Conservative Party Green paper – A stronger Society: Voluntary Action in the 21st Century

 

Volunteering can be the solution to a lot of problems, but in many other countries in Europe rates of volunteering are higher than in the UK. This report say that the Government needs to change to support it. The paper says that funding is made too hard to get because of all the forms that need to be filled in – and a lot of other government processes just aren’t suited to the way that voluntary sector organisations work. It also suggests that by targeting funding towards issues that the government wants to solve, we are stopping charities from doing the things that they are good at.

 

They suggest making society more flexible, so that people can fit in voluntary action, and to make volunteering, and donating money to charities, simpler and easier. They also suggest changing the ways that charities can get money, for instance by making the National Lottery independent of Government so that it can give money more objectively. These changes would be linked to a newly created Office of Civil Society, which would represent voluntary organisations; and supported by a change to funding so that it can support projects that last for three years at a time.

 

This isn’t going to become law – it is an idea put forward by the Conservative party – so it doesn’t spell out exactly how they would make these changes, but it does give a lot of thought to ways that the Government could encourage people to be more generous with their time and money, on a regular basis. For instance, they say they’d like to ‘ support efforts to establish regular volunteering as a social norm – leading by example through a volunteer hours scheme for central Government employees.’

 

The Green Paper ends with twenty promises that the Conservatives pledge to work on if they get into power. These sum up the main points of the idea, and they are:

 

Part I:

1. Simplify the Gift Aid system to reduce the burden on charities

2. Work with charities to start a debate on whether it is possible to establish a new

social norm which says it is normal to give money to charity.

3. Direct support for volunteering through grassroots volunteering organisations

4. Develop more charities in areas where there aren’t any at the moment.

5. Support efforts to establish regular volunteering as a social norm.

6. Make it easier to volunteer by making it quicker to get checked out and approved to work with people, and make it clearler that volunteering wont stop you from getting benefits.

 

Part II:

7. Replace the Big Lottery Fund with a Voluntary Action Lottery Fund dedicated to giving money to voluntary and community organisationa

8. Respect the difference between grants and contracts – using contracts, rather than

grants, only where there is a clear justification

9. Operate a genuine one-stop funding portal for significant government grants

10. Set up a funding passport scheme so that voluntary organisations can enter their details less often to save time and effort

11. Draw up model grant and contract agreements to make it easier to apply for money

12. Create a network of Social Enterprise Zones to provide incentives for social

investment in deprived communities

13. Set up a Social Investment Bank as a wholesaler of ‘patient capital’ to a wide range of social investment institutions

Part III:

14. Allow voluntary organisations delivering public services to get part of any profit from investing.

15.  Offer multi-year funding terms on contracts and grant agreements

16. Make Government grants dependent on what is achieved, not how it happens

17. Agree and implement a Co-operative Action Plan – allowing co-ops to play a much bigger role in running and owning community assets and services

18. Create a powerful Office for Civil Society at the heart of government to fight for the

interests of charities, social enterprises, co-operatives and community groups

19. Ensure that government policy towards the voluntary sector is debated, by a new civil society select committee

20. Enforce an improved version of the Compact on relations between government and

the voluntary sector.

 

Charity Fpa has just got a whole load of money to extend its 'Speakeasy' programme to Scotland. The project trains parents in how to talk about sex with their kids, so that they feel informed and confident enough to bring up embarrassing stuff. There's going to be a peer education programme to go with it soon too...

Stepney Green School pupil Akram Hussain, 15, was elected after beating off competition from 19 other candidates. He is the second young person to fill the post, replacing Jahid Ahmed, whose year’s tenure is coming to an end. Hussain’s roles include chairing the Tower Hamlets Youth Partnership, attending cabinet meetings and visiting schools to consult with young people. His main priorities are to improve career opportunities and tackle environmental issues and crime.

Aldermaston 2008
The Bomb Stops Here - Surround the Base!
www.cnduk.org/aldermaston

Time for action:
Thousands will be converging on Aldermaston on 24 March - let's make sure we send a strong message to the government!

Resources are now available to help mobilise

Action packs are now going out to all local groups. These contain leaflets, mobilisation pack and model press release to help you generate publicity in advance of the action. If you are not from a CND group but aim to bring others with you to the event then please contact the office for a copy. Mobilising leaflets are now also availible to order free from the CND office.

Check the Aldermaston website, to see what transport is currently organised. If you have booked a coach or minibus, please make sure that you let CND know - e-mail mellcndeast@cnduk.org or phone either 0845 337 0282 or 07760 161755 - so that this can be publicised on the website.

Also, visit the website to find out more about the themed 'decade of protest' gates. What decade are you or your group going to celebrate?

Mobilisation

Start getting the word out now to all your local group members, to other peace, anti-war, green and anti-poverty groups, to local churches and mosques and to trade union branches and colleges. Don't forget friends, family and work colleagues.

Sign-up to the event on and invite your friends

Contact your local press, with personal stories of who is taking part in the action and ask them to run a piece in advance (to help build publicity)

Put up posters in your local shops, library, colleges and community centres

Find out what appropriate local events and festivals are taking place and see if you can book a stall or give out leaflets.

Organise a stunt in the local shopping centre or busy high street to attract attention when leafleting.

Think about what sort of visual presence you will have on the day - banners, pictures, artwork, poems - and factor that into your activities.

on Saturday 15 March, the Stop the War Coalition has
joined with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the
British Muslim Initiative in calling a national demonstration
in London, as part of the worldwide day of protest against
George Bush's wars on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq
invasion, when there will be demonstrations from Washington to
Beirut, from Sydney to Seoul.

WORLD AGAINST WAR DEMONSTRATION
Called by Stop the War Coalition, CND and BMI
SATURDAY 15 MARCH
ASSEMBLE TRAFALGAR SQUARE 12 NOON
MARCH TO PARLIAMENT
More details: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

TRANSPORT: Coaches to the WORLD AGAINST WAR are being
organised around the country. For details, see:
http://tinyurl.com/2da68c

The people in charge of making sure that the changes outlined in Every Child Matters actually take place are trying to improve the ways that young people can get involved in Government. They say:

'PK Research Consultancy and the National Children's Bureau have researched the most effective ways of involving children and young people in services. A useful handbook has been produced for practitioners [people who work with children and young people], backed up by a research report.

The handbook draws on the findings of a research study that explored the experiences of 29 organisations in seeking to listen to young people and take action on what they said. The research points to this being most likely to succeed where organisations had worked to sustain and embed their participation activity.

The handbook focuses on how to listen to children and young people so that their views bring about change.
It aims specifically to:

 

• Identify and illustrate the benefits of child and youth participation
• Guide organisations in thinking about how to create appropriate environments in which children and young people can be involved in meaningful ways, so that their views are listened to and acted upon
• Help organisations explore how they can develop cultures and infrastructures which sustain and embed participation throughout all their activity

You can find out more about what the Government is trying to do to include young people through the links below....
Handbook - Building a Culture of Participation

Research report - Building a Culture of Participation

Learning to listen - Core Principles for the Involvement of Children and Young People

The way your medical records are kept and who has access to them will be changed over the next year. At the moment most people have a paper record but eventually everyone will have a computer record called an ELECTRONIC HEALTHCARE RECORD (EHR).

The purpose of this survey is to help the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) create guidelines for healthcare professionals working with young people. Healthcare professionals include staff such as doctors, nurses (including school nurses,) surgeons, ambulance staff, physiotherapists and counsellors.

By answering this quick survey (it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes) you will be helping healthcare staff to provide a better service to all young people.

This survey is confidential which means we will only use the information you tell us to help create guidelines for healthcare professionals. We will not ask you for any personal details such as your name or address.

Over 10,000 policy makers and experts gathered in Bali to discuss climate change at the UN Conference.

 

Thomas Bielby, Young NCB and Children and Youth Board member, was among three other young people from across the globe to share views on the impact of climate change on their lives and that of their peers and communities. They also shared ideas on how to educate and inspire others to work together to address the challenges brought about by climate change.

Thomas, 16 years old, from Middlesbrough, said: ‘The greatest impact of the changing climate will be on children, young people and future generations. We are the most vulnerable to climate change, yet have contributed the least.

‘The UK Government needs to do more to give children and young people a voice on climate change decisions and promote the impact that we have on others around the globe.’

A new project, Children in a Changing Climate Programme, in partnership with Plan, the Institute of Development Studies and NCB aims to redress the balance. The new research programme will investigate the role children can play in reducing risks from disasters and adapting to climate change.

http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4231.php

A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which talked to almost 200 young people who smoke cannabis found that most of them pick up off their mates, rather than off 'dealers'. Apparently, drug networks are pretty social, and aren't the scary criminal networks that many people imagine  their kids getting mixed up with. If you're interested in what the kids said,  there's a good sum up above...