Useful information – w/c 24/03/25
March 24, 2025
Events, training, charity news, surveys, research, feedback, reports, services and much more – in one handy place!
This page will be updated with new information as we receive it during the week. Please check back regularly. (Last update: 24/03/25 – items added on this date are marked as [NEW])
You’ll also find the latest Health and Wellbeing news, events and opportunities in the current post on our News page here.
You can view previous Useful Information posts here to catch up on our archive of information.
For useful resources, information, news and events, updates on our climate commitment, blog posts from colleagues about what they’re doing (in a work capacity and privately) to minimise environmental impact and more take a look at Cumbria CVS Green
If you’ve seen something you think we should be sharing, let us know! Email us: info@cumbriacvs.org.uk
Looking for funding information? Check out the latest edition of Focus on Funding here
Training and Events
[NEW] How to manage charity finances
20 May, online. This course aims, in just three hours, to help you make sense of your finances. It provides a simple, straightforward, plain-English introduction, covering budgeting, reporting, governance, sustainability, futureproofing, and so much more.
In two back-to-back sessions, each lasting approximately 80 minutes, the course offers key insights into the essential elements of charity finance.
Cumbria Devolution Consultation Event
27 March, Penrith. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) are running a consultation on devolution for Cumbria.
Officials from the Ministry will deliver a presentation outlining the details of the consultation, and will be available to discuss any individual queries afterwards.
CRFM 1st birthday party
25 April, Carlisle. We want to celebrate CRFM 1st Birthday as a community, because we are a community radio station! Can you believe that CRFM have been on air for a year as of April the 15th 2025? …..
No neither can we, so to celebrate CRFM are holding a listener 1st birthday party at the Box Arena in Carlisle. Doors open at 7pm with presenters playing music and the show starts at 8pm. On stage will be a host of CRFM presenters with some fun and games as well as playing a great mix of music to dance to.
There will also be three performances from the top tribute acts. Britney Spears, Steps and The Venga Boys just to make the night that little bit special. Plus giving away prizes all night. If you would like up to a Max 6 tickets, just fill out the form here. First come first served up to 100 free tickets available.
Webinar: Building financial confidence in challenging times
25 March, online. Join NCVO’s free online webinar designed to empower charity trustee boards and teams with the financial confidence needed to navigate uncertainty.
This insightful session will provide practical tools, expert guidance, and actionable strategies to address financial challenges with clarity and assurance, ensuring the long-term resilience and sustainability of your charity.
Find out more and book your place here
Healthwatch Community Forum
Friday 28 March, online & Penrith. Do you care about the health and wellbeing of your community, and how accessible services are? Do you (or someone you know) have experience of using any part of social care? Would you like to help shape the future of local services?
Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness would love you to join us at our next community forum. The theme this month is ‘Communities and services’.
Re-aligning your Not-for-Profit Data Strategy
25 March 2025, online. Join Simpson Associates for a comprehensive webinar that will guide you through the journey, from defining your not-for-profit data strategy, to successfully executing a plan that aligns stakeholder objectives, and prioritises key use cases.
Reimagining Service Delivery Summit
12 June 2025, online. Free online event, to explore collaborative and user-cantered service delivery.
Explore how charities can make the most of their resources to deliver the best services. We will also discuss ways to shift perceptions of service delivery, ensuring users remain at the centre of these conversations and much more.
Navigating the Misinformation Era: Strategies for Charity Communicators
27 March, online. Is misinformation affecting your charity and audiences? As the world of communications gets knottier, we look to detangle it with this online seminar.
We’ll dive into what misinformation is, how it persists, and the practical ways you can prepare for, address and stop misinformation in its tracks through your comms approach.
Free Storytelling Photography Workshops
April, Barrow. Join Signal Film & Media and Photographer Nicholas J.R. White for a series of free creative photography workshops!
Explore the Sankey Photography Archive and learn photography narrative techniques. Create your own photographic series and showcase your work. For 18+ years. No experience necessary,
What trustees need to know about AI
Wednesday 26 March, Online. Join NPC for this free event open to all trustees, with a particular focus on those of small and medium-sized organisations.
This one hour webinar will cover all the need-to-know points for trustees to consider when planning for and adapting to AI approaches.
Introduction to Bid Writing Workshop
Tuesday 8 April 2025, online. This 60-minute workshop will give you an introduction to what Bid Writing for Charities and Community Groups is about.
It will enable you to meet Get Grants Experts, get top tips and expert advice and build confidence in your own skills.
Introduction to Legacy Fundraising Workshop
Monday 7 April 2025, online. This 60 minute workshop will highlight what legacy fundraising entails and provide you with a sample of the crucial information for improving your income from legacies.
