Information and Advice for the Lancaster District’s Third Sector – 04 August 2022
We are working with the local voluntary and community sector and Lancashire and District-wide partners to support VCFSE organisations and people living in our communities. We encourage you to share this page with others.
An archive of previous editions can be found here.
Click headings below to expand each section.
Third Sector Trends Survey
We are once again encouraging all third sector organisations to take part in this regular survey, so that we can build a picture of what is happening locally, what has changed since 2016 and 2019 and what you think is going to happen next.
It’s quick, interesting, and easy to do. You can respond on your phone, tablet, or computer.
If you’re ready to answer the survey, start here.
All answers are securely stored completely anonymously and confidentially, and we will provide a report focusing on results from the Lancaster district in the coming months.
National Youth Agency (NYA) – Youth Investment Fund Phase 2 Green Light
The NYA are delighted to announce that they have been selected by the government to deliver phase 2 of the Youth Investment Fund (YIF) along with their partners Social Investment Business, The Key Fund and Resonance, to create, expand and improve youth facilities and services in England to drive positive outcomes for young people. The £368 million fund aims to deliver grants for up to 300 facilities in selected eligible areas across England by 2025 that represent value for money, are environmentally sustainable and enable positive activities for young people aged 11-18 (up to 25 for young people with SEND).
Locally this means funding will be available for organisations in Poulton, Harbour, Heysham North, Westgate, Skerton West & Skerton East. The focus for this grant is facilities to level up youth provision, assessing and distributing grants so that local youth facilities and services can be the best they can be.
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Successful Funding Application for Lancaster BID
Lancaster BID is delighted to announce a successful funding application from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £9,900 towards the Lancaster Rewind Festival. The festival will turn the clock back to 1972, taking a look back at all that has changed about the city centre over the past 50 years as well as things that have remained the same.
Read more on this exciting development.
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Eden Project North £50m Levelling Up Fund Bid
Lancaster City Council have lodged a bid for £50m of Levelling Up funding for Eden Project North in Morecambe. The council hopes that it will be one of the two £50m awards being given out in the second round of the Levelling Up Fund for projects with culture and heritage investment theme.
These awards are for “flagship projects and must be in line with the fund’s focus on highly visible interventions that boost pride in place”…
Read more on the progress of this project
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Mark McQueen Foundation
Community Foundation for Lancashire have re-opened the Mark Mcqueen Foundation fund for applications. Groups can apply for up to £3000 for projects that seek to support young men struggling with emotional and mental health issues, with the ultimate aim of helping to reduce the rate of male suicide.
Closing date for applications 2 September 2022.
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Social Enterprise Growth Impact Fund
Big Issue Invest, UnLtd and learning partner Shift have launched the Growth Impact Fund, a potential £25 million investment fund providing equity, patient debt, and revenue-based funding to early-stage and growing social businesses in the UK.
The Fund is open to social enterprises that are focusing on tackling inequality or are ‘diverse-led’.
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The Henry Smith Charity
The Charity aims to use its resources to help people and communities at a time of need and to bring about positive change. It funds organisations that work with people to reduce social and economic disadvantage.
Improving Lives
Grants for small and medium sized organisations in the UK to support projects and the running costs of organisations.
£20k – £60k per year for up to 3 years, paying for running costs, salaries and projects.
Strengthening Communities
Running costs grants for small, grass roots, community based organisations working in the 10% most deprived areas of England.
£20k – £60k per year for up to 3 years, paying for running costs, salaries and projects.
Holiday Grants
Grants towards recreational trips and holidays for groups of children aged 13 and under who are disabled or disadvantaged.
£500 – £2,500
Christian Projects
Grants to support projects that explicitly promote the Christian faith, helping to grow faith communities and churches.
£10k+ per year for up to 3 years.
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Grand Plan
£1,000 grants to creative people of colour based in the UK who want to make a new cultural project happen. It can be anything from: poetry, paintings, fashion, zines, music, food, flowers, photographs to workshops or events.
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BA Better World Community Fund
£50,000 or up to 50% additional funding towards successful, pre-approved crowdfunding campaigns.
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The Fore’s Autumn 2022 Funding Round
For this funding round, opening on 25 July, The Fore is offering unrestricted grants of up to £30,000 that can be spread over one to three years. Grant funding will unlock potential for small charities who are ready to take their next step forward and for whom our support will have transformational impact on an organisational level. The grants can be used for whatever grantees think will help transform their scale, sustainability, reach or efficiency.
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Community Businesses in Places of Worship
Places of worship can make great venues for community businesses; enterprises that trade for the benefit of the local community and are typically owned and run by local residents.
