Community Action Northumberland | CANNY News November 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.
We also always welcome any feedback so feel free to contact us.

Contents
CAN News Extra
CAN's Constitution
Support Services for Northumberland's VCS
Broadband Improvements
Rural Community Broadband Fund
Vodaphone Mobile Phone Trials
Digital Switchover
Localism Bill now an Act
Vote Now!
Heat Hero
CIO News
Quality in the Voluntary Sector
Fire Warden Training
Do You Need Help With IT?
Forum Focus

CAN News Extra
As a number of articles were unable to be included in the last issue of CAN News we have produced a CAN News Extra which is available here.

CAN’s Constitution
CAN’s AGM on 3 November agreed a number of changes to its constitution and governance, which took effect from the end of the meeting. These include:

Instead of individual trustees, CAN now has a single ‘corporate trustee’: a newly-formed company, which is also called CAN.
The President, Vice Presidents and committee members were, in effect, transferred into the new company
A new Honorary Treasurer was appointed to succeed Steven Mason: Linda Frater.
No changes have been made yet to staffing arrangements, budgets, funding agreements etc.

For those who collect registration numbers (!), the charity number of ‘old CAN’ remains as 224798. the new company has a company registration number 07805401, and a charity number of 1144601.

Support Services for Northumberland’s VCS
Some months ago, we reported that the County Council had commissioned a consortium called Connect 4 Change to organise the provision of advice, information, training and other support services for the voluntary and community sector in Northumberland.

C4C has now published the interim arrangements which will run until end of March 2012 and an update on other developments, the briefing is available on our website.

Broadband Improvements
The County Council’s Broadband team is finalising the Northumberland Broadband Strategy, which is due to be submitted to BDUK before Christmas. The Strategy is due to be considered by NCC’s Executive on 5 December. We will give more detail on the Strategy and on the scope for action by communities and voluntary organisations, in the next edition of CAN News in December.

The County Council has now set up a dedicated website for the strategy: www.inorthumberland.org.uk

Meanwhile, CAN is working with a range of VCS bodies to explore how they might deliver their services more effectively and efficiently, with the help of better Broadband. NALC will be working to help local councils develop their use of ICT. NALC has also made representation to DCLG and DEFRA, via ACRE, to make it easier for local councils to support and/or operate Broadband initiatives.

Rural Community Broadband Fund
The Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) is expected to launch on the 29th November 2011. Approximately £20m will be available nationally to support communities that will not receive fast broadband through the main BDUK programme.

Key Points:

Solutions must fit with the Northumberland Broadband Strategy
The fund will only support broadband projects that achieve above 24Mbps
At least 50% match funding will be required
The deadline for Expressions of Interest for the first round is expected to be 31/1/12

Full details and application forms should be available from the 29th November.
A community broadband toolkit is also in development and will be in the form of a wiki rather than a printed document.

Links to these will be posted on our forum when they become available.

Vodaphone Mobile Phone Trials
Vodafone UK is calling for local communities to get involved in public trials of innovative technology that has the potential to provide rural areas with an affordable way of getting 3G mobile internet coverage. The 12 new trials will start early in 2012

Ideally the trial communities will:

have around 500-1000 people,
will be in mobile coverage not-spots but will have access to broadband connectivity
have hubs where people gather for work or leisure, such as a village hall, community centre, church, housing estate, pubs, trading estate, sports club etc.

Vodafone is currently collating a list of interested communities and will draw up a potential shortlist in late December/early January.

If your community would like to be considered for the trials, please ask your MP to email Julie Pearson at Vodafone julie.pearson@vodafone.com or to write to her at Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury RG14 2FN.

More information on our website.

Digital Switchover
The North-East is the final part of England to experience the ‘Digital Switchover’, when all ‘analogue’ TV broadcasting will cease. The switchover is planned for September 2012. CAN and its sister organisations (the councils of voluntary service, and rural community councils) will be working to promote awareness of both the switchover itself and of the specialist help that will be available to priority groups of people. More detail will be available in the New Year. In the meantime, briefings can be seen at www.digitaluk.co.uk or www.helpscheme.co.uk

Localism Bill now an Act
The much-publicised Localism Bill gained its Royal assent in mid November. Its implementation will require a number of Statutory Instruments/ regulations to be passed by Parliament, and for various programmes to be put in place. The provisions and opportunities which apply mostly to communities survived the hurdles of the Lords and the Committee stages. These include, among others, Neighbourhood Planning, Community Rights to safeguard key local assets and to challenge the way in which services are organised, and possibly more-flexible powers for local (parish and town ) councils.

