From Monday 18 October there will be a series of public events taking place across Tower Hamlets paying tribute to those who have died of Covid and celebrating the response of residents and partners, and the strength of our community. 

LBTH are encouraging residents to remember in their own way during the week 18 to 24 October and share this by sending your memories to Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives.

Our borough, like many communities, experienced a tragic amount of deaths from Covid-19. To coincide with the anniversary of lockdown, LBTH will be launching a Book of Remembrance for residents. Here, you can leave tributes to remember and celebrate the lives of family members, friends and colleagues lost in the pandemic.

Welcome to your latest update from Tower Hamlets CVS

October is Cyber Awareness Month, do you know how to protect your organisation and yourself against cyber attacks? 

The pandemic has increased the number of cyber attacks to charities, small businesses and individuals, anyone can be a victim of cyber attacks (see our next post), do you know what to do before and after it happens?

The National Cyber Security Centre have created many resources and guidance on what measures you can take to be safer online and what to do when it happens.

Guidance for Individuals and families

Guidance for small/medium organisations

Let’s Talk - Black History Month Talking Diaries, 19 October @ 10.30, 11.30, 12.30, 14.00. 15.00, 16.00 / Account3, 3 Birkbeck Street, London, E2 6JY
The Canal & River Trust would love to hear your amazing stories. Come down and share your tales about what brought you to Tower Hamlets, your heritage, your community and who you are! Book your place here.

Let's Walk – Docklands Black History Month Walks, 20 and 27 October @ 10.30, 11.00, 12.30, 14.00 / Museum London Docklands, No 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, E14 4AL
The circular walks will start and finish at the Entrance to Museum London Docklands. Why not come along, get more active, meet new people, discover your local canal towpaths and discover how the history of the area is related to the transatlantic slave trade.
Book your place here.

Let’s Talk - Black History Month Talking Diaries, 25 October @ 10.30, 11.15, 12.00, 13.15, 14.00. 14.45. 15.30 / Leaders in Community, Teviot Centre, 1 Wyvis Street, London, E14 6QD
The Canal & River Trust would love to hear your amazing stories. Come down and share your tales about what brought you to Tower Hamlets, your heritage, your community and who you are! Book you place here.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

Each week the Director of Public Health, Dr Somen Banerjee, publishes a Covid-19 update to keep residents and partners informed about Covid-19 in Tower Hamlets. Read this week’s to find out about Covid-19 rates and how we’re making it easier than ever for everyone to be eligible to get their jabs.

Wednesday 3 November / 9:30am to 1:00pm

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) is pleased to announce a joint conference between the Tower Hamlets Safeguarding Adults Board (THSAB) and the Tower Hamlets Safeguarding Children Partnership (THSCP). The conference is for all Staff and Managers who work in safeguarding adults and children from Health, Social Care, Police, Housing, Education and Not for profit/Voluntary sector organisations.

Jo Neale, who is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bedfordshire will be talking about ‘Women’s Experiences of Entering, and Enduring, Abusive Relationships’ and will be drawing on extensive PhD research. Aysha Ahmed will be talking about her experience of ‘Working with Bangladeshi Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Violence’. 

The conference will also consider the impact of the pandemic on levels of domestic violence and abuse in Tower Hamlets and hear about support available locally.

Please note that sign up closes on 29th October and attendance is subject to confirmation in order to ensure a broad spread of attendance across the Partnerships and Agencies.

Tower Hamlets Covid-19 Testing Service would like to ask for some help as we move into winter. They are looking for a range of indoor locations across the borough that they can access during winter months to host our Mobile Covid 19 Testing service on a regular rotating basis.

What they need: An indoor area with power and able to be accessed by the public. This would be required for a day or two on a weekly basis throughout the winter months.

What they offer- the Covid-19 Testing Service can provide payment for use of premises and will ensure that the space is left as they found it. Their teams will set up and take down the site on a daily basis. In helping them, you will be helping keep our entire community safe as we enter the winter months.

Please contact Kevin Taggart - Testing Operations Manager at Tower Hamlets via email at kevin.taggart@towerhamlets.gov.uk or by phone on 07956 884 798

Tuesday 26 October / 11:00am - 13:00pm / Online event

Come and join us to celebrate another year's work, meet the team behind the scenes and celebrate the VCS sector achievements!

We will be joined by Mayor John Biggs and other Tower Hamlets organisations that will tell you their story over the last year.

THCVS is reviewing our e-bulletin and would like to have your feedback on what you think about the bulletin and ways that we can improve it.

