Useful information – w/c 02/03/26
March 2, 2026
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: 06/03/26 – 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 and news? Check out Focus on Funding here
Free Online AI Training Courses for Charities
In association with Microsoft, Charity Excellence Learning has launched a range of 11 free AI online, certificated courses. These enable anyone to use AI effectively, keep themselves safe, and gain valuable career skills; more than 40% rate them 10/10.
These require no prior AI knowledge, and are completed at your own pace, using engaging bite size lessons, demo videos, practical tasks, and fun quizzes. Each has practical checklists and toolkits to download.
Multicultural Cumbria Tea and Talk Welcome Space
Tuesdays in February & March, Whitehaven. Multicultural Cumbria would like to invite community groups to bring their participants and join a free Tea and Talk Welcome Space.
The members of Multicultural Cumbria will welcome you with a cuppa and cake! If your group would like to join one of the Tea and Talks (first Tuesday of every month, 12:30pm-14:30pm), please email hannah@multiculturalcumbria.org.uk
You can view a Tea & Talk flyer here and another flyer containing themes of the sessions over the coming months
Listening to the Land
Monthly sessions, March to November, Barrow. Playful Nature offers nature connection, music, singing, drumming, campfires, mindfulness and more…
The ‘Listening to the Land’ project offers an exciting opportunity to explore how tuning into nature can inspire creativity, and support wellbeing. This project is aimed at adults (18+) living in Furness and South Lakes.
Click on the thumbnail image to view a leaflet, or visit the Playful Nature website for more information
Charities SORP Training: Revenue Recognition
Tuesday 3rd March, online. Are you ready for the changes to the 2026 Charities SORP?
The Charities SORP 2026 comes into effect for accounting periods starting from 1 January 2026 and it contains a number of important updates.
Led by charity finance experts from accountancy firm BDO, this online session will focus on the new updates on revenue recognition.
Creating Impact Reports Masterclass
Wednesday 4th March, online. Boost your confidence and fundraising with a practical session on creating clear, engaging impact reports.
During this 1-hour session, this Masterclass will look at:
- Why impact reports matter – and how they support income generation.
- What to include (and what to leave out!) for a more engaging report.
- How to create reports that work for multiple audiences.
- Ways to combine data and real-life stories for maximum emotional impact.
- Free and simple tools to make your report look professional.
How to master strategic planning
4th and 11th March, online. This course, in two three-hour sessions, inspires charities to embrace long-term planning.
The course will allow you to think strategically, understand the importance of charity governance, develop an in-depth strategic plan, understand the tensions that arise between operational and strategic priorities, keep your strategic plan on track, and so much more.
Find out more about How to master strategic planning and book here
Understanding Governance: The Trustee Role
Thursday 5th – Friday 6th March, 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.
Excel: Beginner or Advanced
Excel is an incredibly useful tool to help you store, analyse and present your data. Even with basic skills there’s a lot you can do to help with your organisation’s monitoring and evaluation practice – but how do you get started?
➡️ Beginner: 10th March, online. More information here
➡️ Advanced: 23rd March, online. More information here
Protect Duty (Martyn’s Law) Workshop
Tuesday 10th March, online. Now the Protect Duty (Martyn’s law) has been passed by parliament many organisations are going to have to work out how this affects them.
This workshop will look at what you have to do in the standard tier (buildings with a capacity between 200 and 799 people) to meet the legislation and also simple things to make your life easier. Some of the things are also sensible to consider for those buildings who are not in scope of the legislation.
A Web for All: Accessibility, usability and inclusivity online
Wednesday 11th March, online. This free 2-hour webinar hosted by Few and Far, a digital agency specialising in non-profits, is aimed at charities, community foundations, CICs and any other good cause who wants to improve the accessibility of their website and make their website more accessible, usable and inclusive for everyone.
What the webinar will discuss:
- What accessibility is
- The importance of making your content accessible
- Understanding where your website currently stands on accessibility
- Physical disabilities, situational limitations and socio-economic restrictions on accessibility
- Tools you can use to improve accessibility
- Suggestions on easy changes you can make yourselves
VCSE National Summit
Wednesday 11th March, online. A free national training and inspiration day for VCSEs across the UK – Join a unique, nationwide webinar designed to help VCSEs – charities, social enterprises, schools, clubs and local initiatives strengthen their role in today’s social value and procurement landscape. The event caters organisation in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This free event will equip you with practical ideas and confidence to engage with councils, public sector commissioners and corporate supporters, become a trusted social value partner, and access new opportunities for funding, other resources and commercial partnerships. You’ll gain insight into public sector procurement and social value requirements, learn how to raise resources more effectively, and explore how digital tools can support your mission.
