Latest news and more about the Resource Centre
Resource Centre News
Money in Mind: helping community groups look after the pennies
The Money in Mind project provides support and advice to community groups in Brighton & Hove on how to manage their money. It is being run by the Resource Centre, Impact Initiatives, and the Working Together Project for the next five years, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Free support is available for all small groups who want it - in a variety of formats, to suit different groups. Any not-for-profit group, based in Brighton & Hove, with an annual income below £35,000, could get some practical help from the project. For example:
- Free one-to-one support and advice
- Free training courses
- A free examination of accounts service
- Online reference information, free for any community group to download.
You will find more information about the project and the support your group may be able to get at www.supportforgroups.org.uk/moneyinmind
Welcome to Mireille, our new worker
Our new worker, Mireille Shimoda, started work on 4th January, increasing the number of staff from six to seven.With increased use of the centre in recent years we have known for some time that we needed to increase the number of workers we have. For example, last year usage of our reprographics service increased by 37% on the previous year.
Having an additional member of staff had become necessary to cope with the ever increasing demand from users. We hope that it will enable us to respond more quickly to requests for support and advice, and that groups coming into the centre to do printing or collect equipment will not have such long waits when we are busy.
New information sheet on designing and using Questionaires
Is your group thinking about carrying out a survey to evaluate your activities or gauge opinion? Not sure how to go about it? Get some helpful tips from our new information sheet 'Designing and using questionnnaires'
New information sheet on Public Liability and Insurance
"Do we need public liability insurance for the activity we are planning?"Groups frequently pop in or ring us to ask this question, so we have put together a short information sheet on Public Liability.
It explains what public liability is, why you might need insurance, and what you can do you make sure you members, volunteers and visitors are safe.
New print facilities at the Resource Centre
Community and voluntary groups in Brighton & Hove now have access to the latest equipment for:- Colour photocopying - from 20p per copy A4
- High quality copyprinting - faster and better than ever
- Automatic collating, folding and stapling of booklets
- Accurate and fast folding of leaflets
- Colour scanning up to A3 size
- Banner printing - just £5 for a colourful glossy paper banner 1.2 metres long
Contact us to discuss your printing needs, or to book the equipment.
New information sheet on petitions
Our new information sheet on Organising a petition gives simple tips and info on how to word a petition, who to present it to, and the pros and cons of using online petition websites.
Updated information sheets
We have recently updated our information sheets on:- Running a creche
- CRB Disclosures
- Writing an equal opportunities policy
- Writing a constitution
- Starting a group
- Arabic language computing
New funders for local community groups added to our Favourite Funders directory
This week we have added the 'Community Matters' fund from Waitrose and 'Changes Spaces: EcoMinds' from the Big Lottery Fund to our Favourite Funders directory of essential facts on the best funders for small local groups.
Community Matters: every Waitrose shop will distribute £1000 each month to local welfare organisations, community groups, schools or charities, with customers and staff nominating groups and voting for which ones should receive support.
EcoMinds: funding for organisations to help people with direct experience of mental distress become involved in environmental projects that improve mental and physical health and local communities. There are four funding bands:
- small grants of up to £20,000
- medium grants between £20,001 and £60,000
- large grants between £60,001 and £150,000
- flagship Grants between £150,001 and £250,000.
Price changes and new games for Summer 2008 at the Resource Centre
Thanks to a generous grant from the Argus Appeal, we are revitalising our stock of fairground games and play equiment, in time for this year's summer season. New equipment now available includes:- Milk the cow - a fun game for fetes and fairs, where players 'milk' the wooden cow, and challenge themselves to get the most water in the bucket within the time limit.
- Multi target - 2m circular pop up target, with sticky velcro balls. A large and colourful game that can be played indoors or out.
- Skittles - good quality wooden skittles
- Tug of war rope - supplied with gloves and line marking spray
- Bubble machine - adds to the party atmosphere, wherever you are
Most of our fairground games are now £5 for up to a week's hire (a few 'premium' games are more expensive), and most play equipment is a bargain £2.50 for up to a week. Drop in to the Centre for a new leaflet and price list, if you want all the details to hand.
At the same time, things are changing in our print service. Changes in paper supplies mean we have had to increase some prices and change the range of colours we have available. See our print quote calculator for full details, or contact us for a quote.
Resource Centre receives funding from Argus Appeal
We are very pleased to announce a grant of £4,190 from the Argus Appeal for the Resource Centre's Fun and Funds Project.The money will be used to update and renew our stock of play equipment and money-making games for groups to use at fetes and fairs.
Watch this space for news of:
- another candy floss machine
- a range of new and exciting fairground games, including pop up goals, tug of war and skittles
- more giant games - connect four, buzzer hand, and test your strength
- a bubble machine
- banners to add colour to groups' events
