Useful information – w/c 22/06/26
June 22, 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: 25/06/26 – 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
Leadership Training – Bursaries available
Are you a leader in a small business or charity in West Cumberland?
OneAIM together with Centre for Leadership Performance Cumbria have bursary places available on the upcoming cohort of the Leader 2 Leader programme.
Closing date for applications is 30th June, and full details are available in this document
Every Life Matters – Training
Every Life Matters offer a range of suicide prevention and mental health training, including Suicide Alertness, Safety Planning, Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace.
There are dates for sessions from now until December in this leaflet, online and around the county in-person: Cumbria Training 2026
Free film workshops
The Saltways, a video production company specialising in working with charities, are running free workshops for charities.
These workshops are open to anyone involved with a non profit who is interested in creating more effective video content, including fundraisers, communications managers, front-line staff, beneficiaries, and even marathon runners. There are free workshops taking place throughout June and July.
Spaces are limited, so book your place here.
#SmallsForSmalls Week
Monday 22nd to Friday 26th June, online. #SmallsForSmalls Week is back, with loads of webinars, resources, reports and guides for small charities organised by the smalls themselves and their friends.
Find out what’s available here
Small Charities Week
Monday 22nd – Monday 29th June. Small Charity Week is a national celebration of the vital role small charities play in communities across the UK.
It shines a light on the organisations creating connection, opportunity and hope where it’s needed most. Whether you are planning an event, sharing your story or looking for ready-to-use resources, help is available to make the most of the week. There’s also a guide on how to get ready.
Developing a Fundraising Strategy
Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th June, online. This popular two day course will walk you through a 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.
You’ll be shown you how to analyse your current fundraising performance, explore future opportunities and challenges, and identify key fundraising audiences – then scope out and prioritise a range of different types of fundraising, identify key building blocks to put in place for long-term success, and accurately forecast the likely financial return.
Digital Exclusion — What It Is & What You Can Do
Wednesday 24th June, Salterbeck. An interactive workshop exploring who is being excluded, why it happens, how it affects people, and what your organisation can do help them.
This free workshop will help you:
- Understand what digital exclusion looks like
- Identify who is affected and why
- Recognise the impact on health, wellbeing and finances
- Explore practical support your organisation can offer
- Learn about local help available, including Digital Champion training
Why it matters:
Digital access is essential for daily life — yet many people in our communities still face significant barriers. This session will help you support them with confidence.
Free networking lunch included.
Insight to execution: Turning AI Experiments into Real Results
Thursday 25th June, Online. Most non-profits understand AI’s potential but struggle to turn experiments into workflows that deliver results.
Join Hart Square for this free webinar to learn what charities and membership organisations they work with are doing: which tasks they’re automating safely, how they’re turning early wins into repeatable workflows, and how they maintain human oversight while improving efficiency.
Finance for Trustees
Thursday 25th 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.
What we can learn from Big Local and public service innovation in Liverpool City Region
Monday 29th June, online. What does community-led systems change look like in practice?
Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW), in partnership with Local Trust, is launching the first session in the Big Local North West Learning Programme.
Co-hosted with the VS6 Partnership, the session will draw on more than 15 years of learning from Big Local and explore how resident-led approaches in the Liverpool City Region can drive neighbourhood change and influence wider systems. The event will bring together funders, commissioners, VCFSE organisations and community partners to explore community power, public service reform and place-based working.
Find out more and register here
AI for Managers and Team leaders: Lead with Confidence
Tuesday 30th June, online. This practical, one-hour session is designed for managers who want to use AI effectively, ethically, and with confidence.
AI is reshaping how teams work — and middle managers are at the centre of that change. This practical, one-hour session is designed for managers who want to use AI effectively, ethically, and with confidence.
Whether you feel like AI is moving fast around you, or you simply want to know where to start, this session will give you the tools and clarity to lead your team through it.
Reserves Policy Training
Thursday 2nd July, 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.
Cyber Essentials Training: Mastering the Five Key Controls for Digital Security
Tuesday 7th July, 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.
