Useful information – w/c 22/12/25
December 22, 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: 23/12/25 – 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.
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Looking for funding information and news? Check out Focus on Funding here
Introduction to Google Analytics 4
13th January 2026, online. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a powerful tool that can supercharge your charity. It provides an accurate and insight-rich understanding of your supporters and donors.
It provides a complete view of user journeys and enables you to make effective data-driven decisions. And, perhaps most importantly, it can drastically improve your marketing and fundraising.
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.
Faith-Based Governance Training
13th January 2026, online. Good governance is often seen as a burden – but it can be one of a charity’s greatest assets.
This faith-friendly course helps senior leaders and trustees understand what good governance really looks like and how to make it work in a faith context. It explores how to clarify roles, strengthen decision-making, and build confidence around risk. Scenarios and case studies help participants develop skills in practical, relevant ways.
Design high-impact emails to increase donations
14th January 2026, online. Join Charity Digital for a one-hour intensive masterclass on the fundamentals of exceptional email marketing. Attendees will learn exactly how to craft inclusive, beautiful, and high-impact emails from one of the charity sector’s experts.
Elizabeth Carter, Email Marketing Manager at Charity Digital, will show you how to design email campaigns that are not only visually engaging but also accessible to all audiences – including people with visual disabilities. You’ll explore how to increase email open and click-through rates with better email design.
Advanced Excel – tips and tricks
15th January, 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.
This hands-on workshop will guide you through demos and practical exercises using a sample spreadsheet.
Understanding Governance Stage 1: The Trustee Role
15th–16th January 2026, online. 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.
Brand Reputation Training for Charities
20th January 2026, online. In today’s fast-moving digital landscape, a charity’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets.
Trust, public perception, and the ability to raise funds or deliver services can be significantly impacted by how well a charity manages its brand. From copyright and trade marks to online abuse and data breaches, reputation management is essential. This practical, expert-led training will help you understand the legal and strategic tools needed to safeguard your charity’s identity and uphold public trust.
Supercharge your use of social media
20th January 2026, 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.
Getting started with Google for Nonprofits
21st January 2026, 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.
Data Protection Training for Charities
27th January 2026, 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.
Operational Plans
Tuesday 27th January, online. Operational plans are often called many things, but it’s the plan that lasts for about a year and is often in-depth. This is perhaps one of the most important documents an organisation has.
It should set out what you are going to do for the coming year and often forms the basis of how you report your progress to trustees and stakeholders. The workshop will look at ways to create this document to make your life easy.
[NEW] Free Charity Trading Essentials webinar
Wednesday 28th January, online. This practical session, delivered in partnership with Withers LLP, explores charity trading and when to consider a trading subsidiary. It’s designed for charity leaders, trustees, finance teams, and anyone involved in income generation.
Charity trading is increasingly on the agenda for organisations exploring income diversification and financial sustainability. This session is a useful opportunity to understand the key considerations, hear real-world examples, and get up to date guidance – whether you’re advising groups on trading or considering it for your own organisation.
Attendees will learn:
- What trading means and the different types of trading activity
- When it’s appropriate to set up a trading subsidiary and key considerations
- Where to find guidance to ensure trading activities comply with charity law
- Real-life insights from a charity already trading
How to master bid-writing
28th January 2026, online. Join Charity Digital for a one-hour intensive masterclass on the fundamentals of bid-writing. Attendee will learn exactly how to craft successful bids from one of the charity sector’s experts.
Grant expert and Director of Get Grants, John Ellery, will explore the process of grant-funding, focussing on the core challenges faced by charities. John will cover, among other things, the importance of ‘being fundable’, the right funders for you to approach, how to make an application stand out, and tips to increase your chance of success.
Digital Exclusion Workshop
Wednesday 28th January, Whitehaven. Digital Unite is running a free 2 hour workshop on on the topic of Digital Exclusion.
It is open to representatives of voluntary and community groups throughout Cumbria.
Click on the thumbnail image to view a flyer with more information.
Finance for Trustees
29th January 2026, 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.
Protecting your Legacy Income
3rd February 2026, online. Managing your charity’s legacy income can be a lengthy and complex process.
From the various tax considerations (Inheritance, Capital Gains), to dealing with contested legacies and all of the adminstration in between, there are many factors that can delay legacy income reaching your charity.
Led by the legacy protection team at VWV, this course has been designed to give clear and practical legal advice for breaking down these obstacles as well as tools for recognising legacy risks early on in the process.
The Digitally Informed Trustee
4th February 2026, online. Trustees play a vital role in providing strategic leadership, financial oversight, risk management, and ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. Yet many trustees feel underprepared, especially when it comes to digital tools and technology, from managing cybersecurity risks to interpreting data dashboards or understanding AI-driven systems.
This series is designed to equip trustees with the confidence and competence to navigate the digital tools and technologies essential for modern governance. Through interactive sessions led by expert facilitators, respected organisations, and thought leaders, you’ll gain the skills, insights, and support needed to be an effective, ethical, and digitally-savvy trustee.
