Latest Sector News:

This week is Rural Housing Week – an annual celebration of rural housing to reinforce the message that housing is vital for the survival of rural communities and services. The week is used to highlight key rural issues and shine a spotlight on successful developments that offer a lifeline to local people in our market towns and villages. Our Rural … Read More

Making sure hard to reach communities like Gypsies and Travellers are well supported during the lockdown is all in a day’s work for our Community Development Worker who has helped one client who didn’t understand who she could spend time with during the lockdown and was still visiting family. Our Community Development explained the rules clearly and the client understood … Read More

It’s been two years since the introduction of GDPR in the UK, but not all charities and community groups are GDPR compliant. If you have yet to assess your GDPR compliance, are new to GDPR or simply want to check what has changed since May 2018, then we are running an online workshop on Friday 12 June for you.  Aimed … Read More

An online training session on Friday 19 June for charities and not for profit groups in Surrey. Have you formed a new group that you want to register as a charity? Do you want to convert an old-style Charity into a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)? Do you want to explore whether your charity’s trustees are protected from personal liability? … Read More

Urgent help needed for Surrey’s frontline workers – can you produce PPE? Following the government announcement yesterday that there is a global shortage of PPE, Surrey County Council is urgently appealing for volunteers to help supply items for Surrey’s frontline workers. Social workers, care home staff, volunteers and others across #Surrey are fast running out of vital PPE supplies such … Read More

Charities and community groups of all shapes and sizes are facing unprecedented challenges. Some have been able to respond to the challenges with new services and activities. Others have faced catastrophic drops in funding and are having to close services or worse. Over the last few weeks, Surrey Community Action has carried out research to paint a clear picture of … Read More

Do you have staff who could be redeployed as volunteers within the sector? Do you have staffing gaps due to illness or increased demand? We can help you to manage your staffing needs.  Join our Covid-19 staff exchange. Surrey Community Action is co-ordinating a project to help voluntary, community and faith organisations in Surrey manage their staffing needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. … Read More

In partnership with Ecopare, Surrey Community Action have developed a half day Energy Awareness seminar, one tailored for community space providers. The Energy Awareness Seminar includes: • Setting the context: The drive for sustainable organisations • Your energy bills demystified • Energy terminology explained • Interactive benchmarking of costs and identifying usage patterns • Identification of key energy consumers • … Read More

A suite of two offices is now available at our charity hub, Astolat, in Guildford. Located in Burpham, just off the A3, the suite comprises two neighbouring rooms – one accommodating 4-5 desks and one accommodating 2 desks.  Both rooms must be taken together. The suite of rooms is offered rent free, with just a service charge payable which covers … Read More

Government funding has been secured for some Surrey specific messaging centring around Brexit happening on 31st October. There are several target audiences that will directly be affected by Brexit and who Surrey County Council  need to make sure have taken relevant action. The Council is asking VCFS partners to download the toolkit and share messages on your social media networks.