News - Page 7 of 9 - Midlothian Third Sector Interface

Midlothian Volunteer Awards 2021: Nominees Announced

Miriam Leighton on 8 April, 2021

We are now able to share the list of confirmed nominees for the 2021 Midlothian Volunteer Awards, which will take place during Volunteers’ Week from 1-7 June. It’s looking likely that we will run an event on the evening of Thursday 3rd June to announce the winners, so keep an eye out for further updates about this.

The standard of nominations has been very high this year and we have also had a lot of interest in the awards. This reflects all the extra voluntary activity we’ve seen as part of the Covid-19 resilience response in local communities, but also the amazing work that has taken place across the third sector as a whole throughout the pandemic.

All of the nominees are listed below. The full list of Saltire Summit nominees will be announced later on in April. Well done everyone – you are all fabulous!

Outstanding New Volunteer

Heather Mortimore (Food Facts Friends)
Andrew Love (CAPS Collective Advocacy)
Kathryn Gordon (Home Link Family Support)
Katrina Drennan (Penicuik Ambassdors)
Beth Fyfe Falconer (Volunteer Midlothian – Transform)

Befriender Mentor

Joseph Burke (Health in Mind)
Alzheimer Scotland Telephone Companions
Amanda Gillespie (Home Link Family Support)
Connect Project Volunteers (Volunteer Midlothian)
Colin Pow (Health in Mind)

Active Volunteering

Rebecca Lewis (Riverfly on the Esk)
Holly Gibb (Breastfeeding Café)
Mirabelle Maslin (Roslin and Bilston Community Council)
Chris Boyle and Ricky Lloyd (Dalkeith Rugby)
Dalkeith Guerrilla Gardeners
Ageing Well (Midlothian Council)

Health and Wellbeing

Anam Cara Befriending Team
Art and Craft in Wellbeing Group (Health in Mind)
Midlothian Breastfeeding Alliance
Green Prescribing Garden Buddies (Cyrenians)

Dedicated Service

Jim Paterson (Food Facts Friends)
Connect Online (Volunteer Midlothian)
David Thornton (Health in Mind)
Colette Pye (Mayfield and District Breastfeeding Support Group)
Maggie Palmer (Home Link Family Support)
Jim Ralston (1st Loanhead Boys Brigade Company)
Penicuik Community Development Trust

Covid-19

Vernon Miles (Community Activist – Environmental Clean Up)
Grant Stanley (‘Our Stars Family’ on Facebook )
Amazing Brains Committee at Art Club
Food Facts Friends
Gorebridge Resilience Partnership
Penicuik Ambassadors

Volunteer Manager

Mark Wells (Food Facts Friends)
Michael Huddleston (Alzheimer Scotland)
Monika Dyczko (Health in Mind)
Naomi Knights (Volunteer Midlothian)
Shondra Riley (Made in Midlothian)

Saltire Summit Award

Kyle Anderson
Eva Hesketh-Laird
Louise Gillespie
Melissa Reidie
Samantha Gough

Artists supported through youth arts programme

Miriam Leighton on 1 April, 2021

Made in Midlothian, in partnership with Midlothian Voluntary Action, has selected seven freelance artists to deliver creative projects with young people across local communities.

Funded by Creative Scotland’s Youth Arts Small Grants Scheme, the successful applicants are:

Adie Baako, West African Dancer of Akrowa UK
Ailis Paterson, Drama Facilitator
Annie Lord, Artist and Performer
Hannah Edi, Actor and Teacher
Laura Baigrie, Play Services Manager and Arts Practitioner
Lea Taylor, Professional Storyteller and Author
Mary Turner Thomson, Author.

Each artist will shape their projects with young people taking the lead on what’s created. The programme will culminate in a showcase in March 2022 where young people will have a chance to display or perform their art. In addition to this, they will have an opportunity to list their art on Made in Midlothian’s online marketplace.

To learn more about their projects visit www.madeinmidlothian.com/mim-youth-arts-programme

Volunteers’ Week Awards 2021: New Award Categories Video

Miriam Leighton on 18 March, 2021

We’ve put together a second video following on from the one we released last week about the Midlothian Volunteer Awards. This latest video offering tells you more about the categories that volunteers can be nominated for and who the award sponsors are.

