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Llais Sir Benfro

Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services Cymdeithas Gwasanaththau Gwirrfoddol Sir Benfro 36 - 38 High Street, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 2DA 36 - 38 Y Stryd Fawr, Hwlffordd, Sir Benfro, SA61 2DA Tel: 01437 769422 Fax/Ffacs: 01437 769431 Deadline for the next edition is: Friday 31st January 2014 Email: enquiries@pavs.org.uk

Contents Foreword 2 News from the 3 Board ICT 6 AGM Report 8 Development 14 Team Social 16 Enterprise Community 17 Voice Volunteering 20

Issue / Rhif 62 Winter / Gaeaf 2013

Pembrokeshire Voice

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd!

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Looking back over the last 12 months, this has been yet another busy and challenging year for PAVS. We are immensely proud of the excellent work carried out by the whole staff team under the strategic leadership of the Board. This time last year we found out that our bid to the BIG Lottery Community Voice programme had been successful. Over the next 5 years, around £900,000 will be invested in 8 community-led projects to engage citizens in the design and delivery of public services. Those projects are just getting off the ground and we look forward to being able to report their progress next year. On a less positive note, we are both disappointed and frustrated at having to close down the Pembrokeshire Impact Fund in April when the Welsh Government decided to withdraw its funding. We are working with partners across all sectors to explore the possibility of establishing a Pembrokeshire Community Fund. We hope our efforts will pay dividends in the coming year. In the meantime, we continue to work closely with Hywel Dda Health Board to distribute funding for community-led health improvement initiatives through the Support for Life grant scheme. Next year will bring changes to the way that PAVS works. We are investing significantly in an improved ICT infrastructure to support remote working. This will enable officers to work more readily on an outreach basis. We would like to be more visible in communities and on High Streets across the County and more accessible to third sector groups and volunteers. We will also continue to strengthen our regional working arrangements with County Voluntary Councils (CVCs) in Powys, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion under the banner Third Sector Support – Mid & West Wales. We embarked upon this in September 2012. Last month the Minister for

Communities & Tackling Poverty has made it clear that he expects to see rapid progress towards more formalised regional working for CVCs in 2014-2015. More information about this and other outcomes of the Continuity & Change consultation is included later in this newsletter. So, like many other third sector organisations, PAVS faces a challenging year in 2014. Our European funded projects come to an end during the year and we have already started the planning process to ensure service continuity. There is no easy solution, but we remain committed to local delivery of services to support voluntary and community groups and social enterprises in Pembrokeshire. Where there’s a will … ! Before finishing, we would like to thank you, our members, for the support you have given to PAVS throughout the year. We look forward to continuing to work with you again next year. This edition of the newsletter celebrates just a few of the achievements and successes of 2013 as well as taking a quick look at what’s in store for the New Year. Happy reading! Best wishes for 2014.

Sue Leonard Chief Officer

John Gossage Chairman

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH AND MARI LWYD!

Foreword

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News from the Board

Board members appoint new Vice Chair

PAVS’ Board members are delighted to announce the appointment of James Parkin as the new Vice Chair of the Association. The Board is made up of 7 Trustees/Directors who are nominated and elected by members at the Annual General Meeting. Those elected Board members are then responsible for appointing the Chair, Vice Chair and Trustee with Special Responsibility (TSR) for Finance through an open recruitment process against a detailed role description and person specification. James is currently Director of Delivery & Discovery at Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and manages most of the Authority’s “outward facing” services and sites. Prior to joining PCNPA, James worked in a number of managerial and policy development roles in the Welsh public and third sector, specialising in environmental regeneration, tackling poverty and sustainable development. A strategic and operational manager, James has significant experience in marketing and communication; finance; personnel; strategic and business planning; inclusion and change management. These are all skills that will be useful in helping steer PAVS through the challenging times that lie ahead. In accepting the post of Vice Chair, James said: "I am extremely pleased to be appointed as Vice-Chairman of Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS). We are blessed with an extremely vibrant voluntary sector in Pembrokeshire but there are a number of challenges ahead. PAVS is here to help and continues to provide a voice to the hard-working volunteers throughout the county. I am looking forward to working with my fellow Board Members and the dedicated staff team at PAVS to ensure that voluntary organisations in Pembrokeshire continue to receive the support that they need in order to thrive.” PAVS’ Chair, John Gossage, welcomed James to the Board: “I know that I speak for all my colleagues on the Board when I say how delighted we are to have someone of James’ calibre joining us as Vice Chair. He joins a very strong Board and his skills, experience, knowledge and enthusiasm will be invaluable in helping us seize opportunities and overcome challenges as they present themselves. I very much look forward to working with James in the coming years.”

