Charity and Voluntary Sector
10 DS: Crest Co-operative, a Welsh social enterprise whose sustainable recycling business also helps those struggling to find work, is the latest Big Society Award winner. Crest Co-operative operates a number of recycling initiatives diverting functional, household & electrical goods and food away from landfill, selling restored household items at affordable costs and giving food to homeless & vulnerable people.
The process also creates employment for the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, and ex-offenders, who work in their warehouses & stores.
BIG: A project to reduce the isolation of older people by holding activities & events in Northern Ireland’s museums has been awarded a major grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
Clanmil Housing Association is one of 8 Northern Ireland organisations awarded grants totalling nearly £2.3m from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Out: Connecting Older People programme, which supports older people affected by issues such as bereavement, disability or long-term illness or who live in residential care or sheltered housing.
Clanmil Housing Association is one of 8 Northern Ireland organisations awarded grants totalling nearly £2.3m from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Out: Connecting Older People programme, which supports older people affected by issues such as bereavement, disability or long-term illness or who live in residential care or sheltered housing.
MoJ: A third sector organisation was awarded £150,000 last week to help voluntary groups play a leading role in cutting crime & reducing re-offending. This money is part of a £500,000 pot to help Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) groups successfully bid for & deliver Payment by Results (PbR) contracts to manage and reform offenders.
3SC, a social enterprise who manage public service contracts on behalf of the third sector, will use the funding to work with voluntary organisations to draft an action plan. This will set out the steps which the sector needs to take to overcome any barriers to their participation in PbR contracts.
DWP: Reports of disability hate crime have trebled in one area of the country after the Government worked with a local charity to encourage disabled people to come forward. The use of 'third party reporting centres' has seen the number of incidents reported in Blackpool treble to 36 since the project began.
Disability First launched the service after feedback showed disabled people often feel more comfortable reporting hate crime incidents to people they know. The key to the centre’s success has been in establishing a strong team of local authority staff from adult social services, education & community safety, Lancashire police, MOJ and CPS. Volunteer disabled people take the initial reports and give confidence to the victims that they are being listened to.
MoD: A team of injured Service personnel are to attempt a world-first microlight flight to the South Pole – See ‘In the News’ section for more information.
HMT: The Government has launched a consultation on proposals to reform Payroll Giving. Consultation closes on 19 April 2013 – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
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