Charity Comission Deadline

Charities that have failed to provide an annual return or accounts for an extended period are to be taken off the Register run by the Charity Commission. Designed to remove charities in England and Wales that no longer operate, defaulters would be hit a year after the original submission deadline after a series of warnings. There are currently some 1,200 charities with a previous income over £10,000 which have not sent in returns for more than six years.
Changes to Charity Act 2006

A range of changes have been brought in to bring charity law up to date and give charities greater flexibility. These are summarised as:

  • Allowing charities to pay trustees for goods and services
  • If charities believe misconduct or mismanagement has occurred there are now wider powers to allow the Charity
  • Commission to help charities instead of removing the board and appointing interim managers which was only option in the past
    Will be easier to change your governing documents if your objects change
  • Charity Commission can now remover or suspend membership of a charity
  • Help with difficulties such as charitable donations which cant’ be used as intended
  • Only have to register with the Charity Commission if your annual income is over £5,000

For more information on these check out the third sector news release section on www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

All these changes come into effect immediately. There is also a new Charity Tribunal which will hear cases if charities want to appeal against a Charity Commission decision. Previously charities would have had to go to the High Court. This won’t come into effect immediately but you can check out the charity website for updates www.charitycommission.gov.uk

 
Gift Aid Protected in Budget

The major announcement in this years Budget for many charities was the transitional arrangements on Gift Aid for the next 3 years. This will protect the current 22% rate of income tax being reclaimed despite the tax rate dropping to 20% from this April (although technically it will be 20% plus 2% relief, which won't be available until the Finance Bill, based on the Budget, is passed into law).

 
Talk2croydon wins
Touching Communities Award



We are proud to announce our success at the International Centre for E-democracy (ICELE) Awards for Organisational Participation.

Croydon beat 90 organisations to receive this prestigious award presented in the presence of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

This eminent award was given to Croydon Volutary Action UK who has shown how, through engaging online, it has made a real difference to the communities it serves, from a change in services, to a change in policy, to the delivery of a new service.

Talk to Croydon encompasses a range of mechanism used to engage young people - such as polls, surveys, discussion forums and more. It was developed using an opensource tool, which reduces development costs with no ongoing licence fees.

We wish to thank all partners for their commitment to making Talk2Croydon happen and hope 2008 will see a growth of e-democracy in Croydon.

 

 

 

What's New at CVA?

Second Edition Out Now

The second edition of our new magazine "CVAlive" is available now. If you have not received your copy and would like to find out about all the work being done in Croydon Please call CVA on 020 8684 3862 to order a copy.

The magazine focusses on the four key areas of CVAs work, capacity building, community involvement, volunteering and Policy & Partnerships as well as articles of general interest to the sector, letters, opinions and much much more.

Copies of this exciting new publication are available throughout the borough in Council offices, libraries and at all CVA offices. Copies are free of charge. You can also view the magazine online here (2.5mb)

MIND THE GAPS

If you live in the northwest or east of Croydon you can expect to live 5 to 6 years less than those in the south of the borough, according to The Department of Health.

Why? What factors contribute to this unfair divide? Why do some communities respond to public health messages whilst others don’t? What do we need to do to provide a fairer system? How can we MIND THE GAPS in health services. Could you be part of the solution?

Croydon Voluntary Action is looking to recruit HEALTH CHAMPIONS on a 16 day Open College Network accredited Community Development course.

• Meet health experts
• Influence decisions in Croydon
• Manage your own health project
• Develop a voice for change

Next free course is to start late April 2008.
All out of pocket expenses paid e.g. child care & travel costs.


For more information contact
Sarah Taylor: 020 8683 5917 sarah.taylor@cvalive.org.uk
Denise Wright: 020 8683 5904 denise.wright@cvalive.org.uk

OPeN Victory on Winter Fuel Payments

Small victory for OPeN but members are still pleading with the Government to let older people come in from the cold

Andrew Crooks, Community Involvement Worker working with the Older People’s Network (OPeN) reports on a small victory for the age lobby and OPeN.

Everyone probably blinked and missed it but this year’s budget has afforded pensioners the good news that they are to receive an increase to the Winter Fuel Payment this year. The £200 Winter Fuel Payment for those aged 60-79 has been increased by £50 and the £300 payment for those over 80 has been raised to £400 for this year.

Central Croydon Office Space in Park House

How would you like to have an office in Central Croydon working alongside other voluntary sector colleagues?

Park House in Park Street (next to Turtles) will be knocked down in the near future to make way for the new developments in central Croydon. However in the meantime part of the building will be vacant. Croydon Enterprise, who are based in Park House, have agreed to let out the 4th floor of the building to the voluntary sector until the time comes for bulldozers to move in. The voluntary sector has been offered 10 desk spaces (up to 15 if the demand is there) in an open plan office. Croydon Business Venture (CBV) will be given the contract to manage the space and hold the licences with the groups that want desk space in the building. (Croydon Business Venture already successfully manages business units in a similar capacity at Acorn House near East Croydon Station.)

