3View Spring 2015

The official magazine for the voluntary and communitysector in Eastbourne, Lewes District and Wealden.

VIEW3Change for Good:Taking the Key Findings Forward

GettingStarted onSocial Media, page 2

Access toServices inRuralWealden,page 4

EuropeanSocial Fund:What’s in itfor the VCS?page 8

Plus...

and much more inside...

Spring 2015

Welcome!

Page 2 3View Spring 2015

Diary Dates________

3VA is a fully-embedded community resource that supports communitygroups, voluntary organisations and individuals to improve the quality oflife across the Eastbourne, Lewes District and Wealden areas.

Providing a range of practical support on issues ranging from funding andfinance to promotion and start-up, 3VA helped 13 new groups establishthemselves and provided expert one-to-one support to 85 groups in thelast three months of 2014 alone.

3VA also provided strategic support and engaged with community andvoluntary sector organisations at larger events in our area, includingEastbourne Advice Network’s excellent ‘Help!’ event, which showcased 60 local organisations’amazing services on offer to people in need of assistance. Events like ‘Help!’ are not only terrific opportunitiesto raise awareness, but also serve as a platform for people to meet and identify innovative ways of workingtogether to create communities that value all their people and enable them to achieve, for themselves andothers.

Over the next few months, 3VA will continue our work supporting local organisations to meet the needs of localpeople by coordinating several Patient Participation Group (PPG) development days. Delivered in partnershipwith the two NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups covering our area and Healthwatch, these meetings areexciting opportunities for PPG members to develop effective relationships with their local patient populations,ensuring the patient voice is considered at the heart of practice operations and the wider healthcare landscape.

In the main article of this 3View, we concentrate on sharing with you the key findings of the NationalCommission on the Future of Local Infrastructure’s review, Change for Good, both for organisations such as3VA and for those from other sectors working with the local voluntary sector. We go on to explain how therecommendations are being taken forward by 3VA in our work, and ways we’d like you to hold us to accountin seeking to deliver modern, relevant and useful support for all types of social and voluntary action.

Adam Chugg, CEO

With very best wishes,

Adam Chugg

VCES Master Class: Creating VolunteerOpportunities20 March10:00 am to 1:30 pm3VA Annexe, 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne BN211DG

VCES Master Class: Planning to Involve Volunteers26 March9:30 am to 1:30 pmYarrow Room, Lewes Town Hall, High Street,Lewes BN7 2QS

An Introduction to Child Protection22 April10:00 am to 1:00 pm 3VA Annexe, 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne BN211DG

An Introduction to Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults29 April10:00 am to 1:00 pm3VA Annexe, 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne BN211DG

Eastbourne Dementia Action Alliance Meeting21 May9:30 am to 11:30 amEastbourne Town Hall, 1 Grove Road, EastbourneBN21 4UG

For further details on training courses, please see page11 or visit www.3va.org.uk/upcoming. More informationabout future Volunteer Centre East Sussex eventsaround the county can be found at vces.org.uk/events.

eyeGetting started on Social Media:Expert

Spring 2015 3View Page 3

Social media is a new way of marketing. It isnot just about ‘selling’ but more focused onbuilding relationships. Unlike traditional forms

of advertising, social media enables a two-waycommunication channel between organisations andtheir potential customers or supporters. The goodnews is that for the most part social media marketingcosts nothing in terms of actual spend (thoughspending some money can be a very effective wayof reaching your audience). The biggest resource forany organisation is time and this needs to becarefully managed from the outset. The best way touse social media, is to create new content on yourwebsite and use social media to circulate yourcontent, driving traffic back to your website.

Both Facebook and Twitter are platforms that arevery effective at reaching a targeted audience. Bothbehave differently.

Facebook offers community organisations theopportunity to build a page. This needs to be donefrom an individuals profile i.e. a real person. Acommon issue is people erroneously start a profileto promote their business or cause instead ofcreating a page. It is important to get this right.