It also includes coverage of the 2026 ‘Danzell’ updates, explaining what has changed and what it means in practice for your organisation.
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.
Digital Fundraising Conference 2026
Thursday 9th July, online. Join Fundraising Everywhere for this half-day conference designed to help fundraisers build the digital skills and confidence needed to succeed in today’s fast-changing fundraising landscape.
Through practical, expert-led sessions, you’ll learn key digital fundraising strategies, strengthen your use of digital channels, and gain actionable insights you can put into practice straight away.
The Future of Marketing
Thursday 9th July, online. Join Charity Digital for a dynamic day of insight, inspiration, and informed discussion exploring the evolving world of modern marketing. This online event brings together bold ideas and practical expertise, creating a dynamic space where attendees and sponsors can build meaningful connections and amplify their impact.
It will welcome hundreds of engaged, forward-thinking marketing professionals from across the not-for-profit sector, fostering a vibrant online environment for learning, collaboration, and shared innovation.
Brunch Bites – Collaborating Smarter in Microsoft Word
Thursday 9th July, online. In this webinar, Qlic IT will show you how to collaborate smarter in Microsoft Word, helping your organisation’s team work together more efficiently, avoid document confusion, and speed up everyday tasks.
Whether your team is office-based, hybrid or remote, you’ll leave with practical techniques you can put into action straight away.
CharityComms Conference: Next-Level Digital Engagement for Charities
Thursday 9th July, online. The CharityComms Digital Engagement Conference brings expert speakers and peers together for a full day of practical sessions on the topics shaping digital engagement right now.
From social trends and AI-driven search to building lasting supporter relationships and reporting the metrics that matter, there’s something here for every level and every organisational size.
Find out more and book your place here
Practical uses of AI for your charity
Tuesday 14th July, online. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers huge potential for charities.
AI can revolutionise the everyday. It provides significant benefits, saving you time, cutting costs, reducing human error, supercharging operations, streamlining processes, and so much more. But such benefits are more often talked about than realised. Charities face a problem: putting AI into practice.
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.
Creating an interactive dashboard using Power BI
Tuesday 21st July, online. As brilliant as it is, sometimes Microsoft Excel can’t deliver everything you need when it comes to data analysis, visualisation and publication.
This is where Microsoft’s Power BI steps in, enabling you to take your data analysis to the next level creating and sharing powerful, interactive and secure dashboards which can be shared privately or published and embedded in your website.
➡️ Getting to grips with Power BI’s basic building blocks
➡️ Getting data from Microsoft Excel
➡️ Creating & customising charts and visualisations
➡️ Printing, sharing & publishing reports
How to manage charity finances – CPD Accredited
Tuesday 28th July, online. Finance can feel daunting, with the confusing terminology and frustrating processes.
Charities of all shapes and sizes find themselves struggling with finances, which can cause myriad problems: lack of transparency, absent accountability, reduced efficiency, inaccurate reporting, and so on.
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.
Introduction to Google Analytics 4
Wednesday 5th August, online. This course aims, in just three hours, to help you get to grips with GA4.
It explores recent changes to the platform, how to ensure you have the best data, the metric that you must know, and a general run-through of the interface, dipping into ‘realtime’ reports.
Google Ad Grants for beginners
Wednesday 12th August, online. Is your charity looking to set up a Google Ad campaign, but don’t know where to start?
This 2-hour course is specifically for nonprofit staff who have been awarded the $10,000/month Google Ad Grant, but do not know the basics for setting up their first campaign.
You will learn:
➡️ What is a Google Ad Grant?
➡️ How to structure your charity’s account
➡️ Google Ads & Keywords
➡️ Setting up a conversion with Google Analytics.
➡️ Google Ad Grants compliance and maintenance
Get Grants FREE Virtual Conference
Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th October, online. Join Get Grants for two days of expert fundraising advice, top tips, Q&As, networking, peer-support, and lots of chat!
The Conference is a celebration of fundraisers, with a programme designed around the topics you want to talk about.
