Help change the future, come to our Environmental Impact Conference

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Are you involved with running a community building? Perhaps you’re on the committee of your Village Hall? Or do you run a community shop or pub? Do you help run and maintain your church or place of worship? If yes then this is the conference for YOU!

Come along to CCB’s Environmental Impact Conference on Thursday 7th November (immediately following our AGM) at 10.15am at Beech Hill Memorial Hall.

This event will be a perfect place and space for you to consider how your Community Building or Village Hall impacts on the local environment and what you and your community can do to improve things.

From simple local solutions to more forward thinking planning, there is something that everyone can do to help reduce the negative impacts that our facilities have on the environment and plenty of steps we can take to enhance it too.

Join us for a morning of information, discussion and networking. The conference will cover:

  • Speakers – Utility Aid, Heat Save, SWA (Architects) & more TBC
  • Simple, easy actions for community buildings
  • Energy efficiency / heat saving
  • Funding
  • Building with environmental consideration
  • Environmental audit tool

Refreshments will be provided. FREE to CCB Members and CBAS Members and £10 to non-members. This training is supported by West Berkshire Council Adult Community Learning and Englefield Charitable Trust. PLACES MUST BE BOOKED: Please click on this link to book a place:

You are invited to attend CCB’s Annual General Meeting (and grab some brekkie too!)

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This year we will be holding our AGM at the lovely Beech Hill Memorial Hall on Thursday 7th November. The AGM will commence at 9.30am and there will be the opportunity to much on a croissant and enjoy a hot cuppa whilst networking and hearing more about out work.

After the AGM we are excited to announce that there will be an Environmental Impact Conference taking place. The conference will be a brand new subject matter for us and more news will be available on this very soon.

If you are able to attend the AGM part of the day we are thrilled but please do drop Gemma a line to let her know of your attendance: Gemma.Pearce@ccberks.org.uk

Media Trust has launched a free range of digital strategy webinars, specifically designed for charities

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The webinar series guides organisations through three core modules. Each module had been designed to address the different stages of developing a digital marketing strategy. 

The webinars, which can be used individually or as a series, include:

  1. Digital Marketing Strategy: The Basics
  2. Content and Tactics
  3. Digital Marketing Channels

Media Trust’s webinars are directed at charities aiming to develop an effective digital marketing strategy and form the final stage of the charity’s Summer Digital Resources Programme.

The programme was introduced in response to the digital skills gap within the charity sector and aims to give more charities access to digital resources.

So far, the programme has included a five-part film series, Digital Leadership Stories and a Digital Marketing Strategy Toolkit.

The toolkit is free to access, via the Media Trust Resource Hub, and includes downloadable templates to enable charities to produce digital marketing strategies. These were developed with funding from DCMS as part of the Digital Leadership Fund.

‘Now is the time to respond to the digital challenge’ 

Jenny Walton, director of charity services at Media Trust, said: “Now is the time for Media Trust to respond to the challenges that charities face, with the digital skills report and NCVO almanac revealing a serious skills gap with many small charities in the United Kingdom.”

Media Trust Resource Hub gives charities access to insights, training and guides from those who are shaping the way charities market and communicate in the digital world.

“At Media Trust, we understand the challenges faced by the sector to adapt to an ever evolving digital space and this is the basis of why we have developed these free online digital resources as a response to the need to bridge the skills gap, ensuring they are free and accessible to charities of all sizes,” added Walton. 

Media Trust launches new free digital strategy webinars

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The Digital Marketing Strategy webinar series consists of three modules designed to help charities to effectively promote their work online, grow and engage audiences and increase their visibility. The webinars have been broken down into modules covering key areas for developing a digital marketing strategy including: Digital Marketing Strategy: The Basics; Content and Tactics; and Digital Marketing Channels.

Each module is accessible via downloadable links and are pre-recorded so you can listen to them in your own time and at your own pace.

You can access the webinars on the Trust website.

