Limited time only - Universal Credit!

Thanks to Terry at MCC Appeals, who's alerted us to the fact that the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice are allowing FREE access to their research on Universal Credit section, but you need to get in quick, as they're only available until 3rd July!

The articles you can access are:

• Introduction: Universal Credit: the story so far... Roy Sainsbury, University of York, UK     
• Universal Credit: the impact of monthly payments on low income households Yvette Hartfree, University of Bristol, UK
• Universal Credit, ubiquitous conditionality and its implications for social citizenship Peter Dwyer, University of York, UK and Sharon Wright, University of Glasgow, UK
• Talking Universal Credit: in conversation with Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform Roy Sainsbury, University of York, UK

and to access them you just need to click here: http://bit.ly/1qaQ19N You won't need to register for anything, and you won't be obliged to sign up to a future subscription, so make the most of it!

Bite-Size Guide to British Red Cross

British Red Cross have very kindly sent us across a round-up of all their services on one handy leaflet, which may be of use to you and/or your clients:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPekRzQ3A3eFkxbE0/edit?usp=sharing

Also, they offer free first aid workshops to people working with particularly vulnerable groups who are more likely to require first aid. If that's you, or some of the people you work with, you can get more info here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPMWxGazhBSjJoT2M/edit?usp=sharing

Don't forget, if you've got an opportunity or a service you'd like to promote here, just email it across to rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org and we'll load it up here for you!

Fancy Financial Inclusion?

Remember last month when we posted about the Financial Inclusion training opportunity?.... No? Ok, well follow this link to refresh your memory: http://manchesteradvicealliance.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fantastic-financial-inclusion-training.html

There are still spaces available for this great opportunity, so if you're interested, get in touch with Laura Scully at City South laura.scully@citysouthmanchester.co.uk / 0161 227 1125 or just go directly to apply for the course yourself to http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/pgapplication/

 

We're on Twitter!

Yes, we've decided to get all social and  find out what all this Tweeting lark's about!

As newbies, we're pretty low on the ground follower-wise, so how about boosting our numbers and following us @AdviceAllianceM

We'll be using the feed to let you know what the influential people are talking about, and sharing anything interesting and useful we can hunt down....and, as with the blog site, if you want to see more from us on a particular subject, just let us know and well happily oblige where we can!

Roll Up! Roll Up! July's Forum is Here!

Yes, it's that time again already - July's Forum is now open for bookings and it would be really good to see you there.

This month we have, at your request, Hannah from The Booth Centre coming to explain the new legislation for EEA migrants. We'll also have time dedicated to signposting, as it's something you've indicated you'd like time on; we'll give you all time to talk about the work that you do, who you work with, where you're based etc. so you have a better awareness of each others' services, but also time to chat about the problems you encounter when it comes to signposting clients, and if there's potentially something the Alliance can work on to combat this. On top of all that, we'll also cover the usual rolling agenda items, and get you up to date on what the Alliance has been up to recently.

To book your places, click here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maa-july-forum-tickets-12018570869

Housing Associations Help Out

Greater Manchester Housing Providers have been working together to take action on poverty for their tenants. The latest issue of their newsletter focuses on their anti-poverty pledges and the work they're doing to support tenants. It makes for quite an interesting read, and you can view it here:

http://data.axmag.com/data/201406/20140603/U121827_F284955/index.html

Get Your Head Around EEA Legislation

You've fed back through the Forums that you'd like a session on how the new legislation for EEA migrants works, as it's all pretty confusing. That's fine, and I'm currently working on that as part of the agenda for the 10th July meeting, but in the meantime we've been passed this handy flowchart which may help you to diagnose what your clients are/aren't entitled to. Take a look here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPbjdMQXcwb2ZiVkU/edit?usp=sharing

Hope this helps!

Do You Deserve An Award?

...We all know the answer's 'yes', of course, so why not nominate yourselves for the Guardian Charity Awards?

The Awards are open to small and medium-sized charities who have been registered in the UK for at least 2 years, and have an annual turnover of £5,000 to £1.5 million. You have to be offering a service which benefits people who are disadvantaged by poverty or disability, or who are marginalised in some other way.

There are 5 winners each year, and the prize package includes:

• £5000
• An iPad Mini
• 1 year's NCVO membership
• A tailored package of support from the FSI
• A personalised package of communications support from Media Trust

Definitely worth a try, right?! The initial form is really quick and easy to submit, and needs to be completed by 25th July, so you have plenty of time to enter. For full details, go to: http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/series/charity-awards-2014

Good Luck!

Parkinson's Support

Do you have clients suffering from Parkinson's Disease in need of a little extra support?

Jacquie Gray is the Outreach Worker for Parkinson's UK in Manchester, and can provide home visits for clients, helping with PIP, DLA, and ESA50 forms.

If you'd like to contact her, she can be reached on 0844 225 9817, or jgray@parkinsons.org.uk. She can also organise leaflets advertising the service for you to display in your office - just contact her to request these.

Jobs Galore....

It must be your lucky day, with another job vacancy available at Manchester Mind. This one's for a Welfare Benefits Adviser to work on a targeted advice service for Manchester. It does include some work outside of normal office hours, including some evenings until 8pm and some Saturday mornings. If it sounds like your kind of thing, or you know someone who'd be perfect for it, pass it on quick smart - applications close on 11th June at midday.

More details and required forms can be found here:

Job advert: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPel9ILXdKcGpTNlE/edit?usp=sharing
Job Description: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPMW00X0Y5NVR5TDA/edit?usp=sharing
Person Specification: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPMWQzbi1UUlBwSmM/edit?usp=sharing

Marvellous May Forum!

Massive thanks to everyone who made it to the meeting of the May Forum on the 29th. It was a really useful session, getting information about Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and the work they do, as well as information on the new CAB system and how clients can access services.

From the feedback form, we certainly get the feeling that people are finding the meetings really useful and informative, and are taking away lots of good practice to share with their teams, which is great news....we just want to make sure that as many people as possible can benefit! So, if you know of someone who might benefit from the forum, whether that's a specific individual or just an organisation, please email their details to me at rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org so I can make contact with them.

We really hope we'll see you at the next forum - 10th July, 2-5pm. Venue is TBC, but will be in the city centre to make access easy for everyone. If you'd like to come, but 3 hours is difficult to manage, please get in touch - often attending for half the meeting is still productive!

Forum Notes Here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPclFLU0R6QlhZUUk/edit?usp=sharing

New Opportunities

They're at it again!! Manchester CAB have got another couple of vacancies opened up in their energy teams.... There are 3 Trainee Community Adviser posts available in the British Gas Energy Team, and one Trainee Better Financial Health Money Adviser post in the NPower team. Applications close on Thursday 19th June, so if you're interested, or know someone who would be suitable, please pass on the information - full job details via the link below :-)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPWUZUWXYtb0FhdGc/edit?usp=sharing