Community News

Listed below are news and information items from our member organisations.  FCVS cannot take responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information.  Please refer to the named contact for further details.  This page is constantly being updated, so please check back frequently. 

Simplify Administrative Tasks with Charity Builder UK

The launch of a new service, Charity Builder UK (CBUK), will transform the way you carry out key administrative tasks – and best of all it’s free!

CBUK is a web-based service: • it covers subjects such as: Human Resources, Health & Safety, Insurance, Volunteering, Governance and more • it doesn’t just signpost advice and information: CBUK interacts with the user to create tailor-made documents such as staff contracts, staff handbooks and essential policies • it is written and kept up to date by lawyers so users are always aware of changes in employment legislation • it allows you to obtain tailor-made insurance policies specific to your group’s needs • it gives continuity to administrative processes in the event of staff changes • it will help in funding applications where groups are asked to include key policies as part of the process, or where groups are competing with larger organisations which can afford to pay for external advice • it is self explanatory so no training is required

As a member of Fenland CVS you can benefit from Charity Builder UK right now. Simply visit the site below and register using the online registration form: www.charitybuilderuk.com

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Wisbech & District Talking Newspaper

Wisbech & District Talking Newspaper started in 1976 when two local men were inspired by a talk given by representatives of the Cambridge Talking Newspaper.  Thirty years later, tapes go out to nearly 100 blind and partially sighted listeners around Wisbech, stretching from Long Sutton down to the March Talking Newspaper at Friday Bridge, and from Parson Drove to Lakesend. 

Anyone with a visual impairment which makes reading the printed word difficult can receive the tapes.  It is a completely free service – everyone working for the Talking Newspaper is a volunteer, and the Post Office sends Articles for the Blind free of charge (usually first class)

There are three tapes each month, two of which consist of news taken from local newspapers.     The third tape, which is known as Contact, comprises interesting items from just about any source.  The three tapes go out at about ten-day intervals. 

The two news tapes each have their own team of about 8 or 9 readers plus a recording technician, who meet at Peckover House one evening a month.  The master tapes are then handed on to the ‘spinning’ teams who use the high-speed copying equipment , put the tapes in their pouches and take them to the sorting office.   

The Talking Newspaper relies entirely upon donations for its existence so funding varies considerably from year to year, but needs to cover the rent and the cost of new tapes and pouches.  Just recently there has been a major investment in new equipment which will enable the Talking Newspaper to go out on CD to any listeners who want them in that format.    

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Chatterpillar

For details of Pre-School Activity Groups for Chatteris, Wimblington, Doddington, Benwick, Christchurch and Manea, please Click Here.  If you wish to change any details or add your group to the list, please contact Emma Davies:
Tel: 01354 680155 or Email: emmalonguk@yahoo.co.uk

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Peckover House & Garden

Article from Paula Arnold

2008 was the 60^th Anniversary of the National Trust taking over the care of Bank House, renamed Peckover House in honour of the Quaker banking family that had lived at the residence in North Brink, Wisbech, for over 150 years. 2008 was also a special year in that 25 new volunteers joined the merry band of gardeners, tea room helpers, room stewards, office helpers, flower arrangers, pianists, second-hand bookshop helpers, book cleaners, handymen…who keep Peckover ticking over! 

On 16^th December 2008, 87 volunteers sat down to a Festive Lunch, cooked and served by staff at Peckover House & Garden.  The usual Christmas social is a ‘bring and share’ event, but this year we wanted to really say the biggest THANK YOU to our volunteers for helping us to have a very successful Anniversary season. 

Strangely, despite all our visitors, our increasing number of volunteers and our local links, we still hear comments from local people admitting they have never been inside Peckover House, and even more regrettably, not seen the beautiful two acre garden that hides behind several houses along North Brink! 

Our Georgian house spans three floors; the family history reflects the philanthropic nature of the family and the garden is a delight in all seasons. We can take you ‘behind the scenes’, provide lunch or a cream tea in the Reed Barn Tea Room or let you browse in the second-hand bookshop...and then there is the gift shop!  If you are looking for an enjoyable afternoon out with your family or friends, or a social outing for your colleagues or group, why not consider Peckover - we are on your doorstep!

Peckover House & Garden also enjoys links with the Wisbech Grammar School, the Wisbech Society, Meadowgate School, several local primary schools, Octavia Hill Birthplace House, Wisbech Talking Newspapers and many other groups in the area.  We have also been pleased to take advantage of the training courses organised by Fenland CVS.