Bringing together thousands of fundraisers from across the UK every year, this fun and heart-warming event with lots of practical advice is not your typical fundraising conference!
[NEW] Charities offer a ‘great bulwark against division and hatred’, says commission chair
The Charity Commission’s chair Julia Unwin has hailed the role of charities in combatting increasing divisions in society.
Speaking at the Third Sector Conference this week, Unwin said charities had been directly impacted by cynicism, tension and division.
“We have heard harrowing accounts of people facing threats of death and horrific violence, simply for the work they do in delivering on their charity’s lawful purposes,” she said.
[NEW] Fundraising Regulator publishes soft opt-in guide for charities
The Fundraising Regulator has published a guide to help charities to comply with the recently introduced charitable purposes soft opt-in rules.
Introduced as part of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 on 5 February, soft opt-in rule changes have previously been estimated to raise an extra £290m per year for the charity sector.
The rules now allow charities to send electronic mail marketing about their charitable purposes without the recipient’s consent, provided that they meet particular legal requirements.
[NEW] Membership body lowers fees for small charities
Charity chief executives’ membership body ACEVO has announced lower fees for leaders of smaller charities in an effort to improve accessibility.
ACEVO announced this week that it had reduced its membership fees by £50 for leaders of charities with incomes below £500,000.
This means leaders of charities with incomes under £100,000 will now pay £149 a year, while those with revenues of £100,000 to £500,000 will be charged £219.
[NEW] Together Through The Lens
Together Through the Lens is a photography and storytelling project inviting people across Westmorland & Furness to capture what everyday life looks like to them and share the stories behind their images.
The project will work with local organisations to engage a wide range of participants, offering simple workshops and support where needed so that anyone can take part, regardless of experience.
Participants will be encouraged to take photos of what matters to them—people, places, routines or interests—and provide a short explanation of their images. The project will bring these contributions together into a series of local exhibitions and an online gallery, creating a shared picture of life across the area.
More info for organisations interested in getting involved is available here and there is a FAQ here
[NEW] Charity bodies hope ‘vital progress’ under Starmer continues as PM confirms departure
Charities sector bodies have responded to Keir Starmer’s announcement that he will resign as prime minister, praising him for his work to improve relations with the sector but criticising aid spending cuts.
Starmer announced this week that he would ask his party’s national executive committee to ensure a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September.
After growing pressure to step down was compounded last week by potential successor Andy Burnham’s election as an MP, Starmer said outside Downing Street this week that he accepted that his Labour colleagues no longer believe he is placed to lead them into the next general election.
How to build resilience at work
Many charity workers experience anxiety and overwhelm at work. What can we do to help ourselves – and each other – to calm anxiety and build resilience?
Cumberland Council newsletter
Yo can view Cumberland Council’s newsletter from 19/06/26 here, including:
- Become a Volunteer Community Forester
- Workington Together Community Panel – join us
- Booking open for HAF now
Westmorland & Furness Council newsletter
You can read Westmorland & Furness Council’s newsletter from 19/06/26 here, including:
- Free water safety sessions to protect young people this summer
- Free summer holiday activities and meals for eligible children
- Westmorland and Furness residents magazine – out now!
How to conduct an AI risk assessment
Charity Digital share how charities can evaluate the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and put controls in place to mitigate them with an effective risk assessment.
NVCO Spring Briefing – Charities in ‘Protection Mode’
Charities are increasingly operating in what NCVO have termed ‘Protection Mode’. Rising demand, financial pressures, misinformation, online hostility and rapid technological change are reshaping how organisations deliver their work.
Drawing on conversations with charity leaders, trustees and staff across the sector, and with support from their partner Zurich, NCVO have published a new briefing exploring how charities are adapting to an increasingly complex and unpredictable operating environment.
Charities must not allow fear to become our chief decision-maker
Governance failures are rarely the result of hitting pause – sometimes the bravest thing a board can do is take time to make the right decision.
