RESOURCES

Girl Guiding UK developed a peer education network which has been enthusiastically taken up in the south west. Sessions including subjects such as eating disorders, mental health and fair trade issues are delivered by trained guides who work with guide units to explore these issues.

NEW SOCIAL VALUE BRIEFING  To complement developments in the Public Services (Social Value) Bill, NAVCA's Local Commissioning and Procurement team has produced a new briefing and discussion paper on social value entitled Measuring social value, social outcomes and impact.  This paper provides an overview of the different tools and approaches that are being used and developed and discusses the implications for smaller organisations. For more information visit: http://www.navca.org.uk  (Posted 01/02/12)

NEED SOMEWHERETO_ DO THE THINGS YOU LOVE? somewhereto_ is a new project helping young people aged 16 – 25 years to find the spaces they need to do the things they love within sports, culture and the arts.
Do you love to dance but need a space to perform? Or are you part of a band needing a space to rehearse? Perhaps somewhereto_ paint, debate, write or play sport?  Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, somewhereto_ aims to bring together young people with space-holders. It might be a physical space that you need, such as a sports hall, a piece of land for gardening, a darkroom, a place for your band to rehearse, a room where your group can meet or a recording studio. Or maybe you need magazine column inches, online space or even screen time in a cinema to promote your own activity or project. somewhereto_ can help you find and use that perfect space.
Thanks to lots of partners we now have a range of spaces on offer all for free or at low cost for young people aged 16 – 25 years.  You can write for a newspaper, be on the radio, busk in a shopping centre, grow your own vegetables and record your own music. Does your group fancy performing in a castle, singing in a gothic chapel or dancing in a Victorian manor house? And if you don’t live near one of these spaces, then we even have a mobile space that could come to you! Some of the spaces are featured on the website www.somewhereto.com , but only a fraction of the spaces on offer are listed and more spaces for the South West are being added every day.  You can find out more about somewhereto_  and register your interest in a space by visiting the website  www.somewhereto.com   or by contacting Sharon Adams, the somewhereto_  coordinator for the South West 01823 365444 / 07974 747179 (Posted 30/11/11)

COMMUNITY MATTERS Take a look at the Community Matters website. It has all the latest news and offers events around the UK.  There are some very useful resources including a new social value tool, a business plan template and advice on volunteer management.  (Posted 01/12/11)

THE NATIONAL FAMILY LEARNING NETWORK (NFLN)  Are you involved in Family Learning or work with families and children?  Join other voluntary and community sector organisations here.    The National Family Learning Network (NFLN) website is a one stop shop for practical resources and support for anyone involved in family learning. It has free downloadable resources, news updates, job vacancies, events and the latest funding opportunities. Registration is free and takes less than a minute.  NFLN is a partnership between Campaign for Learning, NIACE and ContinYou, they are offering this support as part of The Big Impact Project, funded by the Big Lottery. Find out more about this project here.     Content will vary and they may have funds or research that appears that would be relevant to youth work.
(Posted 01/12/11) 

THE HOME OFFICE has launched a new campaign targeting teenage relationship violence and abuse.  Resources include a guide to signs of abuse, a list of services which help both perpetrators and victims and a discussion board. (Posted 06/09/11)

UK YOUTH offer a range of toolkits including Healthaware, Accreditation and Young people Shaping Youth Services.  Click here for more information and to order your toolkit. (Posted 17/08/11)

CHARITY WISE The Open University have launched some FREE learning resources for people responsible for leading and managing small charities and voluntary and community organisations.  Click here for the promotional flyer about the available resources.  To look at the site and for more information, please click here. (Posted 19/07/11)

AVOIDING PROBLEMS IN RUNNING YOUR CHARITY - The Charity Commission has just published useful web pages on risk designed specifically for small charities. The new pages provide 10 useful questions that small charities should ask themselves to avoid problems. These cover areas such as making sure your charity is working in line with its governing document, ensuring that all trustees are properly appointed, how to assess risk and the importance of preparing accounts and trustee reports. The pages also cover simplified risk management for small charities as well as how to avoid typical risks. Click here to find out more (Posted 29/6/11)

RISK MANAGEMENT GUIDE - This is a useful guide for groups when they are considering risk management. It would be useful for a range of voluntary and community groups and the guide has information on types of risks and links to other sources of information. (Posted 23/6/11) 

BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO COMMISSIONING - NAVCA’s Commissioning and Procurement team have produced ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Commissioning’. The guide covers: what commissioning is; why it is important for development workers; ways of supporting organisations; and ideas for working with the public sector. The document is available from Voluntary Action Swindon at a cost of £10 per copy. Please call 01793 538398 (Posted 31/5/11)

SHELTER has a range of resources for youth work professionals covering topics such as housing benefit advice, legal issues and an interactive board game for groups to think and talk about housing and homelessness. They also produce advice leaflets for young people. See www.shelter.org.uk/professional or ring 0844 515 1155.  (Posted 26/5/11)

