Big boys don’t cry – why wellbeing is an important conversation to have among men

, ,

Hi, I’m Michael, and I want to share with you my experience with my own mental health and wellbeing. It’s often said that men struggle most to talk about their feelings, often it’s a feeling of embarrassment that causes this.

Big boys don’t cry so they say.  I may be an exception, as it has not been a feeling of embarrassment necessarily that has prevented me from talking about my mental health but more that I often found it boring. This is likely to be down to the fact that I consider myself to be a problem solver and when having feelings that affected my general mood, it was frustrating to not be able to do anything about it.

I am someone who was initially diagnosed with depression in the late nineties. At this time the stigma around mental health often prevented you from talking about the issue, not through embarrassment for me, just simply because of people’s lack of understanding of what this meant.  I wasn’t weak, just ill but without the tools available to help me, it was difficult to understand what was going on.

Nearly twenty years later I was again diagnosed, but after a couple of years of not seeing any improvement from taking medication, I was referred for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and this transformed my life in terms of how I think of and deal with my mental health.

I was always aware there were issues to address but often thought it was maybe just that I was wired wrong, or at least just different to others.

What CBT taught me was that that wasn’t the case and helped me to identify the root cause of issues and techniques and how to deal with them. Importantly it helped me identify these myself and come up with my own solutions. It solved the issue of not wanting to talk about an issue for fear of not being able to find a solution.

The skills I have learned mean now that I am far more aware of both my mental and physical wellbeing. I keep an eye out for the triggers that may affect my mood but importantly realise that I will still have some not so good days but now have far more good days. On those days when things are not at their best, I reflect on the things that do make the good days good.  This could be going out for a walk, a bike ride, or if I’ve got the house to myself, watching Zulu for the gazillionth time. Sometimes it is just as simple as stroking the cat or some basic breathing exercises. I have a list of ten things that make me feel better, which is printed and hung on a wall at home. It acts as a great reminder for me if I’m not quite 100%.

My own experiences have made me aware that there are times when we all need a bit of a helping hand.  This has led to me taking on the role of Wellbeing Champion for Community First Yorkshire. The title could be misleading as rather than me being a champion in terms of being the best, it is about championing the well-being cause. It is all about sharing useful hints and tips with my colleagues and helping them to recognise when to take a break from things and have a bit of time out. The intention is to, where possible, also have a bit of fun along the way. I want to develop the role so that it helps to encourage an open and honest culture through the organisation so that people feel comfortable talking about their own wellbeing.  There are boundaries with the role though, and what it is not is to replace the role a line manager would when a colleague needs help.  It is also about knowing where to signpost people for specialist help where needed and not to try and act as a counsellor.

Everyone is individual and thinks differently but the key for me to mental wellbeing is that this is as important as physical wellbeing. Everyone does have spells where they are not feeling at their best but in the majority of cases, with a bit of help and guidance, there are things we can do to help ourselves.

I hope you haven’t found this as boring as I probably would have done 20 years ago.

The benefits of promoting wellbeing within an organisation.

, ,

Wellbeing is an important aspect of everyone’s lives, but when it comes to the workplace, what is being done to help support individuals? Our Chief Executive, Jane Colthup, discusses what wellbeing means to her personally and how she supports this from an organisational perspective:

For me, wellbeing is essential in the workplace. I want our people to feel valued. The team are pivotal to me, not only as a resource for the business but to me personally. We are a conscientious and ethical employer and wellbeing is part of that principle. I don’t just see improving wellbeing as a tick-box exercise, it’s really important and I care hugely about it. It’s so important that I push myself to apply it to my own life and behaviours.

Self-care isn’t selfish

For me, my wellbeing hinges on four main areas – sleep, hydration, exercise, diet. If I don’t get enough of any of these, I suffer and don’t perform at my best. I get so much from taking 45 minutes out each day to do some form of exercise. I feel better, my mental clarity is lifted and physically I feel energised too, even when I’m initially too exhausted to feel much like doing anything. I know if I make myself do it, I reap dividends afterwards. There’s nothing like the buzz of endorphins shooting around your body to make you feel great again.

