Bebington CVS

Newsletter

This newsletter will be quarterly and will give you information about our services, funding, events and news. In this edition, we wanted to let you know about where we are up to. But this is your newsletter and we would like you to contribute to it for future editions.

What would you like your local Centre for Voluntary Services to provide for you? Information . . . services . . . advice . . . or more?

Bebington CVS has a long history in the local community. We have been determined to provide services that meet local needs, plus general advice and support to local groups, large and small. To streamline our services we recently became a charitable company, but sadly, due to financial constraints, have also had to close some services.

This restructuring has made us think about our plans and direction over the coming few years. We are going to take a good, hard look at where we are and where we want to be by 2006. Our Acting Chair and Company Secretary, Dave Thomas is a consultant in his other life and will be helping with our review. To fund this review process we applied for and received a 'capacity-building grant' from The Baring Foundation. With Dave's help we will map out a plan to consult staff, volunteers, CVS members and our clients and partners on where they think we should be heading. We will then produce a business plan in autumn 2003.

As part of a national CVS network, we are expected to fulfil a range of functions to help voluntary organisations and community groups develop their work in our area. We need therefore to meet both these nationally agreed expectations with the specific requirements of local groups.

We want to ensure our review takes an 'inclusive' approach with nothing fixed in advance. We will start with a framework and then share this with our members, networks, clients and partners for discussion. Our aim is to create a positive plan for our future; your input is vital to help us create it, so please get in touch and involved.

Annette Roberts

Chief Officer

Volunteer Bureaux Promote Good Practice

A new FREE resource is available for all of Wirral's groups who include volunteers in their work. 'Getting it right, A Good Practice Guide for working with volunteers', has been jointly produced by Bebington CVS Volunteer Bureau and Hoylake CVS Volunteer Bureau.

The pack includes 17 fact sheets, each giving details on separate issues, such as developing volunteer polices, training, supervision, supporting volunteers with support needs and legal issues such as insurance, health and safety and the CRB.

· Involving volunteers for the first time? You can work through the pack, as it can provide a good framework, so you can make sure you have insurance, vetting procedures and equal opportunities polices in place.

· You may already involve volunteers, but not feel you have a very structured approach to volunteer involvement. You could focus on creating or revamping a volunteer policy, make sure you are paying expenses appropriately and look at the diversity of your volunteers.

· Even well established organisations may want to check they are meeting current standards and requirements in issues Health and safety, and look at ways of including volunteers who may need some extra support.

The pack can be used as and when needed and you can focus on whatever area you feel you need to. There is a resources sheet at the end of the pack giving further information about other useful resources and website details.

For more information or to request a pack please contact Nikki Matthews at Bebington Volunteer Bureau on 0151 644 7577 or Marianthi Lainas at Hoylake Volunteer Bureau on 0151 625 6078

What does the Volunteer Bureau do?

Gives advice to people interested in volunteering

Keeps a database of Volunteering opportunities in
Wirral, nationwide and has information about volunteering abroad

Helps organisations to work well with their volunteers

The CLS Aims

To improve people's awareness of their legal rights and responsibilities

To increase access to advice services.

The Community Legal Service

The CLS is a network of quality assured information and advice providers, funders and user representatives. The local Co-ordinator is based at the CVS. Within the CLS there are three types of agencies - Information Points, General Help Points and Specialists.

Information Points can be found in places such as libraries and community centres. They do not provide face-to-face advice, but offer basic information through leaflets, or details of where to go to get further advice.

General Help Points will be able to give you advice on a wide range of subjects, but may focus on one type of problem or client group. They will be able to look at your problem with you and suggest solutions. They may contact others on your behalf to help solve your problem. Wirral has many general help points including the 5 CABx, one stop shops and local voluntary advice agencies

Specialists deal with complex problems in a specific area such as Welfare Benefits, Debt or Housing. They may be solicitors, but are often CABx or based with in the local Authority. It might not always be necessary for you to go to a Specialist for advice, as often visiting a General Help Point will resolve your problem.

The organisations that make up the CLS display the Community Legal Service Quality Mark - a quality assurance for information/advice providers to show that they have met the standards required. The logo means that the organisation will be able to provide you with a good quality service. If they can't help solve your problem themselves, they will be able to direct you to the best organisation to help.

For more information or to find a CLS Quality Marked agency go to www.advicewirral.net or call Sally Kew, CLS Co-ordinator on 0151 643 7270, or e-mail coordinator@advicewirral.net

Prothero

Relationship

Counselling

Prothero Relationship Counselling

The Prothero Centre is an active organisation, providing qualified counselling sessions for individuals and couples. Established over 20 years ago, it was named after the retirement of a prominent volunteer, in recognition of all her hard work. Mrs Prothero helped set up the Centre and ran it for several years, sadly she died earlier this year. We provide over 700 counselling appointments a year.

The Centre has a dedicated team of 11 qualified counsellors. We also offer work placements to students in their last year of study - at present we are helping 3 such students to gain valuable experience; in the past many have stayed on at the Centre when qualified.

Monthly training and supervision for our counsellors has always previously been provided; sadly due to funding restraints this has been temporarily discontinued. We do however try to take advantage of external training opportunities as they appear.

Some of our staff attended a recent Saturday workshop for counsellors, held at Mayer Hall. This involved the 16 participants becoming 'Wonder-Children' for the morning. Each 'child' chose what age they wished to be - ranging from 3 to 11 years. They took part in games such as Musical Chairs and using felt-tip pens and glitter created and decorated their own self-portraits! All agreed that they had enjoyed reliving the pleasures of simply being a happy, excited child, free from adult responsibilities. They felt that this was of therapeutic benefit - a welcome contrast to the often serious and complex issues that naturally arise in a counsellor's workload.

The Prothero Centre is currently urgently looking for funding to enable their excellent service to continue.

Village

Care

Services.

Village Care Services

Village Care Services aim to serve members of the community who need help on a regular or temporary basis. The services we offer include housework, shopping, preparing meals, sitting service and assisting with personal needs.

We also provide free home visits to assess individual needs. We assist over 200 clients on a regular basis and have delivered in excess of 32,000 hours of care in the last twelve months. We have 6 staff at our Bebington office and 54 domiciliary care workers out in the local community.

The high level of care shown by our staff continues to be reflected in the number of letters and calls we receive thanking us for the service we provide.

The service is registered with the Local Authority and undergoes an annual inspection. As the service operates on a not for profit basis, charges are kept to a minimum. For further information please contact 0151 644 1536

Befriending

Service

The Befriending Service

The Befriending Service aims to provide friendly support and social interaction for vulnerable people living alone and carers who need a short break. The service has recently moved from Mill Park back to the CVS offices in Bebington.

The service is free and available to anyone over 18 years of age living in Eastham, Bromborough, Brimstage, Port Sunlight, New Ferry and Prenton. We operate from 9am to 9pm in sessions of 1 - 3 hours. Weekends can be accommodated by arrangement.

Jean Cullen the Co-ordinator will:

· Arrange a free home visit to assess individual needs.

· Provide full information about the service.

· Arrange appropriate levels of support, provided by a carefully selected volunteer.

· Be available for consultation and advice.

For more information or if you would like to become a Volunteer Befriender please contact Jean on 0151 643 7273

Sports

Project

Sports Project

The 5 CVS Volunteer Bureaux in Wirral are jointly running a sports volunteering programme.

If you:

are interested in sports volunteering

are a sports club looking for volunteers

Contact Mrs Chris Trigg on 0151 643 7273

Bebington Centre For Voluntary Service

65 The Village

Bebington

Wirral CH63 7PL

Phone: 0151 643 7275

Fax: 0151 643 7271

Web: www.merseyworld.com/bebington

Email: Info@bebingtoncvs.solis.co.uk

Service Contact Details

CVS (switchboard) 0151 643 7275

Befriending 0151 643 7273

CLS 0151 643 7270

Prothero 0151 643 1333

Village Care 0151 644 1536

Volunteer Bureau 0151 644 7577

Office opening times: 9am - 4.30 pm Monday to Friday