Engagement & Inclusion E-bulletin 17th November
Our new E-bulletin is aimed at organisations who are working with groups and individuals who might benefit from volunteering. Our intention is to keep you up to date with our latest news and developments. If you have anything you would like us to include, please contact emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org
Latest Service Developments
Last month Volunteer Glasgow said goodbye to Tara Bentley who had been with the organisation for 16 years, beginning as a Support Worker with our Young Persons’ Befriending Service before moving over to the Volunteering Services team where she continued to support young people. Latterly, Tara was best known for developing and supporting the Youth Volunteering Ambassadors and for supporting organisations and young people to get involved with the Saltire Awards scheme for 12-25 year olds. Emma McLean replaces Tara as the new Engagement & Inclusion Coordinator for young people. You can sign up here if you want to register with Saltire – either as a volunteer logging hours, or as a Group Admin for a charity, community group or school. If you have any queries relating to Saltire or you are working with young people who you think might benefit from volunteering, please don’t hesitate to contact emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org.
Unfortunately we are also losing Chrissy Bell who is leaving Volunteer Glasgow at the end of this week to join another third sector based organisation – we wish Chrissy all the best! However, we will not have time to be dispirited for long as Engagement & Inclusion welcomes two new members of staff next week who I’m sure you will be looking forward to meeting in due course.
Virtual Drop-in
Our virtual drop-in for individuals who are interested in volunteering and this continues every Wednesday from 11am-1pm. This is an opportunity for people to speak with an adviser, to find out more about volunteering and to receive guidance and support. Click here to join.
We are still offering 1-1 appointments via phone, WhatsApp video call or Zoom. Please contact engagement@volunteerglasgow.org if you or one of your service users would like to make an appointment to speak with one of our advisers. We are hoping to resume face-to-face appointments early in the New Year although we will continue to be guided by Government recommendations.
Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund
The Scottish Government have announced a new Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund which aims to support adult community-based initiatives across Scotland. Glasgow’s £1.79m funds will be distributed through the national network of Third Sector Interfaces – a partnership of Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS), Volunteer Glasgow and Glasgow Social Enterprise Network (GSEN) and applications open today, Wednesday 17th November.
The fund will support community activities which improve people’s mental wellbeing and is not intended to support clinical mental health services. Applications are for a maximum of £10,000, which must be spent within two years. An information session for interested applicants will take place at 10am on Thursday 18 November. The session will also be recorded and will be available to view online. Note that funding is only available for projects delivered solely within the Glasgow City boundary.
Book for the information session here
Get ready to celebrate the #PowerOfYouth: 22nd – 26th November
#IWill is an annual celebration of the work young people, #IWill ambassadors and champions, and #IWill partners are leading up and down the UK.
You can follow @IWillScotland’s Twitter and Instagram accounts and, whether you are a young person or an organisation supporting young people, there are many ways for you to join the celebrations this #IWillWeek21- you can start by sharing what you have been doing – from national Youth leadership activity, right through to the activity happening locally in your community centre, or downloading our comms pack and social media graphics and encouraging others to get involved.
Referral Agency Networking Sessions
We are hosting two sessions next week and you can now book your place via Eventbrite. Sessions are taking place on Tuesday 23rd November from 10.30am-12pm via Microsoft Teams and on Thursday 25th November from 1-2.30pm via Zoom. You can book a place here. Please note each session is capped at 10 participants only – however, you can request to be added to the waiting list if either or both of the sessions is full. No more than two participants from any one organisation are permitted to attend each session.