Both individual volunteers and teams can be nominated for all of the categories except the Saltire Summit and the two ‘Of the Year’ Awards, which are instead judged from all the nominations put together. This means that every nominee has two chances to win an award – so all the more reason to nominate!

You can watch our other video and read our Awards FAQ’s on our Volunteer’s Week Awards web page.

We hope you like it and that those of us who prefer to ‘watch’ rather than ‘read’ also find it helpful. Please share widely so that as many people as possible know about the awards and can get thinking about who deserves to be nominated. Thanks!

Check out our new Volunteer Awards Video Guide!

Miriam Leighton on 12 March, 2021

We have put together a video guide to accompany the FAQ’s information for the Volunteers’ Week Awards. We hope that this will be a useful accompaniment to the written information on the website.

We will also be releasing a second video next week explaining more about the categories for nomination. You can also go to the Volunteers’ Week page on our website to view the video and get more information.

We hope you find it helpful. If so, please share widely with others who may be thinking of nominating. Thanks!

Volunteer Group Facilitators needed for the Connect project

Miriam Leighton on 10 March, 2021

Older people in a Zoom group. Image from Creative Commons.

Do you have an area of interest or expertise you could share with others online? Volunteer Midlothian is recruiting Online Group Facilitators to run small online group sessions with people aged 50+ who may be feeling lonely and isolated during the pandemic.

You will pick an area of interest or expertise that you would like to share with others and develop it into a series of six sessions. You will be matched with up to five people aged 50+ who share this interest and who want to meet others.

Your topic could be arts and crafts, ‘knit and natter’, football memories, teaching languages or a musical instrument, creative writing, quizzes, painting or sketching. You may simply want to run a conversation group based around certain themes of participants’ choice, for example ‘music in the 50s’, ‘crime book club’ or ‘seasonal gardening tips’.

We know there are potential volunteers out there who would be perfect for this role. We are also expecting quite a lot of interest in this project, as it offers the chance to develop valuable skills in group leadership and facilitation. If that person is you then get in touch with our Connect project worker and find out more today!!

Midlothian Volunteer Awards 2021: Nominations are NOW OPEN!

Miriam Leighton on 8 March, 2021

We are super excited to announce that the nominations for this year’s Volunteers’ Week Awards are now open! The 2021 awards are shaping up to be extra special because they will celebrate volunteering activity from both before and during the pandemic.

Categories for nomination include: Outstanding New Volunteer, Befriender/Mentor of the Year, Active Volunteering, Health and Wellbeing, Dedicated Service to Volunteering, Volunteer Manager of the Year and the Saltire Summit Award.

The winners of the 2019 awards, which were held at Newbattle Abbey College.

A brand-new category has also been introduced for 2021 to acknowledge community-led volunteering that occurred in response to Covid-19. This category will be open to nominations from members of the public in Midlothian who want to recognise local volunteers that have made an outstanding effort in their communities over the last 12 months. We can’t wait to see the nominations flying in! They are open for a three-week period until the end of March, so spread the word through your networks and get thinking as to who you might want to put forward for an award.

More information about how to nominate and the link to the nominations form can be found on our Volunteers’ Week FAQ’s page. We will also be releasing a video guide to the awards later on in the week, so look out for that, particularly if you prefer to listen rather than read.

Good luck! If you’ve any questions, get in touch by emailing info@volunteermidlothian.org.uk

Midlothian Volunteers’ Week Awards – Nominations Open NEXT WEEK!

Miriam Leighton on 4 March, 2021

Volunteer Midlothian is thrilled to announce that the nominations for this year’s Volunteers’ Week Awards will be opening next Monday after an unplanned hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 awards are shaping up to be extra special because they will celebrate volunteering activity from both before and during the pandemic.

Categories for nomination will include: Outstanding New Volunteer, Befriender/Mentor of the Year, Active Volunteering, Health and Wellbeing, Dedicated Service to Volunteering, Volunteer Manager of the Year and the Saltire Summit Award.

