Friday 28 March 2014

Portsmouth In Bloom 2014 - open for entries

The Portsmouth in Bloom gardening competition is free to enter for residents, businesses and schools. 

There are 15 categories to choose from and you can enter up to two. 

Judging will take place during July, or earlier for schools. There are two new categories this year: ‘Eat my street’ and ‘Eat my school’ encouraging groups of neighbours, or a school, to grow fruit and veg in an innovative, environmentally-sustainable way. 

This year the competition is being run by community garden group Southsea Greenhouse, Aspex Gallery, parks charity GreenSpace and the council. 

If you’re new to gardening Southsea Greenhouse and other partners are holding workshops to give you inspiration and encouragement. 

Entries must be received by 30 May. 

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Tendering for public sector contracts – the essentials

A free event at
Portsmouth Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
On

25 April 2014 

from 

09:15 to 16:00 


Led by Alistair Little, Portsmouth City Council’s Procurement Professional for People, this one day training event is tailored to individuals from the voluntary and community sector with limited or no previous experience of writing or submitting tenders for public services. 

Working though a practical example, the session aims to improve the learners’ understanding of the essential elements required to successfully tender for services. 

By the end of the session participants should expect to develop an understanding of: 
  • how to interpret a tender specification and identify the key points to address in a tender response 
  • how tenders are evaluated 
  • the basics of current regulation – and forthcoming changes
Registration is essential, please sign up for you free ticket by clicking here

Alistair Little is a chartered member of the Institute of Purchasing and Supply with 8 years’ experience of public sector procurement across Hampshire & Sussex covering health and social care, ICT, property and professional services.




An event run in partnership with 

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Citizens' panel

Have you got something to say? Join our citizens' panel and be part of the conversation.

If you join the panel, we'll take your details and contact you at least four times a year to ask for your views.


There will also be other opportunities to take part throughout the year.

Information provided by the citizens' panel will help the council to shape services that are right for our residents, and will inform decision-making.

We will make sure you get feedback on how the views of the panel have been used.

If you decide you want to stop all you need to do is let us know.


For more information email marketresearch@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or call 023 9243 7996.

Monday 17 March 2014

Portsmouth Festival of Ideas

Thursday, 3 April 2014 (10.15 – 16.30)
Action Stations, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, PO1 3LJ

Come and be inspired and challenged!

A packed day-long event bringing together our City’s Voluntary & Community,Social Enterprise, Private and Public Sectors, to network and generate new ideas to tackle some of the deep-rooted complex issues facing us all today.

Keynote address:
John Willis & Francis Davis
Leading social entrepreneurs and social change drivers will share their views on the innovative approaches communities and organisations are taking to find lasting solutions to difficult issues.

Also...
  • Market Place – meet service providers
  • Collaboration & networking opportunities
  • Developing new partnerships and ideas
  • Workshops to tackle old problems, gain new insights
The Universities of Portsmouth and Winchester, together with local social entrepreneurs, are developing an exciting and stimulating workshop programme that will introduce creative thinking techniques to stimulate participants’ vision of how issues can be tackled and moved forward.

Who should attend?
  • Voluntary & Community Organisations
  • Social Enterprises
  • Local Commissioners
  • Local Businesses
  • Funding Bodies
  • Service Users
BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!
https://portsmouthfestivalofideas.eventbrite.co.uk
Booking for this event is essential.

The Festival of Ideas is hosted by the Portsmouth Voluntary and Community Network and sponsored by Create at First Wessex and the Cathedral Innovation Centre.

Thursday 13 March 2014

Charity Pulse 2014

Take part in Charity Pulse 2014!

Charity Pulse is an annual voluntary sector-wide staff satisfaction survey run by Birdsong and Third Sector magazine. It is unique because it is open to anyone working for a UK charity.

Each Spring people working for charities are asked to complete an online survey. They are asked to give their views on how they feel about their work/life balance, the quality of internal
communications in their organisation, the effectiveness of their management and their
development and reward.

This is the eighth year that the survey has been run. Typically people from over 150 different
UK charities take part.

The questionnaire only takes ten minutes to complete and anyone taking the survey can
enter a prize draw for three free coaching sessions with Birdsong.
New

Wednesday 12 March 2014

COUP#4-' Own it? But, who is going to do it all?'


Giles Piercy - Director, Locality Matters & Chair, White City Enterprise (WCE)Locality Matters is a new business which has been set up to help Local Authorities devolve power, budgets and control to communities. 

This session looked at:

  • How statutory bodies can work together to pool and share budgets
  • How mutuals and social enterprises can undertake aspects of service delivery
  • Opportunities and concerns from the 'right to challenge'

Giles has also been heavily involved with White City Enterprise (WCE) which is a community run social enterprise set up to take on the delivery of public services within a deprived community in West London (Hammersmith and Fulham), with a population of 5,000 residents and public spend of over £50m every year.

