We have been receiving a lot of positive messages about our volunteers from the medical staff and community. We have also heard from our volunteers about their experiences volunteering at vaccination centres and testing sites throughout Hertfordshire. We wouldn’t be able to the help the wider community without there commitment, care and dedication and we are extremely grateful to have you as team.
Looking for a bit of escapism and travel without leaving the comfort of your home? Attached is an invitation from Welwyn Hatfield Interfaith Group and Kadam Dance for a virtual event starting this evening at 8pm.For assess to the Zoom Event please contact: Theresa McCrave
On 3rd February Welwyn Hatfield Community Safety Partnership at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council are hosting awareness sessions for parents and guardians in Welwyn Hatfield. These session have only been made possible through the funding provided by Hertfordshire Community Foundation.
Though the sessions are aimed at parents/guardians they may also be useful for youth professionals to attend and/or any other interested parties.
NHS Charities Together in partnership with Herts and West Essex Integrated Care System
Please note:
Grant of up to £5k per district (this can be for one organisation or shared between organisations)
This money is to help charities supporting those struggling over this winter (including those affected by pressures on the NHS)
Hertfordshire applications only
All bids will be discussed with CCGs, District council and Hertfordshire County Council
Completed forms must be returned to tim.anfilogoff@nhs.net by midnight on Friday 22nd January but bidders are recommended to speak to him informally before making a bid (07900 161673)
Principles
£5k is the largest bid for each district but if Districts are supportive a bid across more than one district can be made
Every bid must specify the district localities to be served
Every bid must specifically identify at least one category listed in the criteria that applies to the application
Every bid must evidence how the project will be conducted safely in terms of Covid-19 guidance
The money must be spent to ease winter pressures on citizens and system and definitely by the end March 2021
Process
Your bid is most likely to be successful if it shows:
Clearly defined needs and demonstrable outcomes
Plans to work in partnership with other organisations to maximise impact and build community resilience in particular showing join up with Herts Help, community navigators and link workers
Timescales
The deadline for bids is 22nd January
A condition of the award is that there will be a one page report, provided in April 2021 on the activities carried out
This will include a measure of individual outcomes (this can be negotiated/agreed at award and various tools already used by the voluntary sector in Herts are available to help, along with advice on how to use them if needed)
Money to be spent by the end of March – to ensure this happens during the current crisis reasonable variation or the original plan is likely to be acceptable by negotiation
There will be a simple grant agreement/MOU setting out your responsibilities based on the bid
Areas to be covered
Loneliness – including changes to ways of working to support remote working during lockdown
Food and fuel poverty interventions not already covered by HCC plans
Handyman and other practical help to vulnerable people (insulation, repairs, falls prevention etc.)
Hoarding and decluttering
Homelessness
Other projects suggested by Districts or local CVSs including where local charities providing winter relevant support are facing difficulties (as long as outcomes guaranteed)
Safeguarding in Employment
All Staff employed in the performance of the Services must have the right to work in the UK.
All Staff will require Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
Bidding organisations will no doubt appreciate that DBS checks are essential and that there is a substantial lead-time awaiting the results. Furthermore, there is a cost implication that will need to be addressed.
Eligibility
• Services must be provided in Hertfordshire and be able to show how their project benefits residents in the relevant district.
• Organisations must be able to provide the following:
o A copy of their governing document
o A copy of their most recent accounts
o A list of current trustees/management committee members (at least two of whom must be independent/unrelated)
o Copies of their equality policy and relevant safeguarding policies
If any of these requirements (or others below) present you with a problem, we suggest you discuss with Tim Anfilogoff before making a bid.
The Deadline for Submission is midnight on Friday 22 January 2021
You must complete and respond to all questions in this small grant application and return it to tim.anfilogoff@nhs.net
If anything is unclear, please contact Tim Anfilogoff, Head of Community Resilience at HVCCG tim.anfilogoff@nhs.net
Or on Teams, Zoom, or if all else fails telephone: 07900 161673
The Onslow St Audrey’s School will start lateral flow testing for Covid-19 for all students in January.
Students and staff will be able to take a test and 30 minutes later get the result.
Communities 1st, along with the Volunteer Centre in Welwyn Hatfield, have been asked to recruit and co-ordinate volunteers to assist with non-clinical duties around reception and queue management.
Volunteers can come from any background. You will be trained on line, and then be asked to volunteer for a 4-hour shift. At the start of the shift you will be issued with PPE and be tested yourself. All volunteers will receive travel expenses and refreshments.
Individuals who are interested in volunteering need to register at www.communities1st.org.uk/COVID-19-community-signup. Once registered, ID verified and vetted, volunteers will receive training links for the online training.
Individuals will be asked to volunteer for a vacant shift (a shift is 4 hours) and there will be about 8-11 volunteers on each shift.