I also find it really important to get outside at the weekend; a walk in the countryside to connect with nature and see the bigger picture does wonders for my wellbeing. I’ve got a dog who loves to run around and will usually embarrass me by disappearing somewhere! But it’s getting out and seeing amazing views that help me. We’re so blessed in Yorkshire to have all of that on our doorstep and that, for me, is a great stress-buster.

But, everyone’s different and I think it’s important to recognise that some people need isolation in order to recharge themselves, whereas others need to socialise to feel better. A team full of different people in an organisation aren’t all going to need the same thing.

Wellbeing at work

At Community First Yorkshire we have a few things in place to encourage prioritising wellbeing amongst our team.

We have created the position of Wellbeing Champion within our team. A Wellbeing Champion is someone who wants to enhance the wellbeing culture within their organisation, who have the skills and confidence to raise awareness of mental health and well-being needs within their employment through open conversation and collectively share a vision to highlight and support the well-being needs of their wider team.

Another thing we as an organisation do to improve wellbeing is host ‘tea-breaks’ for our team members. This was all our Head of Finance’s brainchild and means half an hour is scheduled in an online meeting room which anyone can join. It’s a space to meet and socialise with the team. Whoever’s hosting might throw in a few tricky pub quiz questions to keep everyone on their toes but it’s more about providing a space for people to put their work worries to the back of their minds and have a breather.

We’ve all got to take responsibility for our own wellbeing; it’s not just a corporate thing. We owe it to ourselves in terms of having better health. People will feel so much happier within themselves if they put their wellbeing first. As an organisation we need to actively support our people’s wellbeing, whether that is by allowing more flexibility in the workday for people to get outside for a lunchtime walk, or encouraging team members to take holidays regularly through the year – it’s critical for everyone to get regular breaks.

An organisation’s responsibility towards the wellbeing of its people also involves making sure that there are line-managers or senior members of the team who can be approached if anyone is struggling. We work hard to foster strong relationships so that no one feels they have to suffer with anything alone in the workplace. I’m keen to promote an ‘open door policy’ so everyone feels able to speak to any of the senior team about anything bothering them.

An organisation can’t force someone to help themselves, but it can provide an environment where self-care isn’t seen as selfish. It’s an essential investment in the whole person we bring to our work.

Historically, at Community First Yorkshire, we’ve organised team-building exercises linked to volunteering. Research has shown that volunteering can help improve a person’s wellbeing. Not only does this improve our own wellbeing and strengthen the bonds within our team, but we are also serving the community at the same time. It really is win-win.

Supporting rural wellbeing

A large part of the work we do as a charity is to support rural communities. Community wellbeing is essential, especially for those who do not have a local community in their immediate surroundings. People who live on farms or up in the dales, don’t have the same kind of support network as those who live in towns and villages. In our communities, we know that social connection is crucial to improving wellbeing. People who feel more socially connected are less likely to feel lonely which we know is directly linked to health and wellbeing.

As an organisation, we’re constantly looking for new ways of giving people who are isolated real methods of social connection. This could be by making village halls more accessible as centres of local communities or connecting people digitally through a buddying network. Social connections don’t have to be face to face, sometimes just having someone to talk to can help improve wellbeing.

These are the things we need to be thinking about in our rural communities, it’s so important to get the balance of our communities right, so everyone feels they have a valued, worthwhile place in society.

There are lots of support resources out there for people wanting to put their own self-care and wellbeing first. We have collated online and local resources in our VCSE Wellbeing Hub Toolkit for you to access no matter where you are on your wellbeing journey, click here to find out more.

Accessing health and care services in rural areas

, ,
The challenges of accessing health and care services in rural areas… and the power of communities and partnership working

Many people perceive that the local population in rural areas is healthier with a higher life expectancy than for those living in urban areas and this is often the case.

