As part of our Oxford City Council service level agreement, OCVA are delighted to be offering two free Managing Volunteers workshops, to anyone within an organisation in the priority areas who is responsible for coordinating volunteers. The workshops will be delivered by Emily Shaw, OCVA’s Volunteer Centre Co-ordinator. To ensure these free to access workshops reach groups most in need, there are a number of requirements and a short application process.

The sessions will be delivered on:

·         Tuesday 12^th September from 10am to 1pm at Blackbird Leys Community Centre.

Focus group: Tuesday 13^th March 2018 (times to be confirmed).

·         Wednesday 29^th November from 10am to 1pm at Barton Community Centre.

Focus group: Wednesday 30^th May 2018 (times to be confirmed).

Requirements:

1. The organisation must deliver its service in at least one of the City Council’s priority areas: The Leys, Barton, Northway, Wood Farm, Rose Hill, Littlemore or Cutteslowe.

2. The delegate must be prepared to provide follow up feedback 1 month and 3 months after attending the workshop

3. The delegate must attend a focus group 6 months after the workshop with the other attendees to discuss any changes made, successes and areas where continued support is required.

Please find attached the poster which includes all details which you can take out to groups etc. who you are working with who may be eligible  Managing Volunteers Poster

The deadline for applications is:

·         4pm Wednesday 16th August for the first session

·         4pm Wednesday 1st November for the second session

The application form and further details can be found at: https://ocva.org.uk/managing-volunteers/  

We are advertising this specifically within the priority areas and to those groups who provide services within these areas.

If you need any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,  Charlotte Foxhall  OCVA Training Coordinator training@ocva.org.uk

Not currently in employment? Sign up for a totally FREE practical training course in:

UP-CYCLING 18th and 20th July 2017

UPHOLSTERY 25th and 27th July 2017

BACK TO WORK SKILLS 14th August 2017

(All sessions run 10.30am – 2pm)

BIKE RECONDITIONING Every Friday until end of October 2017

More course dates in August, September and October are also available. Book NOW! Email: info@bicestergreen.org.uk

Courses are in easy 3 or 3.5 hour sessions. Each course includes two practical sessions brought to you by Bicester Green and a skills sharing session supported by Cherwell District Job Club to help smooth the way back into the workplace.

Bicester Green, The Yard, The Garth, Launton Road, Bicester, OX26 6PS

FUNDED PLAYWORK TRAINING IN OXFORD CITY

Thanks to funding from Oxford Brookes University via their Brookes Bridges Funding Stream we are able to offer funded Playwork Training in Oxford in Rose Hill and Barton in September 2017.

The Play Way – 2 day Introduction to Playwork course.

Full details and Booking Forms can be found on the OPA website,  http://www.oxonplay.org.uk/?p=1679

How to Achieve Effective Cross Cultural Communication:

A course that looks at the issues which affect communication between cultures and the barriers that can be broken down to allow inclusive communication between minority communities and your organisation services.

• Gain a better understanding of a range of safeguarding issues pertaining to ethnic minorities.
• Be able to identify a range of barriers that Black Ethnic Minorities (BME) groups and individuals experience in accessing services/organisations.
• Identify a range of cost-effective solutions for developing greater access to services/organisations for ethnic minority individuals.
• Identify relevant adaptations that could be made in your own organisation to develop greater inclusiveness with regards to BME groups.
• Explore ways of building greater links with local ethnic minority groups and organisations.
• Identify outreach strategies, provision of information in appropriate format and ways of engaging with BME communities.
• Develop opportunities for networking, signposting and joint working.

  Wednesday 12^th July 2017, 10am to 1pm. Thame Barns Centre. £60 to £85.

For more information or to book now:  http://bit.ly/hAeCcCom

Are you new to social media? Do you need help setting up a variety of social media platforms? Then this workshop is for you!

This session will examine what is meant by social media, the many different types and their significance. Then, using practical demonstrations, we will look at how to set up Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, learn how to find friends/followers; and consider the main ways and reasons to use them.

One of the key areas this course will determine the best way of staying safe by considering account settings, and avoiding unsuitable or unlawful material.

Monday 10th July at Blackbird Leys Community Centre (Computer room, Blackbird Leys Road, Oxford, OX4 6HW

Book

WEA Summer Learning Circles

The WEA is running a series of Summer Learning Circles for learners who are in the early stages of learning English (pre-Entry level).

A total of ten sessions will take place during the school summer holidays during which volunteers will meet with learners to practice simple English conversational skills. The sessions will cover a range of familiar topics and stimulus material will be provided.

There will be no teaching during these sessions – they are really designed to encourage conversation, have fun, and build confidence in the learners. These sessions are intended to provide learners with the opportunity to continue with their English learning during the summer break.

Most Learning Circles will take place at The Venue, 242b Barns Rd, Oxford OX4 3RQ. Three of the sessions will be open to learners and their families. These three sessions will take place at locations (to be confirmed) around the city, such as the Botanic Gardens. All sessions will take place from 10am – 12 noon.

Volunteers needed

We are looking for a number of volunteers to help in the Summer Learning Circle sessions. Ideally, volunteers will have some teaching experience or have worked with those who are new to learning English. The atmosphere will be informal, and the focus will be on the practise of simple sentence structures and conversation. We would like volunteers to commit to at least three sessions (or more).

The sessions will take place on:

Date Location

Wednesday 26th July The Venue, Barns Road

Monday 31st July The Venue, Barns Road

Wednesday 2nd August The Venue, Barns Road

Saturday 5th August Family Session: venue to be confirmed

Wednesday 9th August The Venue, Barns Road

Wednesday 16th August The Venue, Barns Road

Saturday 19th August Family Session: venue to be confirmed

Wednesday 23rd August The Venue, Barns Road

Monday 28th August (Bank Holiday) Family Session: venue to be confirmed

Wednesday 30th August The Venue, Barns Road

There will be a training session for all those wishing to volunteer on Thursday 13th July from 10am – 12 noon at The Venue. If you would be interested in volunteering for the Summer Learning Circles, please contact:

Inigo Pradera, email: ipradera@wea.org.uk or call: 07747790154 Cynthia Briant, email: cbriant@wea.org.uk or call: 01608677913

We look forward to hearing from you.

Could you help to prevent falls in older people by delivering effective and fun exercise opportunities?

We are extremely excited to be able to offer a limited number of places to the right candidates on the highly respected “Postural Stability Instructor” course provided by Later Life Training. On completion of the course candidates will be qualified to deliver “Strength & Balance” falls prevention classes for Age UK as part of the Falls Pathway throughout Oxfordshire.

Later Life Training: “To provide a range of professionals the skills to deliver effective and fun exercise opportunities for older people with a fear or history of falls and to improve habitual physical activity and reduce falls risk in the general older adult population”

The right candidate may be e.g. a qualified physiotherapist, hold a full Level 3 Exercise Referral Instructor on REPs, have considerable experience with patients (2 years or more) within a supervised clinical and/or exercise referral setting where in service training and performance evaluation was undertaken by a senior health professional or specialist instructor, have worked with older people and want to help older people live life to the full.

•    Are you a qualified exercise teacher and or have experience working with older people?
•    Would you like to train to be part of our Strength and Balance programme of falls prevention exercise sessions to help older people prevent falls, fractures and fragility?

The course will take place in Autumn 2017  (exact dates are TBC)

Further information on the course  click HERE