Welcome to the summer edition of Network News!!

Helping Older People Page 2

Information Page 3

People’s Park Festival Page 4

Health & Wellbeing Page 5

Current Funding Page 6

Training Review Page 7

CONTENTS

facebook.com /abccommunitynetwork

@ABCCommNetwork ABC Community Network 22 Church Street Portadown

028 3839 2777 info@abccommunitynetwork.com www.abccommunitynetwork.com

Training

The summer months are particularly busy for ABC as we seek

to finalise our training programmes for September 2011 - June

2012. Having just completed the evaluation reports for the

2010/2011 training programme, we are now busy preparing

funding applications to support the new programme. I’m

especially delighted to report on the high level of participation

from member organisations and groups on our needs-based

training courses: between September 2010 and June 2011,

28 accredited and vocational courses were delivered, with

370 participants benefiting from the training and support

provided, and participants continue to appreciate the

networking opportunities provided during training courses. An

increased emphasis will be placed on co-ordination of training

activity across the ABC Council areas, with even greater

collaboration with our partner organisations, in the delivery of

courses. To help us plan a targeted programme of courses

that best suits your needs, please complete and return the

enclosed Training Needs Questionnaire as soon as possible.

Big Lottery

On the development front, we’ve just completed the outline

grant application form for the BIG Lottery Fund’s Reaching

Out - Connecting Older People Programme in support of our

proposed Helping Older People + Project. The programme,

which seeks to support and assist Older Peoples’ Groups

across the Southern Trust area, is being developed in

partnership with the SHSCT and other community and

voluntary groups. Thanks to everyone who assisted with and

supported consultation events and focus groups as part of our

consultation process. We look forward to being invited to

submit a full grant application form so hopefully we’ll be in

touch again at the end of August.

Membership We continue to develop our membership base, particularly in

the Armagh and Banbridge areas. Don’t forget—Membership

is Free! To request a membership application form and

for further information on our services please contact us or

check out our website where you can download membership

forms. Thanks also to everyone who returned the new ABC

contact information forms. This has enabled us to develop and

update our membership data base which will facilitate a more

targeted approach to meeting your information needs.

Voluntary Board of Directors

ABC Community Network has a dedicated and active Board of

Directors and is recruiting new voluntary Directors to take

forward our work. We are keen to work more closely with key

groups and organisations in Armagh and Banbridge and

increase representation from those areas on the Board. We

are particularly looking for people who have expertise in HR,

finance, marketing, community development, PR or lobbying.

Board meetings are held during the afternoon on the third

Wednesday of the month at our offices in Portadown. The

position of Board Director is voluntary and unpaid, however

reasonable expenses including travel w ill be

reimbursed. If you can make a positive contribution to our

development and able to make the time commitment, please

contact me directly on 028 3839 2777 for an informal chat or

e-mail john.cnc@btconnect.com for more information.

Information & Articles for Publication

Finally, we welcome articles for publication that highlight

news, activities and events across the Armagh, Banbridge and

Craigavon Council areas. So please get in touch!

JOHN McGUINNESS, DIRECTOR

Network News Page 2

June Edition 2011

Electric Blanket Testing Roadshows A series of free 'Electric Blanket Testing' road shows

will be held across the Southern area later this year.

Individual testing dates will be announced shortly.

Electric blankets cause over 800 fires in the UK each year,

with nearly 20 deaths and 200 injuries. Most of the casualties

are people aged over 60 years. The aim of the road shows is

to reduce the number of injuries and deaths caused by faulty

and misused electric blankets. These sessions will provide

free safety checks on electric blankets and give members of

the public tips on their correct use.

Injuries and fires often happen because people do not use or

store their electric blankets properly, do not replace them or

never have them serviced. People are often unaware when

blankets have become worn or damaged and it is advised that

electric blankets be checked at least every three years.

Participants whose blankets fail the safety test will be given a

£15.00 voucher towards buying a new one and will be able to

ask for advice on home safety and general wellbeing issues

from representatives attending on the day. Anyone with an

electric blanket can come along to the road shows and have

their blankets checked professionally and for those whose

blankets are more than 10 years old to have them replaced

immediately. Just because it's working doesn't mean it's safe.

For further information on the Electric Blanket Testing days

contact Nina Daly, on (028) 3834 4973.

Helping Older People Project Worker

Kathy Trainor being congratulated on

her forthcoming marriage at a

networking event held recently in

Portadown Town Hall during June. Many groups with whom Kathy has worked were

there to celebrate the good work Kathy has done,

and to look forward to the future of older

people’s groups in the Southern area.