The expected duties are
Registration Desk – Registration Assistant
Greet students at arrival
Provide test kits and directions to swabbing desk
Swabbing Desk – Test Assistant
Provide instructions on what to expect with taking the LFT
Processing Desk – Processor Assistant
Conducts processing of tests and interprets results.
Recording Desk – Results Recorder
Collates results from Processing Assistants and uploads to digital solution
Volunteers will be required to commit to a whole shift and ideally more than 1 day, this will help build experience and efficiency of the testing process.
I am contacting to promote and raise awareness of the service that we offer young people who are at risk of NEET/are NEET. The Herts Youth Futures project provides one-to-one mentoring support for individuals facing barriers to education, training and/or employment. This BBO (Building Better Opportunities) project is in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council and is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and European Social Fund whom have invested £1.1 million to aid young people into supported and sustained work and education.
What’s different about this project?
The unique aspects of this project are that once referred, individuals will be allocated a Youth Mentor who will tailor their support solely based on the individuals’ needs. Additionally, this support is based around flexibility, being dependent on individuals’ circumstances and with the vision of long-term advice and guidance. With numerous partner organisations across the county , this is an extremely far-reaching project. It utilises a diverse range of expertise and therefore aims to ensure the needs of all individuals can be met in some form.
Hertfordshire Mind Network as a leading mental health services provider can thus offer tailored and focused support, contributing to the network of specialised mentoring delivered by Herts Youth Futures.
Who can join Herts Youth Futures?
A young person aged 15-19
An under-21 care leaver, or an under 25 young person with learning disabilities
Registered unemployed
At risks of NEET or NEET
Economically inactive
Have the right to work in the U.K. (proof required)
Family Lives operate a free confidential helpline for anyone experiencing difficulties in their family or relationship. Our volunteers take calls from parents and carers on a wide range of subjects, whether that might be issues around separation and divorce, isolation, depression, bullying and abuse, dealing with behavioural problems, etc. You can find out more about our services on our website www.familylives.org.uk
Parenting and family support from Family Lives (formerly Parentline Plus) through our website, helpline 0808 800 2222, email service at askus@familylives.org.uk and local services.
We are a national service with home-based call takers county wide as well as three call centres in the UK, one based in Old Hatfield in Hertfordshire, one based in Hadleigh in Essex and one in Newcastle. Once trained volunteers sign up for a weekly 4-hour shift comprising 3 hours ‘online’ followed by a debrief session with your supervisor which can lasts around half to one hour.
We recruit volunteers with a range of backgrounds and experiences though we ask that volunteers have experience of parenting or working with children and young people, are good listeners and have a willingness to learn. Being remote it will be very important that you have a PC/laptop, headset, good Wifi and a private place to work from home.
Our training programme is excellent and will give you the opportunity to develop the skills needed to offer empathic support and guidance to callers whatever their circumstances; all shifts are overseen by a regular shift supervisor who provides ongoing remote support. We ask our volunteers to make a commitment of 1 year (with time off for holidays), obviously we understand that circumstances sometimes make that an impossibility, but can be helpful to know at the outset that is the general expectation.
We have call taker training sessions in January 2021, this runs over five sessions the dates are below and is done remotely connecting you via a Microsoft Teams link. You would need to be able to attend all five sessions and be available on four occasions to listen into calls, this can be organised remotely.
January 2021
Monday 18th – 12 to 4pm
Tuesday 19th – 12 to 4pm
Monday 25th – 12 to 4pm
Tuesday 26th – 12 to 4pm
Monday 1st February – 12 to 4pm
We are also running a second training group in January 2021 on Saturday’s
January / February 2021
Saturday 23rd January
Saturday 30th January
Saturday 6th February
Saturday 13th February
Saturday 20th February
Times: 10am to 2pm
To apply for this role, please contact us for an application form gillianh@familylives.org.uk . We will then be in contact with you to arrange a telephone interview at a time that suits you, we will be able to give you a broad outline of what is involved in the Call Taker role, what we cover during the training and hopefully answer any questions you might have. Please note that all roles offered are subject to a satisfactory DBS being obtained, you will receive details of documentation required prior to your training and this must all be in no later than the second session of your training.
We are delighted to tell you about the launch of our festive project ‘Christmas Kindness ’, which will be delivered in partnership with Small Acts of Kindness and HertsHelp. An army of volunteers are about to start packing the boxes so we expect boxes to be available for collection from Croxley Green early next week. We need your help to make this happen and to bring a smile and Christmas kindness to older and vulnerable people across the county who are feeling more than a bit lonely and isolated right now.