If you would like a copy of our varied Events leaflet, or details about bringing a group, please call Paula Arnold, Property Secretary on 01945 583463 or email paula.arnold@nationaltrust.org.uk. We look forward to seeing you!

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Welcome Home from Hospital
Article by Jane Johannesen
 

Welcome Home from Hospital is a hospital discharge scheme, established by Care Network Cambridgeshire.  The purpose of the scheme is to offer short-term practical support to ease the transition from hospital to home.

Would you like to become a Welcome Home from Hospital volunteer?   All you need is a little spare time now and then to visit someone over a two week period.  This will usually involve 3 or 4 visits, each lasting one hour or less.

Volunteers will be doing things like fetching a prescription from the chemist, making a cup of tea, getting in a bit of shopping or just staying for a while to have a chat.  Importantly, the scheme offers training and work experience which can be of value when looking for future employment.

This is a valuable opportunity to help people in your community but it may also be an opportunity to help yourself.  Research done by TimeBank, a national charity, www.timebank.org.uk has shown that the job market favours individuals who have been actively volunteering while seeking employment.  Their survey showed that 73% of employers would employ a candidate with volunteer experience over one without.

Volunteering shows that you are proactive, a team player and that you have community spirit.   All great attributes and all of which can be evidenced through volunteering with us at Welcome Home from Hospital.  For more information or an informal chat, please contact Jane Johannessen, at the March office on 01354 652741 or email whfh.fenland@care-network.org.uk

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Breathe Easy Fenland

The British Lung Foundation (which has more than 200 Breathe Easy groups around the UK and also offers support and advice via its helpline on 08458 50 50 20) along with the Fenland Primary Care Trust’s Respiratory Team, has launched a new support group to help people affected by lung disease in Fenland.

Breathe Easy Fenland offers social support and information to anyone affected by lung disease, including family and carers.  Meetings take place at March Youth and Community Centre, 34 Station Road, March on the first Thursday of each month at 2.00pm.

These meetings will give you the opportunity to make friends and talk to healthcare professionals in an informal environment.  Having a lung disease can be a frightening and often isolating experience and the Breathe Easy group provides a great support network.  The British Lung Foundation produces an incredible number of leaflets containing up to date information on lung problems which are available for all members. 

For more information about Breathe Easy Fenland contact Sylvia Mansfield on 01354 651821 or smansfield1234@aol.com

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March Twinning Association

Article by Ray Pescud
 

We are a group of people who enjoy the social, cultural and formal link with like-minded people in St Jean-de-Braye, France. The two towns have been officially twinned since 1993, but the Association has been alive since 1986.

At present we are primarily individuals, couples and families, but we also wish to encourage participation from groups, clubs and schools within our area. Currently we have involvement from March & District Amateur Operatic Society, Neale-Wade Community College and All Saints Primary School. In the past the local athletics, swimming, table tennis and camera clubs (among others), the Fenland Youth Orchestra and Police have enjoyed the benefits of the Association. St Jean-de-Braye would very much like a link with a choir or something similar, and they have a number of students who would like to establish and communicate with an English friend.

Each year we arrange a 4-5 days exchange and this year it was our turn to cross the Channel. During the end of May half-term we had a very successful visit to St Jean-de-Braye - we are already planning for the visit of our French friends next May. During the year we have some social functions when we can get together, enjoy the various themes that the committee have organised, and raise some funds.

If you are interested in becoming a member or would like to know more about us, please contact one of our Officers:

The Chairman, Rodney Crabb - 01354 650549

The Vice-Chairman, Ray Pescud - 01354 654869

The Treasurer, Dorothy Hiskett - 01354 655657

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Helping People to Regain Confidence and Independence: Care in the Home Scheme

Article by Tracy Impey

The Care in the home programme provides short-term care and support both practically and emotionally for individuals in their own community following a life-changing crisis, i.e. bereavement, illness or accident.  Volunteers will support people for up to a 6-week period building their confidence to rebuild and sustain their maximum level of independence, and promoting sustainability in their own homes.

General tasks could be shopping, telephoning, prompting to take medication and attending appointments, signposting to appropriate organisations and assisting them to make contact, ensuring lifeline is fitted, administering eye drops, collecting prescriptions, ensuring smoke detectors are fitted, promoting healthy living, i.e. guidance on trips and falls and ensuring beneficiaries are eating and drinking sufficiently. 

If you, or someone you know, could benefit from this service, or if you would like to volunteer, please telephone Tracy Impey, Coordinator.  Tel: 01354 659724

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