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During the summer, Welsh Government carried out a full-scale review of its relationship with the third sector as set out in the consultation document “Continuity & Change”. The consultation period ended on 8

th August

and the Welsh Government Third Sector Unit has now collated feedback from the 240 responses received from third sector groups and intermediary organisations across Wales. Pembrokeshire views were well represented and we are grateful to those of you who contributed your own responses, as well as those who contributed to the PAVS’ response. On 12

th November, the Minister for

Communities & Tackling Poverty, Jeff Cuthbert AM, made a statement in the Senedd on the outcome of the review. In his statement, the Minister paid tribute to the third sector in Wales: “The Welsh Government values the third sector for the contribution that it makes to the long-term wellbeing of Wales and its people ... The third sector in Wales already makes a substantial contribution and it has the potential to do more. In particular, it has a major contribution to make to tackling poverty”. The statement also confirmed ongoing support for the third sector infrastructure in Wales, highlighting the national leadership role of Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and the local/regional service delivery and

representation functions of the County Voluntary Councils (CVCs) and Volunteer Centres (VCs). However, the statement makes it clear that CVCs and VCs need to make rapid progress towards more formal regional working in line with the public service collaborative model. We await the outcomes of the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery to see how we might be required to work regionally with Local Authorities. It is clear that infrastructure core funding will be allocated at a regional level by 2015. In the meantime, work is continuing on updating the Third Sector Scheme and Funding Code of Practice; reviewing how support for volunteering should be delivered; and “re-energising” the Third Sector Partnership Council and ministerial meetings. The outcome of this work will be reported in future editions of Pembrokeshire Voice. The Minister also confirmed that he will not implement the proposal to place Third Sector Compacts with Local Authorities on a statutory basis, preferring to strengthen existing guidance and monitoring arrangements. A verbatim copy of the oral statement and the questions that followed can be downloaded from the PAVS’ website – www.pavs.org.uk.

Future Generations Bill

Continuity and Change

Minister for Communities & Tackling Poverty, Jeff Cuthbert AM, has announced his intention to engage the citizens of Wales in a national conversation on issues that are important to them. The national conversation will pave the way for the introduction of the Future Generations Bill, a “ground breaking piece of legislation that will affect every person, community and business in Wales”. The Future Generations Bill aims to make sure that public services work together to achieve long term goals and provide sustainable, innovative and collaborative solutions to the complex challenges faced by Welsh citizens – on jobs and growth, improving health and tackling major environmental problems.

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The Minister has asked Peter Davies, Wales’ Commissioner for Sustainable Futures, to pilot the first national conversation in the spring of 2014. The results will be drawn together in a Future Generations Report, which will be published when the Bill is introduced. The national conversation will consist of a number of intensive citizen engagement exercises over three months, using a variety of approaches with a wide range of stakeholders – from youth groups to business groups. It will be an opportunity for everybody to inform the long-term goals of public services in Wales. This is an exciting step towards “co-producing” public services and PAVS looks forward to working with partners to facilitate the national conversation in Pembrokeshire.

HAVE YOUR SAY!

Pembrokeshire County Council wants to hear your Money Saving Suggestions – consultation running until 31

st March 2014

Pembrokeshire County Council, like other Local Authorities, needs to make savings in order to balance its budget in the wake of government spending cuts. Last year the Local Government and Business Minster published an 'indicative' figure for the financial settlement Local Authorities were likely to receive in 2014/2015. The indicative figure for Pembrokeshire County Council was an increase of 1.1% In October 2013, however, it was announced by the Local Government and Business Minister that it would not be able to 'hold the indicative increase' for 2014/2015. The county's Budget Settlement from the Welsh Government has been reduced meaning the council needs to save £20 million over the next two years.