However, accessing health and care services in rural areas can be a complicated business with many challenges for both providers and local populations. When you consider hidden pockets of deprivation, an ageing population and poor infrastructure over a vast geographic area like North Yorkshire, delivering health services in rural areas can often be difficult.

Rural communities can experience difficulties accessing health services with pharmacies and GPs often located miles away in rural ‘hub’ towns. Add to the mix rising fuel costs and a reduced rural community transport service – how do people get the help they need?

Demographic changes mean that older people in rural areas don’t often live near their families, who may be priced out of their home areas due to a lack of affordable housing. With poor access to broadband and mobile connectivity issues, you suddenly find yourself with large cohorts of older people who are experiencing loneliness and isolation, both of which we know are detrimental to health and wellbeing. These experiences are often shared by cohorts of younger people who equally have challenges accessing services and opportunities.

Within our West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS) the Craven District, with its principle market towns of Settle and Skipton, is the most rural district within our system.

All this paints a rather gloomy picture of the challenges facing rural and increased likelihood of poorer health outcomes for some rural areas, particularly those that are sparsely populated such as North Craven. However, the Craven District has many community assets spread across its 450 square miles and a diverse mix of charities, community groups and social enterprises supporting communities to remain connected and healthy.

There are some fantastic examples of voluntary and community sector groups in Craven particularly during the pandemic.

I’ve been looking at the vital work of Skipton Step into Action, the mutual aid group set up to mobilse volunteer support for Skipton and surrounding communities working in partnership with health and care partners. This community based service has been a lifeline for many rural older residents and families isolating during the pandemic. There are similar examples across the district including Grassington Community Hub; and the development of The Place in Settle, a new health and wellbeing venue which is a collaborative initiative developed by a combination of local charities including Age UK North Craven; Dementia Forward; Pioneer Projects; Citizens Advice and the local GP surgery. This is enabling many local charities and public partners to provide services which support people’s health and well-being.

Other examples include:

Age UK North Craven’s telephone befriending service is bringing friendship and tackling loneliness in the district. Their regular clubs, lunches and activities in remote parts of the district are bringing company and health benefits, including their Movement to Music sessions, Walking Football and Walking Rugby.

Skipton Extended Learning for All (SELFA) works across the district providing activities and services for children, young people and families in market towns and rural areas. Whilst these activities are very inclusive and focussed on the distinct needs of local communities, they are also empowering for young people and families in shaping and delivering activities within rural places. SELFA is a great example of a home grown Craven District charity which has and continues to respond to the changing needs of our younger population and their families.

Skipton & Craven Action for Disability’s community transport service provides a vital connection for people with mental health illnesses or a disability – taking people shopping or to medical appointments or simply to the hairdressers – enabling people to remain connected and social.

If you would like to know more about the difference the voluntary and community sector makes across the Craven District then please visit Compass e Hub.

Many community and voluntary sector groups are members of the Craven Communities Together Partnership which is where the sector collaborates with health and care partners to improve health outcomes across all communities by making best use of all resources, and working in strengths based way to release and realise the power of communities.

By Mark Hopley, VCSE Health Partnership Development Manager

 

Source: Local Government Association and Public Health England – Health & Wellbeing in Rural Areas (2017)

What can you do to support Ukraine?

, ,

Few of us can fail to have been moved by what’s happening in Ukraine at the moment and our hearts go out to everyone affected.

The immediate urge is to do what we can to help and the government’s Homes for Ukraine website is now up and running.

There is helpful regional advice from North Yorkshire County Council here.

Reset has been appointed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to register Ukrainian refugees. This is the focus of Reset’s activities currently, but they are keen to hear from a national infrastructure organisation who’d like to get involved in helping them design the matching process for matching refugees with British families. One of the key issues being of course, safeguarding.  If this sounds like your organisation, please get in touch through director@resetuk.org

Until the matching process has been designed it is likely there will be some frustration from people wanting to offer their homes to refugees. Hopefully everyone will understand the need for patience whilst a robust and safe matching system is designed.