A brand-new category has also been introduced for 2021 to acknowledge the community-led volunteering that has occurred in response to Covid-19. This category will be open to nominations from members of the public who want to recognise and reward local volunteers that have ‘gone the extra mile’ over the last 12 months. We can’t wait to see the nominations flying in! They are open for a three-week period until the end of March, so spread the word and get your thinking caps on as to who you might want to put forward for an award.

More info about the awards can be found on our Volunteers’ Week FAQ’s page. The link for the nominations form will be activated on Monday 8th June at 12 p.m. We will also be releasing a video guide to the awards next week, so look out for that as well.

MORE INFO TO FOLLOW SOON!

Good Governance in the Third Sector

Miriam Leighton on 8 February, 2021

Moving your Board Meetings Online

This month we’re publishing a series of blog posts to help organisations update their governing documents if needed, so online meetings can continue. Here’s the first blog written by our Deputy Chief Officer, Rebecca McKinney:

Wiki Education board meeting June 2020 via Zoom by LiAnna (Wiki Ed) is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0.

The process for how your organisation holds board meetings and members’ meetings such as AGMs and EGMs will be set out in your governing document. In normal times, you must follow this process.

In response to the Covid 19 Pandemic, some rules have been loosened to allow meetings to be held virtually even when this is not stated in your governing document. However, the rules are currently scheduled to revert back at the end of March, 2021. This means that if you want to continue having virtual board or members’ meetings, you may have to change your governing document. Here’s what to do next:

Find your constitution or your articles of association and read the sections pertaining to the conduct of Directors’/Trustees’ meetings and Members’ meetings.
Does the document specify that meetings may take place electronically or virtually?
Or, does it have clauses stating that the meeting will be treated as taking place regardless of where participants actually are?
Remember to check sections pertaining to both DIRECTORS and MEMBERS.
If YES, you don’t have to make any changes to your governing document.
If NO, read on:

If your organisation is a SCIO or unincorporated charity, see these NEXT STEPS:

1. Hold an AGM or EGM and pass a resolution to make the change to your constitution. Remember that this meeting must be quorate. At least two thirds of members who participate in the vote must agree to the change.

2. Inform OSCR within three months that you have made the change, by sending their notification form and a copy of your amended constitution. You can find out more about how to do this here. Suggested text is available via SCVO. You will need to adjust the wording and clause numbering to match your particular constitution.

Add immediately after clause 40: “40A. The board may make arrangements, in advance of any members’ meeting, to allow members to participate in the members’ meeting by means of a conference telephone, video conferencing facility or similar communications equipment – so long as all those participating in the meeting can hear each other; a member participating in a members’ meeting in this manner shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting.”

Amend clause 44: “44 Every member has one vote, which must be given personally; for the avoidance of doubt, a vote given by a member participating in the meeting through any of the methods referred to in clause 40A will be taken to be given personally for the purposes of this clause.”

Add immediately after clause 86: “86A. A charity trustee may participate in a meeting of the board by means of a conference telephone, video conferencing facility or similar communications equipment – so long as all the charity trustees participating in the meeting can hear each other; a charity trustee participating in a meeting in this manner shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting.”

Amend clause 90: “90. Every charity trustee has one vote, which must be given personally; for the avoidance of doubt, a vote given by a charity trustee participating in the meeting through any of the methods referred to in clause 86A will be taken to be given personally for the purposes of this clause.”

If your organisation is a Company Ltd by Guarantee WITH charitable status, follow these NEXT STEPS:

1. Hold an AGM or EGM and pass a resolution to make the change to your Articles of Association. Remember that this meeting must be quorate. At least two thirds of members who participate in the vote must agree to the change.

2. Inform Companies House of the change to your Articles within 15 days. You can find out how to do this here.

3. Inform OSCR within three months that you have made the change, by sending their notification form and a copy of your amended constitution. You can find out more about how to do this here.

Some sample statements you may insert into your Articles are:

In determining whether directors are participating in a directors’ meeting, it is irrelevant where any director is or how they communicate with each other.

or

If all the directors participating in a meeting are not in the same place, they may decide that the meeting is to be treated as taking place wherever any of them is.