[Patricia Jordon Chairperson of ABC presents Kathy with a bouquet of flowers (right), and Violet and Mervyn Dougan of Redrock CDA make a presentation to Kathy (left). Above, participants at the networking event]

Network News Page 3

June Edition 2011

The Charity

Commission for

Northern Ireland

(CCNI) has

announced the

introduction of

charity regulation to Northern Ireland.

The move allows CCNI to begin its investigatory, compliance,

enforcement and regulatory scrutiny of all charities currently

registered with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for tax

purposes and will begin the regulators’ efforts to increase

public trust and confidence in charities. Details, including the

names of more than 6000 organisations to which these powers

apply, have been published on their website.

Their powers do not yet apply to all charitable organisations.

At present they will only begin regulation and investigations of

organisations previously granted charitable tax exemption by

HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC). A list of these organisations

is available on their website.

The powers are transitional measures to allow the Commission

to begin regulation and investigations of charitable

organisations registered for tax purposes with HMRC.

Further information and guidance is available on

www.charitycommissionni.org.uk.

Peace of Mind—Home Safety tips when

planning to go on holiday

Portadown Neighbourhood Policing

Team—Community awareness mornings Portadown Neighbourhood Policing Team will be

holding community awareness mornings in the

reception area of Portadown Health centre.

These will run on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month

from 9:00am to 12:30pm. Members of the public are invited

along to discuss any issues that they may wish to raise with

the police.

Free phone Advice & Advocacy Service

The service offers free,

independent and confidential

support to older people, their

families and carers.

Last year the Advice & Advocacy

team helped over 15,000 older people claim £720,000 in

additional benefits. However £60million a year goes

unclaimed, AgeNI is encouraging older people to ensure they

are receiving the benefits that are rightfully theirs - especially

those who have not had a benefit check in the past year and

those whose individual circumstances have changed.

To find out more contact free phone 0808 808 7575 or email

advice@ageni.org

Give the Gift of Life The Southern Health and Social Care

Trust is encouraging people to

consider signing up to the organ donor

register.

There are 7,974 people across the UK

waiting for organ transplants. Last year 3,693 transplants took

place but there is still an average of 3 people dying each day as

they wait for a suitable organ.

Organ donation saves and enhances lives.

To join the NHS Organ Donor

Register and give the gift of life,

log on to

www.organdonation.nhs.uk

or call 0300 123 23 23

Network News Page 4

June Edition 2011

The People’s Park Festival! Craigavon Borough Council’s Arts Development Section

is leading on the delivery of the second annual ‘People’s

Festival’.

We are working in partnership with our colleagues in Good

Relations, Community Development and Parks plus a steering

group of community and voluntary partners. Plans are well

underway and we can now offer your group an opportunity to

be involved in the activities leading up to the festival!

The People's Festival is an intercultural festival that will run on

the 1st Saturday in August annually. 2011 is the second year of

this high quality family-focused festival that brings together the

best of local and regional talent in Portadown Park. Come and

enjoy the following: Arts Ekta dance tent, Barren Carousels

trapeze show, come and try Sports zone, John Hewitt poetry

zone, main music stage, acoustic stage, Youth zone and world

food court.

A host of arts installations will also adorn the park

creating a colourful and inspiring space for all

ages to enjoy culture, sports and arts. This year

the events starts in style with a 10 km run, family

buggy push and festival parade from Bann

Boulevard through Portadown town centre and to

the park. The festival has been set up as the

forerunner project to a major redevelopment of

the park and it will become the flagship event in

the transformed park.

How to get involved... In the lead up to the festival our team of artists

are offering projects which will allow your group

to be actively involved in the event and will

showcase the talents of all the participants work!

We want to involve the community all over in

Portadown in the festival!

We are offering groups one 2 hour session in

their own centres with the artists to make their

creations so they can come along on the day to

join the fun. Choose from these two options:

The Bed of Roses Parade - Participants w ill

create carnival props based on McGreadys roses

to carry in a parade from Bann Boulevard through

the town centre and on to the park to begin the

event!

Return of the Duck Pond - Participants w ill

create an artistic representation of the old duck

pond in the park which will be an interactive

spectacle in the park on the day!

Other ways to get involved:

Marshall the 10k run

Join the buggy push!

Are you a local singer songwriter? Send us a

track!

Are you part of a great dance troop? Are you a

poet? Get in touch!!

