Vacancies – Network Representative(s) for Commissioning Group

The Children, Young People and Families Commissioning Group of Edinburgh Alcohol & Drug Partnership are setting up a partnership advisory group to design and develop a young people’s substance misuse service in Edinburgh; i.e. a service to support/treat  young people who are experiencing problematic alcohol or dug use. Commissioners are keen to make the group as representative as possilbe of current service provision and expertise in this area of work and are looking to include at least one  voluntary sector representative.

The representatgive(s) on the above Group will join this advisory group to represent the voluntary sector perspective for this whole area of work rather than any specific agency, as part of the Edinburgh Network of Voluntary Organisations for Children, Young People & Families.  It will be a short life group that is coming together to complete a specific task and will run for no longer than 6 months. The first meeting will be towards the end of May.

If you are intertested in finding our more about the above position(s) or want to nominate yourself – please drop Ian Brooke an email or call EVOC on 0131 555 9100..  Closing date for nominations is Weds 16 May 2012.

Working with children, young people & families? Free training from our Partners

EVOC’s Network pages have been recently updated to include links to City of Edinburgh Council Children & Families and NHS Lothian training opportunities in the field of working with children, young people and families:

http://www.evoc.org.uk/partnership/children-and-young-people/

Well worth a browse to see the enormous range of opportunities available – at no cost to voluntary organisations in the city.

Network of Voluntary Organisations for Children, Young People & Families

The next meeting of the Network is scheduled for 2pm on Thursday 3 May at EVOC.  All interested parties welcome to attend.

The themed discussion for this next meeting is ‘Child Protection’ and Sean Byrne, Lead Officer, Edinburgh Child Protection Committee will be in attendance.

The draft minute of the April Network is now available here amongst the papers for the 3 May meeting which we will continue to upload as we receive them on the same page.

For more information about the Network drop Ian Brooke an email or call the EVOC office on 0131 555 9100.

Help with finding funding

Organisations working in Edinburgh and in need of help with finding funding for their work are able to access EVOC’s subscription to the Directory of Social Change’s Trustfunding website free of charge.

The website enables searches in categories, geography and for different amounts of grants.  Previously EVOC also subscribed to the former FunderFinder package, which is now discontinued, however, we are finding that this website enables organisations to find funding leads just as conveniently. 

We offer pre-booked access, including a short introduction to using the website effectively.  To find out more or to book a slot – please contact JulieAnne Hill:

Phone – 0131 555 9100

Email – julieanne.hill@evoc.org.uk

Edinburgh’s SOA3 agreed: An aspiration worth aiming for

“EDINBURGH is a thriving, successful and sustainable capital city, in which all forms of deprivation and inequality are reduced.”

So goes the overarching vision within Edinburgh’s Single Outcome Agreement 2012-2015 (called SOA3 as this is the third iteration.) Community Planning partners across the city have come together to articulate an ‘agenda for Edinburgh’ which starts with the overarching vision of a capital city in which all forms of deprivation and inequality are reduced.

A Single Outcome Agreement is the means by which a Community Planning Partnership agrees its strategic priorities for its place. These priorities are expressed as outcomes towards which all partners work. Single Outcome Agreements explicitly relate to the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework.

Edinburgh’s SOA has been built through a detailed process of discussion, engagement and analysis taken forward by the Edinburgh Partnership ‘family’ on behalf of the city’s Community Planning partners – aimed, ultimately, at delivering desired outcomes for Edinburgh’s people.

EVOC Director Ella Simpson is a member of the Edinburgh Partnership Board. The Edinburgh Compact Partnership is a Strategic Partnership within the ‘family.’ The Chair of the Compact Partnership VCE Director Harriet Eadie is a member of the Edinburgh Partnership Executive.

CEC Commissioning Plans shortcut widget

Searching for City of Edinburgh Council Plans can be time consuming, so thanks to CEC Health & Social Care Dept, the following shortcuts will help anyone looking for these documents to instantly locate them:

Commissioning Strategy Key Reports:

Edinburgh Commissioning Strategy for Care and Support 2011-16

• Draft Commissioning Strategy for consultation – P&S Committee 2 November 2010
• Consultation feedback and Council response – P&S Committee 14 June 2011
• Final draft of the Commissioning Strategy – P&S Committee 9 Aug 2011

 Commissioning Plan for Adults

• Consultation feedback and Council response – HSC&H Committee 16 August 2011
• Edinburgh Commissioning Plan for Adult Social Care 2011-16 – P&S Committee 6 September 2011

 Other Commissioning Plans

• Commissioning Plan for Advice, Support and Accommodation Services to Prevent Homelessness 2011-2016
• Commissioning Plan for Children and Families Support Services 2011-2016 – P&S Committee 4 October 2011
• Edinburgh Alcohol & Drug Partnership (EADP) Commissioning Plan: Commissioning for Recovery 2012-15

We will keep this list up to date and add to it as and when new plans are published.

Freedom of Information and Data Protection Day (FREE WORKSHOPS)

A day of free workshop events for voluntary sector staff providing information and advice on:

• the responsibilities that voluntary sector organisations have under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the management of the personal data they hold;
• the rights that staff and clients have to access information under freedom of information (FOI) law. FOI can be used by the third sector to support a range of activities – including campaigning, policy work, tendering or research.

You can choose to attend both DPA and FOI workshops, or you can register to attend just one. Those signing up to attend both workshops will be provided with a free sandwich lunch.

To book your place please visit http://www.evoc.org.uk/course/making-freedom-of-information-work-for-you-free-workshop/

Reshaping Care for Older People – Update

The April 2012 bulletin for Intermediate Care services is now available: Click here to download

#BeGoodBeSocial – Ticket Giveaway

EVOC has 2 tickets to give away to #BeGoodBeSocial in Glasgow on Thursday 17 May 6.00 – 9.00pm.  Take a look at the website here. 

To be in with a chance to win a ticket simply tweet @evoc_edinburgh with a practical tip for how EVOC can build social value via social media.  Everybody who tweets will be entered into a hat at 4.00pm on Friday 20 April and the two lucky winners will receive a direct message via twitter, and we’ll post their user names here on the EVOC website. 

Good Luck!

EVOC Email is back – but data have been lost

THE good news is that EVOC has Email again – it feels good to be connected – new emails are coming through.

The bad news is that in transiting to a cloud-based server we have lost a significant amount of data (prior to Wednesday 28 March.)

If you have been trying to email us and are wondering why we’ve not responded – this may be because your email did not come through.

If we contact you because we don’t have complete information about ongoing work, please bear with us – losing data (including emails, contacts, and calendar entries) makes most of our work more difficult and more time-consuming.

If in doubt, you can call us on 0131 555 9100 or fax us on 0131 555 9101.