New Ward Profiles for Birmingham were launched on 23 May. These are being hosted as part of the Birmingham City Observatory. These profiles are an excellent way to begin to build a picture of the place-based communities around your services and organisation. Read more
We are asking for VCFSE organisations to support us in reaching communities to feedback on the draft framework for Central Birmingham. ‘Our Future Draft Central Birmingham Framework 2040’ is now subject to public consultation until the 20th July 2023. Read more
BVSC has launched a new E-learning platform as part of the Community Leadership Training Programme. This new online mode of delivery will allow more individuals to take part in the programme at a time, space and pace that suits them best. Read more
Birmingham’s Vision for Volunteering 2027 draws on the recently developed national Vision for Volunteering developed by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and their partners. It has been co-produced with citizens, voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations, and public sector and academic partners in Birmingham through a series of events held in Birmingham in late 2022. Read more
After a month of bank holiday Mondays, the Business Development and Funding webinars return from Monday 5 June. We have some fantastic guest speakers and funders lined up throughout June, alongside the usual new, events and live funding opportunities. Read more
Sophie Wilson, Director of Research at BVSC has written a Blog highlighting her Phd experiences so far. Read more
Over £1.2million in free, unrestricted funding has just been paid to third-sector organisations via funding platform easyfundraising. Because easyfundraising is committed to helping communities access essential funding, they partner with over 7,500 online retailers that want to give back. In times like these, when individual giving has reduced or even halted, easyfundraising provides an alternative funding option by turning online shopping into monetary donations for third sector organisations. Read more
BVSC, the University of Wolverhampton and the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations in Coventry are looking for local citizens to become fully trained community researchers. We are beginning a project for the West Midlands Combined Authority and want to hear the voices and opinions of the people living in the Birmingham area, Coventry and surrounds, and the Black Country, to better understand how we might all achieve inclusive growth. Read more
As part of the response to the Cost of Living crisis, Birmingham City Council are working with Heart of England Community Foundation to provide Cost-of-Living Information Advice Guidance Funding. Read more
A survey by easyfundraising HAS found that over 60% of good causes have experienced a drop in money raised in the past year - with 59.7% expecting the downward trend to progress as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. One-third said they are changing how they fundraise, with many suggesting that ‘online fundraising’ is the path forward. Helping bridge the gap, online funding platform easyfundraising enables third sector organisations receive free donations. Read more
The RACE Equality Code is an accountability framework to complement the work that we are currently doing with regards to EDI strategies and standards. As part of our commitment to implementing recommendations from the RACE Code action plan, we are proud to formally publish our Anti-Racist Statement. Read more
The Research Better Together 2023 Webinar took place on 20 April. The purpose of the event was to: discuss findings from research undertaken by Jenny Harlock (University of Warwick) and Sophie Wilson (BVSC Research) ‘Valuing the role of the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector in social care research’; and to provide further information about the Research Better Together 2023 programme and how you can be involved. Read more
A new grant programme to support Ukrainian guests in Birmingham is open for applications from Voluntary and community-based organisations in Birmingham. There are three themes: ESOL; wellbeing and mental health; and employment. You can find out more by joining an advice session on 19 or 26 April. Read more
To mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation thousands of organisations across the country are getting together to give us all the chance to help out in our own local communities. Starting on Monday 8th May there will be opportunities for everyone to join in! From checking in on someone who’d like a bit of company or volunteering for a charity, the more of us who join in, the bigger help we will be. Read more
Following the success of The Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and as part of the legacy of the highly successful commonwealth games, The Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands, Sir John Crabtree OBE, invites you to join our region in celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III. Working with the Mayor of the West Midlands, we are offering grants of up to £2,000 to groups who want to run events or activities on this weekend. Applications open on Tuesday 9 May and will close on Wednesday 7 June. Read more
In 2022, we learned that there are hundreds of groups in Birmingham who love performing together. Birmingham Festival 23 will be an opportunity to celebrate them. We are looking for Birmingham-based groups to perform as part of the Birmingham Festival 23 Made in Brum programme. Read more
On Sunday 23 April 2023, there will be a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts service. The new Emergency Alerts service is now live. The system will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone if their lives are at risk in an emergency. The service will be used to warn you about life-threatening emergencies such as severe flooding. Read more
A BVSC/ NAVCA/ DCMS Cost of Living Network Event took place online on 29 March 2023. Following the 1 November BVSC/ Barrow Cadbury Trust event, the network event provided further insight and information on the cost of living crisis within the City. ‘Collaboration’, ‘Information & Communication’ and ‘Funding’ were ranked by network attendees as being the highest priorities to tackle in terms of dealing with the crisis. The Cost of Living Toolkit has been updated with even more resources. Read more
This year the conference theme is Action, Difference, and Change in Local Civil Society with a special focus on how charity and community action and activism survive or thrive at the local level; how local voluntary sectors differ and change over time; and what role local civil society plays in building a better society. Alongside this theme, the conference will feature research on issues such as fundraising, policy, finances, and all manner of issues related to the voluntary sector. Read more
What could your organisation raise in 30 days? Lets Enable -Birmingham have raised almost £80 while RSPCA Stourbridge branch raised almost £100 in a month through easyfundraising – could your group do any better? Read more
On 13 March, a Warm Welcome Network event took place at Aston Villa Football Club. The event connected organisations offering a Warm Welcome to each other, along with local services and initiatives that can aid them in better supporting our communities. Attendees were also able to take part in an ‘eco-system hackathon’- sharing how Warm Welcome was making a difference to their communities and ideas to improve the network for the future. Read more
Adult Social Care within Birmingham City Council are recommissioning the Prevention and Communities (P&C) grant programme (could you hyperlink this back to the main page on P&C please). This will open in mid March 2023 and is due to end at noon on Tuesday 09 May. Read more
Social Prescribing Day, an annual celebration, takes place on 9 March 2023. Social Prescribing is connecting people to activities, groups and support that improve health and wellbeing. BVSC is launching a webpage on Social Prescribing. Read more
To facilitate support to identified health inclusion groups across the city, Birmingham Place Committee is working with BVSC to distribute a proportion of the Fairer Futures Fund in the form of small grants to community organisations. There is up to £10,000 of grant funding available per organisation, with an anticipated delivery window of up to 12 months. Read more