Charity and Voluntary Sector
MoD: Minister for Veterans, Kevan Jones, praised the work of charities and other key stakeholders during a symposium jointly organised by the charity Deafness Research UK and the MoD at the UCL Ear Institute last week.
‘A Modern Approach to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss from Military Operations’ brought together interested parties from the Armed Forces, the NHS, academic research and the voluntary sector to share & update knowledge of the science relevant to noise induced hearing loss.
The Minister also acknowledged the achievements of the Defence Hearing Working Group (DHWG), whose members include representatives from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and Deafness Research UK.
He told the conference that in the past 12 months the DHWG had commenced a hearing study on Royal Marine Units and had introduced an education package to warn deploying infantry of the dangers of exposure to noise.
DCSF: Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families Ed Balls has announced £165,000 extra funding to enable the Anthony Nolan Trust to roll out their campaign to educate young people about bone marrow donation.
The Register & Be a Lifesaver campaign is the legacy of Yorkshire journalist Adrian Sudbury, who died in August 2008 at the age of 27 following his own battle with leukaemia. The campaign was first trialled in South Yorkshire & Bristol to encourage 16-18 year olds to sign up to become donors and to build a volunteer force to help educate their peers.
Independent evaluation of the pilots concluded that they were good value for money; the training of volunteers was successful; the standard of presentations to schools & colleges was high; and the pilots met their objectives to raise awareness in schools & with young people.
VSO: VSO was voted Charity of the Year last week at Dod’s Charity Champion awards. Nominated & voted for exclusively by British Parliamentarians, VSO was hailed most effective charity of 2009. The annual awards are designed to highlight the impact MPs & Peers can have on charitable causes, but also give recognition to charities that have made a significant impact this year. Over 100 MPs voted in the awards, with VSO gaining the overwhelming majority.
Baroness Warwick nominated VSO after spending 2 weeks volunteering with VSO in Nigeria as part of VSO’s Parliamentarian Volunteering Programme. VSO covers the costs of flights, accommodation and health insurance for all volunteers. Parliamentarians receive the standard VSO volunteer allowance, which is a modest amount to cover daily needs. This differs by country, but is generally around £25-£50 per week.
VSO recruits volunteers from a wide range of professional backgrounds. The strongest need is for experienced managers, professionals with experience of working in primary education and doctors & midwives. VSO can use financial professionals where they have strong planning, or management expertise.
NE: Natural England has announced a series of new projects as part of its £25m Lottery-funded grants programme ‘Access to Nature’, which will see water-based activities, community woodlands & farms opened up and support for groups widened. 12 new projects are benefiting from over £2.5m from the programme, which is funded through the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Programme. Access to Nature aims to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have greater access to our natural environment.
CO: Last week, the Office of the Third Sector published Social Investment Wholesale Bank - Summary of responses (including next steps). To fund the SIWB’s initial capitalisation, Government also announced in the Pre-Budget Report, its intention to commit up to £75m of the funds expected to be released through the Dormant Accounts Scheme in England, subject to the final volume of funds and alongside funding other priorities.
In the coming months, the Government will finalise the model for the SIWB and aim to begin the process of engaging with potential providers of this financial institution by Budget 2010.