The Plunkett Foundation provides support, advice and grants of up to £5,000 for groups to explore the opportunities.
‘Left behind’ neighbourhoods uniquely vulnerable to rising cost of living
New research from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, published as part of its inquiry into levelling up, shows people living in England’s most ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods face higher levels of financial, food and hardship vulnerability, and will be hardest hit by the cost of living crisis.
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Modelling resourcefulness
Two years. 26 communities. One pandemic. The final report on communities responding to COVID-19, led by the Third Sector Research Centre, explores the complex factors at play in community responses to the pandemic.
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Mencap 2022 Survey
Mencap would like to invite people with a learning disability to take part in their 2022 Big Learning Disability Survey.
This survey was fully co-produced by people with a learning disability and asks questions on topics they say are important to them, including healthcare, discrimination, mental health, and money and support.
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Measuring Impact
Measuring the impact of your activities is something which is sometimes not high on the list of priorities, but also something we’d all like to be better at.
NPC have a created a useful resource which helps organisations measure, understand, and improve their impact.
Find out more and access the toolkit.
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Evaluation of Government Covid Funding Package
In March 2020, the Chancellor announced a £750m funding package to support the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector during the pandemic.
As a result of this funding, 14,000 organisations reached an estimated 21.5 million service users.
This newly published evaluation describes how funds were spent and their overall impact.
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Rapid Evidence Review of Community Initiatives
DCMS commissioned Frontier Economics to explore how community initiatives can deliver community infrastructure effectively and enhance social capital.
Key conclusions were:
- Community infrastructure provides a place in which people can meet and, in some cases, is a focal point of the local area. It is important for a community to thrive – but it is not enough on its own.
- For community infrastructure to be effective in supporting a community to thrive, it needs to be used to build community networks and relationships – and this is often led by activity organisers or community-based institutions.
Read the full report and recommendations.
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Charity Annual Returns Consultation
Are you interested in sharing your views on potential changes to your Annual Return process? Charities, their trustees and the public are invited to comment on a new approach to the Annual Return process via the Charity Commission public consultation.
The Commission welcomes responses on revisions to the Annual Return 2023-25, applying to charities’ financial years starting on or after 1 January 2023. Have your say by responding to the consultation here, by 1 September 2022.
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Charities call on chancellor to tackle fuel costs crisis
Recently, alongside other charitable organisations, NAVCA called on the Chancellor to take action to tackle the fuel costs crisis, which has been impacting volunteers’ ability to travel. NAVCA know that volunteering helps communities thrive and has a positive impact on wellbeing, but that the cost of living crisis is discouraging people from volunteering due to increased transport costs.
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North Lancashire’s Gleaning Network
FoodFutures has recently established a gleaning network where surplus produce is harvested by volunteers and redistributed for bellies, not bins. This work is part of the Closing Loops project and is being delivered by project partner Eggcup.
The network is still in the early stages of development but the partnership are looking for local trees, orchards, gardens and farms that may have excess, surplus or unsellable food, and volunteers to take part in gleaning efforts and events.
To take part, contact Jay by email at [email protected]
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Charity Digital Skills Report 2022
For the last two years this annual report has tracked how charities’ use of digital was changing and the effect this was having on strategy, leadership, skills and operations. This year, research has focused on the role digital was playing for the sector on the ‘road to recovery’ phase of the pandemic.
The report includes a set of helpful insights into areas that are critical success factors for digital progress.
Find out more and read the report here.
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Prince’s Trust Report: The Power of Potential
Young people want to work, but a lack of support for mental and physical health conditions is one of the key factors preventing them from finding and keeping employment.
A new report from the Prince’s Trust and HSBC analyses this issue and sets out recommendations for improved provision.
Find out more and read the report here.
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DCMS Consultation – Dormant Assets Fund
The Government has launched a public consultation on what social and environmental causes should benefit from more than £700 million of dormant assets funding in England.
Find out more about the Dormant Assets Act 2022 and participate in the consultation survey here.
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What will environmental crises mean for older people and disabled people?
Older people and disabled people are often hit hardest in a crisis. And environmental crises—including climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution—are no different.
Find out more about these impacts, and possible responses, at this New Philanthropy Capital blog.
‘Heads up: Rethinking Mental Health Services for Young People at Risk of Harm
A new report by Dr Huong Le, Charlotte Rainer and Commission on Young Lives (COYL) explores how to improve mental health support for young people. Launched in 2021, the COYL is seeking to re-imagine the systems of support which prevent marginalised children and young people from falling into vilence, exploitation, and the criminal justice system, and to support them thrive.