The scale of the challenge is such that a whole range of new service delivery arrangements will need to be brought forward to ensure that sustainable cost/service reductions can be made within a short timescale. Pembrokeshire County Council is asking local people for their ideas on how these savings can be made. You can “have your say” by completing an on-line survey accessible via the Pembrokeshire County Council website – www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/haveyoursay (follow the link for Current Consultations) The survey asks for suggestions as to how you think money could be saved against each service area, as well as suggesting the service areas where you think most money could be saved. Your responses will help Pembrokeshire County Council to plan their programme of savings for the next two financial years.

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Superfast Cymru Programme

What is it all about? The Welsh Government and BT are working together to ensure that 96 per cent of Wales has access to high speed fibre broadband. Some exchanges have already been upgraded and the rest of the programme will take until 2016 to complete. What does it mean? The higher speed internet will make a difference to both business and home users. It will enable businesses to work faster and more efficiently, benefitting from faster upload and download speeds and reducing the need to travel, helping to create jobs and expand businesses. Benefits include;

Remote working Improved service delivery Potential for expanding telecare

provision At home, streaming will be faster enabling users to;

Contact family and friends via video Take up Online learning Work from home Download TV and films

When is it happening? The Superfast Cymru website is full of information including an interactive map showing when each exchange is being upgraded. If you aren’t sure which exchange is yours, there is a handy post code checker to tell you. www.superfast-cymru.com/faqs?tabId=7970

I.C.T.

New Toys for Christmas

Tablets

If you are about to buy or receive a new tablet, you may need to find out what it does and how it works. Most tablets work in a similar way but depending on whether you have an iPad, Samsung, Nexus, Windows Surface or any other brand,

hey all have their own quirky differences –

What happens when I press this or swipe that?

What can I download and will it store

everything?

How do I connect it to my printer?

Can I use it outside?

Sue Blantern Communities 2.0 Circuit Rider

T: 01437 771197 M: 07876 645869

E: sue.blantern@pavs.org.uk

Chris Allman Rural Circuit Rider

T: 01437 769422 M: 07875 235290

E:chris.allman@pavs.org.uk

Contact

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I.C.T.

The Communities 2.0 team hold drop in sessions for individuals around the county demonstrating new tablets and Windows 8 on the following days and times. Come along and talk to us.

Haverfordwest Library Monday 10.00 - 1.00 Pembroke Dock Library Monday 10.00 –1.00 Milford Haven Library Tuesday 10.00 –1.00

A Work of Art Gallery , Age Concern, Haverfordwest Friday 11.00 – 1.00

Is your router secure?

Recent media articles have reported that some models of D-Link routers, often used for home broadband connectivity, could have a potential weakness in the security settings.

Researchers found that if this weakness were exploited by an attacker, they would be able to gain access to the router and any devices connected to it.

D-Link have updated information on their website about how they are handling the situation and what you can do to protect yourself if you are using one of the routers.

www.dlink.com/uk/en/support/security

Basic Security

Whether you have a D-Link router or not, there are some basic security measures that everyone should follow;

Don’t open links in unsolicited emails

Make sure you have antivirus installed

Use a firewall

Don’t download anything unless you know what it is.

Use secure passwords

If you have questions about being safe online or the security settings for your home and office systems, there are some excellent resources at Get Safe Online. www.getsafeonline.org

Windows 8

Windows Surface comes with a new Windows 8 operating system, and most new laptops or PC’s will now have Windows 8 installed. Windows 8 looks different to any of the previous Windows systems and if it is new to you, you may want to finds out a bit more about it. The most common questions are;

Where has the start button gone?

How do I find my programmes?

Do I need a Microsoft account?

How do I turn it off?

Come and Play at a Drop in Day

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REPORT on PAVS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING for the financial year ended 31st March 2013

