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Chester VA Links

DONATIONS

CharityBank
http://www.charitybank.org
Charity Bank is a charity where people can deposit money to be used solely for charity and social enterprise - lending, not giving. It is also a not-for-profit bank whose sole business is providing affordable finance for charitable work.

The Giving Campaign
http://www.givingcampaign.org.uk
Established to increase the amount of money given to UK charities; and, in the long term, to encourage a culture of giving where it is thought natural for everyone able to do so to give money and time to improve the quality of life for others.

EQUALITY

Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)
http://www.cre.gov.uk/index.html
Publicly funded body which tackles racial discrimination and promotes racial equality.

Disability Rights Commission
http://www.drc-gb.org
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is an independent body, established by Act of Parliament to eliminate discrimination against disabled people and promote equality of opportunity.

FUNDING

Big Lottery Fund
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out half the money for good causes raised by the National Lottery, giving us a budget of about £630 million a year. This site outlines all the grants available.

Heritage Lottery Fund
www.hlf.org.uk The Heritage Lottery Fund enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings, to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, this site includes application criteria and further useful information

Arts Council
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/gfta2006.php
Lottery funded programme –Grants for the Arts are for individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work. They are for activities that benefit people in England or that help artists and arts organisations from England to carry out their work. The website includes application forms and further criteria information

Sport Relief
www.cheshirecc.org.uk
Part of the Comic relief programme to promote sport in disadvantaged communities – administered locally by Cheshire Community Council

Chester City Council -
www.chester.gov.uk/main.asp?page=2157 This includes information on their VCS grants and applications can be downloaded directly from here.

Cheshire County Council
http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/ruraldevelopment/rural_funding/
A good overview of many grants available to groups including the Local Network Fund and European Funding advice.

Trust funding
www.trustfunding.org.uk
Contains up-to-date comprehensive coverage of all the grant-making trusts included in all DSC or CAF directories. Available by subscription, visit the home page for a demonstration.

Memorials Grant Scheme
www.memorialgrant.org.uk
An interim grant scheme which returns in grant aid the amount of VAT incurred on the construction, renovation and maintenance of eligible memorials. The scheme is currently due to continue until 2008.

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

The Office of the Third Sector
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/about_us/index.asp
The OTS has been set up to drive forward the Government's role in supporting a thriving third sector, and brings together sector–related work from across government..

Active Communities Unit
www.communities.homeoffice.gov.uk
Responsible for the government’s work around strengthening the voluntary and community sector and supporting greater participation in society through volunteering.

Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO)
http://www.hmso.gov.uk
Help with access to and re-use of government information, including Crown Copyright material and parliamentary legislation.

info4local
http://www.info4local.gov.uk
info4local is a government portal that gives local authorities a quick and easy way to find and link to relevant information on the web sites of central government departments, agencies and public bodies.

HEALTH

Cheshire Community Voice www.cheshirecommunityvoice.co.uk

Cheshire Community Voice is an independent charity which aims to strengthen the voice of voluntary organisations and indviduals to influence the health and social care agenda. It aims to ensure the public are given a say, and heard at every stage of the design, commissioning and delivery process. Membership is free and open to all residents in Cheshire.

INFORMATION, TRAINING AND GUIDANCE

ChangeUp
www.changeup.org.uk
ChangeUp is a programme of capacity building for the infrastructure of the voluntary and community sector, developed in partnership with the sector. The aim of ChangeUp investment is to catalyse the modernisation of infrastructure provision in order to improve its sustainability, quality and reach. There are six Hubs established under ChangeUp for key areas of VCS expertise – Governance, Performance, Finance, ICT, Volunteering and Workforce Development. .
www.governancehub.org.uk
www.performancehub.org.uk
www.financehub.org.uk
www.icthub.org.uk
www.volunteeringengland.org.uk
www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk

Charities Evaluation Service
www.ces-vol-org.uk
A national organisation offering information, advice, training and consultancy for the voluntary and community sector on “quality” and evaluation services – plus links to other ” quality” websites.

Charity Resource Network
http://www.thecrn.org.uk
Online information service of the Charity Finance Directors Group to support charity managers. Provided for members to give access to a range of practical documents, guidance and links to related sites. The site provides a useful guide to online information and helpsheets from a range of specialist bodies and organisations.

Directory of Social Change (DSC)
http://www.dsc.org.uk
DSC is an independent source of information and support to the voluntary sector which:

provides practical training courses, conferences, seminars and briefings researches and
publishes reference guides, handbooks, journals and CD-ROMs

It also provides comprehensive database of grantmaking trusts at www.trustfunding.org.uk

Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)
http://www.icsa.org.uk/about/charity.php
Support to charity administrators through training and qualifications, publications, trustee recruitment and a forum for members and non-members.
ICSA's website also contains a series of guidance notes and model documents for charity trustees and administrators at http://www.icsa.org.uk/news/guidance.php

Non-domestic Rates – guidance for charities
http://www.local.dtlr.gov.uk/finance/busrats/nndr/index.htm

LEGAL INFORMATION

Charities Act 2006

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/~/media/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/charities_act_interactive%20pdf.ashxThe Cabinet Office and Charity Commission have jointly published Charities Act 2006 - what trustees need to know, a concise guide to the Charities Act aimed particularly at trustees of smaller charities. The guide summarises the key provisions of the Act and points to sources of further guidance.

