Are you a social enterprise, trading charity or co-op that would like to know more about public sector procurement? This session will give an overview of the opportunities available, the systems and frameworks around them and the new legislation that will hopefully make procurement more accessible for your organisation.

As grant funding becomes increasingly difficult to secure, and awarding bodies become more demanding in their mission to maximise the measurable impact of the money they give out, many organisations are now considering procurement as part of their income generation plans. But tendering for public sector contracts can be tricky for smaller organisation with limited resources and skillsets.

However, the Procurement Act 2023 bring changes to the public sector procurement landscape. Barriers have been removed, and steps have been taken to make tendering for contracts easier and more equitable for smaller sized bidders with lower turnovers.

Join Jim Cheetham-Potts for this 1-hour presentation to explore how understanding public sector procurement could benefit your organisation.

When: 21st January, 2025 10:00 AM through 11:00 am Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Thinking about volunteering and changing lives?  Don’t know where to go? No idea where to start from?  Searching for the right roles to volunteer for?

Are you thinking about volunteering but not sure what it is or how to go about it? Come along to  session Benefits of Volunteering session led by our Bolton Volunteer Centre, to find out how what you can get out of volunteering and how you can impact  your local community and  across the town of Bolton

Volunteering can help you to develop new skills and try something new.  It can help you prepare for paid work by increasing your confidence and experience.

When: 23rd January, 2025 10:00 AM through 11:00 am Where: Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Wondering which is the right legal structure for your Social Enterprise? These sessions will explore the options available and, using real world examples, help you to evaluate what might be the right legal structure and governance for your organisation.

This workshop will be led by Adrian Ashton, an award-winning Charity and Enterprise consultant. Drawing on over 15 years of experience in the sector, Adrian will inform, inspire and support you to explore the different options available for your organisation.

You can expect:

 – A potted history of Social Enterprise (and why it’s important)

 – The ‘Select-a-Structure’ quiz – What do you need from your legal structure, what legal structures are available and what are their pros and cons

 – Governance – what is it, why is it important and what might be right for you

The workshop will be interactive, with lots of opportunity to discuss your business, in a forum with peers from the local Social Enterprise sector

When: 27th January, 2025 1:00 PM through 04:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Have you got a query about your social business or idea? Wondering where to start, who to talk to or what to do next? Then come and have a chat with Karen Smith, Director of Turn up the Value.

This session offers a space to explore ideas and queries with an experienced coach, social accountant, and business owner. There’s no need to book for this, just drop-in to the Business Zone in Bolton Central Library any time between 10am and 1pm.

When: 29th January, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: Bolton Central Library Le Mans Crescent Bolton, BL1 1SE

This session explores the basics of what is meant by equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, looks at related legislation and includes time to discuss what this looks like in your organisation and what more could be done.

The session is aimed at volunteers and members of staff who want to know more about  equity, diversity and belonging.  

By the end of the session attendees will be able to define what equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging means, why it is important and understand what this looks like in their own organisation and what more can be done.

When: 29th January, 2025 12:30 PM through 02:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub, Bold Street, Bolton, BL1 1LS

The forum is a great opportunity to connect and share learning with other people and organisations around Bolton.

What's on the agenda? For this month's VCS Forum, our Chair, Dave Bagley will be talking about 'Hot Potatoes' with members.  We will discuss, what would the VCSE sector like to know more about and what is happening that will effect the VCSE sector in the coming future.   The Funding Team at Bolton CVS will give an update and we will be introducing some of Bolton CVS's new members.  We will be welcoming Paul Welch from Rock It Bolton to talk about their group and service they are providing for the community.   At the start of the meeting, we will be giving you an opportunity to network with other organisations.  

Have a look at the agenda and minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 28th November 2024.

When: 30th January, 2025 10:30 AM through 12:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub, Bold Street, Bolton, BL1 1LS

Are you an organisation or group who recruits volunteers or thinking about recruiting volunteers? Have you ever faced any barriers? And are you struggling to overcome them? Then this session is definitely for you.

 

This session will cover:

 -To understand the existing barriers to volunteering from the organisation’s perspective as well as volunteers.

– To build confidence when accepting non-traditional volunteers. – Insight of the journey of the volunteers who might need extra support. – Evaluation of your recruitment process and what can be possibly changed. – Peer-to-Peer Support.

By the end of the session, you will be able to understand how to overcome some of the barriers to working with volunteers who might need extra support.

