‘A Practical Guide to Working With Partnerships’ has been written by N2 Consulting in conjunction with Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service to provide a step-by-step guide to planning, setting-up and launching a successful partnership.

The Health and Safety Executive has produced a VDU checklist for safety reps, which should be of use to anyone doing checks on computer screens and the rest of the ‘human interface’.

An eight page pdf, 269KB, at http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/campaigns/vduchecklist.pdf.

Source: Health and Safety Executive

This consultation document, which only covers England, sets out Government policies on the regulation of, financial support for and access to social rented and affordable housing provided with public subsidy.  

It seeks views on how these policies relate to the concept of Community Land Trusts and the development of a viable, well managed and robust Community Land Trusts sector.

Following a government commitment in response to the Commission on the Future of Volunteering’s report ‘Manifesto for Change’ earlier this year, Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has published its renewed guidance on volunteering whilst on benefits.

‘Mediation: An Employer’s Guide’ is a new publication from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Acas which champions mediation as an effective way of organisations avoiding ending up at employment tribunals. It draws on a comprehensive survey of CIPD members and case studies (which included Salisbury Cathedral as a small/medium-sized charity).

The JRF’s recent public consultation revealed a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society. This Viewpoint continues the discussion about modern ‘social evils’ on the theme of ‘distrusting and fearful society’.

forum3, the leading forum and event for not-for-profit recruitment, today launches a best practice networking guide in advance of its event on October 10 where 15,000 people from the Third Sector will gather. Knowing how to network can quickly turn into a job lead or a future contact. On the other hand failing to network can as easily result in losing a potential employer.

Shelter Cymru’s Information Matters to Rural Communities Project is working in the smaller rural communities of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. The project started in October 2007 and it has been funded by The Big Lottery Fund for 3 years.

Voluntary organisations concerned about the impact of the global financial situation on their bank deposits have received guidance from the Charity Commission. Click on the following link for guidance on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and how it affects your organisation:

www.charity-commission.gov.uk/news/fincomp.asp

The annual gathering of the Development Trusts Association in Leeds on 15th September saw the launch of the important research findings ‘Bearing Fruit: Good Practice in Asset-Based Rural Community Development. The study examines the experiences of seven rural Development Trusts to ‘see what works’.