“We know that young people from marginalised groups have particularly high levels of mental health need, often undiagnosed and frequently exacerbated by the trauma they have experienced. Therefore, any work to improve outcomes for these groups of young people cannot ignore mental health.”…
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Long Covid: Coffee & Chat – The Recovery College
With long covid still present in peoples normal day to day lives, the Recovery College are bringing people together that have experienced long covid to share information and socialise in a safe space.
Held monthly on Tuesday’s from 10.30-11.30am at Bamber Bridge Community Centre
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The Health Benefits of Volunteering – ‘Volunteering Makers you Healthier, Survey Finds’
According to a new survey, volunteers involved in the parkrun events reported a boost to their physical and mental wellbeing. Researchers concluded that ‘the characteristics of parkrun (free, regular, local, accessible and optional) could be used ‘as a model for community events seeking to attract volunteers’.
Learn more and run along to this article
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Session table for August – The Recovery College
Take a look at the many wonderful sessions around health & wellbeing hosted by The Recovery College from walking football to anatomy of a seed and gratitude and joy to understanding depression.
The sessions are an engaging and revolutionary way to get involved in recovery learning.
View the session timetable or visit the event listings online.
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Cost of Living Crisis: Let’s Keep Talking
The latest phase of Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership’s Let’s Keep Talking suicide prevention campaign focuses on the cost-of-living crisis.
The rising costs of day-to-day living is rarely out of the news with more and more people struggling to pay the bills and make ends meet.
Sometimes when people are in debt, they can become so worried about it that they consider taking their own lives.
This campaign urges people to ‘keep talking’ about their money worries so they don’t reach that point.
Find out more and see the website supporting this latest phase of the campaign.
National Youth Agency (NYA) Regional Roundtable Roadshow Comes to the North West
The NYA are set to tour the regions of England in September providing an afternoon of discussions, planning, sharing and networking. The in-person events will run from 12.30-5pm with a networking lunch included. There will be a presentation and discussion themes will focus on Sector Policy and Advocacy, Youth Work Standards, National and Regional Programmes and Youth Sector Investment.
The Northwest event will take place on Wednesday 21st September at Elliot House, Manchester.
Find out more and book your free place
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Escape 2 Make Green Festival
Join E2M for a creative free and fun family event in Lancaster on 27th August, 11am-4pm. See what the local young people have been making this summer. Family and friends also get the chance to be interactive and have a go at the crafts themselves.
E2M will be running at least 1 FREE workshop a day until the event itself. Workshops include a variation of eco creative fun such as land art, wild cooking, woodwork DIY and re-leaf printing. There are still places available which can be booked via the QR code or visit www.escape2make.org
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Summer Activities for Young People from CEEP
Over the next four weeks, free activities are available to young people aged 13-17. To find out more and book places, please contact Steven on 01524 310030. Booking is essential.
• Wednesday 10th August – Pool tournament at Squires snooker and pool hall – 11am – 3pm
• Wednesday 17th August – Football at Morecambe Bay Academy – 11am – 3pm
• Thursday 18th August – Outdoor activity day at Forrest hills – 11am-3pm
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Summer Events at St Thomas Centre, Lancaster
Fun Day
Drop in with your family and enjoy games, toys, craft, facepainting and refreshments at St Thomas Centre, Lancaster on Tuesday 16th August from 11am – 3pm. Free entry.
Peep
Come down and enjoy a parent/carer and child learning session at The Centre, St Thomas Church. Sessions to restart 16th September, every Friday during term time from 10-11am.
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SEND Information Event
Families with a child or young person with special educational needs or a disability are invited to attend a family fun and information event at Morecambe Library on 11 August at 10am – 2pm.
Discover what’s on offer locally, understand available services, and find out about support groups. Refreshments provided.
No need to book, just turn up. Find out more here.
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Summer Fun Days 2022
The Children & Family Wellbeing Service are offering fun days from 10am – 12.30pm at locations across Lancaster and Morecambe:
3 August – Morecambe Library – Make it!
10 August – Lune Park Neighbourhood Centre – Explore it!
17 August – Westgate Neighbourhood Centre – Experience it!
24 August – Lune Park Neighbourhood Centre – Build it!
31 August – Westgate School – Move it!
Free to attend, just turn up.
To find out more, visit Lancaster and Morecambe Family Zone on Facebook or call 01524 581280
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SCART Club 2022
SCART Club (which stands for Science, Culture, Active, Reading and Technology) is Lancashire Library Service’s Summer Activity programme for children which runs throughout the summer school holidays.
