and promote good practice to organisations which involve volunteers. The Centre is based in the MACC offices, part of the redevelopment of MACC as the lead infrastructure body for Manchester’s voluntary and community sector. Our intention is to achieve Volunteering England accreditation by completing Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation alongside other centres in Greater Manchester.
The arrival of the Volunteer Centre in Manchester comes as a result of a lot of hard work by individuals from various organisations, such as the GMCVO-based Volunteering Greater Manchester project, Greater Manchester Youth Network and Manchester Youth Volunteering Project (now closed).
The new service will redevelop the existing volunteering pages on the Manchester Community Central website and volunteering opportunities will be advertised widely across social media, Do-it.org and discussed in one-to-one interviews with potential volunteers.
Introductory volunteering sessions will also be offered to local people considering volunteering, and these events, plus outreach drop-in sessions, will be held at local community venues to allow potential volunteers to make informal enquiries and arrange one-to-one appointments.
If your organisation works in Manchester and involves volunteers, we would encourage you to register with the Volunteer Centre via the link below.
For further information about Volunteer Centre Manchester, contact:
Jen Halfpenny (Development Worker) jen@macc.org.uk
Mark Pritchard (Manager) mark@macc.org.uk
Telephone 0161 834 9823
Link: Volunteer Centre Manchester
Press Release on cuts to Social Care and the VCS
MACC has issued the attached press release in response to Manchester City Council's proposed cuts to social care and services provided by the voluntary and community sector.
Download: macc_press_release_14-10-2011.doc
The Joint Commissioning Board and the Greater Manchester Cluster
New governance arrangements have been put in place for NHS Manchester joint commissioning of mental health, childrens, prisons and other specialist services.
the attached document explains the role, purpose, membership and accountability for these arrangements and includes a map outlining the links between the different groups. It might be helpful to think of the GP consortia and the joint commissioning management board as equivalent to the old PCT and; The Greater Manchester Cluster ss equivalent to the Strategic Health Authority
Download: the_joint_commissioning_board_and_the_greater_manchester_cluster.doc
Give your feedback on NHS Manchester plans for urgent care
Local GPs and NHS Manchester have developed plans to transform arrangements for urgent medical care in Manchester: http://www.manchester.nhs.uk/talkinghealth/
Please find attached a document for you to read about the current arrangements and plans to improve them to better meet the needs of Manchester patients. They want your thoughts and opinions - good and bad - about this because these changes are important and could affect you.
Please promote this to your friends, neighbours, service users, members of staff or stakeholders.
You can let them know what you think by filling in their survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UrgentCareMCR
Download: our_plans_for_urgent_care.pdf
What is a GP Commissioning Consortia Pathfinder?
From April 2013, it is planned that GP commissioning consortia will become the new NHS commissioners of healthcare. A pathfinder programme has been initiated to invite emerging consortia to begin development from January this year. For more information on Manchester's Pathfinder see the summary below produced by NHS Manchester
Download: communication_and_development_-_summary_(3).doc
Report on Small Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations
Children England (previously known as NCCVO) have produced a new report entitled Small Change - a survey about experiences of engaging with government initiatives, the impact of funding changes and the move to commissioning and the role in influencing strategic decision making.
Children England
Download: children_england_survey_report_small_change.pdf
Somebody Else's Child campaign
Do you know someone who is caring for somebody else’s child? If it’s for more than 28 days, they must notify their local council. Failure to do so is a criminal offence. Research released by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering reveals that nearly a quarter (22%) of people would miss a clear sign that a child may be at risk. Key findings are that:
- 22% of people would do nothing if an unrelated child suddenly appeared living next door
- 7% would not act if an unrelated child next door disappeared
In addition 4% said they would do nothing even if they were directly concerned for a child’s safety, which equates to 1.6 million people in England and Wales. The most common reason for people’s reluctance to act is that it is “none of their business”.
Private fostering describes an arrangement lasting 28 days or more when a child is cared for by someone who isn’t a close relative. To protect children, it is a legal requirement that parents and carers inform children’s services at their local council of these arrangements. But sadly, most don’t.
BAAF is asking the wider community to learn how to recognise the signs of private fostering arrangements. BAAF is concerned that people’s lack of awareness might leave some children invisible in the community and more at risk of abuse. The unexpected arrival and disappearance of children are warning signs of a private fostering arrangement. BAAF has launched a new website which gives people vital information about private fostering, and how to take action.
Link: www.privatefostering.org.uk
Link: British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF)
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
Government Guidance on minimum 3 year funding
The Government's Office of the Third Sector (part of the Cabinet Office ) has produced guidance which states that where appropriate, funding for the voluntary and community sector must be for a minimum of three years. This has been published jointly with the Treasury - which gives it much greater importance. The idea is that over the next 3 years, all Government departments will report to the Minister for the Third Sector on their progress in delivering 3 year funding agreements as standard. This will become part of the annual review of the national Compact.
Sadly, this doesn't currently apply to Local Authorities or Primary Care Trusts but it is a step in the right direction.
Link: Office of the Third Sector Guidance (pdf)
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