And

In determining attendance at a general meeting, it is immaterial whether any two or more members attending it are in the same place as each other.

If your organisation is a CIC or Company Ltd by Guarantee without charitable status, follow these NEXT STEPS:

Check your CIC Articles. It is likely that these already contain a clause enabling you to hold meetings in which all participants are not in the same place. In this case, you do not need to make any changes.

If you do need to amend your articles, follow the same procedure as ‘If your organisation is a Company Ltd by Guarantee WITH charitable status’ above, but because you are not a charity, you will not have to inform OSCR.

On 24 February we’re holding a free workshop for Midlothian third sector organisations that may need to change their governing document to allow virtual meetings.

Virtual meeting best practice

Miriam Leighton on 3 February, 2021

"Zoom meeting" by chericbaker is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0

A poor internet connection, a frozen screen and Zoom fatigue are all problems that those of us taking part in video meetings have experienced during the pandemic.

For all the downsides, video meetings have allowed some organisations to keep working under lockdown, and they can also be easier to attend for those with mobility issues or busy schedules. The technology reduces the costs of holding meetings, and businesses are now less dependent on office space.

If your organisation wants to keep holding official meetings online or by phone (such as AGMs) after 30 March 2021, you may need to update your governing documents.

Over the next three weeks we’re going to publish a series of blog posts that outline how to work out if you need to update your governing documents to allow for continued online meetings. We’ll provide some sample lines to use, and share case studies on what other businesses have learnt from holding meetings online. Topics we’ll cover will include how to manage online voting, preparing for those potential technical hitches and avoiding disruptive ‘Zoombombing’.

Keep an eye on the news page over the coming weeks- follow us on Facebook or Twitter and we’ll let you know when the next post is live.

On 24 February we’re holding a free workshop for Midlothian third sector organisations that may need to change their governing document to allow virtual meetings.

Volunteer Midlothian receives funding boost from Befriending Networks

Miriam Leighton on 2 February, 2021

We are really pleased to share the news that Volunteer Midlothian recently received some funding from Befriending Networks to help boost the number of volunteers who take part in our various befriending projects.

Volunteer Midlothian has several befriending projects: ‘Transform’, an intergenerational befriending project, ‘Connect’, which aims to reduce social isolation among members of the older population in Midlothian and also ‘Connect Online’, which matches a learner with a volunteer who can support them with digital skills.

As well as recruiting new volunteers, the funding will also be used to pilot new volunteer opportunities, with a new focus on the creation of online groups to be facilitated by volunteers with particular interests and expertise. This could include for example a music group or a craft group. Volunteers will receive training in group facilitation and online safeguarding, as well as the use of digital technology, widening their skills and knowledge around how to support and include people by using different methods of engagement. The online groups will be open to people in Midlothian who would benefit from having more social connectivity. At the moment all activity is online, though in future we hope some of the groups may be able to happen ‘face to face’.

Keep an eye out for further updates when the project is fully underway – we’ll be looking for more volunteers and clients, so get in touch with Naomi if you are interested in finding out more. Also, a very big thank you to Befriending Networks for helping to make these new developments possible.

Connect with Burns in 2021!

Miriam Leighton on 29 January, 2021

Three very talented volunteers from Volunteer Midlothian made our online Burns celebration this week an especially enjoyable evening for all involved. They joined staff and volunteers from our Connect and Connect Online projects to celebrate Scotland’s favourite national poet and share some of their own thoughts on being Scottish.

Raj created an homage to Scotland in the form of his videos ‘Our Adopted Land’ and ‘Rabbie Burns – My Take on the Bard’, which are also available on You Tube. We played some snippets of both, before having fun describing our favourite Scottish words (such as ‘scunnered’) and favourite Scottish places. Midlothian of course got a few mentions. A short quiz on Burns and Scotland followed, so we all learned something new. Anyone know what ‘Partan Bree’ is?

Mary treated us to a passionate recital of Tam O’ Shanter with edited highlights. “Weel done Cutty Sark!” Bruce then entertained us with Scottish and Burns songs including ‘Caledonia’ and of course ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to close the event.

