VILLAGE-VOICE

Welcome to the thirty fifth edition of VILLAGE-VOICE an email bulletin specifically for management committee members and user groups

of village halls and community buildings across County Durham.

This is a new look VILLAGE-VOICE as Durham Rural Community Council has now become Durham Community Action. Please have a look at our new look website which you can find at www.durhamcommunityaction.org.uk. The Community News has more information regarding the work we undertake and staff roles so please look at this on the website to learn more or sign up for its mailing list if you do not already receive this. You can also follow us on Twitter @DurhamComAction.

Sustaining Durham VCS Events

Durham Community Action has held 2 of 3 sustainability events across the County to address the needs of organisations who are looking at the health and sustainability of their organisations in 2014 and beyond. The events have been covering a range of topics through workshops such as developing a volunteering strategy, building a business plan, and harnessing social media. There has also been an opportunity to speak to funders and hear about their priorities and a chance to speak to members of our team regarding support. The feedback we have had is that they have been very useful and groups will be taking their ideas back to other trustees. There is one event left at Bowburn Community Centre, we hope you will take this opportunity to take part.

The event is free, please book your place via http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/durham-community-action-5862090387?s=21040827 . If you have any problems or questions please contact morvyn.sanderson@durhamrcc.org.uk or abby.thompson@durhamrcc.org,uk and we will arrange the booking for you.

Event Dates:

Thursday 27th February 2014—Bowburn Community Centre, Bowburn 9am registration

We look forward to seeing you there!

ACRE National Community Buildings Survey

Durham Community Action would like to ask for your help in gathering information to help

our umbrella body ACRE (Action for Communities in Rural England) raise the profile

of community buildings and their volunteers.

ACRE has compiled a short, online survey for buildings management committees to complete, which will build on the findings of their comprehensive survey of December 2009. The questions are designed to help ACRE get a clearer picture of how topical issues such as licensing, VAT, rate relief and broadband are affecting community buildings. There are also some general questions around volunteers, community enterprises and activities.

ACRE are still working on gaining enough support to establish an All-Party Parliamentary Group on community buildings and will use the findings of the survey to keep the work of volunteers and the challenges they face in the spotlight with Government departments, MPs and the media.

The more information they have, the better they are able to lobby on issues that affect the sustainability and survival of our community buildings. They hope to paint a picture of the important role that community buildings play throughout people’s lives, from their earliest days onwards.

To complete the survey, please click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MWRJ9RR

The deadline for completing the application is 24 March 2014

With thanks in advance for your co-operation.

Register Your Interest in the Following Workshops

Easy Accounts for Voluntary Organisations This is a practical training workshop with very user friendly computer software– absolutely no accountancy knowledge assumed! The aim of the workshop is to assist treasurers of voluntary and community organisations to fulfil the requirements of Charity Law in preparing and keeping accounting records, preparing accounts, preparing a summary of income and expenditure and preparing periodic report for trustees.

The programme is suited to meeting the Charity Commission accounting requirements for charities with an income up to £250,000. The workshop costs £10.00 per person which is payable in advance; this includes a copy of the software.

Website Design for Community Buildings Does your village hall or community centre need a basic website that is easy to maintain? This is a free workshop where you will be shown how to incorporate data and photos of your hall into your own website. By the end of the session you will have a ready-made website – it really is that simple!

For more information or to register your interest for either workshop please contact Helen Brown on 01207 529621 or email helen.brown@durhamrcc.org.uk

ACRE Community Buildings Information Sheets

Our umbrella body ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) produces a range of information sheets on a wide range of topics affecting community buildings. These provide very useful in depth guidance and electronic versions of these sheets can be obtained free of charge by emailing Helen Brown at helen.brown@durhamrcc.org.uk

1. Planning fees for village halls 22. Managing employees & volunteers

2. Parish council help for village halls 23. Steps to funding the fabric of community buildings

3. Providing services in village halls 24. Village halls and payment of rates

4. Funding trusts for community buildings 25. Making your village hall accessible

5. Village halls, children and young people 26. Coping with VAT on fuel & power supplies

6. Village halls and registration for VAT 27. Village halls and social clubs

7. Village hall insurance cover 28. Creating a business plan

8. Storage in village halls 29. Bingo in village halls

9. The village hall and its Premises Licence 30. Village hall heating

10. Alcohol in village halls 31. Village hall flooring

11. The Charities Act 1992, 1993 and 2006 32. Recruiting & retaining volunteers

12. Village halls and car parks 33. Gaming and lotteries

13. Copyright music licensing 34. Sale of goods in village halls

14. Asbestos 35. Trustee liability & trustee indemnity insurance

15. Health & Safety legislation & village halls 36. Village halls run by parish councils as sole trustee

16. How ‘green’ is your village hall? 37. Fire safety in village halls

17. Trustees roles and responsibilities 38. Short guide to security in your village

18. Village halls and VAT on building work 39. Village halls and incorporation

and other purchases

19. Marketing your village hall 40. Village halls and their governing documents

20. Health and hygiene in village halls 41. Accounting and village halls

21. Overnight accommodation in village halls 42. Equality in village halls

Social Media

Social Media is a fantastic way to interact with people who may be interested in what your organisation is doing, offering the community and maybe how they can get involved. Twitter is a strong candidate for the best way to do this. Third Sector have written an article about how Twitter can work for charities—have a look at what it can offer http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1230265/why-twitter-charitys-best-friend/