Community Research Partnerships Learning Programme: September Workshops
The NCCPE, The Young Foundation and a consortium of partners have been commissioned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to design a learning programme that would strengthen capabilities for individuals involved in community research partnerships.
Find out more about this project.
The next phase of this work is a series of workshops in September, exploring a potential ‘menu of options’ for different learning programmes. The workshops will be a chance to learn more about the work to date, share your ideas and perspectives, contribute to the design of learning opportunities, and meet people working in similar fields. Sessions will take place online as follows:
- Public Engagement Professionals or other connector/facilitator roles – Thurs 8th Sept, 10:30 – 12:30
- Community Organisations – Thurs 8th Sept, 10:00 – 12:00
- Researchers – Fri 16th Sept, 10:00 – 12:00
- Communities and Researchers – 14:00 – 16:00
Two follow up final online workshops will be held on Tues 27th Sept.
To express your interest in taking part, please complete this expression of interest form.
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Micro Gardens Summer Programme
With support from Grow Wild UK and Kew Gardens, Good Things Collective bring to you a series of workshops and activities with local partners and artists. This summer is all about the Micro Gardens Summer Programme, the launch of the Cooperation St heritage project and developing new projects with local artists and makers in Morecambe. The idea of the sessions is to enhance your limited outdoor neighbourhood space, be able to grow new things and help nurture your local environment.
The next workshop will be ‘Grow Wild Fund Day 2’ on Sunday 21st August, 2-6pm
Find out more and book your place.
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Social Value UK MemEx Conference 2022 – The Future of Social Value
Social Value UK, along with their members and partners are hosting this online and in person event that will dive into a range of social value topics and themes to help everyone to take the next steps towards a shared future of social value driving decisions for more equality, improved wellbeing and greater environmental care.
The conference is running both online and in person on Thursday 15th September.
Find out more and reserve your place.
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Personal Independence Payments (PIP) Sessions – Lancaster & Morecambe College
PIP Clinics for Clients – Tues 16th August, 2-4pm
L&M College are hosting a clinic for anyone who is thinking of applying for PIP or has applied and would like to know more about what to include on the form. They will provide detailed guidance on all the questions with tips on what to include – or not to include. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and chat to an advisor, but no forms will be filled in on the day.
PIP Training for those working in the community – Tues 30th August, 9.15am – 12.30pm
This training session for professionals will be a 3 hour session all about PIP. You will learn how PIP works discovering about application, assessment and award. The session will also include learning how to support clients and challenge decisions and you will also be presented with research and case studies.
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Morecambe Beach & Street Clean
Join your local community and Neighbourhood Watch team in a collective clean up event on Morecambe beach. There will be free refreshments and equipment provided. It is advised to bring your own gloves and suitable clothing and footwear.
Saturday 13th August – 1-3pm, Starting from the Eric Morecambe Statue
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Fuel Debt Advice in the Community – City & Guilds Level 2 Award
Delivered across three webinars this course aims to provide an understanding of the causes of fuel debt, issues householders may face with meters, fuel statements, payment and tariff options. It also considers consumers, private landlords and fuel suppliers obligations, as well as complaints procedures and support available for low-income and vulnerable households.
The course is designed for frontline staff working with low-income and vulnerable households who may be in fuel debt or at risk from fuel debt.
Funded places are available to non-commercial organisations in England and Wales. Learners must also be frontline staff and volunteers that regularly encounter those in or at risk of fuel poverty
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Health Research – the what, the why and the how
Being involved in research brings many benefits to VCFSE organisations and the communities with which they work. From providing evidence to funders of the success of their work, to helping plan future projects, being involved in research can make a real difference.
This session delivered by the CoREN (Community Research and Engagement Network) explains more about the what, the why and the how of applied health research.
22 September, Gujarat Hindu Society and Community Centre, Preston
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Personal Independence Payment Training
Citizen’s Advice North Lancashire are offering a PIP Training Session for organisations who work in the community.
This is for those who are working with the community and want to know more about PIP, how to help clients fill in the forms and challenge decisions. They will also share some research into client experiences with PIP.
30 August 2022, Lancaster & Morecambe College.
Download the flyer to find out more.
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Basic Drug and Alcohol Awareness
During this session attendees will learn a little more about the services that are available at We Are With You in Lancashire, discuss current themes and trends, look at some of the reasons why young people use substances, and consider risks and harm reduction messages.
Attendees will also gain acces to We Are With You’s Tier 1 resource booklet & drug use screening tool, which includes practical information and worksheets for working with young people.
