It’s Village Halls Week next week! and we’re delighted to inform you all about two training sessions coming up during the week.
- One is on Tuesday 25th Jan 10.00 am to 11.00 am and it is about working with volunteers– it was not planned for VH’S week but it will be very useful just the same. It’s hosted by SOFEA, you can read about them here:https://www.sofea.uk.com/ and supported by the managing director of OCVA. It’s also FREE , so a gift for us in village halls week 😊
Please register using the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-volunteers-tickets-220619999357
You need to fill in a form or two when you register, with your contact details (twice) , the name of your organisation and what kind of business/charity you are, there are tick boxes too so we’re just preparing you. Tessa will also be attending, so she may see you there!
The other training session has been set up specially for Village Halls week and it’s on Friday 28th January at 10 am. It’s about Advising the village hall network on safe WiFi
Here is the link:
Time: Jan 28, 2022 10:00 London
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85258432820?pwd=eGY5ckZwRjVDMUVTTzI0NnNnemJ6UT09
Meeting ID: 852 5843 2820
Passcode: 874315
PLEASE NOTE:
DI Chris White (who is organising the session), has requested that all those attending, sign up to the Cyber Resilience Centre via this link https://www.secrc.co.uk/core-membership-sign-up. Then he can send all those that do a welcome pack containing some cyber resources which will be used during the session.
This training could also provide reassurance for those already connected to wi-fi and for those thinking of connecting. And for the CSC it is also an opportunity to get messages out to more vulnerable groups about how to avoid scams.
We have attached a ‘small charity guide’ on Cyber security for you to use and we can share information from both sessions if you can’t get to them because you work in the day.
Doing Something New.
This training would fit well with the overall theme of “doing something new” and I would like to invite you to fill out the attached pledge form to say that you are going to do something different in your hall. It could be that your committee hasn’t planned anything yet, but perhaps you are already planning to put in Wi-Fi connection for your hall users, or you have recently had a connection put in. If so, your pledge could be to promote the use of Wi-Fi in your hall (including telling us that you have got it, so that we can tick the box that says ‘has Wi-Fi’ on your halls page on our halls directory).
VH week could also be an opportunity to flag new opportunities, along the same theme, such as sessions held at village halls for older people about how to get digital access and how to avoid scams. You can also download ‘pledge cards’ from the ACRE website here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BQa4gsHoSMoXQQ9L6NHzHMKvdDEodbr_ and share stories about what you will be doing differently on social media.
Tips about pledges
These pledges should be as specific as possible, for example, ‘I pledge to make our hall more environmentally friendly by……, or ‘I pledge to encourage & support activities in our hall that help to combat loneliness’. You can either print your card and then photograph it with your message ready to share on social media, or you could take a photo and post an image about your activity to post on social media. All posts during the week should include the hashtag #VillageHallsWeek. If you need more information on tweeting, we’re sure we can supply it!
A pledge Tessa could make as her role as Community Halls Adviser for CFO is to set up an expert help group/or session for halls with concerns over installing wi-fi. Some of the worries that Tessa knows about are:
- whether you are with the right provider
- whether you are paying too much
- how to stop misuse etc
- when will your community be able to have full fibre connection?
This topic could be part of our halls networking meetings 2022, (the dates for which will be sent out after village halls week).
Calling for experts from other halls worked very well in 2021 when we discussed online booking systems and running a community cinema – please have a look at our discussions here if you have not seen them before https://www.communityfirstoxon.org/community-halls-and-enterprise/community-halls/training-and-discussion-videos/
Regular online discussions were something new for 2021 and Tessa will carry on organising these in 2022. We will hold a meeting on a Tuesday or Wednesday night every three months – so 4 times a year and we will have a more informal daytime meeting every month on a Thursday morning.
Another pledge Tessa will make is to provide Safeguarding training to all those halls who haven’t been on it yet and to support all halls to update their Safeguarding policy, and to appoint one or two safeguarding leaders. ‘Safeguarding is everyone’s business’ and Tessa would like all Oxfordshire halls to be knowledgeable in this subject.
Here is a link to information about the week from our website here at CFO- https://www.communityfirstoxon.org/village-halls-week-24-30-january-2022
And here is a link to the ACRE website offering more information on pledges and below that the themes for each day set out in a colourful way 😊
https://acre.org.uk/our-work/village-halls-week.php If you go to ‘useful links’ on the right of the page you will find a campaign pack to download and other information including pledge cards to download.
If your hall has organised an event for next week, please, please let us know about it.
Many thanks