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Other (infrastructure) support services available

As well as the Forum, a number of other organisations provide support to community groups and charities, and we are often asked about these different services. The following FAQs should provide you with lots of answers to the most commonly asked questions.

I’d like to do some voluntary work, where can I find out more? I’m also looking for a volunteer, who might be able to help my organisation?

Where can I get advice about running or developing our organisation?

There are lots of organisations in the city who provide information on a range of useful subjects.

  • Information sheets on different aspects of running an organisation are available from the Resource Centre online at www.resourcecentre.org.uk/information or call (01273) 606160.
  • Business Community Partnership brokers free professional advice and support through their Pro-Help scheme. (01273) 770075 or www.bhbcp.org.uk
  • BHCI’s Project Development Service provides free organisational management support to the community and voluntary sector, including organisational health checks, policy and procedure development, monitoring, finance systems, governance, human resources and management advice, bespoke databases and problem solving. They can be contacted on (01273) 229000 or see www.bhci.org
  • The Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) Research Helpdesk give advice and support to organisations on research issues. See http://www.brighton.ac.uk/cupp for more details or contact Polly Rodriguez, the Helpdesk Manager, on (01273) 643229.

Where can I find more general information about Brighton and Hove?

  • CityStats is an interactive information and mapping service. It’s a partnership of public sector services who are committed to sharing data effectively and making statistical and service information more accessible. See www.citystats.org.
  • Community.Brighton is another online service which provides lots of information useful to the community and voluntary sector. See www.community.brighton.co.uk.
  • ESCIS (East Sussex Community Information Service) is database of almost 8000 local and community organisations in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove. See www.escis.org.uk.
  • theplacetobe.net is a search engine designed to improve the quality ofwww.p2b.net. information available about Brighton & Hove for people living in, working in, and visiting the city.
  • Active For Life is a project jointly funded by Sport England, Brighton & Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust and Brighton & Hove City Council to get more people, more active, more often in Brighton & Hove. See www.activeforlife.org.uk or call (01273) 292724.
  • www.safeinthecity.net is the community safety wesbite for Brighton and Hove. If you want support with community safety matters, or to speak to staff trained to deal with hate crime, either go to their website for more details on contact the hotline on (01273) 294646.
  • Information about waste collections, recycling, grafitti, drug litter and fly-tipping is avialable at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/cityclean, or call (01273) 292929.

Now I know where to find general information and information on running a group, but how do I find out about practical things like getting printing done or hiring a meeting room?

  • There are lots of different sources of help in Brighton and Hove. The Resource Centre offers a range of help aimed at smaller groups, including printing, photocopying and equipment hire as well as providing access to computers. See www.resourcecentre.org.uk or call (01273) 606160.
  • There are hundreds of rooms available for groups to hire. Sizes, prices, facilities and accessibility varies widely but good on-line sources of information include Venue Search at http://www.communitybase.org/venuesearch/search.asp There is also the useful Community Buildings Network website at www.communitybuildings.org.uk.

How can I get Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Checks done?

  • Impact Initiatives is registered with the CRB as an umbrella body to countersign applications on behalf of others who are not registered. Impact Initiatives will accept applications from voluntary, and community organisations within Brighton & Hove, East and West Sussex that do not wish to register in their own right. See their website for more information.

What sort of training is available to people running community groups?

  • The Working Together Project provides training for community groups in Brighton and Hove and across Sussex, on a wide range of subjects. You can see their latest training programme on their website at www.workingtogetherproject.org.uk, or phone (01273) 234773 for more details.
  • SCIP, the Sussex Community Internet Project provide a range of IT training courses, the details of which can be found on their website at www.scip.org.uk, or by phoning (01273) 234049.
  • Community Development Training is available through The Trust for Developing Communities, who can be contacted on (01273) 262210.

And what about funding help?

  • The Resource Centre has some details about selected funders that have proved useful to local groups in Brighton and Hove.You can find out more here http://www.resourcecentre.org.uk/funders or by phoning them on (01273) 606160.
  • Brighton and Hove City Council’s Voluntary Sector and External Funding Unit also offers support to community and voluntary sector groups and organisations. The Unit also administers other sources of community development monies and Council grants. They can be contacted on (01273) 296821 or by email at volsectunit@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
  • The Scarman Trust provide small grants to community groups. For more information see www.thescarmantrust.org or telephone them on (01273) 234854.
  • Online information about funding can also be seen at www.community.brighton.co.uk/funding.
  • The Forum produces a weekly email newsletter for its members, which often has information about new grants and funding streams. It is available on their website at http://www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/news/spam%20sandwich.asp.

How do I publicise my group and its activities?

  • You can always send information to the Forum to publicise in its magazine or on its email discussion list. Send it to katy@cvsectorforum.org.uk.
  • If you have leaflets that you would like to distribute, The Working Together Project may be able to include them in their occasional mailings, for a small charge. Contact them on (01273) 234773 for more information.
  • There are lots of community newsletters and magazines across Brighton and Hove, taking and publishing a range of information, some with advertising space to sell, some without. To find out who they are and what they do, visit the Forum’s website at www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/newsletters.

I’d like to get more involved in my neighbourhood. Do you have any suggestions?

Brighton and Hove is a city made up of many individual neighbourhoods, many of which have ‘Neighbourhood Action Groups’. These are groups set up in neighbourhood renewal areas in order to take forward the work described in their ‘neighbourhood action plan’; they usually have a Community Support Worker. Contact the Neighbourhood Renewal Team at Brighton and Hove City Council on 291022 for more information or contact the workers listed below.

Action for Bevendean Community (ABC), Catherine Mitchell, (01273) 603698, catherinemitchell@trustdevcom.org.uk.

Bristol Estate Community Association, Andy Silsby, (01273) 272767 or 07879 452929 or silsbysilsby@onetel.com.

Brunswick and Regency Action Group, Andy Silsby, (01273) 272767 or 07879 452929 or silsbysilsby@onetel.com.

Eb4u (covering Whitehawk, Manor Farm, Moulsecoomb, Saunders Park and Bates Estate), Paul Allen, (01273) 293103.

Hangleton and Knoll Community Action, Nicole Van, 881446, info@hkproject.org.uk.

Hollingdean Community Partnership, Sam Warren, (01273) 296104, Hollingdean@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Portslade Local Action Team, Lorette Mackey, (01273) 430176, portsladecp@hkproject.org.uk.

Tarner Area Partnership, Nicky Cambridge, (01273) 294763, nicky.cambridge@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

West Hove Forum (Portland Road and Clarendon), Jo Martindale, (01273) 262210.

The Forum’s Stronger Communities Programme will bring together work of the neighbourhood action groups and work of the community and voluntary sector representatives on the 2020 Community Partnership, so that the views of the community and voluntary sector are heard at a city-wide level. For more information contact Michelle Butler on (01273) 234041 or see www.cvsectorforum.org.uk

 


Last updated on the 7th of May 2008