As we all continue to feel the financial pinch, introducing fundraising ideas that are free and easy to maintain are a must. That’s why we encourage our voluntary groups, charities, and CICs to join easyfundraising.

easyfundraising is passionate about local groups and communities accessing vital funds, which is why they partner with over 7,000 online retail brands that want to give back. It’s simple – when someone shops online, a small percentage of what they spend transforms into a monetary donation for your organisation. It’s free for your organisation and the online shopper – the retailer donates the money, not the shopper.

Anything from a weekly grocery shop to a family holiday can generate a free donation because over 7,000 retailers are involved, including Amazon, eBay, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Screwfix, Waitrose, Argos, Moonpig, Tesco, Boots, trainline and more.

With 24% of people shopping online twice a week these days – and everyone watching how they spend their pennies – this is a way you can ask for support without needing to ask for money.

For example, a weekly online food shop at ASDA raises £1 for your organisation. 5 people shopping weekly = £5 a week in donations and over £250 in a year.

All you need to do to start receiving these donations is register your organisation here:

And don’t worry, the easyfundraising team will help you get started and give you lots of free support to help you get your volunteers, supporters and staff involved.

National Apprenticeship Week is your chance to discover exciting opportunities to boost your career. Schools, colleges, employers, career advisers and thousands of students come together online to celebrate Apprenticeships in support of the Government-run National Apprenticeship Week.

National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2023 is the 16th annual celebration of apprenticeships. The week brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy. It provides a fantastic opportunity to help students to think about their future and raise awareness of the options available after school.

Skills for life

The theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2023 is ‘Skills for Life’. The week will reflect on how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career and help businesses to develop a talented workforce that is equipped with skills for the future.

Throughout the week, top employers and organisations come together to showcase their opportunities to thousands of attendees, who are actively seeking an apprenticeship.

National Apprenticeship week have an exclusive and dedicated portal where anyone can subscribe to be enrolled in seminars, events, Q & A and job opportunities.

The benefits of becoming a VCSE Alliance member include receiving a monthly newsletter, being able to bid for local NHS funding opportunities, invitations to events and webinars, and access to the VCSE Alliance Forum.

Current funding opportunity only available to VCSE Alliance members:

Focused geographical communities work to support winter pressures (deadline 5 February 2023)
Voluntary and community sector organisations based in Leicester City are invited to bid for funding to reach out to people and communities who have used A&E at Leicester Royal Infirmary, but could have been more appropriately seen and treated elsewhere. The contract term will run from February 2023 to end of April 2023 and the ICB will award maximum of £5,500 per VCSE organisation. More information, including the specification, can be found on the Alliance and Opportunities Hub on the VCSE Alliance webspace (accessible to members via: https://leicesterleicestershireandrutland.icb.nhs.uk/be-involved/vcse-introduction/)

Bosom Friends is a group of ladies who have had, or are having, treatment for breast cancer.  The group was formed in 1987 by breast cancer patients at Glenfield Hospital who wanted to give ladies the chance to talk to each other and to share their feelings about how to cope with the effects of breast cancer.  Nurses at Glenfield Hospital helped to set up the group and continue to support it by displaying flyers and providing information for new members. 

The group has been meeting ever since and continues to provide a friendly environment where the ladies can have some fun, relax and make friends within the safety of their common bond to one another.

Some of the meetings are “Coffee and Chat” which provide the chance for the group members to talk and get to know one another.  At others, they may have a guest speaker or demonstration.  The group sometimes arranges social activities such as skittles evenings, boat trips and meals out.

The group have helped many women and their families over the last 35 years.

In the past 15 years alone 159 different ladies have come to meetings.
One lady has been attending the group regularly for 31 years, two others for 30 years.  They still enjoy the friendship and support which Bosom Friends provides.
Another lady who joined the group this year said “I just wanted to say thank you for your meeting last week.  I had lots of questions when I came.  I found chatting to those around me very helpful. A lot of my fears were calmed.  It’s great what you do!”
Over the years the group have fundraised to enable it to contribute to charities such as LOROS and to provide much needed hospital equipment.  More recently, during the Covid pandemic the group donated money to purchase comfort packs for hospital staff and have contributed to the Secret Garden at Glenfield Hospital, where patients and staff can relax.  Hospital gowns for the Breast Care Unit at the hospital have also been provided by Bosom Friends.

The group celebrated their 35th birthday this year with a pub skittles evening.  The finale to their 2022 programme was a Festive Evening, attended by Janet Till, one of the founding members of the group.  The Bosom Friends look forward to sharing many future years together.