Community Information Zone – Why not set up an

information stand We will also bring together groups and organisations both local

and statutory to provide an opportunity to showcase their

services and the opportunities they offer. If you feel your

organisation or group would benefit from reaching a wide

audience please get in touch.

Please email arts.development@craigavon.gov.uk See you at

the festival on Saturday 6th August!

Network News Page 5

June Edition 2011

The BIG Lottery funded

REACH project has been

established to offer

increased access across

the SHSCT area to

community and family programmes to help people

improve their health.

Common arguments in my home usually revolve around

biscuits. Not that someone has eaten my favourite one (the

good old Ginger Nut) but that more packets have been

purchased. Being of a weak-willed disposition I see the

purchase of more biscuits as the cue to eat more.

Since working with the REACH project I have learned a basic

skill which I try to pass on to groups we work with – the

ability to read and understand food labels. Now I understand

that the friendly Ginger Nut has 55 calories which is around

2% of my daily calorie intake (usually around 2500 for a

man). But who eats only one Ginger Nut! Five ginger nuts

can easily evaporate with a good cuppa and suddenly 275

calories are consumed – 10% of my recommended intake!

I was completely ignorant of calorie counting and this was

probably why I never questioned eating so many biscuits -

but times change. I still love a biscuit with a cuppa but now I

tend to think about how many and how often I eat them.

Also I learnt some new eating habits. For example I try to

eat a sliced apple with a cuppa. An apple only has around 50

calories, helps your immune system and is full of fibre which

is good for those who are regular visitors to the porcelain

throne! The mighty Ginger Nut does not offer that.

It is this type of information that the REACH programme tries

to get into the hands of parents so they are more aware of

simple things that can be done in the home to guard a family

from being overweight.

In the media, in our communities and across many

government departments there are increasing attempts to get

everyone thinking about what and how much we eat.

However this is one of those issues that can raise the

emotions – what family wants to consider that weight has

become a serious issue? But for many families this is vital. A

recent report by the OCED, one of the most important global

institutions, stated that:

Severely obese people die 8-10 years sooner than those of normal-weight, similar to smokers, with every 15 extra kilograms increasing risk of early death by approximately 30%. In ten European countries, research shows that obesity doubles the odds being unable to live a normal active life

Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat (September 2010)

Clearly, being overweight can lead to a range of personal and

social issues that are dangerous to ignore. A recent

government report outlined that in Northern Ireland 59% of

people can be defined as overweight or obese. There is no

doubt this is staggering. Support must be available for

adults, particularly adults with young families, to consider

ways to halt the increasing waistline of the country.

This is the aim of the REACH project – to support people to

think about their weight. We do this by running two

programmes. Firstly we have our Community Lifestyle

Programmes that provide tailor-made programmes to

explore ways to get people active and cooking healthy meals.

In year one 175 individuals benefitted from these

programmes from a range of community, voluntary and

statutory groups. We arrange walking programmes, cycling

activities, kite flying, boccia games, activities using games

consoles and a range of other activities simply to get more

people active and burning off excess calories, or showing

people ways to reduce the calories they consume.

Secondly we run a programme called “Move it, Change It”.

This is a fun, free healthy lifestyle programme for families

with children in primary years 1 to 4 who are over their ideal

weight. The programme has been designed by a dietician

and physiotherapist along with the REACH community lifestyle

co-ordinators and aims to promote a healthy lifestyle at an

early age to tackle the rise in childhood obesity. It is hoped

that it will help to inform children and parents how to make

healthier food choices and encourage them to be more active.

If you want more information about REACH please call us at

ABC. You can also email me at

stephen.dallas@southerntrust.hscni.net

We have a Facebook page where you can access some short

videos about our programmes –

log on at facebook.com/ReachC&B

For online healthy recipe ideas and tips and advice on

maintaining a healthy weight visit:

www.enjoyhealthyeating.info

For information about community healthy cooking groups

contact Marie Gormley on 028 37415221

You can even get help to start your own walking group. For

more information on local walking groups go to:

www.promotingwellbeing.info/walking or contact

Sabrina Lynn on 028 3834 4973.

For information about Weigh2Go, a community weight

management programme, contact Valerie Gough, Health

Promotion Officer on 028 3831 1487

Network News Page 6

June Edition 2011

Phew!!!! ABC’s April – June 2011 calendar has been delivered

successfully and we’re catching our breath before starting all

over again in September! Alongside our well-established courses,

new topics in our April – June calendar included: Tai Chi; Book-keeping

for community/voluntary groups; Digital Photography; Managing and

assessing risk. Once again, all courses were FREE OF CHARGE thanks to

funding from Lloyds TSB Foundation and the Big Lottery, alongside in-

kind funding from ABC. Currently, we are applying for funding from a

number of sources to ensure that ABC can offer courses from September.