Once created, admins can be added as appropriate.The page is public and is a great way of sharingcontent. It can take some time to build youraudience up, make sure you catch your vanity urlwhen you get up your page so your supporters andcustomer can find you easily (e.g.facebook.com/familiesforautism).

You can also use groups to create aconfidential space for yourcustomers to share experiencesand host advice on issues whichmay be affecting them.

You can spend money on pagepromotion, and target your page toa specific geography, age, sex, andsubject interest of the people who

are most likely to want to receive your information.The good news is, you don’t have to spend a lot togrow your followers.

Twitter can be tricky initially if you are not familiarwith it. Twitter works on hashtags # to pull togetherrelevant topics. It is famous for only allowing 140characters in a message, so is more of a broadcastchannel, but is also very conversational.

You start by creating your Twitter account name,known as a ‘handle’ which begins with @. Try andmake this as close to your organisation name aspossible, and upload a photo in the Avatar (whichstarts as an egg) as quickly as possible. Thisnormally is a logo.

An example of an effective tweet would be:• A salutation (if characters permit)• The keyword topic (e.g #Autism)• The area you are targeting (e.g. #Eastbourne

#Wealden)• A shortened link to your content (e.g. a press

release on your website)• A visual image if you have enough space.

Images can vastly improve the pick rate of yourtweet

• If you want your followers to share this messagethen end the tweet with “Retweet pls or RT pls”

To grow your following start by trying to find peopleyou know in the community. Twitter is case sensitiveand sometimes it may not be easy to find who youare looking for. You could start by looking at thefollowing of the local Chamber of commerce (e.g. for

Social Media is on the rise and increasingly businesses, charitiesand the voluntary sector are harnessing the power of this medium topromote their work and increase engagement with customers andthe wider community. Mina O’Brien of Ditzy Media shares more.

Tips for charities and voluntary organisations

continued on page 15...


A government study into the cost of rural servicespublished at the end of last year concluded thatthere were a number of instances of unmet needand inequity of access to services in rural areasacross the UK. These included the take up of somebenefits and services being lower than in urbanareas and difficulties in accessing, for example,health, care, education and housing support(particularly for older people) and exclusion fromtechnologies such as high-speed broadband andmobile phone networks.

None of this will come as a surprise to anyorganisation delivering services in rural Wealden aswork carried out by the Wealden StrategicPartnership (WSP) over the last 18 months hasconfirmed the study’s findings. A survey of statutory,voluntary and private sector partners last yearshowed that the contraction of services to towns asa result of funding cuts, reduction in services andhidden rural need are all high on the agendas ofpartners. The survey showed clearly that it is notjust transport and getting people to services that isthe problem, but getting services to people.

Over the coming months, Wealden District Council,3VA and Action in Rural Sussex (AirS) will drivingforward the process of identifying solutions to thesechallenges by involving members of the strategicpartnership as well as the wider voluntary andcommunity sector. Solutions could include involvethings already being tried by organisations such as

the use of new technology, joint delivery of services,local transport initiatives or community hub (seeright).

Access to Services in Rural WealdenIn this piece, Jenny Watson, Development and Representation Manager, describes the challengeof getting services to people and people to services.

AiRS is holding an event to enable groupsand organisations in Wealden to shareinformation and ideas about local transportschemes. If you are already involved in oneor are thinking of setting one up, this couldbe the event for you. It takes place from10:00 am to noon on 12 March at UckfieldCivic Centre.

For further information, please contactChiara Vagnarelli, Village Agent:

[email protected] 07773 320 315

Eastbourne Dementia Action Alliance covers Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford areas. At their last meetingthe large group agreed to meet less often and break down into an Executive Committee who meet to planoutcomes, plus several task and finish groups tackling specific issues.

