We now offer all our training online. As we are not having to pay for venues we are passing that saving on to you, so all of these courses will cost only £8.00 per person. or £6.00 per person for those organisations that have paid a membership subscription to Community Matters.
To book places either click on the blue workshop title below, or contact admin@communitymatters.org.uk
Tues 27th January – Operational Plans
Operational plans are often called many things, but it’s the plan that lasts for about a year and is often in-depth. This is perhaps one of the most important documents an organisation has. It should set out what you are going to do for the coming year and often forms the basis of how you report your progress to trustees and stakeholders. The workshop will look at ways to create this document to make your life easy.
Tues 3rd February – The Essential Trustee
This short session is designed for Trustees of charities to help understand their role, responsibilities and duties.
Thurs 12th February – Management Accounts for Small Organisations
What do management accounts look like and why should you do them? The session will look at:
- why we do them,
- how to do them,
- when to do them,
- what we do with them
This session is delivered by our colleagues at HSl Accountancy Solutions
Mon 23rd February – How to use Canva for Social Media
Canva is the great free-to-use online graphic design tool which you can use to create great graphics as well as presentations and videos amongst other things. This is an introductory session about Canva with a few tips about using it for social media.
Tues 3rd March – GDPR and Data Security
Who is trying to access your data and what are the implications of this? Also, what can you do to make it more difficult for people to steal your data.
Tues 10th March – Protect Duty (Martyn’s Law)
Now the Protect Duty (Martyn’s law) has been passed by parliament many organisations are now going to have to work out how this affects them.
This workshop will look at what you have to do in the standard tier (buildings with a capacity between 200 and 799 people) to meet the legislation and also simple things to make your life easier. Some of the things are also sensible to consider for those buildings who are not in scope of the legislation.
Mon 23rd March – Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Are you about to review your equality and diversity policy? Or are you setting up a new organisation and want to follow best practice? This session will look at Equality, Diversion and Inclusion and how to apply them to your organisation.
Tues 24th March – Where Are Your Next Generation of Volunteers
Volunteer numbers have been falling since 2020. Considerable changes have occurred in how the public wants to volunteer. There has also been a rise in younger people wanting to give back to their communities, contribute to their environment, and make a difference in their neighbourhoods.
It is important for any group to start thinking about how it can adapt and remove the barriers so that younger people can get involved in volunteering. This session will offer you some practical ways to make volunteering for your organisation more appealing to younger people.
Tues 14th April – Health and Safety Risk Assessments
This session is for anyone who is new to health and safety and looks at the basics of assessing risks, why we need to do this, and what to do once you’ve assessed the risk.
Thurs 21st April – Reserves: What They Are and How to Calculate Them
Reserves are a critical element when building small charity resilience. However, they are often, for very valid reasons, miscalculated. The session will look at Why we hold reserves, how to calculate reserves, what a good reserves policy looks like and how to report on reserves.
Thurs 30th April – How to Make Your Social Media More Engaging
Do you get the most engagement from your Facebook, Instagram or X (Twitter) posts? Why do some posts get more clicks than others? How to increase engagement.
Tues 19th May – Safeguarding for Trustees and Community Buildings
This session will look at the legislation, and what trustees need to know and do. It will also look at how best to apply it in a community building setting where you may be hiring space but have little direct interaction with the vulnerable people attending the activities.
Tues 9th June – Effective Bid Writing
Do you struggle writing successful funding bids? This session will take you through the key practical steps in describing the essential elements of your project, to tell funders what they need to know.
Tues 16th June – Impact Reporting for Charities
Funders want proof of the difference your organisation makes. They want to understand your charity’s impact across services and locations, and what the benefit is of the services they have agreed to fund. Amongst other things this session looks at ‘what is impact and how do you measure it’ , ‘what does impact look like’ and how do you engage with your stakeholders to maximise impact.
Tues 30th June – Governance: What’s the Right Structure?
There is a wide range of not-for-profit structures ranging from registered charities to community interest companies. They all have specific benefits, and some drawbacks. This session will look at the main structures, and explain the benefits and issues associated with each of them.