Supporting local fundraising

At charitytraining.com we have a policy of encouraging all members of the team to support local charities and at the weekend, Claire Fletcher personally raised over £150 by taking part in a sponsored bike ride for the benefit of British Heart Foundation. Claire covered 40 miles in one day around the villages of Rockingham Forest in Northamptonshire - we're all very proud of her!

How many trustees?

A question often asked by new organisations, is how many trustees should we have? There is of course a requirement to have at least a chair and a treasurer, but Guidestar have just this week issued their findings on this topic that confirms that the average number of trustees for charities in the UK is 5.

Interestingly, those organisations with higher revenue figures have on average more trustees than smaller charities.

For more on this, and to register for the Guidestar newsletter, go to www.guidestar.org.uk

Ed Miliband: Voluntary Sector Minister

For more about Ed Miliband go to Oh My News - http://english.ohmynews.com/english/eng_section.asp?article_class=3

Cabinet re-shuffle and the voluntary sector

The government has indicated its commitment to the third sector, stripping the Home Office of its responsibility for charity policy and appointing senior ministers within the Cabinet Office to take up its work.

In last week’s cabinet reshuffle rising political star Ed Miliband was appointed minister for the voluntary and community sector. He will work with the minister for social exclusion Hilary Armstrong, formerly the chief whip, drawing together responsibility for charities, community organisations and social enterprise.

Former education secretary Ruth Kelly is to lead the Department for Communities and Local Government, created to replace the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister after the removal of John Prescott’s departmental role. Kelly replaces David Miliband (Ed's older brother), who was promoted to secretary of state for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The DCLG has taken over responsibility for promoting community cohesion and equality, alongside the work previously carried out by the ODPM including housing, planning and regeneration.

Reproduced from Charity Times 9th May 2006

How to get involved in the voluntary sector

Careers lecture and workshop
Volsector Training Centre
Deeping St James
Peterborough
28th July 2006

As a training provider solely working with the voluntary sector, we receive many enquiries from young people asking how they can get involved in the sector both as a career and on a voluntary basis.

At the same time we receive many enquiries from charities asking how they can attract more young people into their organisation as a volunteer or as a member of their paid team.

In response to these enquiries, we have decided to run a careers event on the 28th July 2006 at our training centre in Deeping St James, Peterborough.

For more details contact us either by email at admin@charitytraining.com or by post at 1 Horsegate, Deeping St James, Peterborough, PE6 8EN or alternatively you can call us on 01778 344113.

Picture shows Claire Fletcher from charitytraining.com who is organising the event

Get your fundraising message online quickly and easily

It's so easy to create a dedicated page for a specific appeal - just check out www.justgiving.com where you can create an online presence as part of your fundraising strategy. For really effective fundraising, you can then tie-in your online message with other activities such as direct mail and email newsletters.

Northampton BTEC group update

Among the first people in the UK to study for the BTEC Professional Certificate in Voluntary Sector Management, learners with the Northampton study group today attended their final workshop in the programme. With only their project presentations to be carried out in June, these charity managers will be among the first people in the country to achieve this new qualification.

For more details go to www.charitytraining.com