What has CIB Membership ever done for you?
So, you’re a Community Impact Bucks Member. It’s free, so you may well have signed up without taking too much thought as to what the implications of being a member are to you. There are key benefits which probably swayed you to submit your membership form, such as discounts on selected events and bespoke consultancy work commissioned directly with CIB. But what exactly is it that – as a charity, community group, or simply a Bucks county constituent – Community Impact Bucks does for you and for charities in Buckinghamshire?
Well, we’re a charity, so we do some really good stuff
Each year we directly help over 500 charities and community groups, working with 150,000 people in Bucks.
The first port of call if you need guidance is our website, which provides a range of information and resources to help new and established charities and community groups. This is a real source of information on everything from volunteering to funding. We actively promote and direct groups to the Bucks Funding Search, an online funding database which charities and community groups can use to identify potential funding opportunities – you have made over 9,000 visits to this amazing online funding tool.
We offer 1:1 telephone, email and face-to-face advice to assist groups with issues on funding; governance; starting up a new organisation; and provide signposting in other areas such as demonstrating impact, marketing and communications, HR, IT and legal support.
“You seek every opportunity to support us and it makes all the difference.” Bespoke help for group
We support you in volunteering
How? And what does this mean to you?
Well, we don’t like to blow our own trumpet, but in the last year we have:
- Helped over 70 organisations via our training and one-to-one advice sessions
- Released the vital Volunteering Innovation Report, providing local organisations with new, innovative and exciting ideas to attract and support their volunteers
- Developed partnerships with national organisations, Reach Volunteering and Do-it, to live stream the latest general and specialist volunteer and trustee roles for local people via our website
- Given individuals easy access to 512 different Buckinghamshire-based volunteering opportunities, from 140 different organisations, which generated 1,679 applications for volunteer roles in Bucks
- Run campaigns linked to Trustees’ Week, International Volunteer Managers Day, Volunteers’ Week & Student Volunteering Week in order to raise the profile of your charity.
“…I am very impressed with Community Impact Bucks. Thank you for all the helpful tips and signposting to help us with growing our volunteer base – they are an excellent resource and we will follow them up… Thank you again, and I will let you know of progress made!” From a Bucks charity.
Click here if you’re interested in volunteering or group volunteering.
Representation: we represent the needs of your charity or community group in Buckinghamshire
As a member of CIB, you have joined a movement. CIB is here to help you, represent you and ensure that your voice is heard by policy makers, local groups and community gatherings. Tell us what you want. Tell us what you need. Ask us to help – and we will. Our team of staff and volunteers are devoted, enthusiastic, well informed and very charming, and we will always do our best to help you. No question is a silly question.
In the past year we have been privileged to work with over 500 outstanding, inspirational groups who are really making a difference; from groups set up at a kitchen table that change so many people’s lives to villages getting together to develop vital services to support elderly, lonely or vulnerable members of the community.
Leadership – follow our lead, we’ll show you the way
We believe that a charity’s leaders, and therefore its trustees and senior managers, are key to its success. And we’re here to help you to develop your leadership. So we’ve pulled together some of the best resources and tools to help your trustees learn and grow as a trustee, a leader and a board. We have the most incredible board of trustees and can help you to achieve the same.
Our exciting partnership with Henley Business School offers free of charge coaching to leaders and senior managers of charities and community groups across Buckinghamshire. Coaching is a 1-1 conversation facilitated by a coach and focussed on the needs of the client to support them in becoming more self-aware, take more personal responsibility and, through this, to become more effective. Most coaches meet every 2-5 weeks and between 4-6 times to get the most benefit.
Funding is fundamental to you – we understand this and are here to help
CIB is a charity itself. We rely on funding in order to carry out many of the services we provide, so we are all too aware of how tricky it is to gain funding nowadays. We know that funding and financial sustainability are a priority for all voluntary and community organisations – regardless of whether you are just starting out or have been going for a number of years.
One great way of finding funding suitable for you is via the free online service, Bucks Funding Search, a searchable database of funding opportunities. It’s easy to use, allows you to tailor your searches, is regularly updated and allows you sign up for email updates direct to your inbox. Bucks Funding Search is funded by Bucks County Council, and we manage the relationship with its owners, Idox. We bring it to you in partnership with The Clare Foundation, Action for Youth, Heart of Bucks, Bucks Business First and LEAP.
Our expert advice and training can help you find funding to give you a thriving and sustainable future. We regularly run our Getting Fit for Funding course throughout the year (next date 15 November), and hold monthly free of charge bespoke funding advice sessions at venues around the county (next dates 16 October and 5 November). Being able to write strong funding applications is an important part of your funding journey. We have training and resources to help you succeed.
We are a member of the Buckinghamshire Funding Group that organises the annual Bucks Funding Fair, an opportunity for charities and community groups to meet with over 20 funding and support organisations.
And there’s more…..
Community Services and Projects
We support the development and delivery of services to help community projects throughout Bucks. See our website or read our next blog to hear more about this…
We’re a charity and a community group, like you, so funding is also an issue for us and sometimes limits the areas of the county that we can cover. Our Community Projects group focuses on meeting the needs of the vulnerable and socially isolated, working in the heart of the community to develop volunteer driven solutions. We also work directly with communities to provide expert advice, signposting and support for their community assets (i.e. village halls, community buildings) and lead on CIB’s work as the Rural Community Council (RCC) for Bucks.
So, apart from support in volunteering, funding, leadership, training, governance, HR, marketing, communications, IT, legal support………what can CIB do for you? We are part of your team – and we’re excited to be working together with you to make Buckinghamshire a better place.
Need more volunteers? We need Volunteers
Do you have group volunteers opportunities? Register here Group Volunteering
