Roll up, roll up! Book your forum spaces now!

So, you said you wanted a session on the new Claimant Commitment and Sanctions, and we went out and found one! Chester Benefits Training will be running a 2 hour session for us as part of the March meeting, which we hope will be incredibly beneficial. We'll also then be holding the regular forum 'rolling topics' after that to catch up with you on what's happening in the sector. The meeting is on the 24th March, 1:30 - 5pm, at YPSF City Centre Project, 52 Oldham Street, M4 1LE.

As the session is limited to 20 spaces, we're initially asking that you only book 2 spaces per organisation for now, so that a range of organisations can be involved. However, if you would be interested in more spaces, please email rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org, and if there are still available spaces closer to the date, we can allocate these on a first come, first serve basis.

You can book your place here, where there is also a link to the full meeting agenda:
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maa-forum-march-2014-tickets-10722857355

Advice Worker Vacancies at Mind

Looking to try something new? Know someone who's moving on?

Manchester Mind are currently recruiting for 4 new advice worker posts: Drop-In, Housing & Welfare Rights (in-house and Assertive Outreach), and Welfare Benefits.

Full details and application forms can be found on Mind's website: http://www.manchestermind.org/work_volunteer.php

....or is the 'Bedroom Tax' more your area?

Don't worry; if you don't work with migrants, there are still events for you to go to!

There's another piece of research being done around the effects of the 'bedroom tax' on children and their education. If you think you can share some useful views in this area, take a look at the flier, and contact Joanna Bragg at Manchester University (Joanna.bragg@manchester.ac.uk)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPQk90UGw5dEI2bjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Want to share your views on the Rights of Undocumented Migrants?

We all know the point of the Alliance is to share skills, knowledge and experience (and if you don't, where have you been?!)....so here's an opportunity for you to share all of that with a wider audience.

The University of Manchester are carrying out research to discover more about undocumented migrants in order to develop public policy, and are holding two events on Thursday 20th March and Thursday 3rd April for you to take part in. This is an opportunity for you and your service users to get your voices heard and exert some influence!

A flier with more information about the events can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPQUZJU3dQN21sWFU/edit?usp=sharing

The 'Bedroom Tax' Loophole....what you need to know

Last month, we posted about the error with 'Bedroom Tax' which has led to many people being charged incorrectly. We also talked about this at the forum meeting, and everybody was keen to find out a bit more information so Sian, our super-efficient and skilled Administrator, has put together not only some more detailed information about what's going on and who's being affected, but also some sample letters which you can use with clients if you're fighting a decision. Isn't she awesome?!

You can read the info here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPOC1EYVQtQkE5V0U/edit?usp=sharing

And we hope it proves useful!

January Forum Fun!

MAA's January Forum meeting took place on the 23rd January, and we're really pleased with how it went. 16 people attended, representing 10 organisations, and shared information on the services they provide, what's going well for them at the moment, and how the impacts of welfare reform are hitting them and their clients. We were really thrilled that the feedback showed that people felt it was a useful meeting, and that they'll be sharing the information they picked up with their colleagues....people also seem really keen to come along to the next one!

You can see the notes from the session here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPNmtLcVo3bGFHcjg/edit?usp=sharing

and if you want to get in on the action, the next meeting will be taking place on 6th March, 2-4:30pm. If you'd like to know more, email rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org