CVA have been given the task of ‘introducing’ groups to CBV and recommending tenants for Park House. CVA will not be managing the space nor have any responsibility for setting and collecting rents. That would be CBV’s headache!

CVA has already contacted most of the groups who had expressed an interest in having office space at our new Resource Centre in West Croydon. However as there are still a few places left, we are opening the offer up to other voluntary groups and social enterprises in Croydon.

The cost of renting a desk will be around £200 a month maximum. CBV is trying to reduce the rent a little and this will be confirmed in the New Year. The contracts will be initially for 6 months but it is likely that the office space will be availble for at least the next 12 months.

There are lifts in Park House and the building is accesible for wheelchair users. However there are NO disabled toilets in the building.


What you would get for £200 per month:

  • Desk and chair
  • Digital telephone handset and connection point
  • Lockable filing cabinet
  • Internet Broadband connection point
  • Heating, lighting, cleaning, buildings and public liability insurance
  • Common photocopier – but charged to a cost centre for your usage
  • Security and access to building – (arrangements made for evenings and weekend use)
  • Access to a small kitchen
  • Free access to 2 meeting rooms

What you would need to pay for:

  • PC, monitor, printer
  • Telephone bills
  • Internet bills
  • Postage
  • Insurance for your particular service (e.g. advice work)

The offices will be ready for groups to move in from mid Januray 2008.

If you are interested in this opportunity and would like to know more about the criteria for selecting groups etc, please contact Carole Short at CVA on 020 8683 7011 or email carole.short@cvalive.org.uk asap.

If you wish to have a look at the office space then please email Jivko Hristov jivko.hristov@croydonenterprise.com (Croydon Enterprise) or Norman Pearce np@cbvltd.co.uk (Croydon Business Venture) to arrange a viewing.

This is a limited offer and licences will be offered on a first come first served basis.

Get Ready For The Children & Young People’s Services Inspection In 2008 – Joint Area Review (Jar)

Croydon is getting ready for its Joint Area Review in January 2008!

From September 2005 all local authority services for children and young people and the wide range of services provided by other agencies (including the voluntary sector!) have been subjected to a review.

Other London boroughs such as Bromley, Merton and Enfield have been reviewed by multi-disciplinary teams of inspectors that includes Ofsted, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), the Health Care Commission (HCC), the Audit Commission and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).

If your organisation works with children, young people and families you may be contacted during the inspection to provide written or verbal evidence on how you have worked with other service providers in the borough to achieve better outcomes for vulnerable children and young people aged 0-19.

Local authorities will be asked to provide the inspectors with a list of 100 cases including looked after children cases, cases of young people and children on the child protection register and children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. 10 of these cases will be chosen at random and assessed in much greater detail.

As part of this assessment, any voluntary sector groups that have been working on those cases will receive a questionnaire and might be interviewed to assess the effectiveness of the referral, assessment, planning and review processes and how well the different agencies have worked together to improve outcomes.

Inspectors are interested in evaluating how actions taken by the agencies have improved the outcomes of each young person / child; the outcomes are taken from the Every Child Matters agenda and are: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well being.

For more information on the integrated inspection of Children’s Services see http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/strategy/inspection/ or

For more information about the inspection in Croydon please contact:

Steve.Liddicott,
Assistant Director,
Department for Children Young People and Learners
email: steve.liddicott@croydon.gov.uk

Christine Cleveland,
Children’s Fund Programme Manager,
Croydon Voluntary Action
Tel: 0208 653 0353 or
email: christine.cleveland@cvalive.org.uk

Beacon Application - VCS role in service delivery
Croydon Council is currently being pressed for its work in supporting voluntary and community organisations to deliver more services. The Croydon Compact is once again under scrutiny and will be re-visited at the inaugural meeting, early next year, of the new Strengthening Communities Partnership.

New CVA Project to Strengthen Parent and Family Support
A new project, funded by the Parenting Fund, has started at CVA and aims to build the capacity of parenting groups by providing one-to-one , in-depth group work, customised workshops, and access to workforce development opportunities. More...

Croydon Community Involvement Commitments Out
A new set of principles has been agreed to ensure 'democratic participation' in Croydon. The Croydon Community Involvement Commitments, as the newly published document is called, is part of the Croydon Compact between the local voluntary sector, the Primary Care Trust, and the local authority. Click here to view the full document.

Have You Ever Thought of Volunteering?
There are several new exciting volunteer opportunities at the Croydon Volunteer Centre, from working in marketing and organising events to helpline operators as well as helping to organise Croydon Summer Festival. Click here to find out what opportunities there are. If you are interested in volunteering issues and live in Croydon you may also want to attend the next Volunteer Organisers Forum in February. Visit our Diary Page for details.