Preventing Charity Fraud
5th February 2026, 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.
Charities SORP Training Series
Starting Tuesday 10th February 2026, 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.
It contains a number of important updates, including on lease accounting and revenue recognition. It also introduces a three-tier reporting system based on income. In addition, refreshed trustees annual report requirements, with further guidance added on how to report financial reserves and plans about the future. Areas of particular public and donor interest – including impact reporting, and environmental, social and governance issues – now have dedicated sections, with guidance on reporting.
Working smarter with AI: A practical introduction
11th February 2026, online. This one-hour in-depth masterclass shows you how to effectively and ethically use artificial intelligence (AI). Attendees 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.
Management Accounts for Small Organisations
Thursday 12th February, online. What do management accounts look like and why should you do them? The session will look at:
- why we do them
- how to do them
- when to do them
- what we do with them
The Art of Being an Effective Chair
12th–13th February 2026, online. The role of the chair of the board or a committee is more demanding and can be more complex than most people realise.
This course will help you to chair well and to ensure that board governs effectively and that board committees add value to the governance process. Scenarios and case studies help develop skills in practical ways.
Use data to grow your impact
25th February, online. Marketing analytics expert, Dr Simon (Seongsoo) Jang, Associate Professor at Cardiff University, will cover the importance of intuitive- and data-driven decision-making, practical tips for maximising impact, real-life examples of successful marketing and analytics campaigns, and so much more.
Jang will introduce four core marketing principles that will revolutionise your charity’s approach to data. By the end of the hour-long session, you’ll be able to integrate the principles directly into your charity.
Contract Training for Charities – Managing Contracts with Confidence
26th February 2026, online. For a charity entering into a contract with any other party, there are a number of key factors to consider.
In this half-day session Ed Rimmell, partner at VWV, will share his expertise on managing charity contracts effectively to ensure risks are mitigated, all parties fully understand what has been agreed and what to do if a dispute arises. Ed will also guide you through some common and important contract clauses which are often poorly understood.
Exercise Impassible
11th March 2026, 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.
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.
Reserves: What They Are and How to Calculate Them
Thursday 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.
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.
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] Sign up for the North East and North Cumbria NHS People’s Hub monthly newsletter
The Integrated Care Board (ICB) for the North East and North Cumbria has launched a new ‘People’s Hub’ to support involvement in health and care decision-making in our region.
Each month they send out a newsletter with all of the latest opportunities to get involved and have your say.
Sign up for the newsletter here
Cabinet Office introduces grant funding feedback service for charities
The Cabinet Office has launched a feedback process for charities who feel like government department funders are limiting their ability to campaign or are otherwise dissatisfied with a government contract they have been asked to sign.
The measure was first announced with the Civil Society Covenant in July this year but has now been formally introduced, effective last week.
Among the key aspects of the covenant was a recognition of and respect for the independence and legitimacy of the charity sector to advocate and campaign.
Regulator urges charities to publish AI fundraising policies amid ‘bad actor’ fears
Charities have been recommended by the Fundraising Regulator to self-publish an artificial intelligence policy to protect against “bad actors”.
In guidance published this month, the regulator outlined potential AI threats to charities such as misleading content, output influenced by hidden biases, and bad actors seeking to fundraise for criminal purposes.
The regulator told charities that they were responsible and accountable of their use of AI to fundraise, including money raised through third party organisations.
Commission chair condemns ‘growing hostility’ towards charity workers
The Charity Commission’s interim chair has expressed concerns over the level of verbal and physical abuse some sector employees have faced from members of the public in recent months.
Mark Simms’ comments came as the regulator published guidance for charities on how to respond to the current “hostile environment”.
Speaking at the commission’s annual public meeting earlier this month, Simms said the commission had heard of “death threats, threats of sexual assault, witnessed damage and vandalism done to charity offices” in recent months.
Giant Digital 12 Days of Charity Digital Excellence
This Christmas, Gian Digital are giving away 12 days of senior consulting time, and inviting charities and ethical organisations to share the one digital challenge or “wish” you’d love expert help with as you head into 2026. It might be an accessibility issue you’ve never had time to dig into, a sustainability question, an inclusivity challenge, an AI uncertainty, or simply a strategic crossroads you’d like clarity on.
Whatever it is, they’d love to hear it. Depending on the wishes received, Giant Digital will grant a selection of them, offering thoughtful, focused support where it can make a real difference.
Big Help Out to return in June 2026 after year-long pause
The Big Help Out will return on 5-8 June 2026, marking the comeback of the volunteering event after a year-long break.
Created by the Scouts and Royal Voluntary Service, the event was designed as part of King Charles III’s coronation and first held in May 2023.
In February, Big Help Out’s co-founder and chair Matt Hyde announced that the event would be put on hold this year due to external factors limiting “our capacity to plan”.
Nurturing Grassroots – free support for local organisations!
