The new Scottish government has decided to integrate the Social Economy Unit of Communities Scotland into the Scottish Executive’s Third Sector Team in the Public Service Reform Directorate.

See news item on Senscot web site at http://www.senscot.net/view_art.php?viewid=6297.

Third Sector last week took an in-depth look at the legal dispute (see last week’s newsletter) between Kids in Communication and the Learning and Skills Council, recently settled out of court - http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/665452/Were-taking-court/ (registration required).

The magazine also reports that the Compact commissioner John Stoker has called a meeting next month, to include the Office of the Third Sector, NCVO and LSC paymaster Department for Education and Skills, to draw out the lessons from this.

Patient Opinion, http://www.patientopinion.org.uk), which enables patients to share their experiences of NHS health care, for the benefit of other patients and NHS improvement, now covers all health trust areas in England (Source GC News).

And the main NHS web site has been relaunched as NHS Choices, http://www.nhs.uk, including a library of health and medical information.

A new online Investing in Volunteers (IiV) Toolkit is open to all volunteer-involving organisations, especially volunteer managers, whether they have signed up to IiV or not.

They say that the e-learning modules take about 5 minutes to complete - start at ‘Module 1: What is quality?’ and work your way through the rest in your own time. http://iiv.investinginvolunteers.org.uk/newsviews/IiVToolkit/.

The ICT Hub has commissioned regional champions to work in each English region with the aim of achieving a better connected and resourced network of ICT providers locally, and a more uniform level of ICT co-ordination and championing to address the needs of voluntary organisations.

Find out your regional ICT champion at http://www.icthub.org.uk/how_we_can_help/Regional_Infrastructure_06.html.

The Village CORE Programme has been created to provide financial start-up packages for new community-owned shops, with up to £40,000 available per shop. It is managed by Village Retail Services Association (VIRSA) in partnership with the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance.

http://www.virsa.org/index.cfm/villageshop/Programme.Home.

The Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards give one-off awards of between £1,000 and £5,000 in two rounds each year. 30th June is the cut-off for Elderly and disabilities, 31st January for Children’s welfare and education.

The guidelines are in pdf, 372kb, at http://www.tescocorporate.com/images/tesco_4pp.pdf (more Tesco background here.

(Source: Third Force eNews)

Volonteurope is an annual four day conference held in a different European City each year. This year Volonteurope celebrates its 25th year in Warsaw, Poland with its partners Centrum Wolontariatu, the Volunteer Centre of Warsaw.

By participating in your choice of workshops, presentations and round-table discussions, you will share thinking and best practice. This year we are also providing one to one consultancy sessions with volunteering experts and opportunities to create partnerships with other delegates and their organisations.

Themes this year include  Volunteering & the Public Sector, Youth Volunteering, Volunteer Management & Episodic Volunteering, Active Ageing, CSR, Environment, Social Inclusion and Active Citizenship.
This conference is suited to volunteers, volunteer organisers, project managers, trainers, lecturers, researchers, sponsors of volunteers, public officials and policy makers.

WE ALSO HAVE BURSARIES AVAILABLE FOR VOLUNTEERS OR STAFF FROM SMALL ORGANISATIONS!

Contact Anthea Neagle, email: aneagle@csv.org.uk, phone 020 7643 1328

BBC Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ programme has been running an occasional series on community radio for the past few weeks, which are available to listen again online. The vivid accounts of the people places and sounds involved are better than the usual podcast stuff in your editor’s opinion.

Three links:

• Takeover Radio (youngsters in Leicester)  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/02/2007_24_mon.shtml,
• Angel Radio (pensioners in Havant) http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/03/2007_23_mon.shtml,
• Radio Asian Fever, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/06/2007_22_wed.shtml.

(From CMA list)

Futurebuilders England, the charity capacity investment body, is to expand its one to one surgeries for potential applicants after the success of its first surgery day last week.

There will be sessions in its London and Newcastle offices later in the year. News item.

The ‘Third Sector Declaration on Climate Change’ asks voluntary organisations to commit to taking action to reducing carbon emissions. Launched last week (18th June) by the brothers Miliband (Ed Minister for the Third Sector, David Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), it aims to make a public statement and create a framework for change.

Read more and sign up at http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/declaration/, press release at http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2007/070618e.htm. This is part of Every Action Counts, a wider campaign for green action in the sector run by a consortium of over twenty groups.

Meanwhile, the first issue of ‘The Knowledge - Learning from London’ (from the City Bridge Trust) looks at the interim findings of a pilot study into the environmental performance of the third sector and eco-audits of a cross-section of charities in London. Download ‘Greening the Third Sector’ from http://www.bridgehousegrants.org.uk/CityBridgeTrust/Publications/The+Knowledge.htm.

A review has been launched of how the government consults businesses, the third sector and citizens when it makes significant decisions. ‘Effective Consultation: asking the right questions, asking the right people, listening to the answers’ is open for feedback until 28th September.

The detail is at http://www.consultations.gov.uk and you can give comments online as well as by formal written response.