By registering, you’ll join organisations across the UK who are stepping forward as vital social impact partners, improving lives, communities and the environment—together.
Exercise Impassible
Wednesday 11th March, This Table Top Exercise is a training opportunity being led by Counter Terrorism Police North West – there is an opportunity for Voluntary Organisations to participate. All expressions of interest should be directed in the first instance to Alison Love alison.love@cumbria.gov.uk from the Cumbria LRF team who is collating responses prior to submission.
This exercise will explore the Local, Regional and UK’s readiness to respond to a Maritime Terrorism incident on Lake Windermere. It aims to improve multi-agency coordination, strengthen Local Resilience Forum (LRF) capabilities, and support the development of inland maritime contingency plans in line with JESIP and developing MMER Joint Operating Procedures (JOPS).
Growing reliance on inland waterways for recreation, logistics, business and infrastructure makes them potential targets for hostile acts. Lake Windermere’s geographic location, coupled with a high volume of international tourism makes it a potential target for such an act.
Arts Council England – Creatives Connect Event
Thursday 12th March, Barrow. Get ready to mingle, network, and share your creative spark at the Arts Council England – Creatives Connect Event in Barrow!
An evening of socialising, networking and meeting Arts Council Relationship Managers who will present their top tips on developing a project.
If you are an artist, run or work in a creative or voluntary organisation and have an interest in meeting and connecting with other creative people, they would love you to join us! They are particularly interested in meeting creative people who live or work in Barrow.
Find out more and book a place here
Responsible AI from day one: Governance lessons for the sector
Thursday 12th March, Online. Join Hart Square for this free session.
AI promises efficiency and scale for non-profits, but without responsible governance, it can quickly undermine trust, compliance, and member safety. This session explores how to adopt AI responsibly from day one.
You’ll learn practical governance in action: common pitfalls, the safeguards that work, and how to implement policies and human checks that keep AI safe while improving daily operations. You’ll leave with clear, actionable guidance and real examples to implement AI responsibly in your organisation.
AI for charities: Practical applications, risks and opportunities
Thursday 12th March, online. Artificial intelligence is moving fast and charities are already feeling the impact. From automating routine tasks to improving fundraising, communications and service delivery, AI offers huge potential, but also raises important questions around data, ethics and governance.
Join Rathbones for a practical session designed for charity leaders and trustees where we’ll explore real-world examples, risks to be aware of, and the steps organisations can take to adopt AI confidently and responsibly.
Lead the way with the CharityComms Strategic Communicators’ Conference
Thursday 12th March, Online. The role of communications in charities has never been more vital, or more complex. With stretched budgets, rising expectations and an uncertain environment, comms leads and managers are being pulled in many directions.
Designed for busy comms and charity leads, this conference offers a focused and supportive space with peers and experts to explore the key comms challenges for 2026 and develop your strategic approach.
Reserves Policy Training
Thursday 12th March, online. 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.
Village Halls Week 2026
16th-22nd March. The campaign aims to highlight the importance of village halls to the health and wellbeing of rural communities across England, Wales and Scotland.
You can register for campaign updates here
How to Recruit and Retain a Diverse Board
Tuesday 17th March, online. Join this online training course to better understand the importance of diversity and lived-experience on charity boards. Over the course of the morning you will learn about the common challenges involved in recruiting and retaining diverse board members and gain practical solutions for tackling these challenges.
This will be an interactive session with plenty of opportunities to discuss experiences and key topics with fellow charity delegates.
Webinar: Big impact, smaller budgets — Modern fundraising and engagement for charities
Wednesday 18th March, online. Join Microsoft partners, Mazik Global to see how a donor portal can connect directly to your CRM, automatically capturing donations and supporter data.
You’ll also explore real examples of charities starting small, achieving quick wins, and scaling over time, plus how to unify fundraising data, automate tasks like HMRC Gift Aid, and access real time insights without the cost of enterprise CRM systems.
Data Protection Training for Charities
Wednesday 18th March, 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.
Risk Management for Trustees
Thursday 19th March, online. In an era of increasing concern regarding liabilities, litigation, regulatory compliance and reputational risk, charities are coming under greater scrutiny than ever. Boardroom competency in identifying, managing and mitigating risk is now a required skill and trustees must be able to scrutinise their executive and professional advisors’ management of risk, as well as being able to apply the same tools and techniques to their own decision making.