Many thanks to our brilliant volunteers who contributed and attended. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Connect project, or Connect Online, contact Naomi Knights, our befriending co-ordinator.

Videos: Scotland and Burns

Saltire criteria update

Miriam Leighton on 27 January, 2021

You may recall that at the start of the pandemic Saltire allowed young people to claim informal volunteering hours until August 2021. This arrangement still applies until the end of March 2021. Up to 100 hours of informal volunteering can be accredited.

If you know a young person who has been doing any informal volunteering (e.g. walking a neighbour’s dog whilst they are shielding, or food shopping for an elderly person) please encourage them to add these hours to their Saltire account or go to the Saltire Awards website to register and claim the hours for certification.

Saltire Awards are great to have on a CV when looking for employment and are also an excellent way for young people to demonstrate their contribution and help others!

Youth Arts Small Grants Fund now open for applications

Miriam Leighton on 26 January, 2021

Midlothian Voluntary Action are proud to be working in partnership with local social enterprise Made in Midlothian on a project that will support freelance artists to work with children and young people in Midlothian.

Funded by Creative Scotland’s Youth Arts Small Grants Scheme, the programme will provide small grants to artists to work with groups of children and young people in Midlothian who have been most adversely affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. Local MSP, Colin Beattie, has congratulated Made in Midlothian on their success, in a motion to the Scottish Parliament.

The small grant fund is now open for applications and applications close on 1 March 2021. See Made in Midlothian’s website for more information.

“This funding will support Made in Midlothian to empower freelance arts practitioners to deliver activity across the community, and bring meaningful creative experiences to children and young people, whose well-being has been so severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Colin Bradie, Interim Head of Creative Learning, Creative Scotland

Volunteer Midlothian and Health in Mind team up to offer mental health training in January

Miriam Leighton on 6 January, 2021

Hello and happy new year to you all from Volunteer Midlothian! Also not so happy, since we have entered another full lockdown across the UK, but we can only make the best of it and try to be kind to each other in the coming weeks and months.

There is an ongoing need to support the mental wellbeing of third sector staff and volunteers at this time, so we are confident that the provision of three special training sessions later on in January from Volunteer Midlothian and Health in Mind will be welcomed. The sessions have been organised as part of the mental health and volunteering grants project, hosted by Volunteer Midlothian and launched during lockdown 2020. Our development worker Natalie, and also Lisa Hodkinson from Health in Mind, have worked hard to roll this provision out in the last month of funding for the project.

During the staff session there will be an emphasis on maintaining wellbeing at work (including work from home). For volunteers, the focus will be more general, looking at self care and support to stay well in times of stress or additional challenges. Sessions will be short and easy to access. We are sure you will agree that now is the time to encourage people to pause and take a moment to reflect on how best they can support their own mental wellbeing, and that of others around them, as we move through another lockdown and try to deal with the longer term uncertainty of the pandemic.

We’d appreciate it if you could promote the sessions widely around your networks and encourage others to sign up. For more information check out the two poster links below, or contact Natalie from Volunteer Midlothian.

Info about staff sessions.

Info about volunteer sessions.

Covid can’t stop Randori Judo!

Miriam Leighton on 3 December, 2020

Just a couple of years ago, Mark Taylor walked into our office in Dalkeith with a dream: to start a social enterprise that would share the physical, emotional and social benefits of judo with children, young people and adults across Midlothian. He founded Randori Social Enterprises in 2018, running clubs and classes in schools around Midlothian.

In the spring of 2020, facing all of the uncertainty that the pandemic brought, Mark took the brave decision to sign the lease on an industrial unit at Hardengreen Business Park. During the lockdown period, the Randori team worked relentlessly, galvanising the support of their members, local businesses and the wider community to fully refurbish and kit out their brand new dojo, complete with sprung floors, mats, mirrors and much more.

SEAM worked alongside Firstport and Midlothian Business Gateway to ensure that Randori had the business support they needed and were able to make the most of available funding opportunities. The new Randori dojo is now up and running. It is an amazing space and an inspiring example of social entrepreneurship in Midlothian. Locate in Midlothian recently featured this article about Randori. You can also follow what Randori is up to on Facebook.