3VA

Author: Natasha Scott

  • ‘A workforce to get Sussex active’ – new, free online training opportunities

    ‘A workforce to get Sussex active’ – new, free online training opportunities

    ‘A workforce to get Sussex active’ is a project focused on supporting physical activity providers in Newhaven Valley, Devonshire and Hailsham East to get more local residents physically active.

    We asked all of the physical activity providers involved with the project what further training they would value most and two workshops stood out as being what most people wanted to do: Engaging Women & Girls and Inclusive Activity Programme. These workshops will take place in May and will be facilitated by experienced practitioners. All are welcome.

    Engaging Women & Girls

    Thursday 20 May 2021, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

    This online training workshop explains the sporting needs of young women and girls and defines the techniques for delivering successful sports programmes for young women. The workshop covers what works to both engage and retain female participants and includes case studies from projects that are successfully engaging females.

    It will be delivered by Street Games and will equip participants with practical ideas on how to best engage women and girls in doorstep sport projects, sharing the latest insight from the Us Girls programme.

    Find out more and register

    Inclusive Activity Programme

    Thursday 27 May 2021, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

    This online training workshop (although it’s titled ‘programme’ it is a single workshop) will equip you with the confidence and skills to engage and support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in physical activity. It will be delivered by UK Coaching and Activity Alliance and funded through Sport England’s National Lottery fund.

    Find out more and register

    This project is not about income generation and we know that times continue (for all sorts of reasons) to be really hard right now. For that reason, we have decided to offer these training workshops free of charge and both workshops are being funded from the project’s limited training budget. All we are asking is that you make a deposit of £20 per workshop when booking your place which we will refund to you following your participation.

  • Enter our Sussex Day Volunteering Story Competition

    Enter our Sussex Day Volunteering Story Competition

    This year we are excited to announce the launch of a story competition for Sussex Day.

    Entries are now open for our competition celebrating inspirational volunteering stories at local charities and community groups across Eastbourne, Lewes District and Wealden.

    Over the last year, we know that our local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector has stepped up to meet the needs of people right across our area, supporting some of the most vulnerable in our communities. To celebrate Sussex Day on 16 June, we want to showcase some of the amazing volunteers who have made a difference.

    Four winning VCSE groups or organisations will each receive a £250 cash prize.

    Find out more and enter

  • Become a member of the Sussex Violence Reduction Steering Group

    Become a member of the Sussex Violence Reduction Steering Group

    The Sussex Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) was established in 2019 as one of 18 Home Office funded Violence Reduction Units nationwide.

    The partnership includes representatives from Sussex Police, the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, East and West Sussex County Council’s and Brighton City Council, along with Public Health (regionally and locally), Clinical Commissioning Groups and Probation.

    Working to the principles of the Public Health approach, the VRP is aimed at reducing serious violence across Sussex, with a particular focus on young people under 25. It does this through a devolved model, which includes a Violence Reduction Partnership in each of the three Local Authority areas (East, West and Brighton & Hove) and a Pan-Sussex group, which oversees and guides delivery. A small team, also funded by the Home Office supports this work.

    Each of the three VRPs commission a number of Home Office funded interventions and projects that work with young people most at risk of serious violence and exploitation, and these interventions are delivered through service providers across Sussex.

    Examples of these interventions include work within Pupil Referral Units in East Sussex, where the Youth Justice Service deliver one to one sessions, group work, outreach and family support to pupils vulnerable to exploitation, or who may be carrying knives.

    In Brighton and Hove, the VRP funds the Brighton Streets detached youth work service provided by the Trust for Developing Communities. This year, Brighton Streets is also working with the National Probation Service and a range of other organisations to deliver mentoring services, arts-based engagement and sport and music-based diversionary activities for young people up to 25.

    The West Sussex VRP is working on a newly commissioned Coastal Detached Youth Programme, which will be focused in hotspot areas of the county. The partnership is also funding a mixture of programmes across schools in Littlehampton and Worthing to include specialist support to high risk children such as those recently returned from exclusion, or who have other significant risk factors.

    A key principle of the Public Health approach to serious violence is community engagement and ensuring that communities and young people are feeding their voices into VRP to steer activity. As part of our commitment to this principle the VRP is seeking representatives from the voluntary & community sector from across Sussex to sit on the Sussex Violence Reduction Steering Group (SVRSG), which currently meets every month/two months.