Get Grants Showcase: Get Jobs
Tuesday 1 April 2025, online. Get Jobs is a new and completely FREE jobs board for the charity sector. Whether you are a Fundraiser, CEO or Marketing expert, Get Jobs brings you the latest opportunities in the third sector.
Led by the team at Get Grants, get Jobs has decades of third sector experience and will put job opportunities in your organisation in front of the Get Grants community of tens of thousands of fundraisers.
Understanding Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Creating an Inclusive Environment
30 April, online.
Board Leadership Stage 1: High-Performance Boards
29–30 April 2025, online. A course on governance for both experienced and new chairs and chief executives.
The course is for both experienced and new chairs and chief executives (ideally attending together). Taking place over two mornings, it will help you in your role of building a high-performance board, delivering valuable insights into the key areas of responsibility for chairs and CEOs and providing you with ideas to keep your board moving forward.
Understanding Governance Stage 1: The Trustee Role
23–24 April 2025, online. Governance fundamentals for new and experienced trustees.
If you are new to the role of being a charity trustee, this course will provide the perfect introduction, while experienced trustees will also benefit from a refresher of their responsibilities and comprehensive updates on evolving elements of the trustee role.
Data Protection Training for Charities
22 April 2025, online. It is important for every charity leader to ensure their organisation is fully compliant with the latest data protection regulations. This half-day course will guide you through the key points to consider and what measures you should have in place.
You will also learn how to avoid some common data protection pitfalls.
Cyber Essentials Training: Mastering the Five Key Controls for Digital Security
15 April, online. This three-hour workshop offers an accessible introduction to Cyber Essentials, a government-backed framework designed to help organisations protect themselves from the most common cyber threats. Over two engaging sessions, we’ll break down the scheme’s five critical controls and run a live hack, including reconnaissance and initial access, where you will play a lead role in the operation.
By the end of the training, you’ll be equipped with actionable strategies to strengthen your organisation’s digital defences.
Introduction to Improving Quality
Thurs 10 April 2025, online. Improving Quality is a clear, simple system, and focuses on the key issues that make a difference for charities. IQ can either be used for self-assessment or accreditation, and has international recognition: a number of organisations in the UK and the Republic of Ireland are already accredited to it.
Find out more about it at our free online workshop.
Data Protection for Fundraisers: What fundraisers need to know and how to prepare
27 March 2025, online. Join Fundraising Everywhere for key updates on data protection for fundraisers in 2025 and 2026!
As the UK’s new data protection bill takes it final steps before becoming law, this session will update you on the expected changes and amendments which will impact fundraising and help you prepare for the future.
Charity Digital Academy: Five time-saving tools for your charity
26 March 2025, online. This course, in just three hours, will show you five game-changing tools to help your charity work smarter, not harder. These tools are easy to use, always come with no-cost and low-cost options, and have been designed to take the stress out of running your organisation.
Please note: Registration will close at 5pm on the 24th March 2025. Registration will not be available after this time.
A Nature for Health Approach Across Cumbria
Thursday 24 April, Carlisle. We know that high quality health and wellbeing, supported by a healthy environment, are the basis for thriving local places and people. And yet, we also know that organisations across our county are grappling with a challenging range of issues, from greater pressures on local services, to nature & climate emergencies and health & wellbeing crises.
As Cumbria looks forward to a period of further devolved powers and responsibilities, it seems an appropriate time to foster conversations that are rooted in cross-sector working, to achieve multiple goals for the health of people & nature.
We would welcome representatives from a variety of sectors and agencies, to join this initial event and participate in structured workshops to establish key areas of focus for Cumbria. Your thoughts, engagement, and outlook as to how we create and sustain positive change, will be key.
Five time-saving tools for your charity
26 March, online. Spend less time on admin and more time making a difference!
This course, in just three hours, will show you five game-changing tools to help your charity work smarter, not harder. These tools are easy to use, always come with no-cost and low-cost options, and have been designed to take the stress out of running your organisation.
Supercharge your use of social media
25 March, online. This course aims, in just three hours, to supercharge your use of social media. We’ll explore how you can pick the right platforms for your charity and how to know whether you should invest, or divest, in other platforms.
We’ll show you how to increase social media engagement, how to extend your reach, and how to ensure you target the most rewarding demographics.
Reserves Policy Training
25 March 2025, online. Learn how to develop a reserves policy for your charity.
This half-day online course has been designed to help charity finance professionals develop a reserves policy that meets the requirements of the Charity Commission and SORP but which is also focused on financial risk and forms an integral part of the charity’s financial strategy.
