Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women from across London will take part in the first in a series of Government events today, which aim to encourage them to become councillors in local government - ultimately making councils more representative of the communities they serve and enable more informed decision making. Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, recently launched the Taskforce - a working group of 14 current and former councillors from across Britain, each from different ethnic backgrounds and political parties. The Taskforce is chaired by Baroness Uddin - the first Muslim woman in the House of Lords and a prominent figure in the Black and Asian community. It aims to take practical steps to help women from ethnic minority groups enter public life. The Taskforce members are fully committed to supporting and advising women interested in becoming a local councillor. The pilot event, being held in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, is the first in a series of regional events across the country, which aim to raise awareness of the role and benefits of being a local councillor, encourage more Black, Asian and minority ethnic women to consider stepping forward, and providing advice on how to find out more about becoming a local councillor. Launching the event, Barbara Follett, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality said, “We need our local councils to better reflect society. This is not only because BAME women are vastly underrepresented as local councillors - there are only around 168 across England, when there should be about 1000 - but also because we’ll have more informed local decision making if all members of the community are involved.”

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23 July 2008
© Cabinet Office

The G8 leaders have not done enough to address the world poverty crisis, according to international charity Oxfam. Leaders from the most powerful countries in the world met in Japan but their conference did not do enough to satisfy the demands of the organisation. Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam International Executive Director, cited climate change, food prices and poverty as some of the problems which needed to be tackled. According to the charity, the G8’s climate change policies leave the world with a 50 percent chance “of global meltdown” and did not do enough to help the hungry. He commented: “Rich country biofuels are a major cause of the global food crisis at this moment, yet the leaders barely mentioned them and blithely continue to burn food in their cars. It’s like discussing the Titanic but failing to talk about the iceberg.” In addition, no new promises regarding African aid or specific targets were made, Oxfam said.

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21 July 2008
© CAF

AAT Project Manager Dan McCallum will unveil the proposals at the Builth Wells showground when he appears as guest speaker at the Voluntary Sector Marquee hosted by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Wales Association of County Voluntary Councils (WACVC).
Awel Aman Tawe (Welsh for “wind of the Amman and Swansea Valleys”) is a social enterprise working for the regeneration of the South Wales mining valleys through the development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and environmental projects. It has been developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in primary and secondary schools for the past seven years and, as part of the scheme, will also: distribute 5,000 low energy lightbulbs to children for use at home; distribute Home Energy Checks (HECs) for pupils to complete with their parents; undertake loft and cavity wall insulation measures in 100 homes; encourage schools and pupils to buy biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil from AAT’s fuel pump; continue discussions with Sustrans about promoting cycling in the schools and linking that to carbon savings
‘We think it is most effective to work with young people as they’re more likely to change their behaviour and encourage others to do so,’ said Dan McCallum. ‘There are no wind turbines at any school in Wales at present and our aim is to make them a common sight.’

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21 July 2008
© WCVA

A broad range of transformational projects led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and its partners is described in a new publication, HIE Review 2008. The review, published online on Monday 30 June, summarises HIE’s activities to build sustainable economic growth across the Highlands and Islands during 2007-08. Projects featured in the publication cover every area in the Highlands and Islands. They include UHI, broadband, Moray 2020, the Centre for Health Science, the Argyll marine science park, the European Marine Energy Centre, Stòras Uibhist, the Isle of Eigg electrification, the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company, Caithness and North Sutherland regeneration, Shetland’s creative industries, Eden Court Theatre, Highland 2007, the Fàs centre for creative and cultural industries, Raasay House, and Culloden Battlefield visitor centre. A Gaelic version of the publication is currently being prepared and will be published shortly. Hard copy versions will follow in the summer. Visit: www.hie.co.uk/hie-review-2008.htm

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30 June 2008
© HIE

Capacity-building charity Resource Alliance is asking UK overseas aid agencies to share their fundraising expertise with organisations in countries with less developed voluntary sectors. A study by the alliance of fundraising in central Europe shows that a lack of resources is preventing charities in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary from developing fundraising techniques and donor databases.

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23 July 2008
© Hannah Jordan, Third Sector

A London charity that supports victims of domestic violence is celebrating a High Court victory that resulted in its local council reversing a decision to cut its £100,000 funding. Southall Black Sisters , which helps people from black and minority ethnic communities, was told by Ealing Council last July that its £100,000 annual grant would not be renewed. The council wanted to use the money to commission a domestic violence support service for all women in the borough.