By Jane Colthup

Chief Executive, Community First Yorkshire

Shining a light on social prescribing – a work in progress

, ,

Social prescribing is not a new concept and is becoming increasingly important, especially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic’s changes to lives. Sometimes referred to as community referral or introduction, social prescribing is when GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals introduce people to a range of local, non-clinical services, often run by local community organisations or charities. This helps people to access socially-orientated opportunities enabling more control over health issues, by managing their needs in a way that suits them through a range of activities such as local craft making, walking groups, food growing projects, local support groups for people with chronic conditions or volunteering. This increased social connection often means that people’s health needs retreat, sometimes disappearing altogether – endorsing the pivotal role of social connection to our health outcomes.

For me, social prescribing is very much a work in progress and we’ve yet to find a way of resourcing it in an equitable way to realise the true power of communities and the voluntary sector.

There’s some awesome work being undertaken by voluntary sector and NHS colleagues to help people to reconnect socially, become more physically active where they live, and discover new friends and activities. But more work is needed to ensure that local charities and community groups are best prepared to respond to and receive community referrals from the local health and social care system, and have the capacity and investment to do so.

Here in North Yorkshire, Community First Yorkshire is planning to host a number of place based conversations to explore how the local sector can meet up with primary care colleagues to create partnerships to address this from the ground up, while recognising that we also need to connect to national partnerships to encourage the NHS England to invest equitably in voluntary sector social prescribing provision too.

In North Yorkshire, there are some brilliant social prescribing type initiatives in places like Whitby where CAVCA hold the local social prescribing contract and are working collaboratively with primary colleagues, through to Knaresborough where Knaresborough Connectors have been making a difference throughout the pandemic and continue to do so. Another great summary of what communities achieved during the pandemic in Harrogate and Rural District is this report, which showcases how VCSE organisations contribute to positive health and social care outcomes, in particular during the first twelve weeks of the Covid 19 crisis.

Taking place on 10 March, Social Prescribing Day is a great opportunity to celebrate social prescribing, recognise local community groups and projects and the impact they have on people and communities. Please join us on Twitter and Facebook and share your experiences of social prescribing in North Yorkshire, particularly where you have worked well with primary care colleagues and what you have learned that could be helpful to others too, using the hashtag #SocialPrescribingDay.

Mark Hopley, VCSE Health Partnership Development Manager

Student Volunteering Week 7 – 13 February 2022

, ,

Now in its 21st year, Student Volunteering Week (SVW) is an annual celebration of the diverse range of volunteering opportunities available to students. Colleges, universities and students’ unions celebrate by taking part in events and activities during the week.

Student Volunteering Week also celebrates student volunteering as an opportunity to improve student wellbeing, develop employability skills and also champion the positive contributions students make to the wider community.

A study from NUS and the Guardian found that nearly a third of students volunteer alongside their studies and the benefits of volunteering for young people are well documented. Research carried out by the #iwill campaign shows young people who volunteer have stronger personal networks and higher life skills.

Student Volunteering – my experience by Ellie Clapham

I started volunteering with mum when I was 10. My first experience was dressed as a carrot handing out leaflets for the Home Grown Food Festival in Northallerton! I have helped at this event every year, and this year I am going to help with coordinating the other volunteers needed to help run things like this. I have also volunteered at festivals, helped set up and run community events, face painted, been a first aider, baked and sold cakes, visited older people and fundraised.

The benefits to me from volunteering have been many and varied. I have met new people and made new friends. I have given something back to my village, my school, my community, as well as having fun. I have been able to put my volunteering on my CV. I have real life examples of situations I can use at interview. A number of people have offered to be a reference for me. I think I am better able to communicate with others, work as part of a team, organise and manage my time better and make decisions.

I feel I am more confident and have been able to try out so many different things, volunteering is great!

How to get involved
Students and young people

You can volunteer from home and also from your place of study. Most schools, colleges and universities also run their own volunteering programmes, your student services team will be able to tell you more about the opportunities available.