This course is a non-technical introduction to risk and risk management designed to enable trustees to understand and manage risk generally, but with a focus on risks related to governance, employment, assets, service users and third parties. By the end of the day, you will be better equipped to interact effectively with professional advisors and regulators, hold your executive to account, improve your own decision making and govern your organisation’s risk management activities.
Get Grants Showcase: Get Jobs
Monday 23rd March, online. Get Jobs is a FREE Jobs board for the Charity Sector, launched in 2025 by Get Grants. The idea behind Get Jobs is to help sector organisations who struggle to recruit due to often prohibitive costs of advertising vacancies.
Whether you are a Fundraiser, CEO or Marketing expert, Get Jobs brings you the latest opportunities in the third sector. Search through the listings to find your perfect job.
Recruiters can find out more at this free Showcase event
Where Are Your Next Generation of Volunteers
Tuesday 24th March, 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.
Tackling Low Pay in the Charity Sector – the Living Wage Funders scheme
Tuesday 24th March, Online. Want to find out more about how Funders can tackle low pay and build a stronger, more resilient workforce?
Low pay continues to challenge the charity sector, affecting staff wellbeing and organisational stability. The Living Wage Funders scheme offers funders a practical way to help address this, supporting grantees to offer fair wages and build a stronger, more resilient workforce.
In this session, you’ll learn how the scheme works, what accreditation involves, and the support available to help you embed Living Wage principles into your funding practice. You’ll hear from funders who are already using the scheme to improve outcomes for the organisations they support, and from Theatre Peckham about the impact of Living Wage funder support on the work that they do
Practical uses of AI for your charity
Tuesday 24th March, 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.
How to master email marketing
Wednesday 25th March, online. This course aims, in just three hours, to boost your email marketing.
The course provides a hands-on approach, showing charities the basics of email marketing, the best platforms, strategies for effective list-building, the importance of segmentation, tips and tricks for crafting effective emails, the best way to write a subject line, the virtues of personalisation, and so much more.
Developing a Fundraising Strategy
Tuesday 31st March and Wednesday 1st April, online.
This popular two day course will walk you through Lime Green Consulting’s tried-and-tested framework for developing a fundraising strategy, enabling you to evaluate and prioritise the most valuable fundraising activities for your organisation and make the best use of your limited resources.
Webinar: A guide to creating ethical AI-generated imagery
Thursday 9th April, online. Artificial intelligence (AI) images have become widespread across our sector. AI-generated imagery raises serious concerns around ethics, responsibility, duty of care, and representation. As part of their Conscious AI campaign, Charity Digital are joining forces with The Saltways, an ethical filmmaking company, to show you how to use AI images ethically.
Emma Bracegirdle, founder of The Saltways, will lead the webinar and explore the current situation across the sector, examine how charities are using AI, and look at some easy, best practice advice for charities. She’ll explore how AI-generation actually works, looking at the processes at play, and cover the core risks charities face.
Emergency First Aid at Work
Thursday 9th April, Barrow. Where a workplace first aid risk assessment identifies a need for an Emergency First Aider in the Workplace, this one-day qualification meets the requirements of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982.
- The learner will attain knowledge to deal with a range of workplace first aid situations
- Meets employer’s legal obligations
- Compliant with Resuscitation Council (UK) Guidelines
- 3 year qualification
More information is available in this leaflet. Please contact rachael@wearepeoplefirst.co.uk to book.
Award in Safeguarding for Work, Education and Life Level 1
From Monday 13th April, for 10 weeks, in Kendal. This level 1 course aims to give you an improved knowledge of the meaning of safeguarding in the workplace, education and in life in general. You will learn about different forms of abuse and learn ways that you can recognise if abuse may be taking place. You will find out about the safeguarding issues caused by modern technology and learn about discrimination and victimisation. Finally you will learn what to do if your have safeguarding concerns and the importance of disclosing information to professionals.
This is an ideal introductory course for anyone working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults or who would like to improve their understanding of safeguarding in general.
Find out more and book here – if you experience any issues trying to sign up, please email helen.edmonds@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Reserves: What They Are and How to Calculate Them
Tuesday 21st April, 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.
Your Voice, Your Story: Intro to Community Podcasting courses
Each course runs for 6 weeks: – Tuesday 21st April – Tuesday 2nd June (no session Tuesday 26th May) or Thursday 23rd April – Thursday 4th June (no session Thursday 28th May).
Have a story to tell or voices in your community you’d love to share with the world? This course is all about helping beginners and community groups start their very own podcast. You don’t need to be a tech expert — we’ll show you everything step by step.