    Ideally, the VRP would like one representative from each area, and given the frequency of meetings there would be the potential to rotate attendance to reduce time commitments. The VRP is looking members who are interested in helping it connect with communities and young people and who can bring challenge and new ideas and ways of thinking.

    If you would like to become a member of the SVRSG, please contact Rachel Jeffreys at Rachel.jeffreys@sussex.pnn.police.uk.

    Further information on the Sussex Violence Reduction Partnership can be found here: www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/VRP.

  • Welcoming 3VA’s new CEO, John Williams

    Welcoming 3VA’s new CEO, John Williams

    Following a lengthy recruitment process, 3VA’s Board of Trustees is delighted to announce that they have appointed John Williams as the new Chief Executive of 3VA.

    Most recently the Chief Executive at Crawley Community Action, John has recent and relevant experience of the impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. In Crawley he worked with local authorities and the NHS to put community action at the heart of the local pandemic response.

    John also has hands on experience of the VCSE sector in his home town of Brighton, working both as a consultant providing change management advice and as a trustee for a start-up in Moulsecoomb. Previously, John was employed by the Workers Educational Association providing high quality education to disadvantaged communities across the UK to transform lives and increase social mobility.

    Gary Walsh, Chair of 3VA’s Board of Trustees said:

    “We are very much looking forward to John bringing his extensive experience to the role and progressing 3VA’s ambitious plans building on the fantastic work of former CEO Adam Chugg and all of the staff and volunteers of 3VA.”

    John said:

    “I’m delighted to be appointed Chief Executive at 3VA at a time when the community and voluntary sector have never been needed more. I’m looking forward to meeting the team and all 3VA’s partners across East Sussex and working collaboratively to deliver support and resources to our communities.”

    The Board of Trustees would like to thank Jenny Watson and Miriam Wilkinson for stepping in as Interim Chief Executive and to acknowledge the role played by those staff who worked differently to secure consistency and continuity at 3VA over this period.

     

  • Funding available through the Holiday, Activities and Food programme

    Funding available through the Holiday, Activities and Food programme

    Organisations and schools are invited to submit expressions of interest to participate in the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme.

    The government recently announced that the HAF programme has been expanded across the whole of England in 2021. As a result of this funding, a wide range of local providers and schools have been planning to deliver exciting and engaging new projects for children all across East Sussex.

    Following the success of this Easter provision, East Sussex County Council is inviting expressions of interest (EOI) proposals from any providers or schools who can deliver holiday activities and a nutritional meal for at least 4 hours a day over a 4-day period during the summer and/or Christmas holidays for children who are in receipt of free school meals.

    EOIs can be submitted by any appropriate provider, including schools, private companies, and voluntary organisations, whether or not they have already been involved with the HAF scheme over the Easter holiday. If schools are aware of providers in their area who might be interested in submitting a proposal, please do alert them to this opportunity. The deadline for EOIs is 23 April 2021 at 12 noon has been extended to 30 April 2021.

    Click here for the EOI for summer and/or Christmas provision

    East Sussex County Council is coordinating this programme and is available to help support providers and schools develop their provision. The HAF team are running two Q&A webinars (one for schools and the other for providers)  interested in finding out more or who may have questions about the programme and how to get involved.

    You can sign up for the events for free using the links below:

    Provider Q&A
    Tuesday 13 April 2021
    9:00 to 10:00 am

    School Q&A
    Tuesday 20 April 2021
    2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

    You can find more information about the government provision online.

    If you have any questions about the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, please email
    haf@eastsussex.gov.uk.

  • Holiday Activities and Food programme – Expression of interest forms now live

    Holiday Activities and Food programme – Expression of interest forms now live

    The Government has recently announced that the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme will be expanded across the whole of England in 2021.

    Funds have been made available to every local authority in England to coordinate free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities. The programme will cover the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.

    East Sussex County Council is now inviting Expressions of Interest from potential providers of holiday activities and/or food for the Easter and Summer/Christmas holidays 2021.

    Easter holiday provision

    To submit proposals for this Easter holiday (2-16 April 2021), providers will need to complete the Easter EOI form by 5 March 2021 at 12:00 noon.

    This is a new programme for the county and due to the short timescales, East Sussex County Council is prioritising provision in some areas of high need at Easter, but providers are still welcomed to submit proposals for all other areas of the county.

    The Council is particularly interested in HAF proposals at Easter for the following priority areas: Bexhill, Eastbourne, Hailsham, Hastings, Newhaven and Peacehaven.

    Summer and Christmas holiday provision

    To submit proposals for the Summer and/or Christmas holiday, providers will need to complete a Summer/Christmas EOI form by 23 April 2021 at 12:00 noon.

    The Council is looking to widen provision across the county for the summer and Christmas holidays.

    Please note – 2 separate online forms will need to be submitted by providers if they would like to make proposals for both the Easter and summer/Christmas holidays.

    Providers can submit any questions or queries to HAF@eastsussex.gov.uk. An FAQ document will follow, as well as invitations to market information days and support sessions to discuss proposals.

    East Sussex County Council is looking forward to receiving expressions of interest from across the county.

  • Everyone will benefit from Census 2021

    Everyone will benefit from Census 2021

    Census day will be on 21 March, but households will soon receive letters with online codes explaining how they can take part. The census will include questions about your sex, age, work, health, education, household size and ethnicity. And, for the first time, there will be a question asking people whether they have served in the armed forces, as well as voluntary questions for those aged 16 and over on sexual orientation and gender identity.

    Results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.

    For more information about Census 2021, visit https://census.gov.uk/.

    The Office of National Statistics team are also still actively recruiting staff to help communities complete the census. For more information about opportunities with Census 2021, please visit https://www.censusjobs.co.uk/.

  • Free training opportunities for local physical activity providers

    Free training opportunities for local physical activity providers

    ‘A Workforce to get Sussex active’ is a project focused on supporting physical activity providers in Newhaven Valley, Devonshire and Hailsham East to get more local residents physically active. One of the ways in which this project aims to support local physical activity providers is by connecting them with possible training opportunities for coaches and volunteers.

    We are excited to announce our online training programme. All of three of these training workshops are free. To secure a place we are asking participants to work towards setting up, or continuing with an activity aimed at helping local residents in the project target areas to become more physically active.

    To find out more about the workshops and how to register, please click the links below:

    If you have any questions, please contact Lee Shepherd at lee.shepherd@3VA.org.uk or on 07535 992 638.

  • Managing Anxiety: Supporting families to deal with mental health issues

    Managing Anxiety: Supporting families to deal with mental health issues

    The Sussex Learning Network has launched a two-pronged initiative to help families across the region cope with anxiety. Developed in partnership with 3VA and community mental health charity, Holding Space, the project offers parental skills training as well as counselling for young people.

    A free six-week programme led by an experienced trainer/therapist aims to teach parents of seven- to 13-year olds skills and strategies to manage their and their children’s anxiety.

    Debra Vice-Holt, SLN:Uni Connect Programme Manager (Mentoring & Innovation Fund) explained:

    “Our research during the first national lockdown with schools and colleges demonstrated the increased level of anxiety among young people. Working with local community organisations able to deliver support and resources to families directly means we can respond to immediate need in local communities and provide additional resources during the pandemic.”

    Families can self-refer, or referrals to the programme can be made through schools, colleges or other organisations.

    Alongside this parental training programme, SLN has commissioned Holding Space to deliver a low-cost, confidential counselling service for young people aged seven to 16 across Sussex, as well as one-to-one phone support with a trained counsellor.

    Find out more

  • Creative kit bags with Towner

    Creative kit bags with Towner

    In response to COVID-19, we have partnered with Towner, Art Fund Museum of the Year 2020, on an exciting new project supporting families struggling to access provision from schools. Over the course of eight weeks, we delivered four activity sheets and two materials kits to 200 households in Eastbourne and Seaford.

    Towner commissioned artist and graphic novelist Daniel Locke to design activities themed around the elements: air, earth, water and light. Dan’s activity sheets feature himself with his children Polly and Felix, leading activities for children to join in – taking on the character of an Art Alchemist.

    Click here to download your own copies of the Art Alchemist activity sheets.

    This offer is part of a wider project funded through Sussex Learning Network and managed by 3VA to respond to immediate needs in the community. As a collaboration we have worked with community partners Willingdon Trees, Shinewater Primary School, Make Lunch club and Waves in Seaford to provide counselling support through Holding Space, refurbished computers through Tubbs Computer Supplies, as well as these creative kit bags developed by Towner.

    Towner was also successful in applying for additional funding through Children’s Art Week for this project.