Charities and volunteering groups

For many young people the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge to prepare them for working life is very important; in your advert make sure that you highlight any training and how volunteering with you will develop skills and knowledge. Make contact with your local colleges, sixth forms and universities to let them about your volunteering opportunities.

Places of study

The Student Volunteering Network has lots more information about Student Volunteers Week and guidance for places of study.

Further support and information

Search for volunteering roles on the NCVO (the National Council for Volunteering Organisation) website. There are links to multiple volunteering websites from organisations such as Vinspired, and Volunteering Matters.

If you have any further questions or need support with any aspect of volunteering, please do get in touch info@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk.

#studentvolunteeringweek

The possibilities the theatre and live events can bring to a village hall

, ,

written by Debby Richardson from Glusburn village hall

At Glusburn Community and Arts Centre, a large, busy, multi-room community venue, we have many activities which take place on a weekly basis.

As in most village halls in most villages across the country, we host a variety of classes/activities – yoga, playgroups, art classes, dog training and more, something for all ages and interests. However, one great advantage of our venue, a Victorian Institute erected by the local mill owner for the villagers, who were mostly in his employ, is that we have a 215-seat theatre space with a proscenium arch stage. Throughout the year, our stage plays host to performances from local groups and national touring artists. We are home to the longest-running annual Scouts Gang Show in the UK, and the pantomime with flying ballet performed by our resident company Glusburn Youth Theatre. These shows are wonderful, showcasing the talents of local children and entertaining packed houses.

It’s always a treat to host touring theatre, and we are very lucky to have Falling Stars Theatre, founded by Director Rebecca Durham, almost on our doorstep. Their pieces are often an immersive style, staged on the auditorium floor surrounded by the audience and involving them in the performance. For Christmas 2021, when our audience capacity was reduced to about 45 due to coronavirus regulations, Beccy penned a reimagining of The Snow Queen and we worked together to bring this to several socially-distanced audiences.  Their village hall tour of Here I Belong was cut short by the first lockdown in March 2020 – we’re delighted that it will finally be performed here two years later than planned on 25th March 2022. We’re also bringing some comedy to our audiences this year from York-based Bad Apple Theatre, a not-for-profit group who are supported by Arts Council England.

Live music is another key aspect of our programming – we book a mix of local artists, touring tribute acts and well-known names – this sort of show was just impossible when we first reopened but once capacity limits were lifted it was clear that audiences were keen to get back to ‘live’ and we had great ticket sales for our first three acts of the season – David Bowie and Frankie Valli tributes and a local Motown covers band, Soul Train. We’re looking forward to welcoming back Snake Davis (twice postponed) and The Houghton Weavers in the spring, and we’re in the process of finalising arrangements for Kiki Dee later in the year. We’re always working a long way ahead in the diary planning the next season before the current one is halfway through.

Film screenings are held monthly throughout the year. Like other village halls, we can’t get new releases and have to wait until films are released on DVD – we work with Film Bank for our licensing. The increase in the use of subscription channels like Netflix, Disney and Prime mean, of course, that many people have had the opportunity to see films at home even before the DVD release, but seeing something on a big screen as part of an audience, enjoying a couple of drinks from the bar, definitely adds to the experience and our figures still make this aspect worthwhile. To expand on this, we’ve recently started working with CinemaLive who is a distributor of ‘event cinema’. Through them, we have screened live recordings of Ball & Boe, The Australian Ballet, and this weekend we have Cliff Richard on tour! In Glusburn?!

To be able to run our busy venue, alongside a team of dedicated trustees, we do employ a part-time Centre Coordinator who looks after room and event bookings, tickets, publicity and all the other day-to-day tasks. Still, we rely heavily on support from our wonderful volunteers – we simply couldn’t do everything we do without them. Volunteers can help in so many different ways – distributing posters, setting up events, serving at coffee mornings or on event bars, checking tickets on the door and stewarding in the auditorium, running the technical aspects of events, supporting art classes, looking after the garden – we even have a volunteer clock winder! If you want to grow what you do in your hall, particularly in terms of putting on more events, reach out to your community for volunteers to help you do that.