A ‘plain English’ guide to the Act can be seen at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1896534.pdf

Vote Now!
Hexham River Hydro project is in the final six of the large projects category of the British Gas EnergyShare Fund.

It is currently leading the group with 26% of the share of the public vote – but a project in Sheffield is closing the gap fast!!!

Voting closes on December 3^rd. The project could win up to £100,000 of funding - if it tops the list!!

For more information - and to vote – go to http://www.energyshare.com/voting

Heat Hero
National Energy Action - the national fuel poverty charity – and the ScottishPower Energy People Trust - recognise individuals who go ‘above and beyond’ what would be expected in the course of their work to help those people who are suffering from the effects of fuel poverty and struggling to heat their homes.

‘Heat Heroes’ rewards success at a local level and Judith Mann who works for the West Northumberland Citizens Advice Bureau, has won the award for the work she has done in tackling fuel poverty in West Northumberland which has made a life changing impact on peoples lives. Judith has made over 120 home visits to different clients in the area as well as seeing clients in the CAB centres and advising them on how to cut their energy bills.

The Heat Heroes will be invited to a celebratory event held in the House of Commons on 8^th Feb 2012.

CIO News
The Charities Act 2006 opened the possibility of creating new voluntary organisations in which the trustees have limited liability. The CIO (charitable incorporated organisation) is similar to a company, but without the need to serve two regulators (Companies House, as well as the Charity Commission).

However, until the Regulations (a Statutory Instrument, to be laid before Parliament) are in place, CIOs will not be possible. This is now likely to be in the Spring. Neither a CIO nor a company can directly hold charitable ‘permanent endowment’, such as a village hall or community centre. Therefore, to enable those involved with the governance of a village hall charity to have limited liability, it is advisable to appoint a corporate trustee, in lieu of a committee of individuals.

We in CAN will be happy to advise on these arrangements, but we think it will be worth waiting for the CIO to become available during 2012.

Quality in the Voluntary Sector
A new directory of voluntary and community sector organisations which provide independent quality accreditation schemes has just been launched.

Quality in the Voluntary Sector was formulated by members of the Accreditation Providers’ Forum, a group consisting of voluntary and community organisations that have a focus on accrediting quality in the third sector.

To download the interactive PDF version of the Directory click on Quality in the Voluntary Sector.

The purpose of the directory is to promote knowledge and recognition of third sector-held quality standards to statutory commissioners. The pressure to commission services from the voluntary and community sector is mounting. The Accreditation Providers Forum hopes that this directory will encourage commissioners to be more open to quality standards held and managed by the Voluntary and Community sector, especially in the procurement process.

Fire Warden Training
This half day session is designed to meet the requirements of services that have a legal responsibility under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and other legislation (this includes community buildings and churches) to ensure that fire risks are identified and the correct precautions are utilised to identify and prevent the spread of fire. The role of the fire warden is a very comprehensive responsible role and this course will help develop the competencies required to perform the role within the workplace.

The target group for this event is anyone with Fire Warden responsibility. More information and booking form on our website.

Do You Need Help With IT?
Organisations from across the region (including Parish & Town Councils) can obtain free IT advice and support thanks to further funding from the Northern Rock Foundation.

By providing practical help and consultancy advice, CITA’s popular "Circuit Rider" programme helps voluntary and community organisations to reduce their administrative costs and work more effectively. Thanks to further funding from the Northern Rock Foundation they are now able to offer this support for a further year.

Whatever the size and needs of your organisation CITA aim to leave you stronger and better able to manage your IT. They can help you do more for less and ensure that you comply with current legislation.

This programme is fully-funded by the Northern Rock Foundation so you don't need to pay a penny for the support you receive.

If your organisation would like to benefit from this programme give CITA a call on 0191 256 5015.

For more information visit their website: Northern Rock Foundation Circuit Riders

Forum Focus

Berwick Network Winter Meeting
The next meeting of the Berwick Network will be held at 10.00 am (until 12.30) on Friday 2 December 2011

Big on Equality Conference 29/11/11
Examine how ‘The Big Society’ and ‘Localism’ are supporting equality in our communities.

Coalfield Regeneration Trust - Small Grants Available
Funding available for Level 1 grants of £500 to £5,000 for up to a 12 month period for small voluntary groups.

Third Sector Knowledge Portal
A new website pulls together research and evidence on voluntary sector subjects.

Better Together 6/12/11
Better Together: Collaboration information session for the Children, Young People and Families VCS

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