The groups formed for the moment are:• Dementia Friendly Communications Group, which will ensure that organisations issuing paperwork

understand about dementia and take account of the way wording may affect the person receiving it.• Friends Connected Group, which will keep a record of which organisations or people have had Dementia

Friends Sessions in our area.• Recruiting New Members Group, which will be responsible for overseeing the size of the group’s

membership and targeting new key players who should be involved.

Sussex Police has committed to train 5 Dementia Champions in each District across the County. This willthen in turn spread out to ensure that all police officers and staff eventually receive dementia friendssessions. That is indeed FANTASTIC news!

EASTBOURNE


This is a £1 million ten year Lottery funded projectfocussing on an area of high deprivation just east ofEastbourne town centre. Devonshire West is abouthalf of the Devonshire ward, roughly between the Pierand the Redoubt and back as far as the railway line.The programme has to be resident-led: the decision-makers are local people and the ideas come from thecommunity.

The award was announced in December 2012 and agradually expanding group of volunteers began aseries of consultation exercises to find out whatpeople thought was most important for their area. Theelected board prepared a plan which was endorsedby the community and approved by Local Trust at theend of last year. The first instalment of this year’s

money has now been received, and the first round ofthe Community Grant Scheme has been launched.There are five broad themes open for grant funding:community, children and young people, older people,multicultural projects, and improving the appearanceof the area.

3VA’s role is as the locally trusted organisation –because Big Local teams are not constituted groupsand do not have bank accounts, we hold the funds,authorise payments and complete monitoring reportsfor Local Trust. There is an administration charge anda 3VA representative sits on the Devonshire West BigLocal board. We also manage the employment of aCommunity Development Officer, funded by Big Localbut contracted to 3VA and seconded out.

Last year Wealden Strategic Partnership, led by Wealden District Council, obtained a small grantof £10,000 to develop a pilot project to improve access to services for people living in rural areasby identifying the issues and exploring how they might be tackled. The parish of Heathfield andWaldron was selected because it already plays a typical rural role of hub for the surrounding areaand because Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council were enthusiastic about the project.

Local organisations were consulted including the parish council, statutory, voluntary and privatesector providers, businesses and local residents. Out of this consultation, the model of a‘Community Hub’ has been developed, with the idea that it will offer signposting to availableservices for residents and a place where local services and facilities can be developed andsupported including some form of volunteer centre presence. At the same time a village agent hasrecently been appointed by AirS and her work will include outreach and engagement with isolatedindividuals in the area around Heathfield and Waldron. While still in its early stages, discussionsare taking place with the parish council about basing the Community Hub in their high streetoffices.

We hope this project will:• improve access to services and informationfor people who are distant from servicedelivery.

• improve the connections between servicedeliverers, who may find it difficult to identifylocal rurally based clients, and those in need.

• help stimulate more targeted serviceprovision and encourage the development oflocal services and facilities.

• increase and strengthen collaborationbetween service delivery partners.

For further information, please contact JennyWatson at [email protected] or on01323 639 373.

COMMUNITY

HUB

At the end of January, the National Commission on the Futureof Local Infrastructure, set up by the National Association forVoluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), published its finalreport, Change for Good, at a Parliamentary launch attendedby 3VA CEO Adam Chugg.

The clunky term ‘infrastructure’ covers the many aspects ofthe crucial work supporting local social and voluntary action.The work of the Commission is the first national review ofthis work for many years, so its findings are of greatinterest to anyone working in or with the local voluntarysector.

Key Recommendations for Our WorkLet’s begin with the report’s recommendations for infrastructure organisations suchas 3VA. These are as follows:

1. Make sure you have the necessary skills available to help you navigate change effectively,build strong relationships, enable good management, focus scarce resources, demonstrateyour value and support others in doing so.

2. Redesign your ‘offer’ to focus more on brokering relationships, especially in co-production,the ‘time economy’ and with potential corporate sector partners which can offer pro bonosupport through volunteering, mentoring, and board members.

