NCVO - How do we get involved?

At the Forum on Tuesday, I spoke about opportunities for the Alliance to get involved at a higher level - feeding into the work done by NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations), and there are a few ways for us to do this:

1) They have been doing a wider piece of work around getting the DWP to recognise the value of volunteering, and how they can help jobseekers to maximise these benefits. I'm going to contact the person who is leading on that work in the North West, and if it would be of value, I can get her to come and talk about this work at a future forum meeting.

2) On the topic of jobseekers being supported/encouraged/allowed to volunteer and how well this has worked for them, they'd be delighted to receive case studies about how this has worked.

3) They're also always pleased to receive evidence of good practice, case studies and examples which support the areas of their manifesto, namely:

• How to strengthen the economy and help people to find work
• How to transform public services
• How to help communities & volunteering flourish

These can be your projects - it's a chance to blow your own trumpet!!

4) They're always on the lookout for content for their site www.knowhownonprofit.org/how-to This is a series of 'how-to' guides on all sorts of topics from 'How to run a Twitter Chat' to 'How to Decide Whether to respond to a Tender Opportunity' - if you think you've got expertise in a particular area and would like to contribute, you can do so through the site, or if you'd like to send it through to us, we can organise this for you. And even if you don't, it's a really great resource to be aware of!

We think it would be really great for Manchester Advice Alliance to make an impact at more than just a local level, so please do send in your contributions for us to pass on - the usual address, rosi.hunter@manchestercab.org

New Forum Dates for Your Diaries!

If you were at the Forum meeting on Tuesday, we mentioned having an event to make use of the skills that are present within the Alliance. However, given that response to this was relatively small, and that also we're aware that full-day events are harder to get into your diaries, We've decided instead to make the next 4 forums a little bit bigger, more exciting, and in shiny new venues...we're even going to make the timing a little longer and provide lunch for you too! That way, you still get lots of networking time, but you also get a chance to get a bit longer with those guest speakers that you requested.

So....get these dates in your diary!

Tuesday, March 17^th
Tuesday, May 5^th
Tuesday, June 23^rd
Tuesday, Aug 11^th

Timings - likely 1.30 - 5 (to allow for lunch) Venues still TBC, but will always be central Manchester.

Of course, you are still the owners of theses meetings - if you think this isn't the best way to do things, if you'd like the timing to be different, if you'd like to swap one of these for a full-day event, if you'd like to just make a suggestion for a speaker -LET US KNOW! We'll always respond to what works best for you.

Your Weekly News Round Up

Have a read of this weeks newsletter!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8IV2JRbXVoOUdkME0/view?usp=sharing

DWP Presentations

Happy New Year to you all, and we hope that 2015 has started as well as possible for you. Thank you to James at YPSF, who's sent us these useful presentations from the DWP on EEA Migrants Benefits, Waiting Days and DWP Digital Services.

Enjoy!

Migrant Access to Benefits: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPN2dnTHpSSEpiVUE/view?usp=sharing

Waiting Days:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPZFEwdFZwNUMtNWc/view?usp=sharing

DWP Digital Services:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPVHlKLXlLSFpBdUE/view?usp=sharing

Your Weekly News Round-Up

Hope everyone has had a good start to the year! We are once again back with some more news articles which you may be interested in. So have a read!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8INzQ4WG40X3poUkE/view?usp=sharing