When: 4th February, 2025 10:00 AM through 12:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

This workshop is ideal for people who have no experience of Crowdfunding and would like to find out more about how online fundraising platforms can be used to support community and voluntary groups. This workshop will go through the processes needed to run a successful campaign and give you the confidence to create your own page.

This workshop will cover:

• What is Crowdfunding?
• How to put your Crowdfunding page together
• Match funding options
• Running your campaign
• Examples of successful projects
• Top Tips

 

When: 4th February, 2025 12:30 PM through 02:00 pm Where: Online via Zoom

This interactive session is designed to explore and understand social value and how it can unlock new opportunities for your VCSE.

Join us for an insightful session exploring the power of social value in the VCSE sector. This workshop will cover key aspects of social value, including:

• What is Social Impact and Social Value
• Social Value Matters Now: Learn why measuring and articulating social value is more critical than ever for the future of your VCSE.
• How to Measure Social Value: Gain practical insights into the methods and tools available to measure and showcase your social value impact.
• The Story of Success: Case study of a local VCSE which won contracts by effectively measuring and demonstrating their social value.

 

When: 5th February, 2025 9:30 AM through 11:00 am Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton BL1 1LS

Looking for advice on how best to gather, record, analyse or share your organisation’s social impact? Then this is the session for you!

These sessions are for anyone who has started to look at their organisation’s social impact and needs some support to move forward. Karen Smith, Director of Turn up the Value, is a social accountant with more than 7 years’ experience in the sector. She can help you navigate the most effective ways to capture your social impact and guide you through processes and tools that will help you shout about the work you do.

These sessions will run as 20 – 30 minute, 1-2-1 appointments. You can book your slot by emailing propergood@boltoncvs.org.uk.

When: 10th February, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: Online via Zoom

This session is delivered by Greater Manchester Police and will cover the latest scams and how you can protect yourself and others.

If you are worried about staying safe online or would like to pass this information on to others, then book a place on this session which will include how to report scams and frauds and how to stay safe.   

When: 11th February, 2025 2:00 PM through 03:30 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

This session is suitable for any current Trustees wishing to refresh their knowledge and for those considering becoming a Trustee.

The session will cover:

– The role of the Trustee board and the six main duties as stated by the Charity Commission

– Trustee liability

– Conflicts of interest

– Eligibility 

When: 12th February, 2025 12:30 PM through 02:00 pm Where: Online via Zoom

Are you looking for ways to team up with local businesses to make your charity’s events even better? We’ve got you covered! In this relaxed and interactive session, we’ll share tips and ideas on how you can get local businesses excited to support your charity runs and other fundraising events. Whether it’s through sponsorships, donations, or collaboration, we’ll help you build strong partnerships that make a real difference.

What we’ll cover:

• How to approach local businesses and get them on board with your events
• Creative ways to show off your business partners and make them feel valued
• Simple steps to create proposals that stand out and get noticed
• How to build lasting, win-win relationships with your business supporters

Who should come? This session is perfect for charity event planners, fundraisers, or anyone who wants to get more local businesses involved in their charity’s work.

Why come?

• Get practical tips you can use straight away
• Learn how to create partnerships that benefit everyone
• Meet other charities and share ideas

We’d love to see you there! Spaces are limited, so don’t forget to register and grab your spot.

When: 17th February, 2025 12:00 PM through 01:00 pm Where: Online via Zoom

This Mini Visual Impairment Awareness Training (VIAT), delivered by Henshaws, is a practical and engaging training session, aimed at helping people understand the barriers faced by people with a visual impairment. Over 2 million people in the UK are currently living with sight loss, which is expected to rise by 2.9 million by 2030; making visual impairment awareness more important than ever before. Would you or your staff know how to interact with a visually impaired customer?

This session is suitable for staff and volunteers and will cover: •    Key sight loss facts, tips and guidance •    Challenging visual impairment stereotypes and misconceptions •    Experiencing what it is like to be visually impaired using our sight loss simulation glasses •    Practical tasks  •    Learning how to respectfully and safely guide someone with a visual impairment.

VIAT can benefit you by:

• Enabling you to understand sight loss, and the experiences faced by visually impaired people everyday
• Attracting new customers
• Improved customer experience and higher quality service
• Setting your organisation apart and giving you a unique selling point
• Demonstrated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

When: 19th February, 2025 10:00 AM through 12:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton BL1 1LS

Are you a social enterprise, trading charity or co-op? Are you looking at ways to transition your income from grants to traded income? Would you like to explore some of the diversification options available? And would you like some support in having conversations with your trustees, directors or CEO’s about those options? Then this is the session for you!