3. Promote and support other socially active organisations and groups. Work together insolidarity across local and regional geographies, for best possible support and representation,to influence decision-makers at all levels.

4. Demonstrate your social value, economic contribution and communicate your impact:to funders, your local council and other public bodies, local business and the general public.

5. Insist on your seat at the planning tables which affect your communities and use yourinfluence on them effectively and accountably.

Some Key Messages for Statutory OrganisationsThe Commission was drawn from representatives from the voluntary, statutory and private sectorsand its wide ranging work has key messages not only for organisations such as 3VA but statutoryorganisations as well. There are a number of recommendations for statutory funders. Two we’dlike to highlight in this article include:

1. Providing a VCS seat in key planning to ensure community input to local decision-making.2. Listening to the stories the sector tells, and understand the value they demonstrate; share

them widely, and respond to them appropriately.

by Adam Chugg, Chief Executive Officer


Change for Good: Taking the KeyFindings Forward

Adam Chugg at theParliamentary launch


There are many examples where this happens locally already. At the same time, the value ofinvolving community groups is especially important to keep hold of – not only in service design butas a means of developing local community assets that enable greater community resilience.

Successes RecognisedIn the body of the main report, there are many examples of good practice from around the country.It’s pleasing to see two examples of 3VA’s work in the report – the WOW Exchange bringingbusiness skills and support to local voluntary groups is highlighted on page 25 and the reportmeasuring the Social Impact of 3VA’s work is highlighted on page 30.

Please do get in touch with us if business skills – such as marketing, accountancy, legal – couldhelp you or if you’d like to know more about how to show others the social value of the work thatyou do.

Some Relevant 3VA DevelopmentsWe’ve studied the report’s recommendations closely as part of improvements we are making to theservices we deliver. Over the months ahead, these will include the following:

1. Membership – better ways of working with and offering services to members 2. IT – using IT to improve access to our support services.3. Skills Development – continuing to build on how 3VA has been delivering skills development

and training to local VCS.4. Supporting successful development of key projects such as community volunteering.

This important report has relevant messagesfor us all and is also informing how 3VAdevelops over the next twelve months.

You can read the full report athttp://bit.ly/1aIyqB5.

We’d welcome your comments. Please emailus at [email protected].


SpeakUp Forum supports representation and is aplatform for networking in East Sussex. For more detailsSpeakUp’s website is www.speakupforum.org.uk, oryou can follow Speakup on Twitter @SpeakUpForum.

European Social Fund (ESF): What’s in it for the VCS?Preparations to enable organisations to access ESF funding has begun! The Government has decidedthat the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will play a key role in allocating the funding in the UKand, consequently, they have been setting the strategic direction and framework for the newprogramme in local areas. The emphasis on the alignment of funds is to achieve job creation andpoverty reduction.

There are two LEPs operating in our area: The Local Enterprise Network Coast to Capital coversWest Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Lewes District, part of Surrey and Croydon whilst the South EastLocal Enterprise Network(SELEP) covers EastSussex, Kent and Essex.

ESF funds will beearmarked for a range ofpartners working in keytarget areas of:

• social inclusion;• skills and learning;• research and

development; and• education

Big Lottery is planning tomatch funding for a largeproportion of the socialinclusion stream of funding. Whilst work under this theme is open to organisations across allsectors, it is seen as a great opportunity for the work of the Voluntary and Community Sector to playto its strengths to deliver great outcomes for the people most in need and furthest away from thelabour market.

The first call-out for funding is going to be announced in summer, but much work must be done bythe sector in advance in order to be prepared.

3VA and SpeakUp Forum will have access to information and support on bidding for ESF funding. Ifyou are interested, now is the time to get in touch to receive information, support and to sign up tobe notified of future workshops. Visit www.speakupforum.org.uk/index.php/lep for moreinformation or call us on 01323 72 78 72.

IMPORTANT!It is likely that delivery will be available through large contracts (in excess of£1 million) and through a collaborative or consortia process. Please bemindful that due to this and the nature of the funding priorities, thisprogramme will not be suitable for all organisations.


