Volunteering
VSI Alliance Update 21 January 2022
VSI Alliance News & Events
Newsflash from the Voluntary Sector Infrastructure (VSI) Alliance team
In this VSI alliance News & Events you will find help and information on various aspects of healthy living, training opportunities, as well as funding, jobs and volunteering options.
Read the updates here
About VSI Alliance:
All staff at the VSI Alliance are available remotely to support you and your organisation at this time with various aspects of your work, along with providing key information and resources. For support/advice, please contact info@vsialliance.org.uk, or visit www.vsialliance.org.uk for more contact details.
Waring Green Community Centre recruiting new Trustees
Waring Green Community Centre in Brighouse are on the look out for new trustees. People don’t need to be from the Lower Valley to join the trustee board.
Waring Green Community Centre : A Hidden Gem in the Heart of Brighouse
From Highland reels to shuttlecocks, from curling to musical bumps, Waring Green Community Centre has got so much going on! With the warmest of welcomes, the centre boasts a large hall with a sprung dance floor and a theatre stage. With a range of other spaces, including a lecture room and a well-equipped kitchen, the space lends itself to so much activity it would be a challenge to find something it couldn’t accommodate!
Fast approaching its 150th birthday, the centre which started out as a Sunday School before becoming a church, has a unique glazed roof (patented by local architect TW Helliwell in 1878) as well as beautiful stained glass windows which gifts the building a wonderful atmosphere. It has been a community centre since 1953, providing a safe and warm venue for local people, activities and interest groups.
Run by the community for the community, the volunteers & Trustees who have kept the centre thriving are now looking for support from local people to join the Committee to keep this vital community resource going for generations to come.
Joining the Trustee board
This new opportunity for new Trustees to join arose as some of the existing board members have been carrying the baton for many years and some are now looking to pass it on to a new generation of dedicated local people. The centre would particularly love to hear from people with financial and/or administrative experience.
Being a Trustee is one of the most powerful ways in which you can give back to your local community and support a cause you really care about. By volunteering your time on the committee, you can help steer the centre to new heights and a bright future. The benefits to you in giving back includes boosting your confidence and self-esteem as well as allowing you to feel more connected to your community
This is an exciting chance to share your knowledge and experience whilst building on your skills further. Furthermore, this role is an opportunity to develop your sound judgement, interpersonal and strategic experience. Committing to this charity will give you incredible opportunities to develop your problem solving and organisational & leadership skills.
Bring your enthusiasm and fresh ideas to a centre that is at the heart of its community and reap the rewards of knowing you are contributing to a stronger dynamic place for all the area and beyond.
Full support and all essential training will be offered from the existing experienced & dedicated Board of Trustees. Board meetings are held bi-monthly, and out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursed.
For more information and an informal chat about the roles, please contact the Chair, Tony Mead, by emailing tony.mead@rocketmail.com
Become a Healthy Minds Trustee!
We are recruiting new volunteers for our board of Trustees at Healthy Minds.VSI Alliance Update 14 January 2022
VSI Alliance News & Events
Newsflash from the Voluntary Sector Infrastructure (VSI) Alliance team
The latest VSI alliance News & Events discusses Coronavirus vaccination, local consultations, online activities and training opportunities from various organisations, as well as job vacancies and volunteering opportunities.
Read the updates here
About VSI Alliance:
All staff at the VSI Alliance are available remotely to support you and your organisation at this time with various aspects of your work, along with providing key information and resources. For support/advice, please contact info@vsialliance.org.uk, or visit www.vsialliance.org.uk for more contact details.
Staying Well is looking for Telephone Befrienders
If you are looking for a volunteering opportunity that can make a huge positive impact to someone, you may want to become a Staying Well Telephone Befriender.
We are looking for people from all walks of life, of any age, having a friendly, chatty approach, willing to reach out to someone who needs a chat.
You only need to commit 30 minutes a week but those 30 minutes can mean the world to someone.
If you would like to know more, get in touch with Staying Well:
t: 01422 392767
e: stayingwellproject@calderdale.gov.uk
Induction and training will be provided.
For more information visit Staying Well Telephone Befriending section
VSI Alliance Update 7 January 2022
VSI Alliance News & Events
Newsflash from the Voluntary Sector Infrastructure (VSI) Alliance team
The latest VSI alliance News & Events circular brings you information on local surveys, training opportunities, police updates, available seminars and as ever, funding options, job vacancies and volunteering opportunities.
Read the updates here
About VSI Alliance:
All staff at the VSI Alliance are available remotely to support you and your organisation at this time with various aspects of your work, along with providing key information and resources. For support/advice, please contact info@vsialliance.org.uk, or visit www.vsialliance.org.uk for more contact details.
Local RSPCA are on the lookout for Picture Perfect Pets!
The RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford & DistrictBranch are once again hosting their annual ‘Picture Perfect Pet’ photo competition, with all entries being judged on ‘cuteness and all-around best image’.
Competition runs from January 6th to January 18th with results announced on January the 20th.
The digital competition can be entered online via Facebook or by emailing the local RSPCA rehoming centre. Entries cost just £2 and will feature 3 animal categories for Cats, Dogs and Other pets.
Ralfie the dog poses in an entry from 2021
Fay Gibbons, Digital Fundraiser says “We’re starting the year with one of our favourite virtual events – our Picture Perfect Pet Photo Competition! It’s a really fun way of showing off how much our animal companions mean to us and who knows, you might even bag a Pets At Home gift voucher and a rosette in the post! The rules are simple, send us your cutest pet picture and all-around good photo – this means we’re looking for clear shots, nice backgrounds and adorable faces! Every entry will help to raise vital funds for the many cats, dogs and small animals who’re looking for forever homes here at the Centre, so get snapping and head to our website or Facebook to find out how to enter!”