Multiple dates, online, free
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Trauma Informed Lancashire Basic Awareness Workshops
Lancashire Violence Reduction Network’s (LVRN) “Becoming a Trauma Informed Lancashire workshops” aim to cultivate collective, cross-sector learning to support the ongoing development of trauma informed services.
These workshops are for all practitioners both from statutory and 3rd sector organisations across the PAN Lancashire Multi agency footprint .
The Learning Outcomes of the presentation are:
- To understand the transformation to becoming Trauma Informed Lancashire.
- To begin to explore how Trauma affects our body, brain and behaviour.
- To be able to recognise how trauma may present in people we work alongside.
- To consider how a Trauma Informed Approach impacts on individuals and communities.
- Begin to think about changes we can make to our working practices, services and organisations.
Multiple dates, AFC Fylde Sports and Education Centre (Wesham), free.
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The Well Community Bay 5k Recovery Run
11am on 24 September from The Sailing Club, Marine Road, Morecambe. Registration open from 9.30am.
The first 100 runners to register will be given a free Bay 5K Recovery Run T-Shirt to wear for the run and there will be a Medal for the first 150 to complete the race.
Email [email protected] to find out more.
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What next for climate justice in the UK?
Has COP26 been a step forward in global efforts to address climate change, or have follow-up actions failed to deliver progress?
Join the discussion with Social Value UK online on 29 September. Speakers include Professor Rebecca Willis, Professor in Energy and Climate Governance at Lancaster University.
Business Development Manager at Birchall
Birchall are looking for an experienced Business Development professional with a track record of leading winning bids, responsible for identifying and winning new business. The role will work in partnership with operational colleagues and other stakeholders to co-produce service models, budgets and partnerships for tenders, as well as managing all aspects of the tender process, including tender interviews and quality assurance of written responses.
Salary: £30,000 per annum – flexible base
Contract: 37.5 hours per week
Location: Morecambe or Barrow in Furness
Closing date: 19 August 2022
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Senior Children/Young Person Counsellor
Birchall are seeking an experienced Children & Young person’s therapist with experience of managing a team, supporting people to reach their potential whilst delivering trauma informed counselling services.
Salary: £22,400 per annum
Contract: 30 hours per week
Location: Morecambe or Barrow
Closing date: 19 August 2022
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Fundraising Co-ordinator for the Bendrigg Trust
The Fundraising Co-ordinator will join a small but passionate fundraising team, working together to challenge perceptions of disability and support Bendrigg’s overarching mission. This exciting opportunity will focus on developing their growing corporate and community fundraising programme.
Salary: £22,000 – £27,000 per annum
Contract: Permanent, part time, flexible or full-time
Location: North West England
Closing date: 12 August 2022, 12pm
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Membership Recruitment Officer (Reserve based) RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve
RSPB are looking for a Membership Recruitment Officer to become a key part of the team that will provide a Great Welcome for visitors to the reserve, as well as inspiring people to become lifelong members of the RSPB. The role will also involve occasional travel to a local external venue.
Salary: £21,622.00 – £23,987.00 Per Annum
Contract: Part time (Preston) or full time (Colne), permanent
Location: RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Carnforth
Closing date: Wed, 17th Aug 2022, 23:59
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Various Jobs at The Lancaster Priory
There are a host of exciting paid opportunities to join the team at the Lancaster Priory and get involved at Facing the Past, a city-wide arts and heritage project here in Lancaster.
Facing the Past: Heritage Professional: Teacher CPD
Facing the Past: Project Manager: New Insights
Facing the Past: Project Manager: Digital Trail
Facing the Past: Digital Trail Project Co-ordinator
Facing the Past: PR and Comms (freelance)
Facing the Past: Festival Director
Facing the Past: Evaluator
Facing the Past: Public Realm Creative Consultation
Facing the Past: Filmmaker
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Change Grow Lives (CGL) Recruitment Sessions
Are you looking for a new job? CGL are providing recruitment sessions to help people change their lives and break the cycle of crime and substance use. The sessions will provide information on the roles and who Chang Grow Live is.
If your organisation needs support whether it be working with volunteers, completing accounts and payroll, finding funding, solving governance issues, or just want a listening ear, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team:
Funding and governance support, contact [email protected]
Volunteering and upskilling your workforce, contact [email protected]
Payroll, bookkeeping and independent examinations, contact [email protected]
Membership queries: [email protected]
Partnerships, networks and strategic development, contact [email protected]
Alternatively, call us on 01524 555900
To promote your events, training, jobs, and sector news, email [email protected]
