Friday 20 December 2013

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!

Monday 9 December 2013

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