Training Opportunities for Communities in Berkshire

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We have the following training opportunities available that will be of interest to a variety of individuals and people representing community and voluntary groups from across the county. A big thanks goes to the Adult Community Learning teams in Wokingham Borough & West Berkshire whose funding and support ensures that we can provide this training for low cost or for free. Click on links for more details and to book your place. All courses are filled on a first come, first served basis.

FOOD HYGIENE TRAINING

Achieve an Introductory Certificate in food safety, Saturday 1st June, 9am – 1pm, St Georges, Wash Common. £20 for CCB members (£30 for voluntary organisations or £50 for businesses)

Equivalent to a level 1 qualification. Certified by the CIEH (chartered institute of environmental health, Suitable for anyone works/volunteers in a food environment occasionally. For example, those helping at cake sales, scout camps, community events. PTA’s and church fetes. 

Booking is essential; https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/food-hygiene-training-newbury/

Your skilled trainer Ally has a post graduate diploma in dietetics, 25 years’ experience of working in the food sector, an affiliate member of the CIEH and a registered trainer with the CIEH.

EFFECTIVE CHAIRMANSHIP WORKSHOP

Wednesday 19th June, 10.30am – 12.30 pm (registation 10.15)

Thursday 20th June 10 am – 12 noon (registration 9.45am)

The Cornerstone, Norreys Avenue, Wokingham RG40 1UE (de Vitre Room). Free to CCB Members.

Are you the Chair of a committee, steering group,  or organisation?

Do you ever feel the meeting could have gone better? Was it de-railed? Do the same agenda items keep coming up with no resolution? Does it feel like just another meeting with no outcome? Do members sometimes feel frustrated, angry, not listened too?

This interactive training event will teach you some great skills and help you become a more effective Chair.

This event will cover:

Agenda setting, pacing, hosting guests, decision making, actions and what to do at the end of the meeting. Managing people: challenging behaviours, staying on topic, enabling everyone to have a voice, encouraging healthy debate

Booking link for Chieveley, 19th June: https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/effective-chairmanship-workshop-chieveley/

Booking link for The Cornerstone, Wokingham, 20th June; https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/z1ap2pmw11qknsc/

PLANNING FOR CHANGE THROUGH COMMUNITY ORGANISING

Friday 21st June, 10am – 4pm, Woolhampton Village Hall. FREE

This training is aimed at anyone that is passionate about their local area and planning for its future. It introduces the basics of community organising and how to organise the community to enact a Neighbourhood Plan and enable positive built development which meets the needs of the community.

Participants will develop their understanding of how, through community organising, we can reach out and build consensus for change around a positive vision for the future of the community. We will analyse where power lies in the planning and development of housing and infrastructure, and start to learn how to use a Neighbourhood Plan to mobilise the community, build power and take action to get the development the community needs. Link to booking form: https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/planning-for-change-through-community-organising/

VILLAGE HALL’S, RECREATION GROUNDS & PARISH COUNCILS WORKING TOGETHER AND UNDERSTANDING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Wednesday 3rd July, 2pm – 4pm, The Hawthorns, Charvil, Reading, RG10 9TR. FREE to CCB/CBAS members and £10 for non-members.

Sole trustee? Custodian Trustee? Management committee Trustee? Member for the Parish Council team? – What is your role in relation to the Village Hall, Recreation Ground, Parish Council Building? It can be very confusing to know who is responsible for what and why and this makes working/volunteering relationships challenging. Come along to this short course to get the facts and learn about how everyone can work together for the good of the community.

Booking online; https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/zediibg138su2e/

COMMUNITY LED HOUSING

Thursday 4th July, 7pm – 9pm, Calcot Community Centre. FREE to members (£10 for non-members)

To book your place please complete form: https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/community-led-housing/

Community-led housing is housing built on a not-for-profit basis by a community to meet its own needs. There are a number of different approaches to community-led housing, all resulting in homes built for the community but with different processes and levels of involvement. 

This short course will enable participants to understand the differences between the various models of community-led housing. It is aimed at anyone from both rural and urban communities interested in exploring the options for providing affordable housing for people with a connection to their community.