Member Briefing – COVID-19 – June 1st 2020

Post-COVID 19 Solutions: A Message from DTNI

“Rescue, recover, reform” and “build back better” are the refrains, from across the third sector in the UK and Ireland, to the predicted and emerging post Covid-19 economic collapse. Community wealth building is the means by which we can deliver change. The power of community and social businesses, now lauded in public, are key to delivering social and economic change, generating community wealth and building the public services we deserve. We need to reimagine a collective ownership of our commons, our people, our land and property assets, placing the third sector on an equal footing with the independent private sector. 
 
DTNI, along with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and the Democracy Collaborative present the case for a change to ‘business as usual.’ In the coming weeks we will be working together on behalf of the community development trust network in NI to prepare a positioning paper advancing a community wealth building approach to build back better, rescue, recover and reform the economy for all in NI.
 
We welcome your voice and support for the power of community.

Click here to find out how we can rebuild better,not return to business as usual.
 


Funding & additional financial support

Charities Financial Support Package
The Department for Communities is still considering how this scheme will be administered. All charities will be eligible to apply however preference will be given to organisations that have not received additional support.

Supporting People Providers
An additional £10m  has been made available to help those on the Supporting People Programme. The scheme provides housing support for approximately 19,000 vulnerable individuals including homeless people, older people, young people, and people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health issues.

More information at the DfC website


Communications
 

Charlie Fisher, Programme Manager – charlie.fisher@dtni.org.uk – 07595979642
Stevie McGirr, Communications Officer – stevie.mcgirr@dtni.org.uk – 07793865620
Kathleen Smyth, Community Asset Transfer Project Officer – kathleen.smyth@dtni.org.uk – 07450954349
Margaret Craig, Creating Resilient Local Economies Project Officer – margaret.craig@dtni.org.uk – 07764185318

We can also be contacted on Twitter @devtrustsni
Facebook
A new private DTNI Member Facebook group has been created as a forum where we can share ideas, links to resources, or just have a chat. For our part, we will keep you posted with relevant news from the sector and share the emerging practice from our sister networks in England, Scotland & Wales.

Join the DTNI Member Facebook GroupNICVA Community Hub
NICVA has set up a community information hub at the Community NI website where you can find out how to get help in every council area. The resource is intended to be a centralised source for all services across NI.

The reliability of the hub will depend on the quality of information it is populated with so it’s important that the entire community sector is aware of it and feeds into it, and we would recommend that DTNI members do likewise.

Follow the link https://www.nicva.org/article/share-your-covid-19-support-service-information to add your contribution. You will be able to amend any information at any time. If a particular service ceases, please remember to remove the listing from the website.

Susan Glass from NICVA has also offered to help you complete the form or, if necessary, complete it for you. You can contact Susan on 028 9087 7777 (ext 217).Webinars & Online MeetingsHR & Employment Law
In next webinar from Legal-Island Seamus McGranaghan from the employment team at O’Reilly Stewart solicitors will address questions on recent changes to the job retention scheme.

Register here for Employment Law, Friday 5th June, 11am
 


Information for EmployersHuman Resources
This week’s HR update from BridgeHR Consultancy includes the latest on:

  • legal issues relating to the extension of the furlough scheme and bringing staff back to work;
  • issues around the possibility of redundancies;
  • and avoiding unfair dismissals in the midst of the pandemic.

If there are specific issues for you, your colleagues or board that you wish to discuss, please get in touch with DTNI and we will endeavour to support you directly.
If you need detailed HR support, we will coordinate your query and link you in with BridgeHR.

Download the latest HR update here


Other Information

Communications and social media consultant ForaChange specialises in campaigns and strategic communications for progressive social change. It has produced a detailed document that includes links to loads of resources you may find useful as you try to respond to C-19 related challenges.

Included on the document is information regarding digital campaigning, activism, online meetings, as well as a host of interesting articles and podcasts.

Download the ForaChange Digital Resources document here