Organisations are often encouraged to 'diversify their income' (i.e. not be wholly grant funded). But it can be hard to start thinking about charging for services and support that have always been offered for free. And there can be some challenges around the suitability of an organisation’s legal form in developing such income streams.

This workshop will explore the various benefits of starting to do new things to generate income, as well as ways to spot and avoid any risks that doing so might create.

It will introduce ways to best identify what the most realistic and 'best' ideas might be for an organisation to start to generate new types of income, and look at how to make sure that everyone within your organisation understands and supports the decisions related to doing so.

When: 20th February, 2025 1:00 PM through 04:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Thinking about volunteering and changing lives?  Don’t know where to go? No idea where to start from?  Searching for the right roles to volunteer for?

Are you thinking about volunteering but not sure what it is or how to go about it? Come along to  session Benefits of Volunteering session led by our Bolton Volunteer Centre, to find out how what you can get out of volunteering and how you can impact  your local community and  across the town of Bolton

Volunteering can help you to develop new skills and try something new.  It can help you prepare for paid work by increasing your confidence and experience.

When: 24th February, 2025 10:00 AM through 11:00 am Where: Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Have you got a query about your social business or idea? Wondering where to start, who to talk to or what to do next? Then come and have a chat with Karen Smith, Director of Turn up the Value.

This session offers a space to explore ideas and queries with an experienced coach, social accountant, and business owner. There’s no need to book for this, just drop-in to the Business Zone at Bolton Central Library any time between 10am and 1pm.

When: 26th February, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: Bolton Central Library Le Mans Crescent Bolton, BL1 1SE

Are you thinking about recruiting volunteers, new to volunteer management or would like a refresher on best practice? Then join us for this introductory session.

This session will –

outline good practice in volunteer management

explore volunteer motivation and barriers to volunteer recruitment

help you to recognise which policies and procedures are recommended to effectively manage volunteers

help you to understand best practice to retain volunteers and improve their experience. 

When: 4th March, 2025 10:00 AM through 12:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold street Bolton, BL1 1LS

This full-day accredited training course is for people who have a specific responsibility at work, or in voluntary and community activities, to provide basic first aid to a range of people in first aid emergencies. Cost: £70 per participant.

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, state that all employers must assess the need and supply appropriate first aid provision – this one day Emergency First Aid at Work course meets with this regulation. Although anyone can be ‘appointed’ – will they have the knowledge to effectively Prevent injuries becoming worse, Promote recovery, Preserve life?

This course is delivered by Bolton based Bright Direction Training.  Bright Direction Training has a strong focus on social value we have chosen to support the community and voluntary sector through provision of training for volunteers and staff to give them qualifications to support their roles and benefit the wider community.

Just some of the feedback from previous participants:

"It was a very enjoyable and informative course which brought me right up to date with what I had previously qualified in a few years ago."

"That was the best training I’ve ever been on – I learnt loads and the day went really quickly."

Course Objectives: This one day course is a fun-packed training day where practical participation is essential – so come prepared to get down on the floor and act out injuries! This exciting course has been developed to help learners retain information better by relating it to individuals work space and everyday life. This course covers:

• The Law relating to First Aid

• Dealing with the incident

• Artificial Ventilation’s and CPR

• Recovery Position

• Shock

• Choking

• Bleeding, Breaks

• Burns

• Epilepsy

On successful completion of the Emergency First Aid course each delegate will receive a certificate which is registered with the awarding body.

Terms and Conditions

Payment of fees

To secure your place or places, fees must be paid in advance – please do not register before you have arrangements in place to pay.

Payment for this training should be made no later than 21 days before the course start date by BACS / bank transfer only to the following account:

 

Bolton CVS,

Sort Code 16-00-06

Account Number 11725108

(Royal Bank of Scotland)

Where course fees are not received 21 days prior to the course start date, the registration will be cancelled, except where the registration is made after this time when fees must be paid within 24 hours.  We reserve the right to restrict future registrations onto paid-for training courses where payments are late.

Refund Policy

Refunds will be made in accordance with the following arrangements where a registration is cancelled

• Over 6 weeks before date of training 100% refund
• Between 6 and 5 weeks before the date of training 75% refund
• Between 5 and 4 weeks before the training 50% refund
• Between 4 and 3 weeks before date of training 25% refund
• 21 days before date of training 0% refund

When: 5th March, 2025 9:30 AM through 04:30 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Effective safeguarding is more than just having a safeguarding policy, particularly in the current climate. This face to face session will look at the wider issues that come under the safeguarding umbrella, including recruitment, health and safety, and much more. 

