Hello, Welcome to the May Newsletter. It’s Mental Health Awareness Week this week. Hopefully you’ve all been taking good care of yourselves, and be sure to check in with those close to you.
There’s a fair amount of London Plus news to catch you up on this month, and there’s lots there to be excited about! We have more things in the works, so keep an eye on our social media for updates.
If you have any suggestions for the next newsletter, feel free to contact Henry at info@londonplus.org.
London Plus News
Cost of Living Documents
London Plus now has three Cost of Living documents available, which all serve different purposes. First, the resources document contains information on how people can get support. Second, the good practice document has a list of examples of good organisational practice and innovation aimed at mitigating the impacts of the crisis. Third, the data document includes an ever-growing list of the available data relating to the crisis. Click the link above to see all three.
London’s Lifelines Film
The London’s Lifelines film is finally here! It’s a celebration (and a recognition) of all that volunteers do for London. Where would London be without volunteers? They’re still seeking stories from volunteers to put on their website – if you work with volunteers, see if they would like to upload their volunteering story.
CVS Network Impact Report
The London CVS Network recently released its first ever impact report. The report shows the extensive reach that the network has across London and into its communities, and explores in detail the activity and collective impact of the network in 2020/21. If you’re looking for evidence of the importance of London’s local infrastructure organisations, then look no further!
Community Resilience Fund
London Plus is working with the Greater London Authority to deliver the Community Resilience Fund. Funding has now been allocated, and you can find out about the projects being funded.
Past Newsletters
We noticed recently that some of our subscribers didn’t receive the previous two London Plus newsletters. If you would like to read them, see our March newsletter here and our April newsletter here.
News
Small Charity Week
Small Charity Week is happening in June! It celebrates the essential work that small charities do across the UK. Find out how to get involved.
Events & Training
Health and Safety
Tuesday 23rd May, 11am [online] [free]
This webinar from NVCO will give you an overview of what you need to know in order to have the right health and safety arrangements in place for your charity.
Cost of Living Insight
Tuesday 23rd May, 12pm [online] [free]
The Office for National Statistics has created a useful Cost-of-Living insights tool where you can uncover and use a huge array of data. If you want to find out how to use it, attend this webinar.
Right to Thrive
Tuesday 23rd May, 5:30pm [free]
Right to Thrive is a commitment from the Mayor of London and Thrive LDN to celebrate and protect diversity in London. This event at Toynbee Hall will give examples of the community support that has been offered through the scheme.
Protect UK
Wednesday 24th May, 12pm [online] [free]
Protect UK is a new platform dedicated to combatting terrorism. The National Counter Terrorism Security Office is running this workshop on Protect UK specifically for charities.
Video Content Training
Thursday 25th May, 12pm [online]
The Saltways conducts regular webinars on charity video production. The next online workshop is about creating content with your phone.
Cost-of-Living Response
Thursday 25th May, 9:30am [online] [free]
The Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership Conference will bring together people from across the sector to discuss how the sector can support communities facing economic challenges.
Flood Action
Thursday 1st June, 3:30pm [online] [free]
This is the second workshop in a series about climate risk from the Greater London Authority. This one is about flood action and community resilience in London.
Diversifying Fundraising
Thursday 8th June, 11am [online] [account needed]
In the past year, 40% of charities have reported a drop in funding. This highlights the need to diversify your funding, and Third Sector can tell you how in this webinar.
Resources
Awareness Days Calendar
Whether for social media, campaigns, or fundraising, knowing all the key awareness days can be very useful for a charity. If you don’t already have this information, consider downloading this free awareness days calendar.
Charities & Public Contracts
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched the VCSE Contract Readiness programme, which aims to help charities secure local and national government contracts.
Diversify your Board
Looking to diversify your charity’s board? Download this free guide from Getting on Board.
Volunteer Management & Diversity
If you work with volunteers, consider signing up to the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Volunteer Manager Forum. It aims to share learning, research, and best practice relating to diversity and inclusion in volunteering.
Funding
Civil Society Roots
Round 3 of the Civil Society Roots Fund is for groups that are led by and for communities impacted by structural inequalities. The fund is targeting ten London boroughs.
Deadline: Friday 19th May (expression of interest)
Women and Girls Match Fund
Big Give has opened applications for their Women and Girls Match Fund. Successful applicants will have donations from a specific campaign doubled by Big Give.
Deadline: Friday 23rd June
Community Housing
Nationwide is supporting housing and homelessness projects with grants of up to £60,000.
Deadline: Friday 26th May, 1pm
Racial Equity
Lloyds Bank Foundation are offering grants to small charities that work with people who have faced inequity because of their race or ethnicity.
Deadline: Wednesday 31st May, 5pm
Grants for Good
This fund from the Matthew Good Foundation gives grants to small groups that make a positive difference to communities, people, and the environment.
Deadline: Thursday 15th June [rolling]
Catalyst
London Catalyst’s project grants range between £1,000-£5,000. Priority is given to new initiatives that target people who are disadvantaged as a result of long-term health issues, disability, or poverty.
Deadline: September 2023 [rolling]
Thomas Wall Trust
The Thomas Wall Trust offers grants for UK charities that have a turnover of between £10,000 and £500,000 per annum.
Deadline: None
Climate Action Fund
This scheme from the National Lottery Community Fund aims to support communities in the UK by funding projects that address the climate crisis.
Deadline: None [expected to run until Dec 2023]
Reports
Cost of Living & Health
The VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance has released this resource which identifies six actions that can be taken to alleviate the impacts of the cost of living crisis on health and wellbeing.
Working with Integrated Care Systems
What barriers are there for the voluntary and community sector to work in partnership with integrated care systems? This report from the Kings Fund explores this question.
Surveys
VCSE Barometer Survey
This quarterly survey from Pro Bono Economics helps to inform wider sectors and industries about the challenges faced by the voluntary and community sector. This time the survey focuses on volunteering in the sector.
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