Hello from everyone at Birmingham Community Matters
We hope you're keeping well through this challenging year and managing to continue with many of the activities that brighten your days. When anyone at BCM is having a difficult time, we encourage them to treat themselves as they would a good friend: with kindness and exquisite care. So we hope you're doing that too.
We couldn't send this e-newsletter without expressing our sadness over the death of Helen Baglee, a kind and loved friend who did so much good in Brum - both as a volunteer and in her working life.
Helen's colleagues at The Active Wellbeing Society posted an announcement here and will be working with her friends and family in the coming months to work out a fitting tribute to Helen.
If you were lucky enough to know Helen, we send our condolences and love to you.
Thank you all round
We've just completed our first year of being supported by the National Lottery's Reaching Communities fund - the second half of which, as we all know, threw down all sorts of hurdles. TNL has been compassionate and flexible throughout the pandemic, giving small charities like ours the freedom we needed to adapt our services.
We're proud to say that we managed to meet and exceed all our targets for Year 1 anyway, by moving our support online and maintaining and strengthening relationships with wonderful people like you. Thank you.
Have we helped you?
If we've supported your community group or project this year, we'll soon be sending you a survey to complete. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and outcomes with us. As a little incentive, we will randomly draw an entrant to receive £50 for their group (that will buy you LOADS of cake when it's OK to meet back in person again . . . do keep us in your thoughts).
New partnerships
As we move into Year 2, we want to strengthen the existing partnerships we've formed, as well as forge new ones for mutual benefit. We're holding a Zoom chat for existing and potential partners on Wednesday 18 November at 11.30am. You are very welcome to register here.
Whether you're involved in a community group/project in Birmingham, or you'd like to 'do more' in our brilliant city, read on for news, opportunities and events that we think you'll like . . .
Oh - and before we go:
We've outgrown our website. We need a new one that makes it clear what BCM offers and to whom - and enables people to find the information they are looking for quickly.
Please feel free to share it with anyone whom you think would be perfect for the job. We would like to receive expressions of interest by Tuesday 20 October.
Best wishes from the team at Birmingham Community Matters
Birmingham City Council is looking for volunteers to be Covid-19 Community Champions, receiving the latest information on coronavirus directly from the council and sharing it within your networks.
Every Friday, Bahu Trust offers a free drop-in Community Support Service in Balsall Heath - an impartial support surgery providing advice and food support to all members of the community.
Birmingham is full of caring organisations doing potentially life-changing things for our communities. These are just two we spotted on Twitter in the past few days. As if you needed any further reasons to feel proud of Brum!
Eden Project Community Camps
This sounds great. The Eden Project's Community Camps are normally residential experiences held at the Eden Project in Cornwall but, like many things, they've gone virtual this year.
The Virtual Community Camp promises to be 'an immersive learning experience offering a mix of practical activities, workshop sessions and networking opportunities for people from across the UK'.
We've been contacted by the Sickle Cell Society about its new blood donation awareness project, Give Blood, Spread Love.
The project's goals are to engage people from African and Caribbean backgrounds in London and Birmingham to register to give blood - and promote awareness of the need for ethnically matched blood to treat people with sickle cell disorder. Learn more about Give Blood, Spread Love and get ideas for sharing info via your community groups.
For faith and community groups helping people who are experiencing homelessness
In recognition of the positive impact faith and community groups make on people experiencing homelessness, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) would like to forge strong links with groups that are supporting individuals who either are, or who are at risk of, rough sleeping.
WMCA is keen to work with groups in:
* Developing new/alternative support provision
* Forming deeper relationships and coordinating with other services
* Upskilling volunteers, workers and management committees within groups
* Sharing and promoting best practice across the West Midlands region.
If you're interested please email James Walker, Faith and Communities Development Officer (Homelessness) via james.walker@wmca.org.uk.
Beginner guitarists wanted for new group
The CAPO Guitar Group from Misfits Music is looking for beginner and newly self-taught adult guitarists in Birmingham.
Participants can join weekly sessions and regular social events, starting online but with hopes for in-person meetings when government restrictions allow. You can register your interest here.
Sweet in the Middle community cinema
Supported by Cinema For All (the national support and development organisation for community-led cinema), Sweet in the Middle Cinema is a volunteer-led Cotteridge community cinema project 'bringing films full of hope' to the local area.
The team behind Sweet in the Middle is asking people to complete a quick audience survey, sharing their thoughts about the kinds of films they'd like to see. You can complete it here.
Freelance and consultancy opportunities
The MiFriendly Cities initiative is recruiting for a Network Development Officer to support the MiFriendly Cities Network of migrant-led 'social innovation' community projects to develop and sustain their network. The deadline for applications is this Friday (9 October) at midday. Find out more.
Meanwhile, Lloyds Bank Foundation is looking for Development Partners to help with its capacity-building work with small and medium-sized charities. The deadline to apply for one of these consultancy roles is Friday 16 October at 5pm. Read more.
Coronavirus resources for community groups
As we support one another through this continued crisis, we're still updating our page of resources for community groups, which includes details of funding, information on continuity/recovery, and local and national support services.
Please do tell us if there's anything you think we should add.
Interesting events in October and November
In our September e-newsletter we were celebrating the careful return to 'real life' events. Now many organisations are going virtual again to keep people safe. A month is long time in 2020! Here are a selection of interesting, mostly digital events from Birmingham and beyond to ensure you continue learning, sharing and entertained through this difficult spell.
If you have a November or December event you'd like us to consider sharing in November's e-newsletter, please email info@birminghamcommunitymatters.org.uk by the last week in September.
We read your replies
Thank you for subscribing to our e-newsletter. We'll be back in November with new useful things we've gathered for you.
In the meantime keep us posted on your community group updates and success stories. You can reply to this message - there are real people behind it, who enjoy hearing from you.
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