A Civil Society Covenant – here we go again? Wrigleys’ Charity Leadership Forum
Monday 24 March, Kendal. A robust, respectful and practical working relationship between the third sector and government in all its forms has long been a desire of charity leaders and is intended to be reinvigorated by the proposed Civil Society Covenant.
This session will consider how senior leaders can engage with the Covenant to the advantage of their charities, and will offer a chance to share learning points from previous iterations of such charters.
The forum will be carried out under the Chatham House Rule and will provide an opportunity for discussion, knowledge and experience sharing.
Practical uses of AI for your charity
8 April, online. This course aims, in just three hours, to boost your everyday use of AI.
The course takes a hands-on, practical approach, showing charities how to use AI to improve meetings, boost email marketing, smash data analytics, enhance workflow efficiency, and so much more.
#DoWith – new campaign by The King’s Fund
26 March, online. Radical and hopeful change in how public services work with people and communities is urgently needed.
Do With is a network of people and organisations calling for a radical shift in the public sector from ‘doing to’ to ‘doing with’.
Click here to find out more about the campaign and to sign up for the event
Shopmobility 30th Anniversary
Thursday 3 April, Carlisle. Shopmobility Carlisle are holding a drop in event (Coffee and Cake) to celebrate the official opening above back in 1995. Anyone is welcome to come along between 10am and 3pm.
Shopmobility Carlisle information
Free film-making charity workshops
Various dates, online. These workshops by The Saltways are open to anyone involved with a charity who is interested in creating more effective content, including fundraisers, communications managers, front-line staff, beneficiaries, and even marathon runners.
A practical and interactive session. You will learn the fundamentals of film-making, from planning and shooting to editing and sharing your content.
Our experienced professionals will guide you through the process, providing tips and tricks for creating compelling content that effectively communicates your charity’s mission and impact. Don’t miss this opportunity to take your content creation skills to the next level and make a real impact with your charity’s message.
Reserves – What They Are and How to Calculate Them
Tuesday 8 July, online. Reserves are a critical element when building small charity resilience. However, they are often, for very valid reasons, miscalculated.
The session will look at Why we hold reserves, how to calculate reserves, what a good reserves policy looks like and how to report on reserves.
Introduction to Engaging with Businesses: Five Things I Wish I’d Known
Tuesday 17 June, online. A basic introduction to engaging and connecting with your local business community.
This session is aimed at small charities and voluntary groups, whether they are at the beginning of their journey in engaging with businesses or wish to develop stronger contacts.
How to use Canva for Social Media
Monday 9 June, online. Canva is the great free-to-use online graphic design tool which you can use to create great graphics as well as presentations and videos amongst other things.
This is an introductory session about Canva with a few tips about using it for social media.
GDPR and Data Security
Tues 13 May, online. Who is trying to access your data and what are the implications of this?
Also, what can you do to make it more difficult for people to steal your data.
Where Are Your Next Generation of Volunteers
Tues 29 April, online. Volunteer numbers have been falling since 2020. Considerable changes have occurred in how the public wants to volunteer. There has also been a rise in younger people wanting to give back to their communities, contribute to their environment, and make a difference in their neighbourhoods.
It is important for any group to start thinking about how it can adapt and remove the barriers so that younger people can get involved in volunteering. This session will offer you some practical ways to make volunteering for your organisation more appealing to younger people.
VCFSE News and Information
[NEW] High Sheriff celebrates Cumbria’s charities
Charity workers and volunteers from across Cumbria were thanked at an award ceremony last week, recognising their tireless efforts to enhance and enrich their local communities.
Representatives from more than 20 voluntary and non-profit organisations were invited to the High Sheriff Award ceremony at The Eddington, Kendal on Tuesday 18 March.
The awards are part of the High Sheriff’s Fund, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation, and publicly recognise both charities and individual volunteers who help improve their communities.
Surveys, Research, Feedback and Reports
[NEW] 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report
Does your charity need funding and support for digital? Help shape the digital future of the sector!
Take the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report survey and share your experiences with digital adoption and AI. By contributing, you’ll help create a valuable resource for the entire charity sector. Zoe Amar and Nissa Ramsay, with support from partners, are gathering data to advocate for the resources charities need.
Five eligible organisations will win £300 in unrestricted funding! The survey closes 28 April 2025.
Disclaimer
The information above is provided in good faith. Whilst every care is taken to ensure that it is correct, Cumbria CVS cannot accept liability for any omissions or inaccuracies and does not take responsibility for the quality for any services or products mentioned.
