Useful information – w/c 21/07/25
July 21, 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: 21/07/25 – 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
Getting started with Google for Nonprofits
22nd July, online. This course provides an introduction to the Google for Nonprofits program, which offers eligible UK charities free access to a suite of Google tools, including Google Workspace, Google Ad Grants, the YouTube Nonprofit Program, and Google Earth and Maps.
We will explore these tools and highlight how UK charities are already using them to enhance their operations and impact.
Beyond the Narrative: The Hidden Power of Grassroots Climate Action
Tuesday July 22nd, Online. Community Organisers Network consistently hear inspiring stories of everyday efforts to save money on energy, food, and transport. These practical actions, often driven by necessity, are climate-friendly and represent invaluable contributions to addressing climate change.
Yet, these vital grassroots, community led initiatives are often overlooked in the broader climate conversation. Media coverage frequently spotlights disruptive activist actions, leading to polarised views on the impact of climate change.
At this webinar you can hear from members of the Community Organisers network who have spent a decade driving forward community led climate solutions. Join us to explore how we can create a unifying narrative that truly makes the challenges of climate change a matter for everyone.
Inclusive workplaces: making changes to better support neurodiversity
Tuesday 22nd July, Online. Join Acas for this free online session.
It’s estimated that around 15% of the UK population is neurodivergent. Understanding neurodiversity and taking steps to better support it in workplaces can benefit both employers and employees. This session is for employers wanting to learn more about neurodiversity, and you will also have the opportunity to ask Acas advisers questions during this webinar.
ADHD Awareness Event
23rd July, Whitehaven. Authentically ADHD is an ADHD awareness event, in partnership with Sellafield’s A.D.Ders group. If you would like to find out more, come and join us: This event is open to professionals, members of the community and health and social care stakeholders.
Click here to view an event flyer
If you are an organisation which would love to be involved, reach out to:info@healthwatchcumberland.co.uk
Driving Financial Insight and Efficiency: AI Assisting Finance
23rd July 2025, online. Join mhance for a live demo exploring how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Office tools are now using AI to transform financial processes.
This session showcases how Microsoft Copilot integrates with Business Central, Excel, and Outlook to automate tasks and streamline finance operations. It highlights real-world AI benefits, from reducing manual work to improving reporting and decision-making.
Be the change: how to lead with accountability and anti-racism
Wednesday 23rd July, Online. Join The King’s Fund for this free online Lunch and Learn with Anne-Marie Archard and Professor Joy Warmington, exploring practical ways to embed anti-racist practices at work, especially during times of change.
This interactive session offers actionable insights from the Activate Anti-Racism Leadership Course, with space for discussion and Q&A. Whether you’re starting or deepening your journey, leave inspired to lead with equity.
Cumbria Connect to Work – Market Engagement Session
Thursday 24th July, online. Cumberland Council, in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council and Enterprising Cumbria, is excited to announce an incredible opportunity to partner with us on the Connect to Work programme across Cumbria. We are launching our market engagement phase for the Cumbria Connect to Work programme to improve employment outcomes across the region, with a particular focus on supporting people who face barriers to entering or remaining in work.
Connect to Work is a voluntary programme, delivering the evidence-based Supported Employment model, ‘place, train, and maintain’, via two distinct types of interventions based on the needs of the participant – Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Local Supported Employment (LSE).
This opportunity seeks a lead organisation to function as a Service Coordinator, bringing together the rich tapestry of smaller local delivery organisations embedded in local communities, building capacity and capability within that network and supporting direct delivery where it is necessary and right to do so.
Find out more about this overview session here
Meet the Funder Event: Lloyds Bank Foundation
Tuesday 29th July 2025, online. Get Grants is delighted to host a Meet the Funder event featuring Peter Cunnison from Lloyds Bank Foundation West Midlands.
This session will provide valuable insights into their DDPO (Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations) Grant Programme.
Advanced Excel – tips and tricks
29th July, online. Join this 3 hour session to find out how to optimise your spreadsheets so they can do what they’re meant to be doing – saving you time, facilitating effective service delivery and enabling you and your team to get insight into the bigger picture.
[NEW] Practical uses of AI for your charity
5th August, 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.
Accessibility Basics: Inclusive Websites for People with Sight Loss
Wednesday 6th August, Online. Join Vision for Access CIC for a practical and engaging session on website accessibility, focusing on making online spaces more inclusive for people with sight loss.
Whether you’re a small business owner, charity worker, or content creator, this event will give you the confidence to improve your website’s accessibility – even if you’re not a tech expert.
Social Prescribing Wellbeing Festival
Friday 8th August, Whitehaven.
Free Fun Day with special guests including Marathon Man Gary McKee.
Click on the thumbnail image for more information.
