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General > News & Events
News & Events
2D’s Annual General Meeting Thursday 2 October 2008, Toft Hill Community Centre Thanks to everyone who attended our AGM. It was fabulous evening and we’ve had some very positive feedback. Highlights included a presentaion by Christine Rackley from County Durham Foundation, who gave an update on funding for Voluntary and Community groups and a presentation by young people who have done some brilliant work with Robert, the participation worker for 2D. Children and Young People’s Presentation on Radio Teesdale A report from the young people who presented at the meeting was on Radio Teesdale on the Drive time show between 5pm-7pm. It will also be available to download as a Podcast from the website: http://www.radioteesdale.co.uk/ Special Unitary Consultation Event Held 29 August at the Manor House, West Auckland. 2D were delighted to host an event that enabled so many of our members to have their say. Cllr Simon Henig the leader of DCC and Cllr Brian Stevens were on hand to listen to the discussions of some 50 attendees. Presentations and discussions focused on the change process and how it could affect local people and the voluntary and community sector organisations across Teesdale and Wear Valley. Attendees heard that as part of the plan for the new council, local partnerships will be created to shape decisions and involve people in their local areas. The partnerships - initially called ‘Area Action Partnerships’ - should involve local people, community and voluntary organisations and town and parish councils and should advise the unitary council on how it should provide services for local areas. The initial unitary proposal, suggested that 12 to 14 partnerships would be needed to cover the major settlements of the county, together with the surrounding rural areas. In our areas it is proposed that there will be four ‘Area Action Partnerships’ - Barnard Castle & Teesdale / Bishop Auckland / Crook / Stanhope & Weardale. This event was an example of true partnership working. Our thanks go to Rachel Bowles (Asst. Chief Executive of Teesdale District Council (TDC) who gave the presentation and thanks to officers of DCC, Wear Valley and TDC who helped facilitate and scribe. The Cabinet of DCC will now decide on the geography of the AAPs. The main issues to come out of the consultation & table discussions were: • Wear Valley and Teesdale encompasses large rural areas, isolation will have an impact • Tourism is a major factor in the Dale. • New blood needs to be encouraged, new volunteers are hard to find. • Sitting round a table might not be the best way to get all involved. • Will the AAPs deal with the fear of crime? • Support is needed for community buildings. Services could be provided from isolated village halls. • The job of the AAPs should be to get the wider community involved. • Active Partnership = Active Collaboration • AAPs should tackle burning issues in an area. Success breeds success. • Worries over all the money going to Easington
The 'County Durham Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Infrastructure Review' was commissioned by the One Voice Network with the aim of "setting out options for structure and service delivery of VCS infrastructure in 1. Existing and emerging needs for support Many of the identified VCS support needs in 2. The organisation of The VCS in 3. Lessons from elsewhere In some areas infrastructure organisations are at various stages of pursuing mergers (for example 4. Future scenarios for the development of VCS infrastructure There is no clear consensus about the future development of VCS infrastructure, either amongst VCS infrastructure organisations or external stakeholders. VCS infrastructure organisations seem to be quite pessimistic about the future, particularly about the likelihood of being ‘forced’ to merge, although the future may be more open than is imagined. The research concludes that there is a case for changing the organisation of
Action Plan The One Voice Network Steering Group met on 18th June 2008 to discuss ‘A Shape of Things to Come’, the above report commissioned from Dr. Rob Macmillan of The discussions at the meeting focused particularly on the recommendations contained in the report and they were all, without exception, agreed in principle. This Action Plan was developed following the meeting to prioritise and set out a practical and realistic timetable of implementation of those recommendations which takes into account organisational capacity and available resources. 