PAVS Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the year ended 31

st March 2013 took place on

Friday 6th December at Crundale Community

Hall. The format of the past two years combining the business of the AGM with presentations, information stands, networking and a seasonal buffet once again proved popular, with around 75 people in attendance throughout the event. The business of the AGM started at 11.00am with Chair, John Gossage, welcoming everyone to the meeting. The Minutes of the previous AGM held in December 2012 were presented and adopted as a true record, with minor amendments to the text being agreed. Bernie Scourfield, Trustee with Special Responsibility (TSR) for Finance, presented an overview of the Association’s accounts for the year under review. He reported that PAVS had enjoyed another good year in terms of securing income and managing expenditure. The TSR Finance also explained that the Board had set aside funding for the specific purposes of upgrading PAVS’ ICT infrastructure; progressing the purchase of a building for a third sector co-location “hub”; and pump-priming projects that delivered community benefit. It was noted that the Board was particularly interested in setting up a Pembrokeshire Community Fund to distribute small grants to the sector. Overall, the TSR Finance was pleased to confirm that the financial position of the Association remained strong. Alun Evans from Messrs Bevan & Buckland (PAVS’ Auditors) formally presented the accounts and explained that the deficit on the balance sheet was due to an actuarial valuation of pension liabilities. He confirmed that the finances of the Association were well-managed by professional and well-qualified members of staff within the Finance team, and recommended that the accounts for 2012/13 be received by the membership. This was agreed by all present. The Chair, John Gossage, then presented the Annual Review for 2012/2013, which once again highlighted the excellent work carried out by PAVS staff over the reporting period. He paid tribute to the work of the whole staff team under the leadership of Chief Officer, Sue Leonard. John then moved on to thank Board members for their hard work over the past twelve months and for their support in his first full year as PAVS’ Chair. He expressed regret that Vice Chair Tracy Elliott had been forced to resign due to family reasons. James Parkin was welcomed as the new Vice Chair, appointed through an open recruitment process. In his speech, John outlined PAVS’ vision and strategy, stating that the central theme was to “maximise the life chances and well-being of Pembrokeshire people and to enhance the vitality of our civil society.” He went on to outline six key aspirations of the 10-year strategy through to 2022 and to explain that PAVS wanted to get better at measuring the outcomes and impact of the Pembrokeshire third sector.

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John then went on to thank the Association’s funders including Welsh Government, Pembrokeshire County Council, Hywel Dda Health Board, BIG Lottery, the Port of Milford Haven and European Convergence funding. “Without their generosity the Association would not have been able to function. On behalf of the Board, I should like to thank them for their support.” Finally, John paid tribute to PAVS’ members: “My final thanks go to you, our members. Without your support, such as taking the time to fill in consultation documents or giving us feedback about how we are performing, we could not deliver our mission.” Chief Officer, Sue Leonard, shared her views on the “highs and lows” of the year under review. On the positive side, she reported that PAVS had been successful in winning around £900,000 of BIG Lottery Community Voice funding to support 8 community-led projects to engage citizens in public service design. On the down side, Sue expressed her disappointment at the closure of the Pembrokeshire Impact Fund following the withdrawal of Welsh Government Funding. She confirmed that PAVS was continuing to work with Hywel Dda to distribute small grants for community-led health improvement projects under the “Support for Life” scheme, and looked forward to establishing a Pembrokeshire Community Fund with support from partners. She also explained that PAVS was working regionally with County Voluntary Councils across Mid & West Wales, but emphasised that the Association remained 100% committed to local delivery of front-line support services to voluntary and community groups in Pembrokeshire. Sue finished by thanking the staff team, Board, members and funders for their support during the year: “I want to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of the whole staff team. PAVS is only as good as the staff we employ and thankfully we have brilliant staff across the whole organisation. I am grateful to you for everything you do and for your ongoing support. “I would also like to thank the Board of Trustees for their support and guidance during the year. I am particularly grateful to PAVS’ Chair, John Gossage, for the support he has given me during the year. I am confident that the Board will continue to work hard to secure the long-term future of PAVS and the local delivery of services to the sector. “Finally, we have once again appreciated the support offered to us this year by our members and colleagues in the voluntary sector and by our partner organisations who support and fund us. We look forward to continuing to work with you all for the benefit of Pembrokeshire voluntary and community groups, social enterprises and volunteers.” The Chair then formally presented the Annual Review 2012/13 to the members and it was unanimously agreed to accept the document. It was proposed and unanimously agreed that Messrs Bevan & Buckland be re-appointed as auditors for the financial year 2013/14. The final item of business was the election of Trustees to the Board. Alan Thomas and Simon Preddy were unanimously elected as Board members. There being no other business, the AGM concluded at 11.40am

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Nicola O’ Sullivan – Hywel Dda Health Board – Talking Health:

encouraging people to contribute to the development of health care services

Kate Bailey, Mental Health Advocacy Providers (MAP) – Giving People a Voice:

providing independent advocacy support for people with mental illness

Alan Wilkinson –“Stronger Communities – Better Services”:

introducing PAVS Community Voice portfolio of citizen engagement projects

VOICES FOR CHANGE

There then followed a series of short presentations by third sector organisations and statutory partners on the theme “Voices for Change”.