We will have 3000 Christmas gift boxes ready from the first week of December for collection and distribution by our partner organisations who’ve identified people who would benefit from a bit of festive cheer. Each box will include approx. 5 gifts, and will include a Christmas card, sticker feedback card , a Hertshelp information leaflet, chocolate/biscuits, a reusable face mask and a fleecy blanket. We’ve already received interest from some organisations who will be doing door step deliveries of Christmas Kindness boxes to people who they know will be on their own this Christmas.
As you can imagine, logistically this really will be a challenge, and so I’m emailing you to see if your organisation would like a share of the Christmas Kindness boxes to distribute to anyone in need. If you would like an allocation of boxes, then I will need to know a few details so that I can register your interest and coordinate a response on your behalf for Small Acts of Kindness.
We will need to know the number of boxes that you would like ( please make sure that your request is as accurate as possible so that we can ensure that everyone who needs a box receives one). We would also like to know where the boxes will be delivered to ( area, village, town, district etc.) so that we can try and avoid any duplication.
We are mindful that there are different dietary requirements , however given the short timescale for mobilisation we’ve ensured that all edible contents are vegan. On this occasion , we are unable to cater for specific dietary requests . Can we therefore please ask that any item in the box which is not suitable is gifted by the recipient to someone else?
I will coordinate your requests and liaise with Small Acts of Kindness on your behalf. Please note the following:-
You will need to make arrangements ( via me) for a named contact to collect the boxes from Croxley Green C/O Lynne Misner
Small Acts of Kindness, 3 Abloy, Hatters Lane, Croxley Park, WD18 8AJ. They are happy for collections to take place on any of the days from the 2nd December until the 10th , between 10.30am and 4 pm but it has to be by prior arrangement. I will coordinate your responses so please email me with details.
You will need to ensure that the vehicle which collects the boxes ( which will be in batches of 5) is big enough !
The dimensions of the storage boxes are: 590 x 390 x 420mm. Each of these storage boxes will hold 5 Christmas Kindness Boxes.
You will need to confirm a date and time for collection in advance ( so that SAOK can follow Covid guidelines for collection).
You will need to provide me with contact details including a named contact and a mobile number so that SAOK can contact you if you do not manage to collect at the agreed time.
You/your organisation will need to organise for the delivery of the boxes once you are in receipt of your allocated batch.
I would be grateful if you let me know if you are interested in collecting a batch of the Christmas Kindness boxes for delivery to people who you are aware of by Monday 30th November . Allocation of boxes will be on a first come, first serve basis, and your requests should be based on a realistic number ( i.e. identified number of individuals who are elderly, vulnerable, recently bereaved , feeling isolated having stayed in their homes since March or living alone).
The Civic Awards, Welwyn Hatfield Borough’s highest accolade, are presented each year to people for a range of achievements. These include, but are not limited to, service to the community, bravery/courage, environmental work, arts and sport, education and heritage.
We will need contact information about the person you are nominating as well as the First and Second people making the nomination and a brief history in 300-500 words why you consider them suitable for a Civic Award.
There are also two special categories:
Community Award
Please tick this box if you wish to nominate the person for the Mears sponsored Community Award
Young Person’s Award
Please tick this box if you wish to nominate the person for the University of Hertfordshire sponsored Young Person’s Award for anyone aged 21 or under
Awards are given for a wide variety of reasons to people from all walks of life.
Candidates are nominated by you – Welwyn Hatfield’s residents – and from these nominations up to five award winners are selected by a judging panel chaired by the Mayor. The common factor and criteria in all candidates is the extraordinary commitment, dedication, energy and effort they have shown in their particular field or towards achieving a particular goal. Each award consists of a personalised trophy, a certificate and a cheque for £250. The recipients’ names are also entered into an official Civic Awards book where their achievement is recorded for posterity.
Nominations can be submitted at any time. However for inclusion in the Civic Awards 2021, forms must be submitted by Friday 22nd January 2021. The judging panel will then consider all nominations and the awards will be presented at the Annual Council Meeting.
Donate to support your local community and voluntary service
Register as a Potential Volunteer
To register as a Potential Volunteer download the form, fill it in and return it.
For more information about volunteering, visit the Do-it website.
Register a Specific Volunteer Opportunity
To register a Specific Volunteer Opportunity download the form, fill it in and return it.
Donate to WHCVS at The Giving Machine
To raise money for WHCVS simply go to TheGivingMachine via the above picture link, join & select WHCVS as one of your beneficiaries. You can then shop via TheGiving Machine(TM) and support your local community for free!
Recycle4Charity
Register your Organisation for Volunteers
To register your Organisation for Volunteers download the form, fill it in and return it to the address provided.
Become a CVS Member
To become a CVS Member Download the form and fill it in, and also download and fill in the additional information form and return them to the Gracemead House address (as above).