Volunteer Centre East Sussex (VCES) is a countywide service offering support and advice to groups that involve volunteers in any aspect of their work.Learn more online at www.vces.org.uk.

During December 2014, Volunteer Centre East Sussex (VCES) sent a questionnaireto organisations previously registered with us. The questionnaire asked how groupsinvolved volunteers, what the needs of those volunteers might be and requestedfeedback on VCES’s current services for volunteer involving organisations (VIOs)and how these services could best be developed to reflect the needs of VIOs.

Thirty-four VIOs responded to the survey and we are grateful for that input. Asummary report analysing respondents’ feedback and identifying the mainoutcomes has been prepared and will shortly be available.

VCES is a county-wide service, so we have been able to gain feedback from VIOsacross East Sussex and, in recognition that each group is unique and no one sizefits all, the outcomes are indicative of the different sizes of the VIOs thatresponded.

What is strikingly clear is that recruitment of and retaining volunteers are the mainongoing needs of VIOs. Meeting those needs have to be at the core of VCES services. It appears that VIOswant VCES to provide specialist support in reaching potential volunteers by coordinating events and providing localknowledge about where to source volunteers.

One way that might enable this to happen is for VCES to continue to promote networking between VIOs. Thenetworking forums for people engaging and involving volunteers remain popular with 80% of respondents indicatingthey would attend regularly. With an increased focus on sharing best practice in terms of recruitment and retention, itmight be possible to share more about tried and tested ways of attracting volunteers - highlighting ways that workand perhaps some of those that don't - and possibly looking at ways in which VIOs could refer volunteers to oneanother in instances where someone isn't suitable for one organisation, but could be ideally placed in another.

The survey outcomes indicate a wide demographic in terms of who volunteers in East Sussex and a vast range ofneeds. Unsurprisingly perhaps, there appear to be large numbers of older and unemployed people currentlyvolunteering in the county. There does appear to be a perception among some respondents that the number ofyoung people getting involved is increasing and an ackowledgement that engaging people from BME communities isdifficult. No respondents indicated that they were aware of any homeless people volunteering with them. Although itwould not be true to say that everyone who is unemployed and volunteering is doing so to try and get a job, one ofthe report’s recommendations is that it may be that particular emphasis on creating volunteer opportunities for peopleseeking employment through volunteering is needed. Are there, for instance, ways in which we can create anddesign volunteer roles which can best equip someone to volunteer and then go on to secure a job in a related field tothe group they have volunteered with?

What is also clear from the survey is how resoundingly important consultation is. Itsounds obvious enough but it is so important to get it right and it can be difficult. I am clear that we (literally) cannotafford to try and guess what you, our service users want. Creating an authentic conversation between what we(VCES) have the resources to offer and you (the service user, client, customer or whatever you prefer!) need is noteasy. We are all busy and under pressure to deliver services, so we have to time our requests for your time carefully.We have to ask the 'right' questions and listen carefully to the responses.

So what next? The plan now is to set up a working group. The group will be made up of people like you who engageand involve volunteers. The group will look in more detail at the outcomes from the survey and discuss how to planthe delivery of VCES services in 2015-16 to best meet the needs of VIOs. Anyone is welcome to join the group and Iwill be happy to talk this through with anyone who is interested. Please just give me a call on 07535 992 638 or [email protected].

You do not of course have to join the group to give feedback about any of VCES's services or to talk through anyissues you may have in supporting volunteers. Just contact me at any time you would like to. I look forward tohearing from you.

Lee Shepherd

by Lee Shepherd, Volunteering Development Officer

We asked...you told us!

Health and Wellbeing Visits Project UpdateThe new Health and Wellbeing Visits project is established and has been delivering a service since thebeginning of February. Recruitment is continuous with a new role brief and training programme designedand planned for delivery every quarter from now on with the first round planned for the end ofFebruary/early March. We aim to deliver training in April for the next round of new volunteers.