Presentations included:

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Rose Davis – Pembrokeshire County Council – Engaging Children and Young People:

innovative ways of getting young people involved in services that affect them, including Youth Assembly, Youth Forums, Youth Bank, and School Councils

Jess Morgan – PLANED – Clywed: bringing together Community Associations and Town & Community Councils to transform local services

Lin Martin – Crossroads Carers – Carers’ Voice: finding new ways to engage unpaid carers in Pembrokeshire

Following the presentations, there was an opportunity to network and visit exhibition stands. Participants also enjoyed a delicious seasonal buffet provided by local social enterprise,

Food in Mind.

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Development Team

Funding Fair 2013

Over 100 groups and social enterprises attended the Funding fair at the Queens Hall in Narberth this November to meet funders and third sector support organisations and discuss with them their future projects. While we didn’t have a record attendance this year, we were however, delighted with the feedback from our exhibitors who commented about the breadth, scope and preparedness of the organisations that attended. Presentations from Communities 2.0, Pembrokeshire County Council and the Charity Bank were well attended and the informal, ‘buzzy’, networking atmosphere that is a characteristic of these events, enabled delegates to question the presenters in depth on issues of ICT accessibility, taking out loans in the third sector and financial management in the context of their own organisation. The European Unit provided the very latest in briefings on how European funding is developing in the successor programme to Convergence. While we did our best to bring together as many funders as we could on the day, there are in real terms, fewer funds available this year for groups to apply to, but we are pleased to be able to announce that a representative from the Comic Relief fund will be attending a funding surgery at PAVS on March 11

th 2014. Booking will be essential, so to get your place booked

call 01437 769411 or email development@pavs.org.uk

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Social Enterprise

The Social Enterprise Network

We have sent out our fourth network e news-letter now, and with over 100 subscribers we hope to be reaching a good percentage of those of you in the county practicing some form of social business. Look out for news of our first Social Enterprise Day in the Spring – a full day to focus on issues and inspiration to support your work –

according to what subscribers tell us they would like. This will include galvanizing speakers, networking time and could include a tour of showcase local enterprises. Watch this space. And join the SEEN network by emailing cara.wilson and julie.kirk@pavs.org.uk

A day out at the Social Enterprise Wales Conference2013 Cara Wilson, Enterprising Communities Development Officer A day in Cardiff. Big city lights. Inspiring organisations from across the UK. What a treat. Apart from the 5.30am start and the deluge we all arrived in - picture shivering delegates in party frocks and damp stockings – it was a-buzz with news, networking and sharing. I had the pleasure of representing PAVS at the conference this year, and thought it would be interesting to share a couple of memorable enterprises from the podium Our very own homegrown National Social Enterprise Champion It was great to see Cris’s continued hard work and successes acknowledged at a national level and to get some updates on the projects he is involved with in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. ‘The ‘Social Enterprise Champions’ Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of their social enterprise or to the sector in general. This year’s winner is Cris Tomos, Director of Cardigan Castle and a social entrepreneur who has been heavily involved in community enterprise for many years. He has held positions as Treasurer of Credcer Credit Union and Board Member of the 4CG Co-operative, a community owned retail and craft centre which in 2012 also bought the old police station and court house in Cardigan. He led a campaign to save Hermon school threatened with closure and when that failed, led a second campaign to buy the building and develop a community co-operative - the Hermon Community Resource Co-operative is now a £500,000 eco venue and resource centre. He also assisted the community in Cwm Arian to submit a Low Carbon Community Bid to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The other shortlisted candidates for this award were Barry Shiers of Vision 21 and Tony Crocker of Track 2000, both based in Cardiff, and Lis Mclean of Canolfan a Menter Cygraeg in Merthyr Tydfil. Wales Co-operative Centre Chief Executive Derek Walker commented: “The quality of nominations this year demonstrated not only the breadth and versatility of the sector but the importance the sector has to the economy of Wales and the communities that benefit.” The awards were sponsored by Building Enterprise, the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Unity Trust Bank and Social Firms Wales.

