Blog | Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Only the lonely

21 December 2017 - 10:24am

We have all heard about the impact of loneliness and social isolation; equating to the damaging effects of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. We have reports and studies coming out of our ears.

We know it’s a huge issue but what are we doing about it?

Since October this year I started working on a relatively new service, Community Connect, as a development officer.

Do you have trustees or senior staff with previous convictions?

13 November 2017 - 1:38pm

Next summer will see the final piece of legislation of the Charities Act 2016 come into force, meaning people with certain convictions are disqualified from working as senior managers, financial directors or volunteering as trustees in charities across England and Wales unless a waiver is applied for and granted by the Charity Commission.

Trending clothing bank recognised by RSPH award

27 October 2017 - 10:33am

Guest blog by Paul Wales, operations director at Actes

It was an absolute honour to pick up the Community Health Development award from the Royal Society for Public Health for our Trending clothing bank at a glittering award ceremony in London last week.

This accolade was true testament to the hard work of the Trending team, as well as our funders Talent Match Middlesbrough and Middlesbrough Council, whose commitment has enabled us to support almost 600 people in need with free, quality clothing since the service launched in June 2016.

Where have all the disabled people gone?

11 September 2017 - 2:59pm

Unexpected things happen at funerals.

Certainly you do not expect to be considering how the VCS can respond to the austerity inspired changes to the rights and benefits for disabled people whilst paying your last respects, but hey, I suppose stranger things have happened and all that. So, sat at the wake of a relative the other week I got talking to relations of my wife whom I had never met before, and before long the subject of Politics arose.

Three things I learnt from our ‘living room outdoors’ experience

3 August 2017 - 4:10pm

Suganya Subraminaraja is MVDA's Volunteer Centre Co-ordinator

Staff at Middlesbrough Volunteer Centre tried out a new way of meeting the public recently, by organising a ‘living room outdoors’ experience at the Orange Pip market. We literally created a living room outdoors and asked people to sit down and chat to us to find out more about volunteering! It was a great experience with the volunteers from different organisations and the public interacting with each other, the ultimate goal being to promote volunteering and its benefits.