Don’t be put off if your first attempts aren’t a roaring success – take stock, gather feedback, look at what did work, and try again.

Good luck!

One stop shop for fixed asset registers for community buildings

, ,

Written by Joanne Abbott, development officer at Community First Yorkshire.

Why compile a fixed asset register for a community building?

You may have looked around your community building or village hall on a number of occasions and thought “I wonder how long that boiler will last”, “How many years will it be before the windows need painting?” or “Can we afford to replace those old chairs next year?”!

An up to date asset register could help you answer all these questions and more.

A comprehensive list of all assets and fixtures and fittings will provide you with information, all in one place, to help you make well-informed decisions relating to maintenance and replacement.

One of the 6 main duties of a charity trustee, as defined by the Charity Commission, is to manage the charity’s resources responsibly.

Having a register of the charity’s assets will help trustees fulfil this duty.

An asset register will help trustees:
  •  Know what assets the charity owns
  •  Know where those assets are located
  •  Plan for when renewals may be needed and how much they may cost
  • Compile a reserves policy
    • Designating funds to cover the future cost of replacing items
    • Explaining the reason for holding funds in reserve
  • Value assets for insurance purposes
What does an asset register look like?

This will depend on the assets of the charity and the number of details trustees wish to include.
A simple table or spreadsheet with a list of assets down one side and details of those assets across the top is a useful format to adopt.

For example: number of items, date purchased, cost price, date replacement needed and estimated cost of replacement across the top and boiler, tables, chairs and projector down the side.

Other useful information you may want to include in your table are:

  • Name of supplier and contact details
  • Technical specification of item
  • Location
  • Maintenance intervals
The information captured in the table should help with:
  • Setting reserves levels to ensure enough is set aside to maintain, repair and replace the building and its fixtures and fittings
  • Setting hire charges at a level to ensure sufficient income to maintain reserves levels
  • Planning fundraising activities to fill any shortfall in reserves including staging fundraising events and making applications to grant funders

It is good practice to review and adjust the asset register on a regular basis.
You will need to update the register as assets are purchased and disposed of and carrying out an annual review will help to ensure the register is kept up to date.

Hopefully, you can now see the benefits of compiling and maintaining an asset register for your community building and now have an idea about how you can make a start.

What the Dickens – community library

, ,
‘What the Dickens’ is a community library loaning service based in Monk Fryston and Hillam Community Centre. The project was founded by Sue Woodall.

This project began with contracts for room hire, the completion of permanent and secure shelving by local craftsmen and with an initial store of around 500 books, some borrowed from the Central Library at North Yorkshire County Council, ‘What the Dickens’ was launched successfully in February 2020.

Within the first month of opening fifty members were registered! Unfortunately, like most community projects, it suffered a temporary pause during the national lockdown. But, since reopening in June 2021 they now have a register of one hundred and ten and continue to grow.

With such a rollercoaster of a start, we took some time to speak with the founder of this community project, Sue Woodall.

 

Sue, what did you want to do, or achieve, when you started the project?

Very simply to stimulate the love of reading from nine months to ninety years.

That sounded like a rocky start, opening up a month before a national lockdown. Did you ever feel like giving up?

Not give up but some things were daunting. Like finding the people with the right skills to help us. Setting up the structure to be able to apply for grants – having bank accounts, constitution, organisation and premises in place or lined up and convincing the Funders to back the idea.

Have you had any surprises?

How, despite the pandemic, we have become a part of some people’s lives by not only supplying books but providing regular contact and social interaction. Like friendships being formed, sometimes between people who were near neighbours but did not know each other

And finally – some kind and well-intentioned people thought we might like to take their old magazines and dog-eared books off their hands – we have learnt that what people want is a range of good quality novels by popular authors and biographies. We are not paper recyclers – we provide easy access to your door-step library and drop-in service.