The group meets on the last Thursday of each month (excluding December) from 7.30pm at Sue Young Cancer Support, Helen Webb House, 35 Westleigh Road, Leicester. LE3 0HH.  Further details about the group can be found on their website: www.bosomfriendsleicestershire.com

A 12-week fully funded course aimed at senior leaders and owners of SME businesses is launching in January at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU). The Help to Grow: Management Course is aimed to help companies access the very best advice on how to innovate, reach new customers and boost profits and it will not cost businesses a penny. People will get 12 weeks of in-depth training, tailored around work, 1:1 business mentoring and access to a peer network of other SME owners. It is taught online and face-to-face at DMU.

It covers strategies for growth and innovation, leading high-performance teams and digital adoption, as well as financial management and responsible business practices. You will hear from inspirational business leaders and learn alongside local peers. By the end of the course you will be able to take away a tailor-made plan and have the confidence in how to grow your business.

For more details, visit: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/business/grow-your-business/help-to-grow-management.aspx.

What are your fundraising goals this year? A new project? Improved facilities? Core costs? Volunteer training?

Whatever you need funding for, make sure fundraising platform easyfundraising is a part of your strategy. easyfundraising enables voluntary and third sector organisations to benefit from cashback donations when their supporters shop online.

easyfundraising partners with 7,300 online retailers that will donate a percentage of what a shopper spends with them back to your organisation at no extra cost to anyone. Retailers include everyday favourites like Amazon, eBay, Boots, and Argos, department stores like John Lewis, M&S, Debenhams, and House of Fraser, supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, home improvement retailers such as B&Q, Dunelm, Wickes and Homebase, fashion brands like ASOS, Very, H&M, Boden and Clarks – and many more.

Space Youth Services have raised over £650 so far and say easyfundraising is the helping hand that allows them to fundraise easily for their essential needs:

“It’s useful to be able to raise unrestricted donations. We would definitely recommend it to other charities as a simple, straightforward way of raising additional funds that requires little in the way of input and maintenance.”

Free to register and use, signing up to easyfundraising is a great way to create a continuous stream of income, which complements your existing activities to make 2022 your best fundraising year yet.

Find out more here

CILIP, the library and information association has published a comprehensive set of guidelines: ‘A Warm Welcome. Setting up a warm space in your community’. These guidelines stemmed from a tweet in early September 2022 by Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, asking if there were any UK charities who could come forward and write a best practice guidance document for setting up warm spaces in the community.

Public libraries were invited to submit their best practice guidance from advice on issues such as safeguarding and accessibility, to the practicalities of health and safety, accessibility and risk assessments – but at all times remembering that these spaces should be welcoming, warm and safe.

Further information and Guidance Document: click here

For many charities, demand for your support has risen but resources are increasingly limited. Our help and guidance can help you work efficiently and effectively. It’s all in one place and covers a range of topics.

• How to find the money you need
• Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of your team
• Financial difficulty and insolvency
• Mergers
• Developing your reserves policy

Information on free webinars are in the training section
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/running-a-charity/current-events-impact/cost-of-living/#/help-and-guidance

The VAL Volunteering Youth Panel has been created to support youth volunteering and the opportunities available in Leicestershire.

This new National Lottery funding will will work with a small number of Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIOs) and some young people aged 16-24 to look at some of the barriers to involving younger people as volunteers and how we can work together locally to overcome them. Over the next year, we will work with local partners to scope out how we can increase the number of VIOs working with younger volunteers and increase the number of young people aged 16-24 getting involved in volunteering with local projects.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

Dave Cliffe, Team Lead said:

“Thanks to National Lottery players, this grant is a chance for us to introduce volunteering to young people and get them ready for the next part of their journey towards employment, making a difference to our local communities along the way. This will make a big difference to people’s lives.”

During the pandemic, in 2020 alone, The National Lottery Community Fund distributed almost £1 billion to charities and community organisations across the UK.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk  

If you work with someone who requires assistance, please complete one of our application forms through our Charity Link Online Application Form  or download our paper based form Charity Link Application form. Please note that Charity Link are unable to accept requests for support direct from applicants.

Where there is a crisis or immediate need, for example in cases of domestic violence or those facing homelessness, we are able to act quickly.

Once we have received the funds we then purchase the goods required, the most common are:

• Fridge & freezers
• Household goods
• Medical & mobility items
• Washing machines
• Beds & bedding
• Clothing
• Convalescence
• Cookers
• Educational expenses

Charity Link are currently able to access funding to support vulnerable people in Leicester city, Leicestershire and Rutland with their gas/electric bills. The funding available has a maximum of £100.00 per household and must be paid direct to the utility provider by Charity Link.

If you have a client that you feel would benefit from this support please submit a completed Charity Link application form along with a copy of their utility bill (note statement) which needs to show:

• The applicants name and address
• The applicants name and address
• Name and bank details for the utility company
• Applicant’s utility Account number

If you would like to learn more about our services please contact the friendly Charity Link team on 0116 22 22 200 or email info@charity-link.org