Healthwatch County Durham (HWCD), who are here to make sure views on Health and Social Care, in County Durham are heard, has recently been awarded the County Durham Volunteering Kite Mark.

This was awarded on 16th August by Charlotte Linton, Volunteering Specialist for Durham Community Action.

HWCD volunteers are involved in many aspects of work and have contributed 1332 Hours working on multiple projects ranging from research projects, to Enter and View visits, drop-ins, and talking to the public to gather their views.

Would you like to lead a team who support local communities and harness the power of voluntary and community led action?

If you have experience in leading community development projects, supporting community led action and enabling best practice within local charities and volunteering involving organisations, then we need you.

We are looking to fill a vacancy in our senior management team to help shape our work, enable community led action within communities across County Durham and lead a small team of community support staff.

The deadline for applications is 12noon on Monday 5th September.

The next meeting of the Community Buildings Network will take place online on Thursday 15th September from 10.00 - 11.30am when we will be discussing all things Volunteering with our Volunteering Specialist Charlotte Linton, including how to make your roles more attractive to volunteers, and how the County Durham Volunteering Platform can help your organisation to recruit volunteers.

Representatives of all community buildings across County Durham are welcome to attend. 

The Community Growing and Food Network is an online network for community organisations in County Durham who run, or are interested in running, community food and growing projects. 

During the next online meeting  on Tuesday 20th September from 2.00 - 3.30pm, we will focus on 'Funding.' We will welcome Naomi Stevens from the County Durham Community Foundation who will tell us about the grants they have available for growing and food projects, hear about a project's funding journey, and discuss funding top tips.

There will also be an opportunity for discussion and networking with other organisations. 

Dates for our Community Development Workshops can now be booked until December. We have introduced two new courses: An Introduction to Equality and Diversity for Voluntary Organisations and Health and Safety for Trustees within the Voluntary Sector.

We are also continuing to run our wide range of workshops covering topics including GDPR, Volunteering, Managing Risk, Safeguarding, Funding and Governance. All workshops are fully funded.  

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations in the North East and Cumbria are invited to apply to join training of up to 110 organisations to receive subsidised training, the support of environmental specialists, and join a peer support network in making their working practices greener.

Applications will run initially until September, with the possibility of extending the application period based on demand.

The County Durham Environment Awards 2022 are now open for entries.

Now in its 33rd year, the event celebrates the county’s community groups, individuals, businesses, and other organisations that go the extra mile to improve their local environment in a sustainable way.

You can nominate yourself or a building, scheme, community group, school, or any other environmental hero worthy of recognition.

Categories include volunteer group of the year, volunteer of the year, and under 18 volunteer of the year. 

Applications close on Friday 30 September

Photograph: Durham County Council

The Halo Project is a specialist charity supporting black and minoritised (BME) women and girls who are at risk of or victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and hidden harms – which include female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour-based abuse. They are proud to deliver a trauma-informed victim support service to BME communities across County Durham, North Yorkshire, and Cleveland, where their women’s refuge and offices are based. 

As part of their community engagement work across Durham, they are hoping to identify all organisations working with any black and minoritised communities and/or supporting women in the area, so that they can ensure that all those at risk in Durham’s BME communities know that specialist advice and support is available should they need it.