This CPD course uses a blended learning approach, which means you’ll get practical tasks to complete at the end of each session. Step by step, you’ll be working on your own podcast as you learn, building both your skills and confidence along the way. By the end, you’ll be ready not only to produce, share, and promote your own podcast, but also to guide a group through the process in the future. Click on the links below to see examples of podcasts we have produced with communities.
This course is perfect for youth and community workers, or anyone interested in creating podcasts for positive impact in a community setting.
Find out more and book your place here
Suicide Prevention Conference
Thursday 23rd April, Rheged, Penrith. This year’s theme, “Take action. Prevent suicide.”, focuses on the practical steps we can all take to save lives and support those affected by suicide across Cumbria.
This full-day event brings together inspirational speakers, interactive workshops, and hands-on training to equip individuals, organisations, and community groups with the skills and confidence to help create a Suicide Safer Cumbria.
Whether you work in a school, a workplace, health or public services, the third or faith sectors, a sports club, or are attending as an individual – join us in our mission.
How to Make Your Social Media More Engaging
Thurs 30th April, online. Do you get the most engagement from your Facebook, Instagram or X (Twitter) posts? Why do some posts get more clicks than others?
How to increase engagement.
Getting to Work on Modern Slavery in Cumbria
Thursday 7th May, Workington. A Modern Slavery network building event for frontline workers in Cumbria. Keynote presentation from Streetlight UK.
To confirm your place email jo@churchestogehercumbria.org.uk
Click on the thumbnail image view the flyer for the event.
Digital Fundraising Summit 2026
Thursday 14th May, online. Back for its eighth year, Charity Digital’s Digital Fundraising Summit returns with a full day of action-packed insights from experts across the charity and tech sectors. The event featuring a dynamic programme of informative webinars.
The theme this year, Building Fundraising Resilience, reflects the need for fundraisers to adapt and thrive in continually changing conditions. They will be exploring how to prepare for the unpredictable, how to strengthen supporter relationships, and how to diversify income with speed and confidence.
Supporter Experience Conference 2026
Thursday 21st May, online. Join Fundraising Everywhere for a half-day conference dedicated to helping you smash your supporter experience strategies and raise more money with your supporters.
Join fundraisers from across the sector for a day dedicated to helping charities build stronger, more meaningful supporter relationships. Hear from expert speakers, explore fresh ideas, and discover practical strategies to improve supporter journeys, strengthen engagement, and boost long term loyalty.
Impact Reporting for Charities
Tuesday 16th June, online. Funders want proof of the difference your organisation makes. They want to understand your charity’s impact across services and locations, and what the benefit is of the services they have agreed to fund.
Amongst other things this session looks at ‘what is impact and how do you measure it’, ‘what does impact look like’ and how do you engage with your stakeholders to maximise impact.
[NEW] Everything you need to know about holiday and leave
Charity Digital round up some of the different types of employment leave and explain what staff may be entitled to.
[NEW] Cumberland Council newsletter
You can view Cumberland Council’s newsletter from 01/03/26 here, including:
- Shape the future of your community
- Cumbria Combined Authority is officially created
- Chance to learn new research skills
[NEW] Westmorland & Furness Council newsletter
You can view Westmorland & Furness Council’s newsletter from 27/02/26 here, including:
- Take part in a community tree planting day
- Calling all village halls! Join our online support session
- Cumbria Combined Authority is officially created
How to improve workplace volunteering
Workplace volunteering is booming but more needs to be done to ensure employers can keep up with rising demand.
Google Business Profile: A step-by-step guide
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that controls how your organisation appears in Google Search and Google Maps. When someone searches for your charity or related services, your Google Business Profile shows your business information, photos, reviews, and a panel of any recent posts or updates.
This guide by Few and Far is built for comms teams and small charities who want a clear, low-cost, step-by-step approach to setting up and optimising a Google Business Profile (GBP). Covering claiming your account, posting to your profile and measuring the results, the simple steps are achievable for any non-profit, even those with limited budget and technical know-how.
Opening up impact – why open knowledge is essential for systems change
Across the impact economy, there is growing recognition that complex social and environmental challenges require systems change, not isolated interventions. Yet while organisations have invested heavily in understanding and measuring their impact, most of that knowledge remains locked behind organisational boundaries.
Opening up impact makes the case that open knowledge is not a “nice to have”, but a foundational condition for systems change. Drawing on two decades of work at the heart of the impact economy, this new report from NPC argues that openness can transform fragmented learning into shared infrastructure – enabling alignment, collaboration, and collective accountability.
