Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the South Forum e-newsletter. 

Featured this week:

• South Forum E-Voting Exercise
• St Wilfrid's Sponsored Crocus Walk - March 29th at 10.30am
• Winners of the Children's Easter Fancy Dress Competition
• South Forum Annual Event
• April Art Attack at The Jubilee Centre
• Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Strategy
• Annual Compact Conference
• Sunderland Consultation Booklet
• Training and Education
• Job Vacancies
• Funding Information
• Volunteering

If you would like to announce anything or have a feature you would like included in future e-newsletters, please contact Sue Lowe on 0191 5228447 or e-mail on sue.lowe@sunderlandcommunitynetwork.org.uk

South Forum E-Voting Exercise

One of the main roles of any Forum is that its members are given the opportunity to voice their views and opinions. The number of different and interesting ways we can do this - the better.  With this in mind, at the South Forum monthly meeting held on Wednesday 26th March at Plains Farm and Humbledon Community Initiative those attending took part in an e-voting exercise about the South Forum Website.  There were some interesting points raised from the exercise, the results of which will be published shortly on our website. 

Thank you to Rachel from the Coalfield Forum who set the equipment up and helped us out with this e-vote.

If you have any feedback on this e-voting exercise or comments and suggestions for future consultations with the South Forum membership please contact anthony.gonzalez@sunderlandcommunitynetwork.org.uk.

St Wilfrid's Sponsored Crocus Walk - March 29th at 10.30am

Join the sponsored Crocus Walk in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer at Doxford Park Woods.

Meet at the main entrance of Doxford Park by the Cottage at 10.30am - refreshments will be provided in the Cottage. 

To get a sponsorship form or for more information contact Irene Mitchell 0191 5287561.

Winners of the Children's Easter Fancy Dress Competition

On Good Friday the 28th Annual Children's Easter Fancy Dress Competition was held at the Farringdon Social Club.  There was a fantastic turn out with over 250 people attending.  All the children had made excellent efforts with their costumes and were rewarded with an easter egg for their hard work.  The Judges had a very difficult time deciding on the winners, but in the end, the trophy for the best costume in the Aged 6 and Over Category went to "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (pictured on the left),  and the Under 6 Category was won by "In The Mid-Night Garden" (pictured on the right).

South Forum Annual Event

The annual South Forum Community Event will be held on  Saturday, 12th July 2008 at Portland School.

We are all confident that the event will be well attended and there will be a range of fun and interesting activities on the day. 

The event will be a great opportunity to promote your group or service. So far we have had an excellent response from members wanting to take part. Space is limited so please get in touch if you would like to provide an activity, a stall or exhibition stand.

We will also be needing volunteers to help out on the day – so please get involved if you want to.

For further information contact Anthony Gonzalez on 0191 5228447 or by email at

anthony.gonzalez@sunderlandcommunitynetwork.org.uk                 Booking Form

April Art Attack at The Jubilee Centre

10th and 17th April 1.00pm-3.00pm

Come along to the Jubilee Centre, Allendale Road, Farringdon, to help create a community clock using recycled materials .... everyone welcome.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Strategy
Gentoo are in the process of developing an Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy and would like your input to take this forward. It would be appreciated if you could forward your views on the following to Sean Wilson:
• what the key ASB issues are for your organisation
• what the key ASB issues are for your service users
• what you would like to see included in the strategy in terms of tackling ASB

If you would like to contribute to the development of the strategy please email Sean your thoughts and suggestions regarding the above at sean.wilson@gentooliving.com

Annual Compact Conference
The first Annual Compact Conference will be held on 31 March from 9.30-12.45, followed by the Sunderland Community Network Annual Event. The event is being held at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland.

The morning session will provide an update on the progress since the launch event in November and will ask the question 'where do we go from here?'. Paul Barasi from Compact Voice (national body that represents the Voluntary and Community Sector in taking forward the Compact at a local and national level) will conduct an 'interactive session'. Lunch will be available from 12.45pm. This will be followed by the Sunderland Community Network Annual Event starting at 1.30pm until 4pm. All places must be booked in advance.

For further information please contact niki.mackay@sunderlandcommunitynetwork.org.uk or call on

0191 565 1566

Sunderland Consultation Booklet

The views of local people in Sunderland really do matter and they do influence decisions that affect everything from how they provide services to the future of the whole city.   The City Council is working with partners to provide a range of opportunities for local people to get involved in and influence decisions about the local area and city.  A directory has been published which provides information and contact details for the different opportunities available to you to help make a difference.  Whether you are interested in a particular issue or service, particular area of the city or wish to get more involved generally, there is an opportunity for you.  You can really make a difference to the decisions being made.  The consultation booklet will be reviewed in September and the plan is to publish it on an annual basis.  You can view this booklet, which will be circulated city-wide, by clicking here http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/consultation/

Jubilee Centre Classes re start 21st April 2008

Are you bored when the kids are at school?   Too much time on your hands????  Then go along to the Jubilee Centre, Allendale Road where they have all sorts of classes running from basic computer courses, web design, relaxation and well being to fun with clay, egg design and fun with forensics.  

