Volunteers Week – a time to say thanks!

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Celebrating Social Prescribing

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Eric Wright Small Grants funding

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Trustees’ Week – Nov 2nd-6th

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As Trustee Week begins, voluntary groups and charities in West Lancashire are looking for special volunteers to help lead their organisations.

Trustees Week (2-6 November 2020) is an annual event to highlight the great work that trustees do and encourage people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference.

There are different roles in running a charity including the Treasurer who has financial and fundraising skills, the Secretary who provides organisational and administration skills and Chairperson who manages meetings and provides leadership. Between them and the Board of Trustees they make important decisions about running the charity.

West Lancashire Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) currently has 12 opportunities to become a trustee for a diverse range of local charities. It also has over 200 other volunteering opportunities available.

To find out about these roles, or to volunteer as a trustee, contact the Volunteer Centre at CVS on 01695 733737 or email: vc@wlcvs.org

Greg Mitten, CVS Chief Officer says:

“A special thanks to all our West Lancashire CVS trustees past and present and to all charity trustees in West Lancs, Lancashire, the North West and beyond.  Your voluntary roles have always been essential and never more so than in the pandemic.”

Find out more about Trustees’ Week 2020 here: http://trusteesweek.org/

Congratulations to West Lancs Queens Birthday Honours Award recipients

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West Lancs CVS would like to join with our voluntary sector colleagues in offering our congratulations to Margaret Highton from Evermoor Community Hub and Stella Connell from The Birchwood Centre for the well-earned and great honour they have received in the latest Queens Birthday Honours Awards.

Margaret Highton was given a British Empire Medal for her work as director of Evermoor Hub, helping people in Skelmersdale.

Chief Executive of the Birchwood Centre, Stella Connell, OBE has been recognised for services to homeless and vulnerable people (based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire).

Celebrating West Lancs CVS Social Prescribing Service

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Today is #NationalLinkWorkerDay which showcases and celebrates the impact of Social Prescribing Link Workers and West Lancs CVS would like to offer a huge thank you to its Social Prescribing Service team.

The service which initially began in August 2018 as a small-scale pilot for the Skelmersdale area, has now expanded and covers the whole of West Lancs.

The service has proved invaluable during the pandemic, offering vital support for the most vulnerable people in West Lancashire. The team has focused on delivering support to those who are shielding or are considered ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’ during lockdown. Even though face to face contact has proven a challenge, the team have risen to this and continue to take referrals from GPs.

Recognising that people’s health is determined primarily by a range of social, economic and environmental factors, social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. It also aims to support individuals to take greater control of their own health (King’s Fund 2020).

West Lancs Social Prescribing aims to connect people back into their community.​

Greg Mitten, Chief Officer of West Lancs CVS said: “Thank you to all our West Lancs Social Prescribing Team, it’s been a privilege to witness how hard everyone has worked from the start of the pilot in Skelmersdale, through to the extension of the service across West Lancashire and most recently in their work during the pandemic alongside NHS , local authority and voluntary sector colleagues to support the ‘shielded’ members of our community. The voluntary sector, CCG Commissioners, GP practices, NHS and Local Authorities are working in partnership to maximise the positive benefits Social Prescribing supports. Social prescribing supports these benefits because it recognises the gifts, skills and capacities of individuals and the power of connected communities”.

To find out more about the service, check out our Social Prescribing page or contact the Development & Strategic Lead, Jacqui Sutton on jacqui@wlcvs.org

Volunteers step up for medicine delivery

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When national lockdown started in March, one of the immediate challenges in West Lancs was to get essential medications out to people who were shielding or vulnerable.  It was a challenge taken on by staff from West Lancs Community Leisure who, having been furloughed from their leisure centre jobs, stepped up to become medication delivery volunteers.

Mark from Serco says ’24 staff from West Lancashire Community Leisure volunteered to deliver much needed vital medical supplies to residents in West Lancashire whilst the leisure centres were closed and the staff are on furlough. A massive thank you to everyone involved’.

Later in the Spring, as lockdown began to ease and it was apparent that the Serco staff would need to return to their work at local leisure centres, West Lancs CVS took on this vital role and stepped in to recruit more volunteers to take their place.

In anticipation of the switchover and to ensure a smooth transition, CVS recruited a total of 36 volunteers during May, from which 18 were trained up online by the CCG and then DBS checked by CVS.  Initially they started working alongside the Serco staff in June so they were fully ready to take over when Serco staff had to return to their jobs in July.

Jill Bradley, Operations Manager at CVS says,

‘the Volunteer Medicine Delivery work is a shining example of what can be achieved when voluntary, public and private sectors work together in conjunction with the wonderful volunteers of West Lancashire.  We are proud to have taken on this essential role and to continue Serco’s work of coordinating and managing the volunteer team throughout July and August’.

Jan Howard, Volunteering Officer at the CVS’s Volunteer Centre says:

‘We were delighted to be able to help and to see the fantastic commitment and skills of West Lancs volunteers put to such good use.  They rose to the challenge magnificently – as they always do!’