By Alea Ibrahim, Communications Intern for EVOC 150 Heritage Programme

Grab your magnifying glasses, deerstalkers and Dr. Watsons. We need you, Edinburgh. EVOC has accumulated an archive of some wonderful Edinburgh protest and campaigning photos. They are not just part of the Edinburgh Third Sector and EVOC’s heritage, but also form a beautiful time capsule of Edinburgh’s past.

It started off as a huge box of old photos, but the Living Memory Association has done a brilliant job of digitising and categorising them for the EVOC150 project to help preserve these snapshot memories. This is where you come in.

Do you recognise your old neighbour in one of the photos? Is that you holding that sign to protest against dampness? Did your grandmother and her friend protest against the closing of the wash houses?

We need your help in identifying the faces and protests in our gallery to find out more about the stories hidden behind them. 

Help us uncover more of Edinburgh’s past and the third sector. If you recognise anyone in the photos, remember one of the protests or even marched along, get in touch with us.

#EVOC150

Twitter: @evoc_edinburgh

Facebook: /EVOCEdinburgh

Email: comms@evoc.org

The EVOC 150 project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with thanks to players of the National Lottery.

This year the EVOC 150 team will be running a social media workshop as part of the Audacious Women Festival 2019. The festival will run from Thursday 21st February to Monday 25th February at venues across the city.

 The Festival is a chance to break personal, political, institutional barriers & celebrate audacious women. The Audacious    Women Collective would like to invite and support you to take your first steps on a journey to audacity. We have music, dance, art and books, all giving you an opportunity to Do What You Always Wish You Dared no matter what your interests, and to celebrate the achievements of audacious women who have gone before.

Yasmin Duncan, EVOC Communications Officer, Lucy Ridley, EVOC 150 Programme Manager and Alea Ibrahim, EVOC 150 Communications Intern will run a 2 hour ‘Get Connected: A Social Media How To’ which will empower women to use social media to get their voices heard and connect with each other, and their communities. 

The workshop will take place : Sun 24 Feb 2019, 14:45 to 16:45, City Art Centre, 2 Market St, EH1 1DE

£5 (Standard) / £10 (Supporter)

Tickets for this event can be booked here and the full 2019 programme can be found on the website at www.audaciouswomen.scot 

The EVOC 150 Programme is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and delivered with thanks to UK lottery players. 

EVOC is committed to supporting organisations that were unsuccessful in the EIJB grant application process to help with the immediate issues and longer-term sustainability for the organisations affected by the grant decisions.

EVOC is offering a suite of support that can be accessed by these organisations within the next three months, before the end of March 2019.

The support will come in the form of open training sessions and specialist consultants, which will be offered, on a one to one basis. Organisations accessing specialist consultancy may be able to access more than one.

If your organisation wishes to access this support, please click the link below to download the form and return a completed copy to steff.bell@evoc.org.uk

Support-to-Orgs-Affected-by-EIJB 201218

Lucy Ridley, EVOC 150 Programme Manager and Yasmin Duncan, EVOC Communications Officer joined Lewis Mcfarlane on SAM Radio to explain the work of EVOC, the origins of our 150 year history and our aims for the future.

The EVOC 150 project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with thanks to players of the National Lottery.

SAM Radio is a community internet radio station that caters for adults who have been diagnosed with Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome and it is the first of its kind in Scotland.

For more information about the EVOC 150 Programme, including collaborations and events please contact: comms@evoc.org. 

To provide support to organisations affected by the IJB Grants review, we have commissioned a HR specialist lawyer from Law at Work to provide information, advice and training.  This will take place on Wednesday 19^th December and we have tried to structure the day so you can receive advice on processes and legal requirements as well as the opportunity to have 1-2-1 sessions to provide more bespoke support and advice. 

The workshop is repeated to enable your Trustees/committee members to attend either at the beginning or the end of their working day.

9.30am – 12noon

Participative workshop looking at the law around contracts, making changes and redundancy.  HR Focused and solicitor-led.