Looking back since last September, we’re delighted to report that ABC

delivered training courses to nearly 370 participants via 28 courses. Of

the 28 courses, 13 were accredited, 10 were non-accredited vocational

courses and 5 were recreational. This is in addition to our continuing

work with Southern Regional College to deliver IT courses through the

Learner Access and Engagement project. Three different courses were

offered: Foundation, Level 1 and Level 2 and, to date, nearly 90 people have successfully gained IT qualifications. Courses are

due to start again in September so please contact us if you’re interested in joining a class. If you’ve already completed a red

application form, don’t worry, we’ll call you.

Lloyds TSB Foundation NI The key interest of the Foundation is ‘To

support underfunded charities which enable

people, especially disadvantaged or disabled

people, to play a fuller role in the

community’. The two key areas are social

and community needs, and education and training.

Please check website www.lloydstsbfoundationni.org for dates

and more information.

Contact Lloyds TSB Foundation for NI on 028 9032 3000 or e

-mail: brenda@lloydstsbfoundationni.org

Lottery Programmes Your Heritage

Projects which help people learn about their

own and other people’s heritage. The

programme funds activities and capital

works up to £50,000.

For information visit www.hlf.org.uk or call the Belfast office

on 028 9031 0120.

Awards for All Project funding of up to £10,000 is available to community,

voluntary and statutory groups. Changes to the criteria now

allow groups to apply for up to £20,000 per year.

For information visit www.awardsforall.org.uk or call

028 9055 1455

Garfield Weston Over the past fifty years the

Garfield Weston Foundation

has supported a wide range

of organisations with grants of varying sizes. Recent funding

has supported projects in the following categories: Arts,

Community, Education, Welfare, Medical, Religion, Youth and

Environment. All applications should be sent by post.

There are no formal deadlines for submitting applications and

organisations should allow approximately four months for a

final outcome, though acknowledgement letters are sent

within four weeks. Please note that once an acknowledgement

letter has been sent there is typically no further

correspondence until the outcome of the application.

Contact www.garfieldweston.org for further information and

to download guidelines and an application pack.

S.T.E.P. Participants using the ABC training facilities

Santander Foundation One off grants for project costs are

available to charities helping

disadvantaged groups through

priorities of education & training and

financial capability.

Project ideas include informal and accredited training, craft,

IT, reminiscence and budgeting, financial advice and meeting

challenges of unemployment.

Applicants should complete 2-3 sides of A4 paper outlining

the project along with a cover sheet downloaded from the

website. This is a rolling programme with no closing dates.

See www.santanderfoundation.org.uk for further information.

Network News Page 7

June Edition 2011

Employ Me

Programme This is a new and

exciting programme to

get you back into work!

Train at your local college and achieve a recognised

qualification that will help you prepare for employment.

Employ Me Programme is aimed at members of the

community that are currently long-term or short-term

unemployed.

The key elements of the programme include:

Core pathway Training:

(Participants choose one pathway only)

Engineering

Retail

Hospitality

IT

Finance

Construction Generic Training:

(Participants are also offered elements of further training from the following)

Personal Development

Customer Awareness

Careers advice and guidance

OCR Computers

Employability

Food Hygiene

Essential Skills Numeracy and Literacy Industry Training

The programme includes industry training and work placement

opportunities with local employers.

All Employ Me Programme Training will be delivered on a part-

time basis of fewer than 16 hours per week over 25 weeks,

September – March.

Benefits of this programme

Enhanced employment opportunities

Work towards accredited qualifications

The programme is FREE to participants—100% funded

Access to College support measures and resources

such as Hi Tec drop in ICT learning centres through e

-learning provision; support from identified businesses

Career advice and guidance

A percentage of childcare expenses reimbursed

Training programmes will be offered in Armagh, Banbridge,

Kilkeel, Lurgan, Newry and Portadown Southern Regional

College campuses and some local outreach centres.

Employ Me Team

Community & School Partnerships

Southern Regional College

Lonsdale Street

Armagh

BT61 7HN

T: 028 3751 2825

E: employme@src.ac.uk

ABC has recently been working with a number of minority

groups to source and deliver training, including the Muslim

Association Craigavon and a variety of member groups from

Craigavon Intercultural Partnership. ABC is delighted to

welcome STEP (South Tyrone Empowerment Programme) to

our premises in Church Street where participants are

developing their IT, job search and English skills.