Charities raise serious concerns about government’s earned settlement proposals
Charities and voluntary organisations are raising serious concerns about government proposals to link volunteering to asylum settlement. The proposals form part of the government’s wider asylum and immigration reforms, which would allow volunteering to be used as a condition to obtain, or shorten the route to, settlement in the UK. Drawing on engagement with 314 organisations, NCVO’s research has shown overwhelming concern across the voluntary sector. Respondents were in strong opposition to the proposed inclusion of volunteering to obtain or shorten the route to settlement for asylum seekers and refugees.
In a recently published letter to Shabana Mahmood, NCVO has urged the home secretary to withdraw the Government’s proposal to make volunteering a route to earned settlement for refugees and migrants, and quoted its recent research, which found that three-quarters of charities opposed the proposal.
Pride of Cumbria nominations open
Nominations are now open for the Pride of Cumbria Awards 2026 that recognise the county’s unsung heroes. Categories include Community Group and Charity of the Year, and Best Community Business.
For the first time this year, you can also nominate your Youth Worker of the Year.
The Heritage Network: networking and support for communities and non-profit organisations
The Heritage Network is the UK’s membership organisation for organisations rescuing, restoring and managing historic buildings and places. The support they deliver to community, not-for-profit and voluntary organisations includes:
- A regular series of online and in-person learning and networking events – all currently open to bookings are on Eventbrite
- 1:1 support from the team and their expert panel of specialists, ranging from business planning to community development to actually dealing with historic buildings
- Short term training programmes
- Linking up groups with others in similar sites/situations/organisation models/areas etc.
- Specific sector support programmes – launching a young trustee initiative, helping organisations get more young people onto their boards in sustainable, positive ways
You can find out more about The Heritage Network via their website, or sign up for their newsletter here. If you want to speak to Charlotte Tomlinson, The Heritage Network’s Development and Outreach Officer for England, email her at charlotte@heritagenetwork.org.uk
How to choose the right volunteer management system
Picking the right volunteer management system can feel a little daunting, with so many options to consider. But a recent guide covers every step, from building a business case to implementing.
What to do if you’re being bullied at work
Bullying can happen in any organisation, of any size, in any sector – and that includes charities.
Here are some steps you can take if you’re being bullied at work.
Concern voiced over £428bn ‘impact economy’ definition
The leader of Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has expressed concern over the way the “impact economy” has been defined in a recent think tank report.
In November, the government announced it would create the Office for the Impact Economy to partner with investors, philanthropists and businesses to “unlock billions of impact capital”.
The office, housed in the Cabinet Office, was hailed by sector organisations including the Charities Aid Foundation and New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), which had both lobbied for its creation as part of the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group.
Loosen restrictions on charities speaking out to protect civic space, NGO body proposes
Membership body Bond has proposed that various restrictions on charities’ ability to campaign should be removed to reverse a “dramatic decline” in UK civic space.
In a report published earlier this month, Bond shared several policy ideas based on discussions across civil society of the past two years.
The ideas shared include that charities should be enabled to engage exclusively in political campaigning for as long as they need to deliver their charitable purpose.
Team Barrow- Cross Sector Networking Event
Team Barrow are working on a new initiative in response to feedback from their Year 1 grant recipients. A consistent theme in their feedback was the value of stronger cross-sector connections and more opportunities to share learning, so they are now moving forward with plans for a cross-sector networking event.
The event will aim to bring together the business sector and third sector organisations to build relationships, exchange insights, and explore potential areas for collaboration. To help ensure the event is meaningful and relevant, they have developed a short survey to gather input on the focus, format, and priorities.
You can take the survey here – deadline is 23rd March.
Charity CRM software survey launches
Fundraising Magazine and Charity Finance have launched a sector-wide survey to explore how charities feel about their CRM software and its provider, and what they need from their data now and in the future.
The confidential benchmarking survey is open to charities of all sizes and seeks to build a clearer picture of how well current CRM systems are supporting organisational needs.
Findings will be published in May, online and in Fundraising Magazine, and in the June edition of Charity Finance.
Find out more and take the survey here
Help improve charity banking across the UK
CFG has launched the 2026 charity banking survey to track progress and challenges in the sector. Your responses will provide powerful evidence to drive change with banks, regulators and government.
The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete and all data will be anonymised. The findings will shape CFG’s policy work and practical resources to better support charities nationwide.
Please complete the survey here
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.