Charity Law Association
http://www.charitylawassociation.org.uk
The Charity Law Association is established with the aim of enabling those who advise on or use charity law to meet together, to exchange ideas and intelligence and to use their experience and expertise for the benefit of the charity sector.

The Governance Road Map http://www.cheshireaction.org.uk/governance/index.php Chester Voluntary Action were commissioned to develop a web-based governance ‘Road Map’ [in partnership with Sector Plus funded through Capacity Builders. The Road Map contains information on:

Starting from scratch
Resources for Trustees
General Governance Resources
Financial Governance
Policies and Procedures
Evaluation Performance
Latest Updates
What is Governance?

In-House Charity Lawyers Group
http://www.cigroup.org.uk/charity.asp
The In-House Charity Lawyers Group is run by and for in-house lawyers in charities, enabling its members to meet together, network and exchange ideas, experiences and resources/best practice.

REGULATORS

Companies House
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk
Information about companies

Charity Commission
www.charitycommission.gov.uk
Established by law as the regulator and registrar for charities in England and Wales. They have a good range of free publications offering information and support the VCS.

HM Revenue and Customs
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities
Includes guidance on taxation for charities, and donors, and deals with questions about charities & VAT, with links to useful related publications.

Housing Corporation
http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk
Regulates and funds housing associations in England.

Land Registry
http://www.landreg.gov.uk/assets/library/documents/lrpg014.pdf
Practice advice from the Land Registry on land transactions.

Regulator of Community Interest Companies ("CICs")
http://www.cicregulator.gov.uk
Provides information, advice and regulation for this type of company which is designed specifically for those wishing to operate for the benefit of the community rather than for the benefit of the owners of the company.

Umbrella Bodies

National Association for Community and Voluntary Action (NACVA)
www.nacva.org.uk
NACVS (National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service). Local charities can use this website to find their nearest Council for Voluntary Service (CVS). These Councils provide support and training for local voluntary organisations on many practical issues, including management issues, IT and volunteering.

Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
www.acevo.org.uk
ACEVO is the membership body for chief executives of voluntary sector organisations. ACEVO works to connect, develop and represent the sector's leaders.

A.C.R.E (Action with Communities in Rural England)
http://www.acre.org.uk
Supports sustainable rural community development and includes information for village halls and links to Rural Community Councils.

Association of Charity Shops
http://www.charityshops.org.uk
The Association of Charity Shops is the only member organisation dedicated to supporting charities who run shops as part of their fundraising activities. By pooling expertise and joining forces to promote common interests, the Association helps members to operate their shops as effectively as possible. Members range from the largest national charities to locally based hospices.

Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG)
www.cfdg.org.uk
The membership organisation for those working in charities with responsibility for financial management.

Charity Logistics
http://www.charitylogistics.org
Provides help to charities with logistics / facilities issues with the aim of helping charities to save money when buying IT equipment, office space and parcel distribution.

Charities Aid Foundation - CAF
http://www.cafonline.org
The Charities Aid Foundation provides an array of services including a robust Charity Search and donation facility for donors, banking and investment services for charities as well as helping companies to invest in their local communities and providing advice on how to involve their employees.

Countryside Agency
www.countryside.gov.uk
The statutory body for acting as a rural advocate, advisor and watchdog with a particular focus on disadvantage.

Development Trust Association
www.dta.org.uk
An organisation which promotes and supports the development of community owned and led trusts for local economic, environmental and social regeneration.

Institute of Fundraising
http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/
The professional body representing and supporting fundraisers.

National Council for Voluntary Child Care Organisations (NCVCCO)
http://www.ncvcco.org
Umbrella group representing child care charities. Provides publications, briefings and consultations to members on child care and family issues and represents members’ views, to central, regional and local government.

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
A national umbrella body for voluntary and community organisations which offers news and information on policy and developments as well as statistics and links.

Wales Council for Voluntary Action
http://www.wcva.org.uk
Interactive site offering information for and about the voluntary sector in Wales.

SUPPORT FOR CHARITIES

CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution)
http://www.cedr.co.uk/
CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) and the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) run a joint scheme which is funded by the Home Office to raise awareness of mediation, through training events, seminars, etc. and also offers a discounted mediation service for charities.

Charity Skills
http://www.charityskills.org
Provides voluntary organisations in England and Wales with business support, Internet services and training

Employee Volunteering
http://www.employeevolunteering.org.uk
Promotes volunteering by providing support for employers, employees and charities.

Professionals4Free
http://www.professionals4free.org.uk/
Helps with finding free professional services.