This session will help you to:

• Be more confident in understanding the wider context of safeguarding within the sector.
• Be aware of best practice, current issues and policies and how they can be embedded within your organisation.
• Reflect on current practice and identify areas of development. 
• Share knowledge and experience.

This is a face to face session, we look forward to seeing you at The Bolton Hub.

When: 11th March, 2025 1:00 PM through 03:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Safeguarding is everyone’s business, and it is important that we all work together to protect people who need help and support. Staff and volunteers in voluntary organisations have a key role to play in making sure that people using their services are protected and kept safe from harm. This session is suitable for staff and volunteers, including committee members and trustees, who are responsible for safeguarding good practice, as well as anyone responsible for volunteers and who support volunteers and staff as part of their role.

 

This session will help you to: 

Understand what safeguarding is and your role in safeguarding adults at risk

Recognise an adult who may be in need of safeguarding and how to take appropriate action

Understand how to raise concerns about someone

Understand dignity and respect when working with individuals

Be aware of the policy, procedures and legislation that support safeguarding adults processes

Be able to identify how you can take learning from the session and use it in your organisation.

When: 18th March, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub, Bold Street, Bolton, BL1 1LS

Would you like to understand the key principles of a solid cashflow forecast, and be supported to develop a framework for your own? If so – this is the session for you!

Join Adrian Ashton – social enterprise and charities consultant for over 15 years – to explore cash flow forecasting for your social enterprise. 

The key to operating a successful social enterprise is a diverse and robust model of income generation; including trading, investment and some grant funding. Key to developing that model is a solid plan – a cashflow forecast. 

Investors and funders alike need to see that your business has a forecast that makes sense – Adrian can talk you through the best approach to achieving this, ensuring your forecast complements and builds on your business plan.

This will be a small group workshop, providing lots of opportunity for chat, both with Adrian and other social enterprise peers.

When: 18th March, 2025 1:00 PM through 04:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

This interactive course will enable participants to obtain basic knowledge about safeguarding children and young people and share learning and good practice. This course is suitable for anyone with responsiblity for ensuring children and young people’s safeguarding in their voluntary group or organisation. It is suitable for those new to the role or those wishing to refresh their skills and knowledge.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Identify different types of abuse
• Be aware of procedures to be followed when they believe a child or young person has been, or is at risk of being abused.
• Record information and know how to share it properly
• Understand how to raise a concern with Bolton Safeguarding Children's Partnership 

When: 26th March, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Have you got a query about your social business or idea? Wondering where to start, who to talk to or what to do next? Then come and have a chat with Karen Smith, Director of Turn up the Value.

This session offers a space to explore ideas and queries with an experienced coach, social accountant, and business owner. There’s no need to book for this, just drop-in to the Business Zone at Bolton Central Library any time between 10am and 1pm.

When: 26th March, 2025 10:00 AM through 01:00 pm Where: Bolton Central Library Le Mans Crescent Bolton, BL1 1SE

This session explores the basics of what is meant by equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, looks at related legislation and includes time to discuss what this looks like in your organisation and what more could be done.

The session is aimed at volunteers and members of staff who want to know more about  equity, diversity and belonging.  

By the end of the session attendees will be able to define what equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging means, why it is important and understand what this looks like in their own organisation and what more can be done.

When: 1st April, 2025 10:00 AM through 11:30 am Where: The Bolton Hub, Bold Street, Bolton, BL1 1LS

This session is suitable for any current Trustees wishing to refresh their knowledge and for those considering becoming a Trustee.

The session will cover:

– The role of the Trustee board and the six main duties as stated by the Charity Commission

– Trustee liability

– Conflicts of interest

– Eligibility 

When: 15th May, 2025 10:00 AM through 11:30 am Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Effective safeguarding is more than just having a safeguarding policy, particularly in the current climate. This face to face session will look at the wider issues that come under the safeguarding umbrella, including recruitment, health and safety, and much more. 

This session will help you to:

• Be more confident in understanding the wider context of safeguarding within the sector.
• Be aware of best practice, current issues and policies and how they can be embedded within your organisation.
• Reflect on current practice and identify areas of development. 
• Share knowledge and experience.

This is a face to face session, we look forward to seeing you at The Bolton Hub.

When: 26th June, 2025 10:00 AM through 12:00 pm Where: The Bolton Hub Bold Street Bolton, BL1 1LS