The competition is open to every kind of pet, whether that’s a dog, cat, rabbit, reptile, horse or bird. Simply submit your photo by Tuesday January 18th at midday and you could be in with the chance of winning 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in either of the 3 Pet Categories. Winners will be announced on January 20th.
A previous first place winner – Niffle the ferret – with his 1st place rosette!
For more information about the competition and the branch please visit: www.rspcahalifaxhuddersfieldbradford.org.uk/ppp2022/or www.facebook.com/events/215430877357159 .
“The RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and District Branch are a self-funding branch of the National RSPCA, responsible for raising money locally to support our animal welfare work. Our main aim is to rehabilitate unwanted, abandoned and abused animals and find them loving, permanent homes. We rely on public donations and the generosity of our local community to keep the doors of our animal centre open.”
Overgate Treecycle Scheme helps you dispose of your Christmas Tree
Take out one of the hassles of clearing out the Christmas and New Year leftovers by making sure your natural tree will be responsibly taken away, while providing much needed help to a good cause!
Overgate Hospice bring their Christmas Tree recycling initiative yet once more. For a donation of £10 towards the vital work done by the Hospice, they will collect and dispose of your natural Christmas Tree.
For full information visit Overgate Treecycling Scheme
Collections will begin on January the 6th of January.
To book, visit Overgate Treecycling to fill out the online form or call 01422 387121.
Please ensure you have removed all decorations, lights, any bases from your tree and leave it somewhere easily accessible for the volunteers.
The scheme is kindly supported by Green Valley Arborists, Ripponden Christmas Tree Farm and GBWoodfield commercial vehicles.
Santa-gram campaign brings Christmas cheer once more to Calderdale!
Home Instead Senior Care Calderdale’s second Santa-gram campaign has been a great success, spreading Christmas cheer to elderly people across the local area.
Launched in November, Home Instead’s Santa-gram campaign reached out to primary schools across Calderdale to ask school children to create a special Christmas card or letter for an elderly person this Christmas.
Most of our elderly population have experienced isolation and loneliness this year due to COVID-19, with many continuing to isolate over the Christmas period.
The home care company, which provides companionship, housekeeping and personal care to people in their own homes was overwhelmed by the result. They had seventeen local schools and one after school club sign up to the campaign, receiving 1452 Christmas cards which were all decorated, or hand drawn by children from ages four to 11.
They also received a further 389 items including bookmarks, letters, pictures, decorations and riddles, to be distributed along with their cards.
Morrison’s supermarket in Elland, Halifax and Kershaws Garden Centre in Brighouse also got involved, with customers donating presents to the campaign.
The Santa-grams were packed into envelopes and delivered along with the presents to assisted living facilities, churches and community groups including Memory Lane and Riverside Dementia Cafés, Age UK, Halifax Blind Society, the Royal British Legion and Making Space – the carer’s wellbeing service.
The company also teamed up with local pharmacies who helped to distribute the Santa-grams to their network of customers that receive home delivery of their medication.
A local resident phoned in after receiving her Santa-gram to say:
“Thank you for our lovely Christmas surprise. It was so kind of you to take the time making them for us. I am sending you a photo of your decorations in house they are lovely.”
“Lovely Christmas card delivered by my local pharmacy. It was beautiful and really made my day.”
Munaf Patel, Director at Home Instead Calderdale said:
“Since the reopening from lockdown in July, many of the community groups which serve the elderly have still not restarted their meetings and as result a lot of older people are missing out on the companionship, care and love that many of us simply take for granted. We wanted to do something to help out and this is a nice way to bring two different generations together.”
To find out more about Home Instead Calderdale and the home care services they provide, including live-in care, please call 01422 292424 or visit https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/calderdale/.
Could you be the next VAC Trustee?
Voluntary & Community (also known as VAC) are looking to continue building their board of trustees to reflect the diversity and expertise of the great communities they work with.
So, who are VAC?
In a nutshell, VAC is a Charity for Charities and the Voluntary and Community Sector providing services and initiatives to organisations across Calderdale and Kirklees including their work as part of the VSI Alliance. Their vision is to promote positive social change to improve local lives. To find out more about VAC’s work and ethos, please visit the website www.cvac.org.uk.
VAC Trustees
If we were to strip back our Trustee recruitment goals, we are looking for people. Passionate people with an interest in the development & success of Voluntary & Community Sector. If you also have professional and/or lived knowledge or experience in the following areas that would be an added bonus:
- Local Government
- Estate/Property Development or Management
- Health Background
We are looking for people who may be considering taking their first step in a Trustee role or may have been involved with trusteeships previously.
When considering a trustee role, it can be a tough decision to choose which great cause and organisation could best benefit from your time and knowledge. By becoming one of our Trustees, you will not only be shaping the work of VAC but you will be supporting and championing the work of the Voluntary and Community Sector across the Calderdale and Kirklees landscape!
For further information, please visit the website www.cvac.org.uk or for an informal chat please contact Tracy Saunders our Chair on 07810 156765 or tracy.saunders@btinternet.com.
To apply please send your CV and a covering letter to info@cvac.org.uk
Closing date for Trustee expressions of interest is Friday 31st December 2021.
Interviews will take place week commencing 14th January 2022 and successful candidates will be invited to observe the next board meeting on 26th January 2022.
Calderdale Lower Valley blog 