5 things the Alliance is looking forward to in 2014

So, Christmas is upon us, and you're no doubt all breathing sigh of relief at the thought of a few days’ rest and relaxation; mulled wine, turkey, Christmas pudding and all that jazz….

But let’s take a minute to not only celebrate the end of 2013, but also to look forward to 2014 – what can we offer you in the year ahead? We’ve had a think, and we reckon these are the highlights of being involved with the Alliance in 2014:

1.      Getting to Know You

We’re going to be getting out and about visiting organisations, getting to know you and your services a little bit better, and what the Alliance can do to support your work.

2.      The Start of the Forums

We’ll be kicking off in January with our first open forum meeting and we’re really excited to get as many agencies as possible in the room sharing information about their services and really starting to understand what’s out there.

3.      The Alliance Brand

We’ve been working with a design agency to design a logo for the Alliance and get ourselves a bit of an identity…we’re in the process of agreeing on a logo, so we’ll look forward to sharing this with you early next year.

4.      Online Access Points

We’ll be setting up points across the city where clients can go to make and manage online benefit claims and access information online with the support of superstar volunteers trained by the Alliance. This means you’ll be freed up to do your amazing work with those clients most in need.

5.      Training

We’re looking at the range of ways in which we can offer training for you and how best to deliver this, so we’ll be bringing you updates and getting you along to sessions throughout the year. We’re always open to suggestions, so if there’s something you really want to know more about, make sure you let us know either on the message board here, or at the forum meetings.

We hope you’re all as excited as we are, and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

Working Together to Maximise Income - Free Workshop 31st Jan

Turn2Us are running a free workshop for benefits advisers on the 31st January, to gain up to date information on benefits and grants. Full details can be found in the leaflet linked in here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPVTVKVkFwRkZiLVE/edit?usp=sharing

Benefit Changes

Thanks to James at YPSF for sharing this 'At a Glance' guide to the benefit changes in the Autumn Statement. The guide can be seen here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPZjd4M29vYjJpbjg/edit?usp=sharing

And more information can be found on Social Welfare Training's website: http://www.socialwelfaretraining.co.uk/news/glance-guide-benefit-changes-autumn-statement-2013

6 Months of the 'Bedroom Tax' in Wythenshawe

Wythenshawe Community Housing Group have produced a report on the impact of the 'Bedroom Tax' in Wythenshawe over the first 6 months of its implementation. Please click on the link below to access the PDF version of the report, and feel free to post your thoughts and comments below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPNVRZa0Q4eHRBaDQ/edit?usp=sharing

IT Course for Dyslexic People

Something which may be of interest:

Manchester Metropolitan University have teamed up with Manchester Dyslexic Self Help Group to produce a free course teaching dyslexics some basic IT skills. The course starts in January, but should be booked as soon as possible to guarantee places.

More details can be found on this flier: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPazdrSjVXX0ZuSlE/edit?usp=sharing

Consumer Voices Event

We were sent this as an event for you to potentially advertise to your clients, but also that you may want to attend in both your capacity as advisers, but also to share your knowledge/insight of your clients' consumer issues.

The aim of the event is to get as many people along as possible to share their views on how they'd like to see products/ services improved. It's being organised by the Consumer Unit at BSI - a group of consumers that represent consumer views to standard developers/ regulators in the UK and Europe to make sure that new standards and regulation tackle real issues faced by real people.

This is the flier: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPNWZfbzdzYlRKN1U/edit?usp=sharing

'Who Benefits' Campaign

Many of you may already have seen/signed up to this but if not, please see below:

http://www.whobenefits.org.uk/page/content/front

Early Network Forum notes

The notes from the Early Network Forum meeting on Wednesday 13th November are linked below; thank you to all who attended.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPNUVWTzFyMFRxUTg/edit?usp=sharing

If you have anything you wish to add, or contact details of agencies you feel should be involved, please contact Rosi Hunter on rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org

Real Life Reform

A piece of research is being done into the impact of welfare reform on real families. The study will follow 100 families at regular intervals until 2015, and is being carried out by seven Registered Housing Providers, the Northern Housing Consortium and York University. This is the first report, and is really interesting - well worth a look.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPZVYxa1JNQVZEZUk/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome!

Welcome to the News and Forum site for the Manchester Advice Alliance Adviser Forum. The site hopes to keep you up-to-date with news from the advice sector which is particularly relevant to Manchester, as well as offering you a message board where you can discuss any struggles you're having in supporting your clients, discuss the impact of welfare reform in your area/client group, share knowledge, and generally offer or receive support.

We also hope to keep the news feed updated with opportunities for advisers, agencies and the sector in general, such as funding opportunities or public consultations which you can feed into.

If you have anything you think needs to be added to the News Feed, or have any questions about Forum Meetings (starting from January 2014), please contact:

Rosi Hunter
Information & Engagement Officer, Manchester Advice Alliance
0161 830 2073
rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org