We have promoted the project to hundreds of organisations across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove viathe 3VA mailing list and are developing links with local services both for referring into the project and outto more specialist services. The project has recently been promoted for the first time to members of thepublic directly.

Partnerships are being forged at a strategic level with external agencies, including the ClinicalCommissioning Groups (CCGs), Public Health commissioners in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove andHealthwatch as well as key partners in the not-for-profit sector such as Age UK, Citizens Advice,Alzheimer’s Society and other charities concerned with specific disabilities and long-term healthconditions. The project’s key stakeholder’s group (the Learning and Development Group) will meet for thefirst time in March.

An independent Evaluator is in the process of being selected to ensure that there is a robust assessmentof the evidence and data to be collected by the project and to help assess the impact and social return oninvestment the project will achieve.

For further information about the project please contact Stephen Hughes, Project Manager, on 01323727872 or at [email protected].

Covering East Sussex and Brighton & Hove, volunteers visit people over 50 with long-term conditions and disabilities in their own homes for a conversation about theirhealth and wellbeing needs. In addition tooffering information and advice, volunteerscan put people in touch with the mostappropriate source of help.

Get in touch with our VolunteerCoordinator if you know someone whoneeds help:

01323 462 437 [email protected]

Do you know a vulnerable older person?The Health and Wellbeing Visits Project can arrange for a trained volunteer to help.


n VCES Master Class: Creating Volunteer Opportunities20 March, EastbourneCreating new volunteer opportunities can actually be quite difficult! This master class will encourageyou to help you to identify and adopt your group’s genuine needs as a starting point and to see ifthere are new and innovative ways of involving volunteers to meet those needs.

n VCES Master Class: Planning to Involve Volunteers26 March, LewesStarting to involve volunteers in your organisation involves asking some basic questions. This masterclass is designed to allow people and groups new to working with volunteers to identify and find theirown answers to these questions in a relaxed learning environment.

n An Introduction to Child Protection22 April, EastbourneThis course is aimed to be an introductory course on child protection, open to anyone working withchildren or young people in the voluntary and community sector.

n An Introduction to Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults26 March, EastbourneThis free course, offered in partnership with East Sussex County Council, is aimed to be anintroductory course on safeguarding vulnerable adults. it is open to anyone working with vulnerableadults in the voluntary and community sector (outside of health and social care).

n Eastbourne Dementia Action Alliance Meeting21 May, EastbourneThis will be the fifth meeting of the Eastbourne Dementia Action Alliance, where sub groups willreport on their findings and see about further actions. All are welcome to attend this group thatseeks to make Eastbourne dementia friendly.


Training Opportunities

Could you support the sector by delivering a training course in our next programme? We’realways keen to hear about skills and experience you can offer. Equally, if there’s a course youneed that’s not currently available, please let us know by ringing 01323 639 373 or emailing

Martina Taylor, Administrator, at [email protected].

3VA provides a range of essential training courses for thevoluntary and community sector which aim to inform andinspire – helping you and your organisation become moreeffective. Please visit our online calendar of events atwww.3va.org.uk/upcoming where you will find full detailsof any upcoming training and where you will be able tobook quickly and easily online.

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Well-managed engagement initiatives can help develop awareness and understanding of the roleorganisations play in promoting environmental sustainability. The majority of employees and volunteerswill be keen to be involved and to ‘do their bit’ for the environment but the main barriers are often lack ofawareness of the issues and associated procedures, and a lack of vocal senior support for initiatives.


Outline a specific focus for employee engagement.For example, focus on climate change rather thanseveral environmental issues, and connect thisback to the organisation by encouraging employeesand volunteers to ask "how will climate changeaffect our work?"