We currently have 6 sections covering:

• A bi-weekly theme
• #Keeping Tower Hamlets Safe – News and Updates
• THCVS: Updates, Courses and Workshops
  
• Our Communities – What our members are up to?
• What’s on – Training and events
• Funding Opportunities

THCVS is aiming to create a bulletin that strengthens communication within the borough and voluntary sector through raising awareness of different organisations and events, promoting opportunities and exchanging information. We would like to know what you think and how we can improve the quality of the resources we share.

Wednesday 17 November / 2.00 to 3.00pm

THCVS is looking to improve how we report on the effectiveness of our services and the support we provide to the VCS in Tower Hamlets. To do this, we are working with a group of QMUL students to review our feedback and evaluation systems. We would like to invite you to attend a consultation session with the students on the research they have done on the different method and tools for evaluating our work.

We would like to find out how you feel about the range of tools that the students are researching and which you feel would work best in giving us feedback across the different areas of our work: One to one development case work / Partnership work / Forums and Networking / Work with external stakeholders and decision makers.

These tools and the session will also be directly useful to any organisation wanting to explore options for demonstrating the impact of their work and the THCVS team will be available to support you in taking this work on if you decide to follow up on your findings.

There is a new range of support services for our local residents in north east London to help reduce the risk of suicide. These services are being delivered together as Safe Connections and there are five elements:

• Safe Connections App: providing a safe, quick and efficient way to access information on services for local residents, downloadable via QR code or hyperlink and can be used on mobiles, tablets and personal computers.
• Community hubs: supporting people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts to access the right service at the right time.
• Community protectors: trained local residents who can offer support to their communities and offer near-by support for people feeling suicidal
• Bereavement services: offering specialist support for those bereaved following a suicide
• Training for professionals: delivering a tailored programme for health and care professionals to help them provide timely suicide interventions

Please help to make sure every resident in north east London is aware of these services by sharing with family, friends, and colleagues. More information is available on our Safe Connections web page.

Sundays / 11.00am to 12.00pm @ Mile End Stadium

This 16-week programme (beginning Sunday 25 July 2021) will include 1-hour physical activity using the very popular slow-paced version of the beautiful game” Walking Football”.

The gender friendly sessions are suited for people generally over 50 or inactive who wish to take exercise in a fun filled, safe environment which encourages social cohesion. It is non-contact with redefined rules to compensate for older or less active residents and current Government social distancing guidelines will be applied.

Location: Mile End Stadium Mini Pitches, Mile End Park Leisure Centre and Stadium
190 Burdett Rd, London E3 4HL. For more information, contact derek.bennett@towerhamlets.gov.uk / 020 7364 2681 or 07951 203144

Tuesday 19 October / 2.00 to 3.30pm,  Tuesday 26 October  / 2.00 to 3.30pm, Wednesday 17 November / 1.30 to 3.00pm

There is an increasing awareness of the effect bullying and harassment can have on individual, team and organisational welfare. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has estimated that over 50% of stress cases at work involve bullying, and the increasing costs of compensation can be staggering.

The three events will be delivered via MS Teams in a live, virtual, interactive format. All by experienced subject experts. Anybody working in North East London Health and Social Care setting can register to attend.

East London Foundation Trust’s  (ELFT) Macmillan Cancer Care Navigators offer personalised coordination and navigation support for people with cancer who:

• Have very complex health and social care needs
• Are vulnerable and isolated  
• Need proactive ongoing support close to home
• Live in Tower Hamlets and are aged 18 years and over

Length of support will depend on the needs of the individual

How can they help?  Their navigators:

• Have personalised conversations to assess people’s wider support needs
• Co-produce a care plan with the person, focusing on their needs
• Coordinate care and support with other professionals as a team around the person- including the GP and hospital teams
• Provide people access to urgent information advice and support in the community
• Enable people to take control, be independent and manage their health

For more information contact: elft.macmillan-carenavigation@nhs.net / 0300 033 5000

This service can provide person-centred, practical daily living support at home for people with cancer who are having surgery and undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, especially those who:

• Live alone and have no network of support
• Are worried about coping at home with everyday life due to the consequences of treatment
• This service is available 7 days a week for residents of Tower Hamlets, who are aged 18 years and over. Exact number of sessions will be agreed at assessment, depending on a person’s needs.

Macmillan Cancer Support workers can help to:

• Ensure that the home environment is safe, clean and comfortable
• Organise practical support – e.g. personal care, household tasks, support with pets, children or other dependents
• Plan ahead for the treatment schedule
• Provide reassurance and reduce anxiety
• Signpost and refer to other holistic support services in the community, or adult social care if needed

For more information contact: macmillan@ageukeastlondon.org.uk 

LBTH are developing a new Adult Social Care Strategy which will articulate the strategic ambitions of the service and define how the ASC service moves forward.

They have launched a consultation on the new Adult Social Care Strategy, which is open now until 31 October. The strategy has been informed by discussions with people who need social care, unpaid carers, providers and staff. Following consultation, the Adult Social Care Strategy 2021 will be updated in early November in line with feedback and published in November 2021. 

London Borough of Tower Hamlets are pleased to offer FREE places on the Multi Agency Early Help Training programme to all organisations working with children and families in Tower Hamlets.

All courses are free and available on a first come first serve basis. Please note places are very limited and organisations will be allocated max 2 places per course.

LBTH have extended their enrolment period for a few of our courses. This gives new learners and families the opportunity to sign up still. Please see the course information below:

Functional Skills English – Classroom Based @ Meath Gardens Children and Family Centre- Enrolment Date 19th October 2021 9:30am-12:30pm

Functional Skills Maths – Classroom Based @ Collingwood Children and Family Centre- Enrolment Date 21st October 2021 9:30am-12:30pm

Community Interpreting Online- Enrolment 18th October 2021 9:30am-12:30pm
Teaching Assistant Online – Enrolment 12th and 19th October 2021 9:30am-12:30pm

For more information, please contact Zubair Ahmed (Parenting Adult Education Coordinator) email: zubair.ahmed@towerhamlets.gov.uk / tel: 020 7364 2240 or 07773 384 947

16-26 and living in London? Have your say on proposals to support your mental health and wellbeing. This survey from ToynbeeHall and ThriveLDN will take around 10 minutes to complete and you'll be entered into a prize draw of £100

The Proud to Care Rewards Scheme is a member benefit scheme led on by London ADASS that will help improve the lives of social care workers and unpaid carers and to say a big thank you for the continued hard work.  

Whether it’s for birthdays, weddings, engagements or more, the scheme is free to register and offers a range of discounts that can be applied to purchases helping to lighten the load. Social care workers and unpaid carers can sign up to the scheme for free on the registration page.

qTech is a new programme at Queen Mary University of London, designed to support your local business start-up, SME, or community organisation to grow. The programme will give you access to the knowledge, technology, or techniques that can help to drive your organisation forward, at no cost. You will be paired with a talented Queen Mary student along with a practitioner and an academic who will work with you on a specific acceleration need/project that will benefit your growth and development to move rapidly up the adoption curve for new technology.

September - December 2021 Season

The autumn is often a time for new projects as children go back to school and embrace the fresher air. As we get used to being back together again and opening up it is a time for growth! The new season of events encourages participation and introduces new ways for the community to come together, learn, and grow at St Margaret’s House.

St Margaret’s House are also providing an exciting arts and wellbeing programme this season, with plenty of opportunities to grow! With theatre, live performances, visual arts, and lots of wellbeing activities There is something for everyone this season!

There are many ways to join us and explore, learn and grow. Have a look through the programme and see what you can get involved in at the St Margaret’s House hub!

Tuesday 19 October / 12.00 to 1.30pm

Aviva are working with The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) to help causes to create a brighter, more sustainable future. It is a key strategic responsibility of Trustees and charity leaders to ensure that the charity has a clear strategy and supporting plan to deliver organisational purpose. This webinar is designed to do just that and get insight and tips from other charity leaders. 

Tuesday 19 October / 12.30 to 2.00pm

This webinar will explore the vision for a better use of NHS facilities to improve community health and resilience. Best-practice examples will be discussed during the session, not only focusing on the successes but also the challenges that can be encountered in the co-location of primary care services with community services and social prescribing.

Speakers will explore the opportunities of co-location of services, the challenges and some solutions to overcome the barriers. The discussion will be open for all to participate, with the aim to think about actual actions to make things change, both on a local level, and eventually on a systemic level.

Wednesdays from 20 October to 24 November / 10.00am to 1.00pm

Thrive LDN is working with Mind in London to bring together a new 6 week wellbeing peer support training programme for Londoners. Peer support happens when people use their own lived experiences to help each other and creating a peer support group can be an amazing way to build spaces of understanding, strength, safety and acceptance.

Peer support groups can bring people together for many reasons. This could be a shared experience such as identifying as LGBTQIA+, it could be a shared cultural background or even a similar personal interest.

The aim of this training is to give you the information you need to set up your own group in your community or organisation. We will go through the journey of setting up a group step by step, considering how you might manage different situations and support yourself along the way.

Thursday 28 October / 1.30 to 3.00pm

Please join the Bromley by Bow Centre, Community Connectors, and Talking Therapies Tower Hamlets for a chat about mental health. They will be speaking about resilience and how to look after our wellbeing.