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23 July 2008
© Third Sector Online

CPRE welcomed Matthew Taylor’s much anticipated report to the Prime Minister on rural communities today (Wednesday). ‘It is so refreshing to read a report which puts long term planning, local distinctiveness, and community consent at the heart of its recommendations,’ said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE. The report, commissioned by Gordon Brown, suggests practical ways of providing more permanently affordable housing for rural communities. Crucially, it recognises the wisdom of carefully planned and well designed settlements. ‘Matthew Taylor has raised the level of debate about the development of our market towns with an inspiring call to put master planning centre stage. “CPRE wholly supports the identification of the planning system as the key to high quality, attractive settlements and surrounding countryside.  CPRE thinks there may be potential in the report’s proposal for Community Led Affordable Housing which could secure urgently needed affordable homes in perpetuity in rural villages,” Tom Oliver continued. Key recommendations in the report include: a commitment to the role of the planning system to deliver affordable housing in rural communities; an inspiring recommendation that significant extensions to market towns, where justified and needed, should be master-planned with long term quality of building at the top of the agenda; concentration on high quality long term outcomes, rather than short term targets for local authorities; putting the consent of local communities at the heart of delivering affordable housing in rural settlements; support for home working for those living in rented or part-owned accommodation; strong commitment to the importance of local distinctiveness and local design and design guidance for local authorities in planning policy; making it easier for local authorities to insist on a proportion of affordable housing in small scale developments.

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23 July 2008
© CPRE

This summary tells you about the Standards We Expect project. Disabled people and others have long argued that it does not make sense to spend money on services which limit people’s choices and their opportunities to live ordinary lives. The alternative, personalisation, aims to support people to make choices and to be included. It goes under many different names, including ‘independent living’, ‘person-centred support’ and ‘self-directed support’. They are all based on the same principle: if disabled people are to participate and contribute as equal citizens they must have choice and control over the support they need to go about their daily lives. This is a matter of social justice. It is an issue therefore which is fundamental to the kind of society we are, and the kind of society we want to be. Moreover, it is essential that the people who depend on services are at the heart of decisions about the design and delivery of those services. This study starts from that position, by asking service users themselves what person-centred support is, what gets in the way of providing it and what helps. It also fully recognises the role of family carers and the important relationship between service users and those managing and providing services. ‘Personalisation’ of public services has become fashionable for politicians, policy-makers and providers. This research is a timely reminder that service users have long been arguing for, and designing, person-centred services. Change will only happen if services are shaped by the people who rely on them. So, an idea which came from service users themselves will only be realised if individuals are empowered to play their full part, not only in determining their own lives but also in the transformation of public services. Download the full report: http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/2173-person-centred-support.pdf

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21 July 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation

The Social Enterprise Loan Fund was officially launched on Tuesday 22 July. The Social Enterprise Loan Fund (TSELF) replaces the Local Investment Fund, which has generated over £2 million of private sector investment and £7 million of loan finance to 150 community enterprises over the last 14 years. TSELF plans to build upon this success by doubling the size of its loan portfolio over the next three years. “We have significant experience in providing loan finance to not-for-profit community enterprises,” says Mike Baker, Chief Executive. “The new Social Enterprise Loan Fund will provide more funds to more social enterprises and we hope we can do this in more parts of the country.” The Local Investment Fund was set up as a registered charity in 1994 by the then DETR (now DCLG), Business in the Community and the private sector, led by NatWest, with the aim of overcoming the funding gap often experienced by social enterprise.
http://www.tself.org.uk/

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21 July 2008
© The Social Enterprise Loan Fund

Credit unions worldwide are expanding at a stable pace, with more members being served by more credit unions in 2007 than were served during the previous year, according to findings released this week in World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2007 Statistical Report. Respondents to the annual survey from 96 countries reported that 49,134 credit unions served more than 177 million people worldwide in 2007. In 2006, 46,377 credit unions served slightly more than 172 million members in 97 countries. Credit union assets around the globe grew by 8.2% over the previous year, totaling US$1.2 trillion in 2007, while credit unions managed more than US$900 billion in savings. Africa led asset growth last year with a 37.3% increase. Capitalization levels, a measure of financial soundness, remained strong at 9.8% of total non-risk-adjusted assets in 2007, demonstrating that the international credit union movement is on solid financial footing. Global membership in credit unions grew by 3.1% in 2007 compared to the previous year, with Africa again leading the growth curve in relative terms with 15.1% growth. WOCCU has collected annual statistics on the international credit union movement for the past 35 years to produce its annual Statistical Report. The only source for such comprehensive data on the global credit union movement, WOCCU’s Statistical Report is widely cited by governments, international institutions and analysts. To download a free copy of the current report, visit www.woccu.org/publications/statreport

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21 July 2008
© ABCUL