We are making a list of locally based professional advisers as a resource for local groups.
If you have used a local solicitor, accountant, surveyor or other similar professional could you let us have details?
We wont be offering recommendations or saying who has nominated anybody on the list and it will all come with advice about how to approach them etc – but it would be good to include companies or individuals that others have found useful.
It would be very helpful if you could say what service they have provided (eg xyz accountant for charity accounts or xyz solicitor for contracts issues).
Please could you send any suggestions for inclusion to Melanie: melanie@wandcareall.org.uk
Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Partnership (WVSP) Meeting – 1 March

The WVSP will be meeting on Tuesday 1 March at 10am online.
The meeting is open to all but please register in advance on Eventbrite.
The WVSP is intended to provide a forum where the Wandsworth voluntary and community sector can discuss local strategic issues and developments which affect the sector with our statutory sector partners.
For the March meeting we have invited Mark Creelman from the SW London CCG to discuss the new Integrated Care system arrangements and their implications for our sector. This is an opportunity to discuss the “big picture” with one of the key people involved in its implementation locally.
We are also looking to include a discussion on the new Borough Arts and Culture strategy.
We would like to set up a dedicated WVSP mailing list which would bring you occasional updates on strategic developments locally as well as information about WVSP meetings. This will be an opt in mailing list so please let us know if you would like to be included on it even if you are unable to attend this meeting.

GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR WANDSWORTH GROUPS
A significant proportion of the adult population has still not been vaccinated and, as the country increasingly opens up, those people may be putting themselves at risk of serious illness or may be excluding themselves from activities which require evidence of vaccination.
Funding is still available to local groups able to run a short term project targeted at specific groups within the community, aimed particularly at those who may have had less access to the vaccination programme to support them to make an informed choice about whether to put themselves forward.
We are looking for proposals which clearly identify a target group and which either have a good understanding of the barriers faced by that group with suggestions about how to overcome those barriers or who are well placed to explore in more depth what those barriers are. Examples are:
- groups working with minority ethnic communities who have had fewer opportunities to access the vaccine who could reach members of those communities with well-researched information on side effects; cultural and religious issues; or concerns about long term health implications. Perhaps addressing this by holding online question and answer events or reaching people via radio or TV in specific languages
- Would the people you work with find information from a peer or community champion easier to access?
- Or perhaps the barriers are practical and groups could support individuals to travel to clinics or support individuals to understand what will happen at a clinic.
It is also becoming apparent that young people are less likely to take up the offer of a vaccine than their older family members. Youth groups who could access young people under 30 perhaps through special events or by offering question and answer sessions at existing events or organizing discussions with health professionals about the science of vaccination or supporting pop up clinics in convenient places for this group are also invited to apply for grants.
For an application pack and more information, please contact Melanie@wandcareall.org.uk. We are accepting expressions of interest on a rolling basis until September.
VOLUNTARY SECTOR FORUM – SAVE THE DATE: 8 DECEMBER 2021

The next Voluntary Sector Forum will be held online via Zoom on Wednesday 8 December 2021, from 11:00 to 12:30.
More information to be announced soon.
Arts Council news
The latest funding deadlin is 31st October visit our pages here for further details