ABC is planning to celebrate Learning and Development at our

AGM this coming autumn. We hope all of you who

successfully completed our courses will come to collect your

certificates. More details will follow soon…

As you know, we are able to offer training courses AT NO

COST to the participant through external funding. ABC

also contributes to the cost of course delivery through money

we raise ourselves by offering services such as photocopying,

faxing and room hire. As you can imagine, courses that are

not full have a detrimental effect on how efficiently our funds

are used – if participants fail to attend the course this means

that others miss out and have to go on a waiting list; ABC still

has to pay for room hire, tutor costs and refreshments even

though the course is not full; as waiting lists get longer, it is

necessary for ABC to finance additional courses without any

further contribution from external funders who will only pay

for courses agreed as part of their funding package. While we

appreciate that unexpected circumstances may occur which

prevents attendance, ABC would be most grateful for at least

24 hours’ notice of cancellation. ABC has been monitoring

attendance at all its courses since September 2010 and has

regrettably taken the decision to levy deposits for certain

courses which will be fully reimbursed providing the

participant or a substitute attends.

ABC aims to offer Learning and Development opportunities to

the community and voluntary sector which reflect the needs of

groups and aims to address current statutory requirements. If

you have a training need, please let us know so that we can

explore training possibilities together. Look out for our

September – December 2011 training calendar which will be

available soon. The calendar is still being finalised but we’re

hoping to bring you some new courses like ‘A Taste of Islam’

and Personal Development, in addition to our regular

favourites.

Gilford Computer Participants

Consultation on the implementation of

Policing and Community Safety Partnerships

(PCSPs) Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (or PCSPs) are

new statutory bodies which will be established under the

Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. They have been designed

to combine the work of the current District Policing

Partnerships (DPPs) and Community Safety Partnerships

(CSPs), and aim to help make communities safer.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the

following aspects of the new partnerships:

the practical operation of PCSPs, including the Policing

Committee;

the issue of designating bodies to partnerships; and

a draft code of practice for the appointment of

independent members to PCSPs.

For more information, contact:- www.dojni.gov.uk

Telephone: 028 9052 2176, Textphone: 028 9052 7668

Visual Arts Society Interested in art? That’s the only qualification to join

our friendly Arts Society! Everyone’s welcome, young

and old, beginner and experienced, no matter where

you are from.

We meet in the Millennium Court Arts Centre in William Street,

Portadown, from 7:00pm—9:00pm on the 1st and 3rd

Thursday evenings of the month, from September to May.

Some of the activities are: workshops; demonstrations; public

exhibitions of our works; DVD loans; sketching trips and

informal get-togethers where our members can enjoy working

in each other’s company. Yearly membership costs £20. Some

other fees may apply depending on activity.

For more details contact:

Ann Purnell, 028 38344439, annpurnell43@hotmail.com

THANKS TO…. Neighbourhood Renewal ABC Community Network were pleased to receive additional

funding from SHSCT—Promoting Wellbeing Team under the

Neighbourhood Renewal Programme to arrange a number of

social events for local older people to enjoy an afternoon of

singing and dancing. A Tea Dance was held in Killicomaine on

18th June, while further upcoming events are:

Ashgrove Community Centre 10th August

Mourneview 17th August

Craigavon Borough Council Good Relations

Thanks also to Craigavon Borough Council for funding

received through the Good Relations small grants scheme

2011-2012. This project will seek to raise Islamic cultural

awareness via a half day session to promote understanding,

integration and good relations across the Borough.

The Health and Social Care Board and the

Public Health Agency have launched, for

public consultation, a new Community Development Strategy.

The consultation period will run for 12 weeks from 10 June until

2 September 2011.

The Board and Agency want to see strong, resilient

communities where everyone has good health and wellbeing,

places where people look out for each other and have

community pride in where they live.

The Board and Agency have jointly held pre-consultation

workshops over the past few months across Northern Ireland

on their Community Development Strategy and have engaged

widely with the community and voluntary sectors. They are now

keen to receive feedback from individuals, families and the

wider community. This will help shape the future of community

development across the province.

The draft Community Development Strategy, as well as

information on how you can respond, can be found on the

website: www.publichealth.hscni.net

For further information contact:

Martin O’Neill, HSCB on (028) 3741 4615 or

Caroline Bloomfield, PHA on (028) 9031 1611