We could not have done it without the generous donations of good quality books from residents, the support of our clients and the organising group.

What would you like to do next?

I would like to get more people of all ages, particularly teenagers reading books.

I would like to get members to write appraisals of books they have read which we could share via our Facebook page and get people to meet and discuss books.

Perhaps this would lead to a book club – where members could meet, share their views of a book they have all read, and socialise as well. NY Libraries would be willing to provide multiple copies of books for a group to read simultaneously.

We need to look at the room we occupy to perhaps provide a better ambience with comfortable seating and décor to encourage socialising.

The success of ‘What the Dickens’ has led to an add-on service: a permanent display of books for the under-sixes that encourages parents attending other groups using the community centre when What the Dickens is closed, to bring and swap books. It has been named Tiny Tim’s Swap Shop and is now regularly attended on a Wednesday by children from Monk Fryston Pre-school.

Further grants and generous donations from locals has enabled the community library to restock their shelves with new reading materials.

What the Dickens has achieved its goal of reaching out to all ages in the community by providing a relaxing environment in which to read and forge new friendships. As we came out of lockdown it became a major part of the fabric of our village and, as society adapts to the new restrictions imposed upon us, it is with confidence that the library and its users can look forward to an even brighter future.

Opening times Wednesday 10.30am – 12.30pm and Sunday 2pm-4pm

  • No borrowing charges
  • Light refreshments offered – tea, toast and scones at a nominal charge

For further information, head to the ‘What the Dickens’ Facebook page that offers weekly updates on opening times and book reviews of new library acquisitions.

Our websites have had a makeover

, ,

One of my new year’s resolutions has been to revitalise my lounge – don’t get me wrong, I love it! It’s comfy and cosy, but it needs a bit of a refresh as it’s looking a bit tired around the edges (cats, kids and a coal fire have taken their toll!). As I write this, with paint in my hair, I’m thinking of other makeovers.

When we launched Community First Yorkshire five years ago, I created and launched a website in four weeks! No mean feat – and necessary at the time – but perhaps not the best approach to building your ‘virtual shop front.’

It’s now time for a refresh. Like my lounge, we’re looking a bit outdated. So this week sees us launching not one but two new websites for Community First Yorkshire and our Community Support North Yorkshire service.

Same web addresses but a totally different look and feel that, we hope, offers something vibrant and engaging for the community groups, voluntary organisations, charities and people across North, South and West Yorkshire that we work with.

It’s not all about looks!

Revamping your website isn’t just about making it look nice; we’ve taken the time to understand what you, as a visitor, need and expect and have made it easier to find the support you’re looking for – whether that’s practical training, specialist resources or advice.

Working with our expert web developers, Castlegate IT, we’ve added more colour, more pictures, more videos and more thought into the visitor’s journey to help you find what you need quickly.

On the Community First Yorkshire website find out about:

Visit the Community Support North Yorkshire website to find out about:

  • Everything you need to know about funding – how to be funding ready, finding the right funds to apply for and help with developing a funding application
  • all things volunteering – whether you’re looking for volunteers or want to volunteer yourself
  • Training to help you run your organisation, be a great trustee, find volunteers, make the most of social media and much more
  • Resources to help your VCSE organisation or community group grow from recruiting volunteers and finding funding, to making sure you have the right safeguarding practices in place.
  • Ideas  and support to help you fulfill your leadership ambitions
  • Our peer support networks for people who run community buildings, charity treasurers, people who manage volunteers, or VCSE finance staff.

And there’s plenty more to be discovered.

What’s next?

While decorating my lounge is a one off for 2022 and then that’s it for the next few years, websites don’t stay still. We’ll constantly be improving the sites so do stay up to date by checking on our blog posts and news updates.

What do you think?

I have to say, I’m pretty chuffed with the results. If my lounge looks and feels half as good, I’ll be very happy. But it’s not about me – it’s all about what you, our website visitor, thinks.

Please have a scroll through both website. We would love to hear your thoughts – get in touch with us at marcomms@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk.