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Brief messages, requests, gossip and tittle-tattle

If your organization would like to be included, then contact us via e-mail, "snail" mail, 'phone or fax.

British Red Cross Training Courses

Learn First Aid with the British Red Cross one of the UK's leading providers of first aid training and support.

From heart attacks to nose bleeds, asthma attacks to cuts & grazes…

Would you know what to do?

Information every family should have.

Join our Basic First Aid Course

Bradbury House - Brunswick Business Park, Tower Street - Liverpool L3 4BJ

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers - Merseyside

Interested in conservation & the environment?

About the group

• The midweek group goes out at least three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, carrying out practical conservation tasks throughout Merseyside. The group undertakes a wide range of projects from Coastal management in Sefton to the creation of school nature areas.

How to get involved

• You don't need to book, just arrive at the pick up and jump in the van!!!
• Whether you have time on your hands, or you are looking to further a career in conservation or you just enjoy getting out and about then the midweek group could be for you.

What you will need 

• You don't need to have any specialist skills or experience to join us, just enthusiasm and a sense of humour!!!

We provide:

• Tools and equipment required.
• Gloves and other protective clothing as needed.
• Up to £2 a day travel expenses.
• Tea, coffee and biscuits at lunch time.
• And of course good company.

You bring:

• Yourself, dressed in outdoor work clothes.
• A packed lunch.

Pick up points & times

• Unless otherwise stated
• Bootle Strand (Washington Parade) 9.45am
• Pier Head (On Water St. between the Cunard and Liver buildings) 10am
• Please let Frank or myself know if you are interested in a Friday or Saturday, so we can arrange for pickups
• For further details contact the Liverpool/Sefton Project Officer on:  0151 523 9880 or 07740899716

MERSEYSIDE MID-WEEK PROGRAMME & NEWSLETTER

You can download the Mid-Week Programme sheet (Adobe PDF format document) by clicking on this icon:

And here you can download the BTCV newsletter:

• (Download the Adobe PDF reader from www.adobe.com/)

For further details contact the Liverpool/Sefton Project Officer on: 0151-523 9880 or 07740 899716.

Website: www.btcv.org.uk.

E-mail: N.McMahon@btcv.org.uk

Community Champions

Put the heart back into communities

Community Champions is a Government fund set up to support individuals in helping their local community.

The aim of the fund is to help you turn your idea into reality. It's designed to suit all sorts of people and all sorts of projects.

If you would like an application or want to talk to someone about developing your idea please e-mail helen.george@liv-coll.ac.uk.

www.dfes.gov.uk/communitychampions
 

The Compact

The Compact is the agreement between government and the voluntary and community sector to improve their relationship for mutual advantage.

By building better relationships the Compact can help government and the voluntary and community sector work better together for the communities they serve.

Use the website link below for information on the latest on the Volunteering Code.

Website: www.thecompact.org.uk/

Compass Training Courses

(COMPASS - COUNSELLING ON MERSEYSIDE PASTORAL AND SUPPORTING SERVICE)

'LISTEN MORE EFFECTIVELY - UNDERSTAND PEOPLES NEEDS BETTER'

Want to be a more effective listener & develop your pastoral skills? 

• Thursdays April 17th to July 17th (12 evenings – no sessions June 19 or26)

• Thursdays May 8th to June 19th 2008(6 days)

• Tuesdays June 3rd to July 8th 2008(6 days)

• April 2nd 2008   Neuro-Linguistic Programming

• April 12th    2008  The Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults from Abuse

• April 21st 2008    Supporting Patients and Families with Terminal Illness

• June 20th 2008   Person-Centred Art Therapy Skills

Click the icon to download the Intermediate Certificate in Introduction to Counselling Concepts flyer in PDF format:

Contact: COMPASS, 25 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BQ

Tel: 0151-708 6688

Website: www.compass-counselling.org.uk/

e-mail: pamelasharp@compass-counselling.org.uk

ESOL provision

List of places to refer for ESOL / IT	Free ESOL provision
Click the icon to download in PDF format	Click the icon to download in PDF format

Guide Dogs For The Blind

Would you make a good puppy walker?

Puppy walking is an essential element in the development of a future guide dog. Volunteer puppy walkers take a puppy into their homes for just over a year, getting it used to the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association provides food for the puppy and meets veterinary bills. Puppy walkers give their puppy a firm foundation for its later training and life with a blind or partially sighted person.

• Do you live in the Liverpool area?

• Are you at home most of the day? (part-time workers considered)
  

• Are you 18 years or older?

• Could you commit a year of your time and enthusiasm to rear a puppy the Guide Dogs way?

• Do you have a securely fenced garden/yard?

If you can or someone you know can answer yes to these questions and you would like to know more (including details of the areas we cover), please contact:

Shirley Cohen on 0113 284 4224 (Mob. 07990 540228)

e-mail: shirley.cohen@guidedogs.org.uk

Hoaxes & Virus Warnings

Given the ongoing nuisance of internerd hoaxes, and to obtain information on virus warnings, check out this link...

• This one here!!!.

Leukaemia CARE

Leukaemia CARE needs you

• Wesbite: www.leukaemiacare.org.uk
  

LibriVox

Liverpool Community Network

Has a really useful database of community based agencies in the area ...

• Website: www.liverpool-community.org.uk
   
  

Mentoring and Befriending Foundation

The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF) is the national strategic body offering support to practitioners and organisations working across the mentoring and befriending field. MBF has a team of national staff working from the head office in Manchester with Regional Co-ordinators based in each of the nine Government regions of England.

We aim to:

• Provide national leadership for the mentoring and befriending sector

• Encourage organisations to use mentoring and befriending as part of their support strategies

• Provide capacity building support to projects through a national and regional infrastructure

• Promote quality and standards (including the Approved Provider Standard, the national benchmark for safe and effective practice in mentoring and befriending)

• Develop and share best practice

We provide:

• Advice in setting up or developing a mentoring or befriending scheme

• A wide range of publications, resources and leaflets

• A website featuring news, events, research, case studies, funding opportunities and best practice

• Guidance and support to help organisations achieve the Approved Provider Standard

• Networking and training events plus an annual National Conference

• Membership which includes various benefits - magazine, e-bulletin, members’ area on website, discounts etc

For further information and guidance on how to get involved in mentoring and befriending, please contact the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation on 0161 787 8600, email info@mandbf.org.uk or visit our website at www.mandbf.org.uk, or click on the image below to download an information sheet in PDF format.

Merseyside Fire Support Network

The Friends of Merseyside Fire Service is the voluntary arm of the Service. Their vision is to:

• Create a fire safe society
• Assist in the fire awareness of the community by distributing fire safety advice
• Promote the acceptance of cultural diversity within the service
• Assist in the development of important communication links between the local fire station, representative groups, other volunteer agencies and individuals with similar ideals within the community
• Complement the community fire safety roles of the operational firefighter

There is a variety of tasks available, leafleting, replacing batteries in smoke alarms, administration, promotion and publicity, driving etc.

FREEPOST NWW 8398A, Service HQ, Bridle Road, Bootle, L30 1BR. Tel: 0151-296 4600.

Website: www.firesupportnet.org.uk 

e-mail: fsnteam@merseyfire.gov.uk

• MFSN Toxteth urgently requires administration volunteers. Please contact the team at High Park Street Fire Station, Liverpool L8 8DX on 0151-727 7076.
  
  

Merseyside Police - Initial Police Learning & Development Programme

NHS Consultation

“Towards a strategy to support volunteering in health and social care Consultation Workshops”

• Gujarat Centre (GHS Enterprise Ltd), Preston on the 8th September 2008.

• Support for individual volunteers

• Effective management within organisations

• Commissioning environment and infrastructure

• Promoting partnership

• Leadership

The National Trust - volunteering opportunities

Click here to download volunteering opportunities with The National Trust

• National Trust PDF  

RNIB

are currently recruiting Computer Volunteers and Talking Book Service Volunteers nationwide with particular emphasis on the Merseyside region.

For an application pack, please contact:

Cara Rogers, TCS Volunteer Unit, R.N.I.B. Peterborough, PO Box 173, PETERBOROUGH PE2 6BR.

Tel: 0845-604 2341.

Website: www.rnib.org.uk.

E-mail: tcsvolunit@rnib.org.uk.

Sahir House

The HIV Support & Information Centre in Merseyside

Sahir House provides a free and confidential support and information service for adults and children who are living with and affected by HIV & AIDS and are urgently seeking more volunteers.

They host regular Open Days which aim to offer the chance to gain more information about the services of Sahir House, the range of opportunities to volunteer, as well as information regarding their training services. Tel: 0151-708 9080 or 0151-707 0606 for details of dates & venue.

Join the Sahir House team and make a positive difference.

Support Team: Helping individuals and families living with or affected by HIV providing practical, emotional, social and/or transport support.

Fundraising Team: Raise the profile of the organization and increase its much needed funds, as well as campaigning to reduce the prejudice surrounding HIV.

Training Team: Offer training to new volunteers and out in the community promoting the work of Sahir House and the wider message about HIV.

Race Equality Team: Ensuring Sahir House and HIV information is accessible to our local black community and those from other racial groups or heritage within Merseyside.

Office Team: Provide admin support, staff reception and welcome guests to Sahir House.

Tel: 0151-708 9080 or 0151-707 0606 for details of dates & venue.

E-mail: info@sahir.uk.com.

Website: www.sahir.uk.com.

The Sea Cadets

Calling all adults!

We greatly value our adult volunteers, without whom the organisation could not function, and support and train them, whatever their previous experience and skills.

There are opportunities for both teaching the Cadets in the enormous variety of subjects that we offer, and also supporting their activities via Parents’ and Supporters’ Associations and Unit Management Committees. We need administrators and DIY experts; people willing to run the snack bar and others to drive the minibus; canoeists and IT enthusiasts. If you’ve got a skill, we can find an outlet for it. And you can even pick up some new skills and qualifications yourself along the way!

The financial support that we receive from the Royal Navy enables us to offer our uniformed volunteers a number of days' training pay each year.

It doesn't matter whether you’ve got previous experience dealing with young people or not - we're just looking for willing volunteers who want to be part of the team and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing Cadets develop and mature. As you’d expect, all our volunteers are rigorously vetted.

Contact your local Unit for information about the openings in your area. We look forward to meeting you.

Website: www.sea-cadets.org/adult-volunteers.aspx
 

S.O.V.A. / IMPACT

Do you want to help people change their lives?

Do you want to help to reduce crime in your local area?

Do you want to gain experience of working within the Criminal Justice system?

If the answer to these questions is "yes", then apply to be a SOVA Volunteer for the IMPACT Project!

An opportunity to make a difference within the Criminal justice System.

IMPACT is a North West regional action research focussing on the resettlement of offenders in custody.

IMPACT is managed by a multi-organisational development partnership from the statutory, voluntary and private sector funded by ESF under the Equal Community Initiative.

The aim of the project is to come up with and trial new and innovative ways to work with offenders whilst in custody and following release and test for positive change.

The project is split into 3 themes to research those who are doubly disadvantaged in the workplace.

Asset - working with juveniles and young offenders at Thorn Cross and Lancaster Farms YOI's, Women at Styal Prison and men over 50 in Kirkham, Risley and Lancaster Castle Prisons.

Ascend - working with men and women from Black and Ethnic Minority commu-nities in Prisons across the North West.

Changing Directions - working with high risk offenders in Wymott and Risley Prisons.

SOVA, part of the partnership, recruits, trains and supervises volunteer mentors to go into prison to offer support and encouragement to offenders in the resettlement process.

SOVA would particularly welcome volunteers from Black and Ethnic Minority communities as this group is currently under-represented on the project. On the Ascend theme of the project it is hoped to be able to offer a mentor from a similar cultural background to the beneficiaries.

As a volunteer mentor you will receive Open College Network accredited training covering:

• Role, responsibilities and boundaries of being a mentor
• Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety
• Confidentiality and Child Protection
• Communication, interpersonal skills and helping strategies
• Issues facing offenders in custody and in the community

Volunteers also receive support and supervision from project staff, regular support group meetings and additional training opportunities. Volunteers work within a code of practice and receive reimbursement of expenses.

Volunteer mentors can contribute to putting into action the new skills and behaviours offenders have learnt on offending behaviour programmes to prevent re-offending and increase employability.

For more information please call Pat Fuller on 07815796558 or 01925 805249.
 

VESL Overseas (Volunteers for Educational Support and Learning)

VESL is a charity that provides unique, exciting and worthwhile volunteering opportunities in Sri Lankan and Indian communities. Each year VESL recruits volunteers to run a variety of different educational projects. Volunteers are placed together in small teams or with a partner. Student volunteers can either work on 4/5 week placements in the summer or on longer projects around the year. They are given training in the UK and an induction session on arrival. Volunteers receive comprehensive back-up and support during their placement.

What makes us different from many other organisations sending volunteers overseas is:

• VESL is run by volunteers so costs are kept to a minimum
• VESL starts by looking for worthwhile projects and then matches volunteers skills and experiences to them
• VESL is a charity
• VESL runs an education fund which regularly donates money to projects in Asia.

Our aim is to set up and run well-structured, well-supported and worthwhile placements for volunteer in the neediest Sri Lankan and Indian communities. We would love to hear from you if you fancy taking up the challenge of working on one of these placements.

Tom Harrison, Programme Manager, VESL, 68 Derinton Road, London, SW17 8JB

Tel: 020 8685612

E-mail: tom@vesl.org

Website: www.vesl.org/
 

Volunteer Drivers Guide

Volunteer Judo Coaching

Merseyside Caribbean Judo Club is looking for a volunteer to assist a qualified Judo instructor at the Merseyside Caribbean Centre on Amberley Street, Liverpool 8 (Tuesdays from 4:30 - 6:00pm and Thursdays from 4:00pm - 5:00pm).

Prior experience in the sport would be helpful but not absolutely necessary as training will be provided on a different day.

The volunteer would ...

• get a saver ticket to cover travel for each Judo session and training days
• get insured by the British Judo Association
• go on relevant training courses to help develop the skills required to assist with the Judo sessions
• receive an up-to-date CRB certificate
• get a Judo suit
  

If you would like to help out, call John on 07746 411572.
 

Volunteer Opportunities in India

We invite you to volunteer and play a vital role in promoting goodwill, sharing cultures, and building futures. To be a part of our ongoing volunteering initiative in India, please contact our Volunteer Programme Coordinator at: volunteer@responsenet.org or visit www.responsenet.org.  Some exciting opportunities are listed below:

Volunteer and give your time, energy, skills and feelings, realize the change that you wish to see. Give your abilities and receive a difference that lasts for not just you and its a great way to travel and learn first hand.

• Volunteer to develop rural entrepreneurship: Provide end to end business development services to underprivileged youth in the age groups of 18-35 Years with a unique service of "Mentoring" and make the difference

• Volunteer for Economic and Social Empowerment of Women: Work with the mothers of children working in the brassware industry to address the problem of child labor in its entirety. The intervention is aimed at empowering the entire family of the working child, especially the women by enhancing their capacities so that they can effectively participate in improving the quality of the life of the family as well as the economy with their sustained efforts.

• Help to rehabilitate child workers: Focus on the Rehabilitation for Child workers, working in the brass industry in the city of Moradabad in Northern India and help to make a brighter future for them.

• Urban Poor Livelihood Creation:  Work closely through microcredit groups, on livelihood issues resulting from acute poverty and vulnerability among women .  You will Work on issues of self-employment and employment oriented skill development to improve the target groups' "access to self-employment " in order for them to sustain with their abilities.

• Reach out and Teach Children: Help to prepare a module to raise awareness of cancer among school children with special emphasis on tobacco abuse and help them to make a difference for themselves.

• Reach out and Create awareness on HIV / AIDS: Volunteer for   preventive and promotive aspects of health and developing curative linkages. There are many truck drivers in the focus villages and thus there is high susceptibility to HIV/AIDS.

• Help in Income Generation for Cancer Patients: You as a volunteer would be required to design a range of signature products for the organisation that can be sold to raise funds for its various care activities to create a difference.

• Volunteer with Cancer Affected Children and their Families: Work towards fundraising for events of the organisation working for people with terminal cancer and their families.

For more volunteering opportunities for which you can make a difference please visit www.responsenet.org.

We also provide group and individual village, cultural and Eco Tourism experiences.  To learn more about these please contact us at volunteer@responsenet.org or call Arvind at ++91 11 65422890.

Responsenet is short for Response Network which is creating a relevant network of the abilities of thousands of organizations and individuals in a connected way for the benefits of the development sector universally.  For More information on Responsenet visit us at: www.responsenet.org.
  

Waterway Recovery Group

Fancy adding excavator driving, demolition and restoration to your CV?

Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) has launched its 2007 programme of working holidays, known as ‘Canal Camps’, restoring England’s derelict canals to their former glory. Canal Camps give you the chance to do your bit for the environment and gain experience whilst having fun.

Volunteers need no previous experience as training is provided - all that’s required is a willingness to get involved and a good sense of fun. Tasks lined up for this year are available to view on their website www.wrg.org.uk.

For further information please contact: Jenny Black Project Officer.

Tel: 01923 711 114 ext 23.

Fax: 01923 897000.

Website: www.wrg.org.uk

E-mail: jenny.black@waterways.org.uk
 

Young Enterprise North West