Search the Lancaster District CVS website
Links
Child Protection Advice For Community Groups
Information & Computing Technology
Umbrella Organisations For The Voluntary Sector
Capacity Building
Capacitybuilders works to ensure that third sector organisations in England are able to access high quality advice and support. Since being established in 2006 Capacitybuilders has invested £100 million in improving the support available to frontline third sector organisations. In 2009/10 we invested over £30 million more.
Child Protection Advice For Community Groups
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/help-and-advice/help_and_advice_hub_wdh71748.html
Donating
www.charitybank.org
Charity Bank is a charity where people can deposit money to be used solely for charity and social enterprise - lending, not giving. It is also a not-for-profit bank whose sole business is providing affordable finance for charitable work.
Equality Issues
Statutory body with the responsibility to protect, enforce and promote equality across the seven "protected" grounds - age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
Government Information
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/about_us.aspx
The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) has been set up to drive forward the Government's role in supporting a thriving third sector, and brings together sector–related work from across government.
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) help with access to and re-use of government information, including Crown Copyright material and parliamentary legislation.
info4local is a government portal that gives local authorities a quick and easy way to find and link to relevant information on the web sites of central government departments, agencies and public bodies.
Information & Computing Technology
Information and Computing Technology Hub - information on ICT (information and communication technology) to enable voluntary and community organisations to operate more effectively.
Legal
Charities Act 2006: A Guide to the New Law
Published by The Law Society, this guide will keep charities up to date with changes in the law and help to understand their implications. The guide can be bought from online booksellers including Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) Waterstones (www.waterstones.co.uk) and WH Smith (www.whsmith.co.uk) costing around £39.95.
Charity Commission
For information about legislation and legal responsibilities affecting charities.
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)
The CRB may help organisations to identify people who are unsuitable
to work
with children and/or vulnerable adults. Through its Disclosure Service
it is able
to check police, Department of Health and Department of Education records
on
behalf of organisations vetting their paid staff or volunteers.
Charity Law Association
www.charitylawassociation.org.uk
The Charity Law Association was established with the aim of enabling those who advise on or use charity law to meet together, to exchange ideas and intelligence and to use their experience and expertise for the benefit of the charity sector.
Sandy Adirondack
Legal updates for voluntary organisations. Available updates can be
received
by e-mail.
The Law Society
www.lawsociety.org.uk/areasoflaw.law
Information on all areas of the law including relevant legal matters
for voluntary
and community groups.
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)
Information on equality and diversity in the workplace, employment
law and
work related legal matters.
The Health and Safety Commission
Information about Health and Safety legislation. Practical advice and
information
about health and safety in the workplace.
Voluntary Arts Network
Legal issues involved in setting up and running a voluntary arts group.
Managing Paid Staff
Workforce Hub
The Good Employment Guide
The Good Employment Guide provides a number of Good Employment Guide Fact Sheets. Published by the NCVS and available at: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/products-services/publications/984.
Provides a wide range of resources for managing volunteers including examples of model documents in their “good practice bank”.
Miscellaneous
www.commonpurpose.org.uk
Common Purpose helps people from all sectors of society in leadership and decision-making positions to be more effective: in their own organizations, in the community and in society as a whole.
Quality
The Charities Evaluation Service is anational organisation offering information, advice, training and consultancy for the voluntary and community sector on “quality” and evaluation services – plus links to other ” quality” websites.
Regulators
Companies House
Information about companies.
Charity Commission
Established by law as the regulator and registrar for charities in England and Wales. They have a good range of free publications offering information and support the VCS.
HM Revenue and Customs
Includes guidance on taxation for charities, and donors, and deals with questions about charities & VAT, with links to useful related publications.
The national housing and regeneration agency.
www.tenantservicesauthority.org
The regulator for social housing – a national watchdog for tenants.
Land Registry
Practice advice from the Land Registry on land transactions.
Regulator of Community Interest Companies (CICs)
Provides information, advice and regulation for this type of company which is designed specifically for those wishing to operate for the benefit of the community rather than for the benefit of the owners of the company.
Rural
Countryside Agency
The statutory body for acting as a rural advocate, advisor and watchdog with a particular focus on disadvantage.
Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)
Supports sustainable rural community development and includes information for village halls and links to Rural Community Councils. Action with Rural Communities in England provides a wide range of research, publications and briefing relating to rural issues as well as a comprehensive bank of information sheets on every thing you need to know to run a village hall from asbestos to flooring to employing staff.
Support For Charities
Business in the Community
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)
CEDR and the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) run a joint scheme which is funded by the Home Office to raise awareness of mediation, through training events, seminars, etc. and also offers a discounted mediation service for charities.
Charity Skills
Provides voluntary organisations in England and Wales with business support, Internet services and training.
ProHelp
A national network of professional firms who give their time and expertise for free to community groups and voluntary organizations. ProHelp in the North West is targeted at voluntary groups and social enterprises within areas of disadvantage.
Reach
Finds placements for retired people with professional expertise as volunteers.
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/governanceandleadership
NCVO’s Trustee and Governance Information Centre contains information on a range of subjects relating to third sector governance and trusteeship ranging from the role of the trustee to changing your governing document.
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)
Support to charity administrators through training and qualifications, publications, trustee recruitment and a forum for members and non-members.
Umbrella Organisations For The Voluntary Sector
Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
ACEVO is the membership body for chief executives of voluntary sector organisations. ACEVO works to connect, develop and represent the sector's leaders.
Association of Charity Shops
The Association of Charity Shops is the only member organisation dedicated to supporting charities who run shops as part of their fundraising activities. By pooling expertise and joining forces to promote common interests, the Association helps members to operate their shops as effectively as possible. Members range from the largest national charities to locally based hospices.
Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG)
The membership organisation for those working in charities with responsibility for financial management.
CharityNet (Charities Aid Foundation - CAF)
Works to create greater value for charities and social enterprise by transforming the way donations are made and the way charitable funds are managed.
Charity Resource Network
Online information service of the Charity Finance Directors Group to support charity managers. Provided for members to give access to a range of practical documents, guidance and links to related sites. The site provides a useful guide to online information and helpsheets from a range of specialist bodies and organisations.
Community Matters
The national federation for community organisations.
Development Trust Association
An organisation which promotes and supports the development of community owned and led trusts for local economic, environmental and social regeneration.
Directory of Social Change
DSC is an independent source of information and support to the voluntary
sector, which provides practical training courses, conferences, seminars
and briefings researches and publishes reference guides, handbooks,
journals and CD-ROMs.
It also provides comprehensive database of grantmaking trusts at www.trustfunding.org.uk.
Institute of Fundraising
www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
The professional body representing and supporting fundraisers.
National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA)
NAVCA promotes the voluntary and community sector at a national level and provides information, advice, networking and learning opportunities to its members.
Children England
Umbrella group representing child care charities. Provides publications, briefings and consultations to members on child care and family issues and represents members’ views, to central, regional and local government.
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
A national umbrella body for voluntary and community organisations which offers news and information on policy and developments as well as statistics and links.
VolResource
Information and resources for voluntary and community groups.