In this article for DSC, CEO Debra Allcock Tyler argues that when an issue arises, decisions can be made too rashly out of fear – a rush to action, policies rewritten overnight, statements drafted before the facts are understood. Decisions that are taken not because they are right, but because they are quick and they feel safer, and that the bravest thing a board can do is pause: not to avoid making a decision, but to create enough space to make the right one.
Clearer guidance on conflicts of interest
The Charity Commission has published a redesigned version of their conflicts of interest guidance – a core piece of governance guidance that every trustee should read. Their casework shows that trustees often fail to recognise a conflict of interest, meaning they don’t manage them properly.
The updated guidance makes it easier to spot and deal with conflicts. It clearly explains why conflicts matter, uses practical examples from real cases, and sets out a simple step by step approach to identifying, declaring, managing and recording conflicts.
Have your say on how £85,000 of funding is spent
An exciting funding programme for Barrow, led by local residents, is back for a second year, with £85,000 available to support community projects and help those in need. Last year, the People Helping People Fund supported grassroots projects throughout Barrow. From community gardens to large-scale art projects, people from across the town got involved, improving lives and driving real change.
This year, a panel of local volunteers will once again decide how the money is spent. Residents keen to be involved are asked to bring their local knowledge and ideas to three community panel workshops this summer. Members of the panel will decide what kinds of projects the money should support and who should be able to apply.
The funding, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation on behalf of Team Barrow, has been provided by the UK Government and Team Barrow’s Delivery Board through a grant from the Social Impact Fund, which aims to make Barrow a better place to live, work, study, visit, and invest in.
[NEW] Cumbria Bus Reform Pilot Study – stakeholder engagement
Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council are working with their advisers, Jacobs and Oxera, on a government funded Bus Reform Pilot for Cumbria.
The pilot will explore whether new approaches to planning and delivering bus services could help improve public transport across Cumbria, particularly in rural areas, and whether there are gaps in existing provision that could be addressed through reform.
Over the coming months, the councils will be engaging with residents, businesses and key stakeholders to understand current experiences of bus services, what is working well, and where improvements may be needed. You are being contacted because your experience or organisation may provide valuable insight into local transport needs.
You may be invited to take part in activities such as online questionnaires, workshops or one to one discussions. Taking part does not commit you to any position and all feedback will be considered alongside other evidence as part of the pilot.
A short overview of the project and the planned engagement approach is available here
[NEW] The Status of UK Fundraising Report 2026
This year’s findings highlight where organisations are seeing progress and where challenges remain.
A few highlights that stood out:
- 71% of respondents report stable or growing voluntary income, highlighting a resilient sector
- Major giving and legacy programmes are core strategies for respondents showing growth
- AI adoption has surged, with 91% of respondents now using AI, but fully connected technology remains a challenge
Whether you’re looking for a temperature check on your performance or considering where to focus next, these benchmarks can inform your strategy.
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology figures show fewer charities prioritise cybersecurity
Concern has been expressed over new government figures showing a reduction in the proportion of charities deeming cybersecurity a high priority. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, was commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Home Office to provide a comprehensive overview of the cyber security landscape for UK businesses and charities.
Cyber security remained a high priority for senior management in around seven in ten businesses (72%) and six in ten charities (60%). Whilst this was broadly consistent with last year for businesses, for charities, the proportion treating cyber security as a high priority has declined significantly from 2024/2025, down from 68% to 60%. Low-income charities (with an income of £0 to less than £100,000), drove the decline, with their prioritisation decreasing from 64% in 2024/2025, to 53% in 2025/2026.
Income generation an enduring challenge for small charities, study finds
Small charities are under “sustained pressure” with income generation the top challenge, according to research from the Cranfield Trust.
Two-thirds of charities, funders and volunteers reported income generation and fundraising as the most significant challenge for small charities in response to the trust’s survey.
The trust, which provides pro bono management support to charities tackling poverty, conducted a survey in March with 209 voluntary organisations, 105 volunteers, 37 funders and 17 of its staff and associates.
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.