Nurturing Grassroots is a fully funded capacity-building programme designed to support grassroots organisations to become more resilient, develop and work towards future aims and goals.
The programme is funded for 3 years and offers tailored one-to-one support from mentors with years of not for profit sector experience, expert-led workshops on a range of popular topics like marketing, fundraising and demonstrating your impact, and leadership & well-being coaching. Through this range of workshops, networking opportunities and 121 support the programme aims to help organisations with common support needs like goal setting and planning, strengthening your organisation, fundraising, impact measurement, and sustainability.
If any organisation is interested in finding out more, all they need to do is register here – and you will be contacted to set up an initial (online) consultation to discuss the programme and your needs in a bit more detail.
Parent Carer Champions
Help shape services for families in your community by becoming a Parent or Carer Champion.
Share your experiences, ideas and feedback with the Cumberland Family Hubs team – and help make a real difference for local families.
Click on the thumbnail image for more information
Penrith Community Awards
The annual programme is organised by the Council’s Communities Committee to recognise the individuals and groups who contribute to the wellbeing, vitality, and community spirit of our town.
The Awards are designed to recognise:
- Individuals or groups who have made a positive difference to the lives and wellbeing of Penrith residents
- People who support charitable or voluntary work in the town
- Individuals who volunteer or who have volunteered for Penrith Town Council
- Those who demonstrate exceptional citizenship and dedication to the local community
Nominations are made by the people of Penrith, who help identify the individuals and groups whose work deserves public recognition.
Closing date for nominations is 1st February 2026.
How to maximise website traffic from AI searches
Charities are adapting to an AI-inspired revolution in online search, with a new focus on generative engine optimisation.
Authenticity in action – embedding lived experience in charities
Embedding lived experience is key to entrenching equity of representation, beneficiary voices and ensuring you remain engaged with the right stakeholders in fulfilling your charity’s mission.
This guest blog by Suneet Sharma was written for the Association of Chairs and offers their reflections on embedding lived experience. A charity trustee with It Gets Better from 2021-24, Suneet shares some of the learnings from their process of growing engagement and voice in the LGBTQ+ community, and reflects on how this relates to good governance.
The meaning of charity at Christmas
Charity Digital explore what compels people to donate during the festive season and how charities can replicate that good will in future fundraising.
Julia Unwin confirmed as next Charity Commission chair
The government’s choice for the next Charity Commission chair has been confirmed in post.
Julia Unwin was appointed to a three-year term as Charity Commission chair by culture secretary Lisa Nandy earlier this month.
Unwin was backed by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to become chair on 28 November after a pre-appointment hearing on 25 November.
Ex-charities minister warns government to learn from Big Society ‘political failure’
A former civil society minister has urged the government to learn from the “political failure” of David Cameron’s Big Society as it aims to grow the “impact economy”.
Nick Hurd, the longest serving charity minister in history who served under Cameron from 2010 to 2014, said the Big Society programme overall failed because it “did not lay strong enough foundations of trust and understanding in the sectors and communities we wanted to inspire”.
“Like Big Society, the impact economy is an expression that can mean different things to different people,” Hurd said as part of a new essay collection from New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
December 12th is most popular day for festive giving, report finds
The latest report on Christmas Giving insights has been published by Enthuse, and highlights which days are the most common for charitable giving in the month.
Findings show that online giving to charities has changed to the first half of the month over the past two years, in contrast to the two years prior, in which top donation days came only from the second half of the month. It was revealed that in 2024, 12th December saw the highest number of gifts in a day, accounting for 5.5% of the month’s total giving via Enthuse.com. The daily average for the month was 3.2%.
How charities are coping one year after the Employer’s National Insurance Contributions rise
A Charity Finance Group survey conducted one year on from the announcement of a rise in Employer National Insurance Contributions finds that many charities are struggling with their finances.
CFG’s new survey reveals that 77% of those who responded to the survey reported a worse financial position than a year ago, 62% are running deficits, and organisations are being forced to make difficult choices between maintaining services and keeping staff.
Face-to-face fundraising ‘resilient’ despite ongoing challenges, says report
Face-to-face fundraising (F2F) has remained “resilient”, according to a new report, which found a similar number of overall sign-ups since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The F2F Fundraising Benchmarking Report, produced by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF), estimated that £50m will be raised through donors signed up across 2024 in their first 12 months of giving.
Using data from 60 charities and 16 agencies, researchers found the total number of sign-ups in 2024 was over 685,000, comparable to 2019’s figure of over 696,000.
Small charities most affected by declines in trustee and volunteer numbers, research finds
New research has identified “substantive” declines in the number of trustees and volunteers at small charities.
The latest Third Sector Trends report, which received more than 8,680 responses, found that most voluntary organisations with annual incomes of less than £50,000 reported a falling number of trustees over the past two years.
Declines in trustee numbers were most common among the smallest third sector organisations (TSOs), with incomes below £2,000, while most of those with incomes over £50,000 reported net increases.
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.