Extract from the http://www.walescooperative.org/social-enterprise-awards-wales-2013

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Local community buildings joined us at Maenclochog Community Hall to attend the Pembrokeshire Community Buildings Forum, a county wide get-together jointly organised by PAVS, PLANED and Pembrokeshire County Council. The Forum was a great opportunity for representatives from community halls to come together and network and to keep up-to-date with relevant and current issues. We had great speakers from Maenclochog Community Hall, Moylegrove Village Hall and Victoria Hall, Roch who led engaging and worthwhile discussions surrounding how they have catalysed and managed positive change in their halls. We also had comprehensive updates from the Licensing Department in Pembrokeshire County Council. Sarah Oliver took us through the recent legislation changes which affect the Licensing Act 2003 and offered ongoing, friendly support with community hall licensing issues. This was followed by Tim Fletcher from the Collaborative Communities project in PAVS, who joined forces with Kevin Shales from Pembrokeshire County Council to deliver an honest overview of the current funding landscape along with tips and pointers on how to negotiate it successfully. Emma Lewis from PACTO delivered an engaging overview of the Green Dragon bus service and invited attendees to use the local community transport service to bolster the use of community halls in Pembrokeshire, and finally, PAVS offered an introduction to the Treats for Time volunteer reward scheme and discussed the potential of task and finish volunteer opportunities, which are often offered by larger, private businesses in Pembrokeshire. We also launched the updated Pembrokeshire Community Buildings Forum Information Pack, which is a guide covering all essential policies and procedures a community hall needs to manage their hall effectively. For a copy, please contact Lara Herde at PAVS via the details below. The next forum will take place in Spring 2014 and we are currently looking for ideas and speakers which community buildings will find most relevant and useful. If you have any issues that you feel could be covered at the next Forum event, or to register your interest in attending the next Forum, please contact Lara Herde on 01437 769422 or lara.herde@pavs.org.uk.

Pembrokeshire Community Buildings Winter Forum 2013

Social Enterprise

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Social Enterprise

What every committee member needs to know…….

The need for sound governance in voluntary and community groups and social enterprises was never greater; competition for funding is fierce, demands on services are increasing and public expectation of excellence in service delivery is high. Strong leadership is essential if Trustees are to juggle these competing demands effectively and the Learning and Development Team in PAVS has been pleased to respond to the demand for support with Board skills development. In particular the “Roles & Responsibilities of Trustees – what every committee member needs to know” workshop is increasingly popular, both the sessions run as part of the regular programme of workshops and requests for the workshop to be tailored and delivered to individual boards. Some voluntary organisations have joined forces with other organisations working in the same geographical or interest area and have asked for the workshop to be delivered to both Boards at once. Feedback from these sessions has been very positive with Committees recognising that they’ve not only gained the formal knowledge derived from the workshop content but also that they’ve found working with the other Board/s an illuminating and highly positive experience. Comments from participants have included:

It was most useful to learn about the good practices in running a charity and trustee responsibilities,

I found the information on collaboration useful, it’s something we are considering more,

I found the course to be very useful in demystifying the role [of Trustees/Committee members]

I liked the detail and information on changes in the law, It was useful to have confirmation of the responsibilities, liabilities and processes, Excellent workshop.

If your Board or committee would like more information on the workshop, which is approximately 3 hours long and can be delivered at a time and place to suit you including splitting the workshop into sessions to be run before your routine meetings, please contact development@pavs.org.uk or telephone 01437 769422.

Stronger Communities: Better Services

PAVS portfolio of projects financed by BIG Lottery is beginning to gather a head of steam. All the groups have now appointed project leads and PLANED, Crossroads Care, Disability Wales and space2create are all under way, with others in the starting blocks. PLANED have launched their Clywed (‘Listen’) project with a view to finding new ways to engage with local communities. The launch event included a talk from Luke Conlon on Men’s Sheds, an opportunity for (mainly) older men to get together, which originated in Australia and is now being taken up in Ireland and in Wales. There was also a workshop with Theatre Fforwm Cymru which generated a lively discussion on intergenerational prejudice.

