Be a Board Member For the Day – 5th October 2011

Duration: Full Day 10 – 4

Dates: Wed  5^th October 2011

For: new board/committee members, people interested in becoming trustees or committee members, managers working with boards/committees, volunteers.

By the end of the series of session participants will:

• Have gained an overview of roles and responsibilities of board/governance group members
• Have an overview of issues common to Boards/management groups of charities and/or community organisations
• Have developed their skills in group working
• Have an increased self-awareness of themselves as a group member
• Have gained skills in building relationships and giving and receiving feedback

Do I want to be a Board member? If so, what will be my personal learning or what will I gain?

What is my role and what are my responsibilities as a Board member?

How do I contribute in my board/governance group?

Are there possibilities for changing the way I communicate in order to achieve better results?

How do I get support? … Continue Reading

Rising Circles – 4th October 2011

Duration: 6 x 2 hr sessions over at least 12 weeks (8 – 10 participants)

Times: All sessions run 5pm – 7pm

Dates:

• Tue 4^th Oct
• Tue 18 October
• Tue 1^st Nov
• Tue 15 November
• Tue 6^th December
• Tue 17^th Jan

Participants should ideally attend all sessions in order to build continuity and rapport within the group.

For: managers, board/committee members, staff, volunteers.

By the end of the series of session participants will:

• Have created a safe, confidential space for thinking, discussion and insights.
• Have developed their skills in group working through experiencing the Rising Circles group process
• Have gained skills in identifying goals; action steps and personal evaluation; developing effective questions, congruent insights, sensitive support and compassionate challenge; giving and receiving feedback and many other areas
• Have experienced a process through which they may positively influence the future through focussing their own thinking and actions towards that which they wish to create

This will be a coaching circle. Participants will work individually and together within the group, they will identify current issues, dilemmas, ambitions and potential and will support each other in creating positive futures. Participants can choose what issues to work on and each is likely to be very different – career progression, management dilemmas, relationships at work or outside work, next steps in personal and professional development or a variety of personal themes.  … Continue Reading

Planning For the Future – 1st December 2011

Duration: 10.00 – 16:00 (Full Day)

Dates: 1st December 2011

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will:
-Have a clear understanding of the key terms used when referring to organisational planning and strategic visioning
-Know more about the methods and processes used when planning your organisational development
-Understanding the structure and process of planning strategically
-Identify the areas to be developed (success and struggles)

Content:
1. Glossary of terms
2. Exploring the concept of organisational planning
3. How strategic planning works
4. Getting ready to plan
5. Articulating the organisations mission and vision
6. Assessing the current situation
7. Developing strategies, goals and objectives
8. Writing and communicating the plan
9. Monitoring and evaluating
10. Useful tips … Continue Reading

Building Awareness Using Social Media – 9th November 2011

Duration: 13:00 – 16:00 (Half Day)

Dates: 9th November 2011

For: Anyone (including staff, volunteers, and committee members) interested in the potential of social media to build awareness of their organisation. It is for those who have no or little knowledge about social media tools.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Identify the variety of social media tools available
- Understand how social media can be used to develop community and organisational involvement
- Know how to use websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for the purpose of building awareness of their organisation

Content:
1. What is social media?
2. Why social media is not a fad
3. Golden rules of how to use social media
4. Overview of how to use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
5. Inspirational case studies of how VCS organisations have successfully used social media … Continue Reading

Assessing your Board – 17th November 2011

Duration: 10.00 – 16:00 (Full Day)
Dates: Thursday 17th November

For: Anyone involved as a trustee or board member of a voluntary sector organisation – charities, limited companies,
community interest companies. The training is especially suitable for newer board members, or members of a board
that has not yet done an official appraisal.

Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, participants will:

Understand the role and function of the board in voluntary and community sector organisations
Understand the need for regular objective appraisal of the board’s performance, in the context of the Good
Governance Code for the voluntary sector
Know what makes the difference between ineffective and effective boards
Have the tools and knowledge required to begin to appraise their own organisation’s board

Content:
1. Introduction
2. Purpose of the board
3. The good governance code
4. Why appraise?
5. Appraisal methods
6. Implementation and continuous improvement
7. Useful tips
8. What next? … Continue Reading

Writing Complex Funding Applications – 10th November 2011

Duration: 10:00 – 16:00 (Full Day)

Dates: 10th November 2011

For: Anyone (including staff, volunteers, and committee members) who has already submitted small grant applications and is looking to write bigger, more detailed bids.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Understand what makes a good funding application
- Successfully plan a large, complex project
- Demonstrate an increased knowledge of outcomes and the monitoring progress made towards the identified outcomes
- Avoid making common mistakes when applying for larger amounts of funding
- Understand the funders perspective

Content:
1. Feedback from funders
2. Identifying need
3. Planning a complex project
4. Measuring progress
5. Costing a deatiled project
6. Thinking like a funder … Continue Reading

Creating Effective Email Newsletters – 20th October

Duration: 13.00 – 16:00 (Half Day)

Dates: 20th Oct 2011

For: Anyone (including staff, volunteers, and committee members) responsible for organisational promotion. Training will be suitable for those wishing to know more about email newsletters and how it might be developed within their organisation.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Understand and appreciate the importance of email newsletters for promoting VCS organisations and projects.
- Identify the potential for email newsletters within their own work
- List what features contribute to the creation of a email newsletter
- Monitor how well email newsletters are working for their organisation
- Make an informed decision as to whether email marketing is a suitable approach for their organisation

Content:

1. Considerations such as what makes a good and bad email newsletter
2. Optimisation techniques to increase open and click rates
3. Website analytics to help you monitor who is viewing and which type of content is popular
4. An introduction to email marketing including how to set up email newsletters and what makes a good campaign

… Continue Reading

Understanding and Using an Outcomes Focused Approach – Starts 13th Oct

Duration: Two Days 10:00– 16:00

Day 1: 13th October 2011
Day 2: 3rd November  2011
Note: Please note that you must attend both training days.

For: Anyone (including staff, volunteers, and committee members) involved in planning a project or writing a funding bid.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- State what outcomes are and the difference between outcomes and outputs
- Identify outcomes and outputs relevant to their own work
- Identify indicators and methods to monitor outcomes
- Plan a project following an outcomes approach

Content:
1. What are outcomes?
2. Intermediate outcomes
3. Basic steps to assessing outcomes
4. Linking outcomes to planning (CES planning triangle)
5. How to implement an outcomes focus within your organisation

… Continue Reading

Creativity in Management Training – 6th October 2011

In management we often rely on our left brain’s logical and analytical qualities. Come along to this experiential workshop and find out more about whether you can combine this with right brain creativity to enhance staff and volunteer management, team building and as a tool to understand more about yourself and the people you work with.

Duration: 10 – 4 full day
Dates: 6th Oct 2011
For: anyone involved in managing staff, volunteers, boards, management committees, community groups.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the session participants will:
• Will have an understanding of how using creativity can help the managerial role
• Have a clearer picture of what currently works for them as a manager and where different skills could be employed
• Have experienced a range of creative techniques designed for one-to-one work and for group work, and be able to articulate their own experience and learning.
• Have practiced a way of facilitating which draws the most out of the creative experience.
• Have gained a set of creative tools for applying when supporting individuals and/or when working with teams … Continue Reading

Creating Great Volunteer Roles Training – 19th October 2011

Duration: 10.00 – 16:00 (Full Day)

Dates: Thursday 19^th October

For: Anyone involved in the recruitment or management of volunteers in voluntary and community sector organisations. The course will be especially useful for non-specialist staff who do volunteer management in addition to their main duties, or those newer to volunteer management.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will:

• -       Understand why people volunteer
• -       Know how to harness volunteer’s motivations
• -       Understand the need to align volunteer roles with your organisation’s mission
• -       Understand the value of an outcomes-focussed approach to volunteer roles
• -       Know how to design interesting volunteer roles that keep people motivated

… Continue Reading