Budgets Masterclass
Monday 11th August 2025, online. Presenting your budgets and financial information is a key element of any application’s success – incorrect and unclear budgets give funders easy reasons to reject your application!
Get Grants Director John Ellery will use his decades of experience writing and assessing funding applications to show how you can design clear budgets that give your application the best chance of success.
[NEW] How to manage charity finances
12th August, 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.
Sir John Fisher Foundation Webinars
Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th August, online. The Sir John Fisher Foundation is running a series of webinars for groups who may be interested in making an application to them. The sessions will provide an opportunity for groups to get a better understanding of what to include in a funding bid as well as information about the Foundation funding priorities.
This link below provides more information: Thinking Of Applying to Us? – Sir John Fisher Foundation
If you would like to receive an invite to this workshop, please email grants@sirjohnfisherfoundation.org.uk to receive a MS Teams Link.
Charity Digital Academy: Writing a Successful Funding Application
19 August 2025, online. This 3 hour course provides a beginner’s guide to how to write a successful funding application, using the National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards For All online application form as an example.
In these 3 hours you’ll get:
- The chance to go through a successful funding application and understand how you can emulate it
- Advice on key elements such as writing project outcomes, evidencing co-production and creating an accurate budget
- Time to start sketching out your own application, ask questions and get expert advice
- The chance to step back and decide what you need to do next to lay the foundations for a strong application for your project
Best Practice Reporting
16th September 2025, 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.
This 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.
Introduction to Improving Quality
Thurs 18th Sept 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.
This event is free but you will need to book.
Practical uses of AI for your charity
23rd September, 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 Grants free Virtual Conference 2025
7th-8th October, online. The Conference will provide two days of expert fundraising advice, top tips, Q&As, networking, peer-support, and lots of chat, bringing together thousands of Fundraisers from across the UK for a programme led by Get Grants Experts, funders, and other experts from across the sector.
Festival of Trusteeship
3rd-7th November 2025, online. The Festival of Trusteeship is a week of inspiring discussions, practical tools and bold ideas to reimagine trusteeship. Led by Eastside People, this event is part of the Festival of Trusteeship during Trustees’ Week 2025, proudly supported by the Institute of Leadership.
With online events on topics including engaging younger people in trusteeship, how to build confidence as a trustee, and how to deal with times of crisis, this is a collection of events to inspire and inform your trustees.
Festival passes are available now, and lots of the events are free. Find out more here, and please share with your board and your local networks.
Digital Fundraising Summit 2025
Thursday 6th November 2025, online. For the seventh year in a row, Charity Digital are bringing back their incredibly popular online FREE Digital Fundraising Summit.
The summit will be particularly beneficial if you have a fundraising, marketing, communications, or a digital innovation role, but that said there will be plenty for everyone! Sessions will be tailored for all charity sizes.
You can find out more information here
VCFSE News and Information
[NEW] Digital skills to recruit for in 2026
Digital technology is ever evolving and charities need to ensure they have the skills to keep pace.
Explore which skills will be most needed to help charities get ahead.
[NEW] What the 10 Year Health Plan means for the voluntary sector
The government recently published its 10 Year Health Plan.
NAVCA have summarised the paper from a voluntary sector perspective, with a focus on the key themes relevant to the local VCSE sector and the role of local infrastructure and ICS-VCSE Alliances.
Surveys, Research, Feedback and Reports
[NEW] Strengthening Partnerships Consultation: Emergency Preparedness
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended strengthening partnership working requirements between general Category 1 responders and VCF organisations. The requirement would be implemented by amending the regulation to require general Category 1 responders to establish and maintain partnerships with voluntary, community and faith organisations in the areas in which the emergency responders are responsible for preparing for and responding to emergencies.
This consultation will gather views on whether amending an existing statutory duty is an effective and proportionate means to strengthen engagement, what the challenges and opportunities are, and whether there are alternative ways to achieve improved partnership working.
The full consultation can be read here. The closing date is 16 September.
[NEW] Public Procurement: Growing British industry, jobs and skills. Consultation on further reforms to public procurement
Although the most recent update to the Procurement Act has only just come into force, the Cabinet Office are consulting on further changes that will benefit VCSE organisations and SMEs bidding for government contracts [central and local].
Proposals include:
- setting targets for large contracting authorities [with a spend of £100m per annum] to publish and monitor against a three year target for direct spend with VCSEs and SMEs
- putting into primary legislation situations where it may be appropriate to award contracts for certain services delivered to vulnerable citizens without full competitive procedure, so that
decisions can be driven by the needs of the individuals and vulnerable groups - requiring contracting authorities to use standard social value criteria and metrics selected from a streamlined list (to be co-designed with the public sector and suppliers)
The full consultation can be read here. The closing date is 5 September 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.