A copy of his presentation from the session can be found below:


Tuesday 11 March 2014

Social Care Opportunity Exhibition

Do you want to find out about social care services?

Are you interested in career paths and opportunities working & volunteering in social care?

FREE BUFFET LUNCH, QUIZ and CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES/CRECHE PROVIDED

Lots of information from the public, private & voluntary sector
on
Thursday 20th March 
drop-in between
11:30am - 2:30pm
at
Oasis centre in Arundel Street, 
Portsmouth

Organised by Gateway and Portsmouth City Council Social Care 

Monday 10 March 2014

ESF Community Grants programme

A new phase of the ESF Community Grants programme is now open for applications, with the first deadline coming soon at 1pm on Monday, 7 April. The programme is all about funding small organisations to develop the skills and employability of people who are currently unemployed. Applications are welcome from smaller organisations for work with disadvantaged people living in Hampshire, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight or Southampton.

Organisations can apply for up to £15,000, with priority given towards work with these groups of people: lone parents, women, people with health or disability issues, people aged 50 or above, and people from diverse communities (including ethnic minorities).

Please see the Community Action Hampshire (CAH) website for full details:

CAH are also running several pre-application workshops if you are considering an application. Each session will include an explanation of the detailed monitoring requirements, an outline of some successful projects from previous programmes, and an opportunity to ask questions about your application. The dates are:
  • Thurs 13 Mar, 2-4pm: Winchester, Badger Farm Community Centre
  • Thurs 20 Mar, 2-4pm: Portsmouth Guildhall
  • Fri 21 Mar, 10:30am-12:30pm: Alton Community Centre
  • Isle of Wight - to be confirmed
  • Southampton - to be confirmed
Please see the CAH website for further details and instructions on how to book a place at one of the workshop sessions: http://www.actionhants.org.uk/index.php?id=727

The ESF Community Grants 2014-15 programme is part funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund. Surrey Community Action are the regional managers of the programme, working with CAH in the Hampshire area.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Wheels for All

Find out more today

The Wheels for All initiative is a nationally recognised programme that embraces children and adults with disabilities and differing needs, to engage in a quality cycling activity.  By using specially adapted cycles, the activities are both physically and mentally stimulating and above all fun for everyone involved!

To keep the programme running long term we need volunteers.  If you would like to volunteer or to find out more please call 023 9284 1560, or email
asha.lal@portsmouthcc.gov.uk


Portsmouth Local Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

You can cook

Portsmouth City Council are running free cookery courses throughout the city at various times, dates and venues. Each course consists of 3-4 two hour sessions.

You could also volunteer to be a cookery champion to run your own cooking courses in the community. You don’t need any experience as all training will be provided.

Please call 023 9284 1560, or email asha.lal@portsmouthcc.gov.uk to register your interest in attending a cooking class or to be a cookery champion.

Portsmouth Local Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Portsmouth community covenant grant scheme



The armed forces community covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local armed forces community (including veterans) - it encourages local communities to support the service community in the area.

The Portsmouth covenant makes groups in the city eligible to apply for funding from the Ministry of Defence's community covenant grant scheme.  The scheme is designed to support projects at the local level, which strengthen the ties between members of the Armed Forces Community and the wider community in which they live.

For full details of the funding please see the information via the following link:-http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/yourcouncil/29433.html

A number of organisations in the city have already been successful in securing funding for their projects but we would like to see more.  We are arranging an event at HMS Nelson on Friday 28th March 9.00-12.00 to generate and support ideas for bids.  So come along and find out more from organisations that have been successful, find out about the process, hear what will make a good bid and perhaps find partners to work with.


For more details or to reserve a place (booking is essential for this event) contact the voluntary sector team on 02392 841451 or email voluntary.sector@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

THE MISSING MANUSCRIPT event

A first edition copy of the classic Sherlock Holmes novel "A Study In Scarlet" has been stolen by a mysterious intruder in the library. The culprit has left clues and riddles in various locations. Can you help Dr Watson find the precious missing manuscript?

This interactive adventure will not only test your skills of detection but also enable hands on access to a selection of items from the vast Conan Doyle Collection hosted at Portsmouth's very own central library.
On Saturday 29th March from 4pm till 6pm, the mystery will take you around 30 minutes to solve. Pop in anytime and have a go!

Monday 3 March 2014

Portsmouth Neighbourhood Watch Association newsletter

The latest Neighbourhood Watch newsletter can be read by clicking on this link, it includes:-

USEFUL CRIME INFORMATION on

Burglary
Reasonable force - Theft from motor vehicles
Most Wanted website
TRADING STANDARDS INFORMATION on
- Storm Damage
THE COMMUNITY WARDEN INFORMATION on
- recent service demand