Regional Development Officers

£110 - training course for post-16 peer mentoring by: mentoring and befriendking foundation.

Free PDF guide to the commissioning process from the NCVO

"Not for Profit Contribution to Pathways to Work Highlighted in New Research 30/10/2009 Provider-led Pathways is the final research phase of the Pathways to Work initiative that was first introduced in 2003. It provides information, advice and practical help to people receiving incapacity benefits to help them take up paid employment. Provider-led Pathways is delivered by private companies and not-for-profit third sector organisations rather than Jobcentre Plus. This report presents findings from qualitative research carried out in 2008 to explore experiences of the early implementation of the Provider-led Pathways programme from the perspectives of incapacity benefits recipients, staff of provider organisations, and staff of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus."

"First Figures for DWP Volunteer Brokerage Scheme 30/10/2009 As reported in Third Sector magazine, nearly 2,400 unemployed people have completed volunteering placements in the first five months of the £8m volunteer brokerage scheme being run by environmental charity BTCV for the Department for Work and Pensions. The scheme, which began in April this year, has a target of matching 34,000 jobseekers with volunteering placements within two years. A DWP spokeswoman said the department had no monthly targets, but expected the numbers to rise significantly in future months and did not intend to alter the overall target. The scheme is being run by BTCV in partnership with volunteering charities Volunteering England, CSV and v. BTCV said 1,128 of the 2,365 placements were arranged by BTCV itself and the rest by its partner charities. "

"€1 billion available for actions under Grudtvig programme. Call for proposals 13/11/2009 First deadline: January 16th 2010 Part of the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme, Grundtvig aims to increase participation in adult education, improve co-operation between adult education organisations, and ensure that the socially excluded have access to education - especially those who left education without basic qualifications. Grundtvig supports the following actions: * Visits, placements, adult education exchanges and preparation visits needed to plan exchanges * Learning Partnerships * Multilateral projects for improving adult education systems through development and transfer of innovation and good practice * Networks of experts and organisations developing adult education spreading good practice and supporting partnerships Multilateral projects, Networks, and Accompanying measures are financed directly by the Commission. The first deadline for proposals for Grundtvig actions is January 16th 2010. See the full call for proposals. All other actions are financed (in the UK) via Ecotec. See the Ecotec guidance on how to apply for Grundtvig funding. "

New Regional Worklessness Fund for LAA and MAA Areas 13/11/2009 A new funding opportunity will shortly be launched by the SW RIEP Local Economy Programme. A combination of funding from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and SW RIEP will be used to assist local authorities and their partners as they work to alleviate worklessness and deliver their worklessness related LAA and MAA targets. The funding will be used in two ways: * each LAA or MAA area will be invited to submit a proposal to draw down funding to support projects addressing the causes and effects of worklessness in their area * Regional Worklessness Network will be established to supplement the individual project proposals from local authorities

weMEdia

"Trust-Based Facilitator: Handling Word-of-Mouth Trust for Agent-Based E-Commerce "