Useful information – w/c 04/05/26
May 4, 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: 01/05/26 – 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
Finance for Non-Finance People
Tuesday 5th May, Online. Many trustees, directors and managers don’t come from a finance background — but still carry responsibility for financial oversight.
This practical session with Dodd & Co will build confidence in understanding accounts, asking the right questions, and identifying risks early.
Designed to help you make informed decisions and strengthen financial governance.
Escape to Safety Community Exhibition – Refugee awareness training
Tuesday 5th and Thursday 7th May, Carlisle. This is a profound training experience immersing people in the journey and life of refugees alongside up to date factual information about refugees.
The Open Evenings are free to attend and no booking is needed. People are likely to spend an hour attending.
Find out more on Penrith and Eden Refugee Network’s Facebook page here and click on the thumbnail image for a poster with more details
Understanding Governance: The Trustee Role
Wednesday 6th –Thursday 7th May, 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.
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.
Best Practice Reporting
Tuesday 12th May, online. In the current economic climate where fundraising from funders and the public alike is a tough ask, it is important that you sell your charity in the best possible light. We all know that funders will look at your statutory accounts and therefore they need to reflect well on your organisation to provide key messages in a way that encourages them to fund you.
Our half day online course will give the tips on best practice reporting in the sector and show you how to think about your Trustees report differently. It is much more than a compliance document and an opportunity to ‘tell your story’ in an engaging way.
Excel: Beginner & 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: Tuesday 12th May, online. More information here
➡️ Advanced: Tuesday 16th June, online. More information here
Masterclass: An introduction to generative AI
Wednesday 13th May, Online. This one-hour in-depth masterclass shows you how to effectively and ethically use artificial intelligence (AI). Attendees, for just £20 per person, will gain practical advice, using real-world examples, showing you how to actually implement AI from one of the charity sector’s experts.
AI Innovation Lead at Twinkl, James Shamsi, will introduce the basics of generative AI, explore the opportunities and risks, and show you exactly how AI can save you time, reduce costs, and unlock new capacity. You will see real-world use cases from fundraising, marketing, operations, and service delivery, along with frameworks that you can simply copy and adapt.
Attendees will leave with a checklist to start using AI effectively the moment the masterclass ends.
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.
Practical uses of AI for your charity
Tuesday 19th May, 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.
Get Your Charity Featured in the Media
Thursday 21st May, online. Get your Charity Featured in the Media is a practical workshop for people in marketing and communications roles in charities who want to gain positive media coverage for their cause — even without prior media experience or big budgets. Over the course of the session, you’ll learn how to craft and share stories that grab journalists’ attention, how to pitch them effectively, and how to turn coverage into long-term impact for your organisation.
Whether you’ve never written a press release before or you’ve dabbled in media outreach but want better results, this session will give you clear strategies, real-life examples, and simple tools to help you approach the media with confidence. You’ll leave with practical techniques you can use right away — and the resilience to keep going until your story gets told.
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.
Making the most of M365 apps – tips and tricks
Tuesday 26th May, online. This three-hour session shows you how to master 365 apps.
The first section will cover an overview of the apps available. It will explore web vs desktop applications, the joys of Copilot, the best way to use Microsoft Forms, and the secrets of Sway.
The second section is dedicated to Teams, exploring meeting and channel management, file storage, whiteboards and polls, and so much more.
Preventing Charity Fraud
Thursday 28th May, online. Combining 25 years’ expertise as a charity lawyer and governance trainer with frontline experience from various voluntary leadership sector roles, Claris D’cruz will lead this half-day training course to help your charity prevent and deal with fraud or suspected fraud.
This training is relevant to charity trustees, CEOs, finance directors, finance managers, charity advisors and anyone with responsibility for dealing with fraud in their charity.
Throughout the morning we will explore the types of fraud and financial crime to be aware of, the controls and procedures to prevent fraud and how to handle a fraudulent incident.
Data Protection Training for Charities
Thursday 11th June, 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.
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.
Finance for Trustees
Thursday 25 June, online. How confident are you that you really understand your charity’s finances? It’s a complicated business, what with managing different types of funds and income, the accounting and reporting rules, as well as dealing with tax and VAT.
This course, lead by the team from leading accountancy firm BDO, will give you the tools to get to grips with how all that works in your own organisation, and includes time to chat with fellow trustees over the practicalities and challenges you face.
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.