For more information just call in to the Centre and pick up a leaflet or call Margy on

0191 5228447

Ryhope Community Association are looking for a suitably qualified tutor to deliver some IT programmes that are due to commence at the end of April.  Candidates must hold, or be working towards, a minimum of a level 3 teaching qualification.  If you are interested please contact Paula Hunt on 0191 523 9371.

Sunderland Community Network Administrator
Full time post - Salary £21,500 (35 hours per week)

Sunderland CVS have been provided with interim funding for the Sunderland Community Network (SCN) until September 2008. They are now looking to recruit an experienced Administrator to join the team.   The successful candidate will need to have strong business and administrative skills, be able to work individually and as part of a team, have experience of direct secretarial support, be enthusiastic and fully conversant in ICT. 

For more information and an application pack please contact Wendy on 0191 565 1566 or
email: wendy.hadlington@sunderlandcvs.co.uk

Closing date for applications is 12 NOON 1 April 2008. Please note the interview date is 2 April 08.

Due to financial constraints only candidates invited for interview will be contacted.

Area Services Manager £29,732- £33,176
A leading North East mental health membership charity, Rethink, is working to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life.

You could help them achieve this aim by leading their services across the North East and North Yorkshire. This is a high-profile role that will see you lead a range of services across the region. Managing both people and budgets, you will make sure they are delivering the highest quality care to service users and carers. You will also be required to nurture and develop their range of services, as well as take a proactive approach to business development and continuous service improvement. As someone who has led teams at this level before, you will be more than ready for this wide-ranging challenge. A credible and experienced manager, you will know how to build relationships and partnerships, develop services and robustly manage finances. Sensitive to mental health issues, you will be eager to bring your talents to the organisation.

To apply, please visit the website at www.rethink.org.

For an application pack, please phone 0845 456 0455 or email beverley.powell@rethink.org quoting reference ER/3677.

This post is subject to CRB Disclosure – having a criminal record will not necessarily bar people from employment with Rethink.

Portland School - Cleaner,  Department: Education and Community Services

You will be responsible to Head Teacher/Site Manager and your main duties will

include responsibility for the cleanliness of a designated section of the school building, reporting deficiencies and be part of the cleaning team covering other areas as and when required.

For further information or an application form, please contact the school on 0191 553 6050

.

Northern Rock Foundation Announces Grants

Northern Rock Foundation has announced that grants totalling £1 MILLION are available and there are plans to increase expenditure in 2008. 15 organisations across North East England and Cumbria will receive grants totalling £1,027,486 in the Foundation’s first grants round of 2008. The Foundation’s Trustees have also decided to increase their grants budget by at least £4m this year to a minimum of £11m, pending further consideration of their priorities. A full announcement about how the increased funds are to be allocated will be made in May.

Kellogg’s – Active Living Fund (UK)

The Kellogg’s Active Living Fund gives small grants to fund projects and activities that directly lead to people taking part in sustained physical activity. The aim of the fund is to help remove the “barriers” which stop people being active.  It is especially keen to fund activities that enable adults and children to exercise together.

The fund can support community groups – charities and other voluntary and community groups and organisations such as tenants and residents associations, friends groups, scouts and guides and sports clubs – the fund may make donations to sports clubs where it will be contributing to a project or activity which is specifically and demonstrably designed to attract first time participants; it will also consider funding specially adapted equipment which helps make a sport fully inclusive.

Please note that this fund does not support organisations with an annual income in excess of £50,000.

The fund is open to charities and other voluntary and community organisations in the UK.  Schools can apply but the fund will only consider contributing towards extra curricular activities that promote sustained physical activities. This is a competitive fund and projects will be assessed according to the following criteria and priorities:

Project Type - top priority - innovative (new) ways of getting non-active individuals active; second priority - existing projects or activities that adapt or expand so that they are available to new groups of people or new geographical areas, third priority will be given to existing projects or activities that need new or replacement equipment, or existing projects that require replacement funding.

Beneficiary Type - top priority - family units, children and adults undertaking physical activity together; second priority - children aged up to 18; third priority: adults aged 25 and over and the fourth priority - young adults aged 19-24.

To have the best chance of success your project needs to be a high priority in terms of both the Project Type and the Beneficiary Type. 

Examples of projects and how they would score under the assessment process are given in the guidance notes for the fund: www.kelloggs.co.uk/company/corporateresponsibility/activelivingfund/helpandguidance.aspx

The fund provides grants of up to £1,000.  The grant must have a significant impact on the project (so that, for example, Kellogg’s would consider a grant of £1,000 for a £2,000 project but will not consider a grant of £1,000 for a £10,000 project).

The fund is administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester.  To request an application form contact the Foundation’s small grants team on 0161 214 0940

Or you can download guidelines and an application form from the Foundation’s website:
www.communityfoundation.co.uk/apply/fund_details.aspx?fund_Id=24

For help and support in completing your application email louise@communityfoundation.co.uk

Please feel free to distribute to your friends, family and colleagues with their permission.