2D Gains Matrix Accreditation 2D have again broken new ground by becoming the first infrastructure organisation in County Durham to be awarded the Matrix accreditation for the delivery of advice and guidance. The Matrix Standard is the unique quality framework for the effective delivery of information, advice and/ or guidance on learning and work. Michele Armstrong, CEO says “undergoing this process has helped 2D move forward with fully committed staff that are aware of their role and where they fit into the organisation. The overall result means our staff are competent and our clients get the best possible service”. All the staff at 2D would like to thank all the volunteers, members and representatives from groups who gave their time .Their contribution was invaluable and helped to give the assessor a complete picture of how 2D operates with our members and partner organisations alike. “As a result 2D were successful and have now attained the Matrix accreditation, once again many thanks for your time and input”. Michele Armstrong. URGENT! A note to members... We have in recent times had groups/organisations come to us on the brink of going under. I know that we are all in a climate of change and funding is getting harder to come by, I urge you to look carefully at your running costs for your next financial year and remember your reponsibilities in running an organisation. If you would like to talk through any concerns you may have about the future of your organisation then please do so at the earliest point and do not leave it to the last minute. Staff at 2D are here to try and help or point you in the right direction so please contact us, don't what ever you do stick your heads in the sand! Working Neighbourhoods Fund The Working Neighbourhoods Fund ReportThis document acknowledges that while there has been rapid improvements in most deprived areas, worklessness remains persistent in some local communities. As part of a concerted drive to get people off welfare and into work the Government has decided to establish a new Working Neighbourhoods Fund. The new fund will replace Communities and Local Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and incorporates the Department for Work and Pension's Deprived Areas Fund to create a single fund. This paper sets out the rationale for this change. THE THIRD SECTOR STRATEGY FOR COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Voluntary Organisations' Network North East (VONNE) is the regional infrastructure organisation for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in the North East of England. It aims to inform the VCS about policy developments; promote its involvement in decision-making at a regional and national level and articulate its views. The VCS in the North East covers a wide range of groups from internationally active charities with large numbers of employees to small community groups without paid staff. It also covers a range of activities from companies whose trading purpose is to benefit the community in which they work, to local community groups focused on a single issue. The VCS is a valuable contributor to the North East Economy in its own right, which although led by volunteer management boards, employs 4.4% of the region’s workforce, totalling around 47,000 paid employees, and is supported by the work of 143,600 volunteers. Click here to see the RESPONSE FROM THE VOLUNTARY ORAGNISATIONS’ NETWORK NORTH EAST 2D Role as an Intermediary Handling Donations from Charitable Trusts Some grant making trusts limit their giving to registered charities. This can cause problems for groups who are non- registered charitable groups. 2D may be able to help by offering to accept those grants and passing them on to the non- registered charitable groups. 2D must comply with the following formalities in order to stay within the law:
Unfortunately the complexities of this process however the law surrounding this subject is far from simple and 2D must take great care that we are acting legally. For further information contact 2D on 01388 762220
Have you ever considered making a donation to a local The County Durham Foundation provide financial support for individuals, grass-roots groups and other good causes. Last year alone they gave out £2.7m to good causes across our County and this year they need your help to support even more people. As little as £10 a month could help pay for:
You can even give your support to your very own good cause, town or village that’s close to your heart and receive all the tax advantages you’d get for giving to a charity. Chief Executive, Gillian Stacey said, ‘We’re here to provide the means for local people to support local projects. These days giving to the larger national and international charities is very well publicised and often people aren’t aware that they can also put something back into the community in which they live and work. That’s where we come in.’
For more information about giving to County Durham Foundation please call Simon on 0191 383 0055 or visit their website www.countydurhamfoundation.co.uk where you can even donate money online.
The County Durham Compact is an agreement between the voluntary & community sector and the statutory sector on the other setting the terms for partnership working. Please see below a short-and-simple poster summarising the Compact's key principles. The Compact is a set of promises governing the behaviour towards one another of County Durham's statutory bodies and voluntary & community groups. Lots of people know that it exists, but aren't sure exactly what its all about, or what it means for their organisation. Surestart Playbus Timetable Morning 9.3-11.3 Afternoon 1-3 Monday High Etherley Copley Tuesday not out Hutton Magna Wednesday Ingleton Whorlton Thursday Hamsterley Ramshaw Friday Marwood not out For more info. or to check on any alterations call freephone 0800 328 1604
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