The Green Piece: Engaging Staff andVolunteers on ‘Green’ IssuesContributed by Harriet Knights, Project Officer (Workplans) at Sustrans

Set a framework

Make it relevant

Be innovative

Consult employees & volunteers

Here are some top tips for successful staff and volunteer engagement onenvironmental issues:

Further information:Organisations including Sustrans and the Carbon Trust provide free platforms for organisations wishing toinspire and empower staff and volunteers to make small changes. Sustrans is launching the second annualTravelChoice Challenge, with workplaces around the county competing to clock up the most journeys byfoot, bike, public transport and car-share. The challenge, which is supported by East Sussex CountyCouncil, runs throughout May and aims to reduce congestion, support the local economy and encouragemore active travel for short, everyday journeys. It’s free to join and there are loads of prizes to be won!

Sustrans Travel Challenge: travelchoice.getmeactive.org.uk Carbon Trust Empower: www.carbontrust.com/resources/tools/empower

Develop an environmental policy and action plan and involve staff and volunteers in both the design andimplementation of the key points. This creates a sense of ownership and empowerment to instigatechange within the workforce. It is important for members to understand the relevance of the issues tothem and their work.

It is vital to have 'champions’ who help promoteschemes internally and motivate other staff.Identifying and selecting appropriate champions as‘green champions’ in particular locations can be agood way to build effective networks. Furthermore,engagement with staff at all levels is crucial – fromboard level to junior staff. This means thatenvironmental procedures will be embedded in tothe overall strategy and the day-to-day operations.

Build a business case outlining benefits of a focuson the environment such as increased costefficiencies and increased brand value to gain buy-infrom your Board or SMT. Include environmentalgoals in the Key Performance Indicators KPI formiddle managers or team/site managers – placing apriority and importance on this work supportsenvironmental procedures to be embedded on aday-to-day level.

Enhance awareness among staff and volunteers(and the general public) by blogging, social mediaand internal communications such as emails andthe intranet.

Offer the opportunities to get involved and try new(and more environmental) practices out. Beinnovative and find inspiring ways to stimulateaction and involvement.


In addition to chairing the Sussex Cancer Partnership Group,Margaret Ticehurst is a member of two Stragetic Clinical Networkcommittees for the South East Coast. She is also Chair Trustee of aclub for the over 50’s and runs a charity shop to support this.

I have often wondered whether one is born a volunteer or develops intoone.

Is there a moment in your life that you stop, reflect and realise youhave been participating in some form of voluntary work all your life ordo you use that moment of revelation to start to do something for yourfellow men?

In my experience, the most loyal and reliable volunteers are thosewho have an early addiction to it and are used to ring fencing a

portion of their time to it come hell or high water. Late comers often rate their commitmentlower down the scale and find excuses for putting off their promised effort.

It may be that society puts too much pressure on the public to have volunteering experience on their CVand some – either through lack of organisation or with little real interest – are coming forward to promisewhat they cannot deliver even though they may have thought it was the answer to loneliness or isolationor to getting a recommendation for a paid position.

Yet how much they lose out! Regular commitment, be it only a few hours a week, earns respect andfriendship. Your voluntary efforts become part of your social life and you find you are drawn into moresocial interaction than work!

What constitutes volunteering? Ad hoc or occasional kindness to neighbours or strangers? Running amarathon to raise monies for good causes? Yes, but to me it is even more than that. It’s something that’sfactored into my life so that it has to be considered when an invitation, a holiday and other meetings arise.

Another big benefit of volunteering is that it is just that - voluntary. Apart from appeasing your ownconscience, you have no duty to continue with your present commitment should you feel you are wastingyour time or if it makes you feel uneasy, uncomfortable or dissatisfied. When this happens, you may stepback and decide to take your experience elsewhere, but you never stop volunteering.

Perhaps the answer to nature or nurture is you never know if volunteering is for you until you try.

To find out more about these members or becoming a member yourself, please visitwww.3va.org.uk/content/membership.