12.30pm – 1-2-1 slot with HR Solicitor

1.15pm – 1-2-1 slot with HR Solicitor

1.45pm – 1-2-1 slot with HR Solicitor

2.30pm – 1-2-1 slot with HR Solicitor

3.30 – 6.00pm

Participative workshop looking at the law around contracts, making changes and redundancy.  HR Focused and solicitor-led, to be held in the EVOC Boardroom.

Please book place(s) by emailing dianne.morrison@evoc.org.uk. 

EVOC will be providing further support to organisations impacted by the Health and Social Care grants proposals which we will promote w/c 17 Dec. See  https://www.evoc.org.uk/updates/ella-simpson-evoc-statement-on-eibj-grant-programme-results/  

Edinburgh Integration Joint Board Grant Programme 2019 – 2022 Results

As many of you will be intensely aware, the recommended recipients of the fully reviewed IJB grant programme will be published in the Board papers on Friday 7th December. The papers are recommendations to the IJB and the final decision will be made at the meeting on 14th December 2018.   

For some organisations this will mean stability for three years, but inevitably for others the announcement will bring bad news – closure of services and difficult decisions will have to be made. At EVOC we have been planning how we can offer constructive support to organisations through this time.

Like so many organisations the majority of EVOC staff are part time so most of my team won’t be around on Friday 7th to offer immediate advice and support but Denise Horn (0131 555 9117) and I (0131 555 9105) are both happy to lend a listening ear if that helps.

For ongoing support if you complete our referral form and head it up “grants enquiry” we will work out the best person within EVOC to help you, or signpost you to someone else who can. We have scheduled a meeting early next week to review the potential impact on organisations, services users, carers and communities. We will then be able to respond to the enquiries which have come in – so if you don’t hear from us immediately please don’t feel forgotten. But do call and if we can answer immediate questions we will.

We will be running training courses to support you, whether you find yourself needing to make funding applications to ensure to ensure the sustainability of your organisation, need advice and support to close services or review all your options. We have allocated some funds to be able to provide one-to-one support with consultants on relevant issues such as strategic planning, change management and succession planning. These will be free to any organisation impacted by the grants decisions.

In terms of the broader impact on communities, the IJB and the associated work programmes are very aware of the need to take account of the impact of the grants decisions. I would also urge you to participate in EVOC forums and networks so we can work together to discuss the impact, share ideas and gain support from each other.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions about what else would help.
Ella Simpson
Chief Executive, EVOC

EVOC is delighted to present its first ever podcast, which focuses on our Mind the Craic project. 

This podcast explains what the project is, what it aims to do and how you or your organisation can get involved. 

If you have an idea for a podcast or would like to be featured, please contact: comms@evoc.org.uk

Host: Yasmin Duncan, Communications Officer, EVOC

Guests: Ella Simpson, EVOC Chief Executive Officer, Diarmaid Lawlor, Mind the Craic Chair and Virginia Bjertnes, Mind the Craic Project Worker 

Thank you to everyone to made EVOC’s annual Conference and AGM such a success on 6th November.

There was a real buzz around the venue as delegates browsed the marketplace and networked with their counterparts. There were some very interesting, passionate and challenging conversations taking place. 

This passion was echoed by Emmie Main who, in conjunction with Young Scot, spoke about the value of volunteering to young people and her experience in the sector. We also wecolmed Cllr Cammy Day to give an introduction to the City of Edinburgh Council’s Poverty Commission, which fits in with EVOC’s Mind the Craic project, and both will look at how prevention and early intervention can be used to find solutions to deep rooted social issues around inclusion, equality and poverty. 

We then welcomed our keynote speaker,  Aileen Campbell MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, who praised the agility of the third sector and EVOC’s longstanding commitment to tackling inequality and poverty in the city of Edinburgh.

There was also a panel discussion that aimed to answer the question: Thinking about the next ten years – do we need a bigger or a smaller third sector? 

The panel was chaired by EVOC Chief Executive Ella Simpson, and featuring Ewan Aitken, CEO of Cyrenians, Jan-Bert van den Berg, EVOC Convenor and ArtLink Director and Patrycja Kupiec, Director of YWCA Scotland. Questions and answers touched on lived experience, Brexit, gender inequality, zero hours contracts and much more. 

To find out more about what EVOC is doing to celebrate 150 years supporting charities and the wider community- visit our news pages and read our blogs.