Does Your Community Building run on Oil? Durham Community Oil Scheme

The scheme is harnessing the purchasing power of the many rural communities who are without mains gas and therefore have limited options for domestic fuel. By becoming a franchisee for this scheme Durham Com-munity Action is able to use the expertise of an experienced national community oil purchaser who will be able to secure excellent price deals for our members. If your community building is using oil you could be saving money through being part of this scheme.

How much does it cost to be part of the scheme?

Individuals - £24 (including VAT) per year

Community groups - £36 (including VAT) per year

Businesses - from £36 (including VAT) per year - ask us for more details. Please contact lauren.langton@durhamrcc.org.uk or nico-la.patterson@durhamrcc.org.uk for more information or call 01207 529621 or look at Durham Community Action’s website; www.durhamcommunityaction.org.uk

Have your say in the State of the Sector Survey – 2013/14

Following on from the previous survey carried out in 2012/13 Durham Community Action is once again undertaking a State of the Sector survey

Introduction

This survey aims to capture information about the state of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in County Durham and how it is coping in the face of cuts in local and central government funding and the reduction in available grant fund-ing.

Purpose

There have been a number of studies carried out on the state of the VCS in the North East. They include well known piec-es of work commissioned by the Northern Rock Foundation and Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) and the purpose of this survey is to contribute to those ongoing pieces of work and to help inform the work of the Volun-tary Sector Working Group in County Durham. This information will be shared with our public sector partners and also will be disseminated to the wider voluntary and community sector for use as an evidence base.

Expected Results

It is hoped that the following key information will be captured by this survey:

A snapshot of the types, sizes and focuses of groups operating in County Durham.

An indication of the number of people engaged in voluntary activity in County Durham and the impact that has on the economy.

A picture of how organisations source funding in County Durham.

How organisations are coping in the current economic climate, how it has changed their operations and how they expect it to impact upon them in the next twelve months.

If you would like to take part in the survey please follow the link to access the survey via Survey Monkey : http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7FWNWTW Or contact Sue Gra-ham at Durham Community Action on 01207 529621/ sue.graham@durhamrcc.org.uk

Your Views and Comments We would welcome your views and comments on this e-bulletin; please also let us know if there are

any topics you would like covering in future issues. Please feel free to circulate this e-bulletin amongst your committee members and if anyone would like to receive it directly in the future please ask them to contact: Helen Brown email: helen.brown@durhamrcc.org.uk or

telephone 01207 529621

We look forward to hearing from you.

Durham Community Action Community Building Toolkits

Durham Community Action have created a Community Buildings Toolkit which gives a step by step approach to managing a community building. The toolkits were developed through the Leader projects in the County but are now available for £15 to any community building. They cover areas such as policies and procedures, licensing and health and safety which are fundamen-tal to running your building well. Please get in touch with us if you would like one, or they will be on sale at the Sustainable Durham VCS Events. Tel: 01207 529621

Helen returning……………………... and Morvyn leaving

Helen has returned from maternity leave and is back supporting community buildings again. She will be in three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and will be taking the VILLAGEVOICE back on from March. Please feel free to contact her on 01207 529621 or email helen.brown@durhamrcc.org.uk . Morvyn will be leaving Durham Community Action as of the 28th February, she will be taking up a post in Darlington as the

Darlington Methodist Circuit children and young people’s worker. She has loved her time at Durham Commu-nity Action and will miss the team and organisations she has worked with. If you have been supported by

Morvyn and need further help, please contact Sarah Robinson on the above number or email :sarah.robinson@durhamrcc.org.uk

Funding of up to £5,000

for voluntary and community groups in County Durham

If you would like to talk to us about the funding we have available and how to apply, we will be at:

Seaham Eastlea Community Centre on 5th March 10am - 11 am Sadberge Village Hall Wednesday 19th March 10am –11am

Lanchester Community Centre Wednesday 2 April 2014 10am – 11am To register your interest please e-mail volunteer@cdcf.org.uk or ring 0191 378 6340

If you are unable to attend, you can apply for a grant by visiting our website on

www.cdcf.org.uk and completing Part A of our application form. We look forward to hearing from you