EVENTS AND TRAINING

Local Food Events
Local Food is a £50 million programme that will distribute lottery grants to a variety of food-related projects to help make locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities.
Events:
19 August, Nottingham
22 September, Manchester

http://www.localfoodgrants.org/

Train to Gain – for employees & volunteers
A government scheme that gives funding to organisations to improve the skills of their workforces has been extended to cover volunteers working with third sector groups.
The Learning and Skills Council's Train to Gain initiative has always been available to paid employees in the third sector, but now volunteers will also benefit. Under the scheme, employees contact 'skills brokers', who will visit their organisations, at no cost, to provide impartial advice and help employers find training programmes that suit their staff.

www.traintogain.gov.uk 0800 015 55 45

Scottish Waste and Resources Conference 2008
Tuesday 7 & Wednesday 8 October
Hilton Hotel
Glasgow

Addressing many of the key issues and developments in the waste and resources sector. Tuesday focuses on Household waste and resources, Wednesday focuses on Commercial and Industrial Wastes and resources

http://www.ciwm.co.uk/pm/108/dataID2958356

More Than Furniture 08 - CRNS 5th Annual Furniture Reuse Conference
Wednesday 27 August
Glasgow

Chaired by Sophy Copland, Chief Executive of Instant Neighbour Aberdeen, this year's conference will provide a range of strong speakers from within Scotland and around the UK, who will challenge, inform and inspire projects to become:
Bigger - Increasing tonnage diversion and managing growth
Better - Improving services and measuring impact
Bolder - Improving marketing and diversification including Resource Recovery Parks

www.crns.org.uk/index/mtf08

The Waste Strategy for England 2007: The Vision for Sustainable Waste Management
Inside government

Thursday 31 July 2008
London

This event will look at changing attitudes towards waste management and recycling behaviour through best practice case-studies of partnership working.

http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/environment/waste/index.php

Compost businesses share experiences and ideas
The Composting Association and the Environment Agency are running free workshops for compost site managers to meet together to discuss ways of minimising odours and how best to work with local communities on this issue.

9 July, Midlands
9 September, Anglia
11 September, Wales
23 September, North West

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/
2045605/2045607/2045637/

Cylch Annual Conference 2008

Recycling: Getting Down to Business.

21-22 October, Marriot Hotel Cardiff.

Jonathon Porritt, Jane Davidson, the Wales Recycling Awards and much more at the premier recycling and re-use event in Wales.

Sustainable finance

Recycling infrastructure development

Sustainable consumerism

Corporate social responsibility

Waste minimisation

Contact: 029 20649750 http://www.cylch.org/cylch-conference.html

NVQs Environmental Conservation (Community Recycling and Environmental Conservation)

EM Solutions are able to deliver 100% funded NVQ level 2 in Environmental Conservation (Community Recycling and Environmental Conservation through the Train to Gain initiative).

Areas: North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, East Mids, West Mids, South East, East of England, Central London

To confirm eligibility contact: 01246 418 913 http://www.em-solutions.co.uk/training.html

Train to Gain

Train to Gain is the single point of access for businesses of any size including voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

The Learning and Skills Council's Train to Gain service provides free impartial, independent advice on training to businesses across England. It can help businesses improve their productivity and competitiveness by ensuring that employees have the right skills to do the best job.

Train to Gain gives you access to a skills broker who will carry out a needs analysis of training within your business and help you assess what skills your business has now and what you will need in the future.

Contact: 0800 015 55 45

http://www.traintogain.gov.uk/

Improving Reach media training
Media Trust
12 free courses available in 2008

The project provides free communications and media support for small to medium sized charities and voluntary organisations that work with the following priority groups: black and minority ethnic; migrant and/or refugee; isolated rural; and faith.

Info: http://www.mediatrust.org/improving-reach

WRAP Recycling Managers Training Programme
Courses are aimed at recycling and waste managers in local authorities and those from not- for-profit/community organisations or private waste management companies who are directly involved in delivering and managing local authority recycling services.

See also additional courses including:
Working with the Community Course, Recycling Collection Systems for Flats and Estates

http://www.wrap.org.uk/local_authorities/training/index.html

Social Enterprise: Winning with 2012
This is a national project funded by the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and is comprised of a partnership between Social Enterprise London (SEL) and Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC). The project aims to optimise the involvement of social enterprises across England in the development, delivery and legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Events taking place across England offer organisations the opportunity to build business partnerships as well as providing a forum for sharing best practice case studies and emerging 2012 developments.
http://www.sel.org.uk/2012/

Women & Work: Sector Pathways Initiative
Raising Skills and Unlocking Potential. To help in the up-skilling of women in the energy and utilities sector, Energy & Utility Skills is offering sector employers the benefit of a highly subsidised Women & Work: Personal Development Programme, designed to equip women with the tools they need to help with their career development. This opportunity is currently available to employees working in England only.

http://www.wrap.org.uk/local_authorities/training/index.html

Environmental Conservation (Community Recycling) Level 2 NVQ

This NVQ is designed for:

•  Waste operatives

•  Community Recycling - Local Authority or voluntary sector recycling operatives or technicians and kerbside collection staff

•  Shop floor staff/operatives

The NVQ aims to improve an individuals understanding relating to waste management and ensures that they are competent to segregate, store, transport, recycle and dispose of waste in accordance with organisational policies, procedures and applicable legislation. This qualification also supports sites waste management licences.

EMS are approved providers with A4e employment in Yorkshire and Humberside, East Midlands, West Midlands, London and the North East and can offer 100% funding for level 2 NVQ's in Community Recycling. To discuss eligibility criteria: Tel: 01246 418913, info@em-solutions.co.uk www.em-solutions.co.uk

Every Action Counts
Every Action Counts is a Defra initiative (England only) focused on enabling community and voluntary organisations to look at the wider sustainable development issues within their organisations. The programme covers resource use, energy, ethical shopping, sustainable transport and caring for your local environment.

CRN UK and FRN are both involved in this initiative and as part of this we encourage your community group to become involved as well. Please register your organisation at www.everyactioncounts.org.uk to access the available advice and the list of easy steps to benefit your group.

Interested in free training?
Do you have any volunteers or members of staff who may be interested in becoming a Community Champion? One aim of the Every Action Counts programme is to recruit 'Community Champions' who will work through action plans with organisations to help them develop more sustainable practices.

Champions will be equipped to work voluntarily with a variety of community organisations to look at sustainable development within an organisation and to run through a toolkit to identify changes they can make.

Community Champions will attend a FREE two day accredited training course. Part of this training will focus on presentation and facilitation skills as well as training on wider sustainable development issues.

Course dates will be set as required and BTCV (who are delivering the training and community champions initiative) will adapt dates to suit. For example, if a group register together they can arrange dates and location to suit.

To register and further info: www.btcv.org/communitychampions
When registering your organisation or as a Community Champion, please indicate you have heard of this initiative through the Community Recycling Network.

Contact: Lizzy White via eac@crn.org.uk