Charity and Voluntary Sector
DCMS: Paralympic Gold Medallist Hannah Cockroft and Culture Secretary Maria Miller recently joined Sport England CEO Jennie Price and Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King to announce a new initiative to ensure the inclusion of disabled people in community sport.
Sport England’s £1m National Lottery investment will fund free training courses to help coaches, leaders, carers and parents to develop the skills and confidence to include disabled people in sporting activity. It extends into community clubs the high quality support commitment for teachers through the Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All scheme, creating a seamless approach for disabled people in school and community sport.
DUK: A blood test could identify those at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes up to 10 years in advance, a new study claims. Researchers at the Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC) have for the first time established a link between a protein called SFRP4 and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, which is published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that those with above-average levels of the protein in their blood were significantly more likely to develop the condition – irrespective of other risk factors such as age and waist size.
The study, which is published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that those with above-average levels of the protein in their blood were significantly more likely to develop the condition – irrespective of other risk factors such as age and waist size.
OCUK: Do you work in the community? Would you like to get new skills, ideas and tools to help you do more of what you do best? The Level 3 Community Development Award could be for you. It’s a nationally recognised qualification (accredited by the National Open College Network) that could give your projects a boost, and give you an edge with funders & employers.
No 10: Technology, innovation & open government all came together for the Open Up! conference in London recently to help reduce poverty. It was aimed at demonstrating how the use of technology together with transparency from governments can help improve the lives of the poorest.
Unite: Turning Point, the charity dedicated to helping those with emotional and employment problems, is set to sack its 2,600 staff and re-employ them on lower pay. Unite, the union, said that ‘Turning Point was leading the race to the bottom in the voluntary sector with its plans to slash staff pay and conditions, which will, in turn, will lead to a deterioration of services for many vulnerable people’.
Turning Point was created to help people find a new direction in life by helping those with substance misuse, mental health issues, a learning disability, or employment difficulties by providing tailored personalised care. The 2,600 staff affected work in hundreds of community projects & services in England & Wales. All staff will be hit, depending on their individual contracts.
ScotGov: A successful music programme is set to transform one of Glasgow’s most deprived areas after being awarded more than £1m from the Scottish Government. Sistema Scotland will use the £1.325m to aid its expansion to Govanhill, where it will establish a Big Noise Orchestra. The organisation has already transformed the lives of hundreds of children through a similar scheme in Raploch, Stirling.
DCMS: The Equality Advisory & Support Service (EASS) is designed to offer bespoke advice & targeted support on issues of discrimination to those who need it most. Individuals from across the UK can already access help & information from a range of expert advisory services including Citizens Advice and Acas, but where appropriate these organisations will refer more complex cases to the EASS for further tailored assistance.
