January 2012 |
Welcome to the January 2012 Partnership Newsletter. Don't forget we welcome information on events that are happening in your area. This is your opportunity to promote events and share your latest news, good practice and developments. Contact us at swindonsp@swindon.gov.uk
Are you involved with a voluntary sector group that works with children and families in Wiltshire? If so why not join other local organisations who are members of the Wiltshire Children and Families Voluntary Sector Forum. The Forum works to bring together voluntary organisations that work in Wiltshire with children, young people or families. They work together and hold bi-monthly meetings where they share information and champion the voluntary sector. They work as the local ‘voice’ for voluntary sector organisations working in Wiltshire. The Forum works with local authorities to ensure that they are aware of the needs and priorities of the sector and of children and families living in Wiltshire. It also has representation on Local Authority Strategic Groups ensuring that the sector has influence and is involved in planning of children’s services in Wiltshire. The Forum also receives useful information from local authorities which can be passed on to the local groups.
In addition to the obvious benefits of being involved in the Forum, Wiltshire Children and Families Voluntary Sector Forum has recently launched a Training Grant which is available to members of the Forum working with Children and Families in Wiltshire. Grants of up to £500 are available to provide training or personal development opportunities for staff or volunteers working for charities or community organisations that benefit children and families in Wiltshire. ‘This grant will bring new training opportunities to the sector which in turn will support the great work being done by those working with Children and Families in Wiltshire’ said David Bonner-Smith Chair of the Forum.
For more information on the work of the Wiltshire Children and Families Voluntary Sector Forum or to become a member please contact: carolyn.beale@cfvsf.org or alternatively ring: 07775 334557
More information on the Training Grant can be found on www.cfvsf.org or by making contact with Carolyn at carolyn.beale@cfvsf.org
To support Locality working the Council has recently appointed full-time Locality Leads for each of the seven clusters/Localities to work with local people to build local solutions. The newly appointed Locality Leads took up their posts in January 2012. The team has already spent some time with the voluntary and community sector since being appointed and are eager to begin working closely with Members, colleagues and local communities to start bringing the Stronger Together vision to life in local areas. Information on each locality is available on the Locality Working pages of this website.
The Locality Leads are:
Jackie Moyles - South
Paula Harrison - West
Andy Reeves - North Central
Nazakat Ali - East
Mark Walker - Town Centre
Pam Gough / Andrea Barrett - North East
Helena Robinson / Kathryn Langdown - North (Kathryn Langdown will cover for Helena’s maternity leave)
Parents can take advantage of a new session for under fives in Pinehurst’s new community centre. The story and rhyme time sessions are being held every Monday morning at 11am in the library at Pinetrees Community Centre in The Circle. Children can take part in action songs and special stories with percussion instruments and puppets. The sessions are free and anyone who requires further information can call 07785 454357.
To find out the new library's opening times click here.
An initiative to encourage people to pick up a book is being run in Swindon for the fifth year.
The Six Book Challenge invites less confident readers to read six books and record it in a diary. Those taking part are supported with incentives and rewarded with a certificate and the chance to win prizes including book tokens, eReaders or an all-expenses paid night out in London.
The free challenge is run by the Reading Agency and is supported by an official website. An estimated 39,500 people have registered for the challenge since it started and 17,000 of those completed it.
Last year 250 people from Swindon took part in the challenge with a number of participants from Swindon College and New College. This year Swindon Borough Council’s library service is hoping to roll the challenge out further with Wincanton Logistics at South Marston already geared up to take part.
Ninety per cent of participants say they feel more confident about reading after taking part and 80% said they expected to use a library more to borrow books. Tutors have said the challenge improves learners’ confidence, increases their motivation and helps them to develop a reading habit.
Cllr Keith Williams, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Corporate Services who is also responsible for libraries, said: “I would urge anyone who has not picked up a book in a while to sign up to the Six Book Challenge.
“Reading is a fun and stimulating pastime and we are very fortunate in Swindon to have such a fantastic library service which is well stocked with titles to suit everyone.”
To take up the challenge people can register at any Swindon library. Anyone who signs up will also be invited to various exclusive events along the way including an award ceremony for completers at the end.
Library staff are also available to come out and talk to people interested in the challenge, or to talk at staff meetings, reading groups, clubs and coffee mornings.
If you want to get your company or organisation involved then please feel free to contact Leon Flower at the Central library on 01793 463790 or email: lflower@swindon.gov.uk There are extra prizes available for groups doing the challenge together in workplaces.
Further details are also available by visiting: www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk or www.swindon.gov.uk/libraries
Become a Sport Maker and make sport happen in 2012! Do you want to do something good for your community this year? Have you been inspired by the upcoming 2012 Olympics and want to get involved? Can you give 13 hours in 2012 to help our local sports clubs or to get your friends/colleagues doing some activity?
The Sport Makers programme is a national volunteering programme, funded by the National Lottery, which will recruit 40,000 new sports volunteers aged 16 years and over to organise, lead or support community sporting activities across the country.
More information on how to become a Sport Maker is available here
For more information on Sport Makers contact Ben Maxfield on 07917 030947 or e-mail ben@wiltssport.org