Over the course of the portfolio, Theatr Fforwm Cymru will be involved with all the projects – starting in January with Pembrokeshire Care Society’s Homelessness project - offering their innovative techniques to create theatre pieces which will explore the issues raised by and the experiences of each of the groups. Ultimately, pieces of ‘legislative theatre’ will be produced to present powerful and emotional stories to service providers and the like. Crossroads Care and Disability Wales held a joint event in Saundersfoot which included an enlightening talk on changes to the benefits system, followed by a ‘Jargon Busting’ session, introducing carers to the language of

Community Voice News

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service commissioners. Alongside this was a launch for Disability Wales’ ‘Planning Together’ project, where several interested parties were signed up to the Project Advisory Group with a view to establishing a Disabled People's Forum over the next few months. space2create are currently running two projects with older people. These involve working with a wonderful group of people who attend Meadow Park Day Centre in Haverfordwest. The projects will result in a series of portrait photographs and a short documentary film, exploring different aspects of ageing and what is important to older people. Following these, they will be working with the Alzheimer’s Society, Royal Voluntary Service and Age Concern Pembrokeshire.

One very significant aspect of this portfolio of projects is that different groups can work together for mutual benefit. Already, Disability Wales and Crossroads Care have identified ways to help each other, and more co-operative work is sure to develop as the projects become established. If you want to find out more about any of the projects, or want to get involved in any capacity, contact alan.wilkinson@pavs.org.uk or on 01437 769422. You could also visit the website and blog http://pembscommunityvoice.wordpress.com/ The Facebook page is www.facebook.com/pembrokeshirecommunityvoice or the Twitter feed @PembsCVoice.

Community Voice News

What’s Coming up Soon … ...dates for the diary

In the past few months the Learning & Development team have organised a range of courses and workshops covering issues of importance to voluntary and community groups. These have all been well attended and have included:

Legacy Fundraising Employment & HR Working with Outcomes Introduction to Business Planning

The New Year brings another batch of courses, all of whom are free for third sector groups, thanks to support provided via the Collaborative Communities; Making the Connections; Enterprising Communities and Communities 2.0 European funded projects.

January 2014

Role of the Secretary & Tak-ing Good Minutes

10am – 1pm 16.01.14

Introduction to Results Based Accountability

10am - 4pm 27.01.14

February 2014

How marketing can help your organisation

10am – 1pm 12.02.14

Making the most of your website

10am – 1pm 20.02.14

Introduction to Social Media 10am – 1pm 27.02.14

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Full training course details are available on the PAVS website www.pavs.org.uk In addition the team are organising two events to provide guidance to the sector in the areas of Environmental Systems and Equalities and Diversity. On the 29

th January the team have organised an Equalities & Diversity event will cover the

needs of the sector to be aware of the Equalities Act 2010; assist the sector in improving its performance on equalities and diversity; highlighting the use on online tool kits to assess current position and the need for a practical action plan to make improvements. On the 19

th February , an event called ‘ Environment Management Toolkits – More than

Saving Money’ will be held, this practical session aims to provide information and good examples on how the adoption and implementation of an Environmental Toolkit can help to manage an organisation’s impact on the environment. Using a framework through which the organisation's environmental performance can be controlled and improved. Keep an eye on PAVS’ website for further details.

Events

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Latest Vacancies

HAVEN CREDIT UNION Minute Secretary

TENBY SURF LIFESAVING CLUB Club Activities Assistant Child Protection Officer Club Activities Assistant Lifeguards / Lifesavers

WEST WALES COMMUNITY FOUNDATION CIC Food & Beverage Service Assistant

BRITISH RED CROSS Community Based First Aid Educator Health & Social Care – Support in the Home Volunteer Learning & Development – Volunteer Tutor Education & Engagement – Youth Worker

INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS Lab in a Lorry – Science Communicator

TENOVUS Cancer Advice Assistant

ASH WALES Social Media & Website Development Volunteer Area Volunteer Leader

THE WILDLIFE TRUST WEST WALES Visitor Centre Volunteer Conservation Volunteer

PROSTATE CANCER UK Telephone Peer Support Volunteer Speaker

TENBY SURF LIFESAVING CLUB Head of Junior Training

Volunteering

Thank you for your continued support

With very best wishes from all the staff and trustees at

Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services