PLAYFUL COMMUNITIES is a new website from Play England that provides information, advice and resources for anyone interested in developing play provision in their local neighbourhood. See www.playfulcommunities.org.uk  (Posted 26/5/11)

CHARITABLE STATUS: A Practical Handbook - This handbook provides straightforward explanations of what a charity is and how it should operate. It covers charity categories, registration, liabilities, requirements, trade and many more basics needed for running a charity. This is must for charities and would-be charities, and their trustees, staff and advisors.  (Posted 3/5/11)

AN EQUAL PLACE AT THE TABLE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE is a resource pack that highlights the benefits to organisations and young people of involving the younger generation in decision-making.  (Posted 3/5/11)

WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE - NCVYS has produced seven career information sheets for individuals interested in paid or voluntary work connected to working with young people in the voluntary and community youth sector. Each information sheet covers areas such as what it is like to be in the role, the work, routes in, qualifications and training.   To access the sheets click here   (Posted 30/3/11)

GOOD GUIDE TO EMPLOYMENT TEMPLATES - These can be downloaded from the NCVO website. There are a wide range of templates available which are designed to be customisable to your organisation and which you can adapt, edit and amend as you wish. The templates are designed to help you with the development of policies, job descriptions and good diversity practice and more. See  (Posted 30/3/11)

FREE WEBSITES - Cambridge Open Systems can provide free websites to all community groups throughout the UK. Based on the successful VOICE service, any community, not-for-profit or voluntary group can apply to have a free website. With an easy-to-use website building package, users can set-up a website quickly and easily with no technical expertise required.  Click here for more info   (Posted 30/3/11)

UK SAFER INTERNET CENTRE PILOT HELPLINE LAUNCH - The UK’s first ever Helpline for Professionals dealing with e-safety issues. The Helpline is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre and is for all professionals and volunteers in the SW of England who work with children and young people, and aims to address online safety issues they face, both professionally and personally. To find out more click here (Posted 21/3/11) 

VOLUNTEERING IMPACT ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT - A practical guide for assessing the difference that volunteering makes,  it is designed for any size of volunteer involving organisation, in any sector, and will enable you to measure the impact of volunteering on your volunteers, your organisation, your direct beneficiaries and the wider community. (Posted 03/03/11)

BT COMMUNITY WEB KIT – BT has relaunched this scheme for charities and not-for-profit community groups. It provides free website hosting, a free address, a choice of layouts and designs and a step-by-step guide. See http://www.btck.co.uk/ to find out more (Posted 3/3/11)

EQUALITY ACT STARTER KIT is an online resource that has been created by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, with nine "bite-size" learning modules that set out the essential points of the legislation. Each downloadable module should take less than 10 minutes to complete.  For more information click here.   (Posted 3/3/11)

SO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE? -  This is a new resource handbook from the NYA for training and supporting volunteers. It is a compilation of over 50 activities that has been devised as an introduction for volunteers who want to work with young people. Email sales@nya.org.uk or go to www.nya.org.uk  (Posted 28/1/11)

SOMEWHERE TO TALK - SOMEONE TO LISTEN - Click here to see the Somewhere to Talk - Someone to Listen Interim Report produced by Young People South West regarding the Role of Youth Clubs in Supporting the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing of Young People.  (Posted 27/1/11)

WRITING A HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY - Did you know that it is a legal requirement to have an operate a health and safety policy if you employ more than five people. A written policy does not need to be complicated or time consuming.  Ladder4learning have prepared a briefing sheet which can be found here.  (Posted 24/1/11)

WEBSITE LAUNCHED FOR THOSE WORKING WITH MUSLIM YOUTH -  'the one-stop shop for those working with Muslim youth', Connect Online is free to join and is an expansion of the quarterly newsletter Connect, which has developed into a resource providing news, a blog, articles, projects, videos, research and policy information, and many other resources.   For more information click here  (Updated 17/5/11)

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE is a feature of the coalition's ambitions for a Big Society.  To find out more about how to set up a Social Enterprise, please see this interesting resource from Business Link. (Updated 17/5/11)

SAFER RECRUITMENT RESOURCES –  The CWDC has produced a range of resources to help you to understand more about recruiting safely into the children and young people's workforce. They can be downloaded here.  (Posted 17/5/11)

WORKING IN A CONSORTIUM - A guide for third sector organisations involved in public service delivery.  Please click here to see the guide. (Updated 17/5/11)

VOL RESOURCE Check out the VolResource website which offers a Policies and Procedures checklist for the voluntary sector.  Let us know if there is anything there that you found particularly useful. (Updated 17/5/11)

ONE HUNDRED BITES is a resource that is subtitled brain breaks, icebreakers, team builders, energisers and starters which sums it up. It has 100 quick activities designed to make the learning environment for young people fun and relaxing. Some of the activities focus on physical and mental exercises, while others centre on group dynamics. Click here (Updated 17/5/11)

More Key policies, guidelines and key documents can be found here