Welcome to our newest members!Culture Shift

Diversity Resource InternationalGrassroots Suicide Prevention

Lewes Community Café: The Nutty WizardThe Skatehouse CIC

Seeing Ear

Margaret Ticehurst

3VA can help you connect with voluntary and community sector contacts throughout the Lewes District,Wealden and Eastbourne. For more information about advertising in 3VA publications, please contact usat [email protected].

Advertise with 3VA!

Volunteering - A Personal Perspective

Mark your calendars - SpeakUp Countywide Forumis pleased to announce that this year’s Big Event

will take place on Thursday, 2 July 2015.

To find out more, please email Anke Thurm [email protected].

is coming!

2015


Calling all community food providers!The Chances4Change Project is looking for Community FoodProviders to take part in Eat Out Eat Well; a new healthy eatinginitiative.

Eat Out Eat Well is a new accreditation scheme that rewardsthe important work food providers do to improve nutrition,provide healthy options and promote healthy choices. Thescheme is supported by the Health Improvement Team at EastSussex County Council and is administered by EnvironmentalHealth Officers and Chances4Change. The award aims toencourage food businesses to provide healthier options tocustomers through the use of healthier catering practices,increasing fruit, vegetables, and starchy carbohydrates, anddecreasing fat (especially saturated fat), sugar and salt. It also recognises provision of healthyoptions for children and rewards staff training and promotion and marketing of healthier options.

3VA is supporting applications to the scheme from community food providers in Eastbourne andHVA is supporting those in Hastings and Rother. However, if you are located elsewhere in EastSussex we can help, so please do get in contact for information and advice.

• To be eligible food providers need a Food Hygiene Rating of 3 or above.• A short self-assessment form is completed by the caterer.• Environmental Health informs food providers if they have scored sufficient points to receive a

Bronze, Silver or Gold award. This is backed up with lots of useful tips about how caterers canmake simple changes that can make food both healthier and more economical.

• Chances4Change will work with food providers to survey customers on the how they makedecisions when choosing healthy options.

• More information is available at www.eatouteatwell.org.

APPLY! To apply to the scheme, please contact Jo Wunsch, Community DevelopmentOfficer, at [email protected] or on 01273 483 832.

(cont’d from page 3)...Eastbourne this would be @EBChamber or 3VA’s Twitter @3VAsupportVCS) andfollowing the people most relevant to you. Once you start tweeting, your followers will grow!

Chat Hours are a good way of starting on Twitter. Here is a link to a blogpost onhow to get started: bit.ly/1abQ287

Further advice on Facebook:• www.facebook.com/business• www.insidefacebook.com/2014/08/08/facebook-is-demolishing-the-like-

gate/ • www.socialmediaexaminer.com/essential-facebook-marketing-resources/

Good for tips on Twitter: • @TweetSmarter • @SMExaminer

You can find Mina on facebook.com/DitzyMediaEastbourne and follow her onTwitter @ditzymedia.

3VA Registered Office 8 Saffrons RoadEastbourneEast SussexBN21 1DG

3VA Lewes OfficeBizspaceThe Malling Business Centre112 Malling StreetLewesEast SussexBN7 2RG

3VA Wealden Office79c High StreetUckfieldEast SussexTN22 1AS

01323 639373 [email protected]: Search for 3VATwitter: @3VAsupportVCS

3VA is a Company limited byGuarantee Registered in England andWales Number: 4637252 Registered Charity Number: 1096788

3VA is a member of the NationalAssociation for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) and theNational Council for VoluntaryOrganisations (NCVO).

3VA is supported by EastbourneBorough Council, High Weald LewesHavens CCG, Eastbourne, Hailsham &Seaford CCG, East Sussex CountyCouncil, Lewes District Council andWealden District Council.

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3View Editor: Scott Roedersheimer, 3VA Marketing & Information Officer

Notices of publications, events andservices do not necessarily carry anendorsement by 3VA, nor do theyrepresent the view of 3VA.

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3View Spring 2015