 This webinar will be aimed at anyone who can sometimes struggle to cope with challenges and find it difficult to ‘bounce back’ from setbacks.  We will be discussing what resilience is and looking at the 5 domains of resilience:  (purpose, self, connections, body and mind). This online workshop will offer a space to talk, reflect and practical tips on how to build resilience and connect with others.

This is an online group for Tower Hamlets residents over the age of 18 and will take place over zoom. Event organised by ELFT and the Bromley by Bow Centre, and Tower Hamlets Talking Therapy.

1 November / 6 December / 3 January / 7 February / 7 March

Workshops / 2.00 to 3.00pm / Drop in advice Clinic / 3.00 to 4.30pm

@ the Create Place, 29 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ 

Many people are worried about everything going on with fuel at the moment. Ruby Farrell from Age UK will be running workshops will to help people feel a bit more secure about things. She will be giving lots of tips on how to save energy at home: appliances, lighting, preventing damp, applying for assistance schemes and grants, and lots more. This will be from 14.00-15.00 with free handouts for people who come. Then from 15.00-16.30, there will be a free drop-in advice clinic where anyone can come by to get some more personal advice and support in their own household.

The workshops are available to anyone living in the City, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

For more information, please contact ruby.farrell@ageukeastlondon.org.uk / 07514 670270

Tuesday 2 November / 10:30 to 11:30am

Effective trustees are vital for charities. This popular session with James Sinclair Taylor and Sukanya Ransford will assist potential and current trustees to understand their legal and governance duties and to assess the risks involved and will explore:

• Key issues to consider when becoming a trustee
• Legal and governance duties of a trustee
• Charity law and Charity Commission regulation and guidance
• Conflicts of interest management
• Serious incident reporting

Thursday 4 November / 11.00am to 12.00pm

Tower Hamlets Talking Therapies will be hosting a ‘Long COVID webinar’. This webinar is aimed at individuals who have found it difficult to recover from symptoms of COVID-19. The sessions aims to:

• Help you reflect on your COVID experience
• Consider the impact of COVID-19
• Provide strategies to help with breathlessness, fatigue & sleep
• Give information about pacing and setting SMART goals

Talking Taboos are currently working on exploring the experience of those who organise events / classes, and those who attend events / classes, after learning in their research that many people attend these events for connection, often from a place of loneliness. This desire for connection is regularly not met, so we they hoping to assist event organisers in changing responses to loneliness as well as strengthen community bonds through these pre-existing event spaces. 

Talking Taboos are looking for organisers of any kinds of events/classes/activities to be interviewed about their experiences, they can offer a remuneration of £30 for this. 

They also have two surveys, one for event organisers and one for event attendees which only take a few minutes to fill out.

The Outcomes Matrix is a practical tool to help social impact organisations  plan and measure their social impact in terms of outcomes. The tool includes outcomes and measures for nine different outcome areas and four lenses for considering the service users of your organisation. 

The Outcomes Matrix is a useful tool to:

• Gain a starting point for planning and measuring your social impact outcomes 
• CommunicatE your impact to social investors and key stakeholders
• Think about future areas of development for your organisation should provide a helpful starting point for organisations to measure their social impact.

Sustainability is an increasingly important issue for all businesses. That's why Aviva have joined forces with Enterprise Nation AND Smart Energy GB to launch Plan It With Purpose - to help 10,000 businesses implement sustainable best practices that deliver a positive impact on the planet, society, and the economy.

The 12-month programme will help business owners understand environmental, social and economic sustainability and provide free tools, content, recommendations and resources to help them define and achieve their goals.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has partnered with Enterprise Nation to deliver the Pivot Project, offering 150 small businesses in the borough a programme of business support and financial support of up to £1,000.

The initiative is open to businesses with up to 49 employees who were trading in Tower Hamlets before 30 June 2021 and whose business needs to adapt to a new business environment.

Tower Hamlets Council has established the Loneliness Fund, made available from the Mayor’s COVID Recovery Fund, to award grants of between £10,000 to £25,000 to organisations delivering activities designed to reduce the impact of loneliness and social isolation on vulnerable residents across the borough. The Loneliness Fund focuses on re-connecting those communities who have been most affected by the pandemic, helping them to re-engage with social activities and build lasting connections.

The Mayor’s COVID Recovery Loneliness Fund is being administered by East End Community Foundation (EECF) on behalf of Tower Hamlets Council.

Application Process: This is a two stage application process. Expressions of Interest should be submitted in the first instance by 12 noon on Monday 18th October 2021.

Deadline: Friday 22 October / @12 noon

School holidays can be particular pressure points for families because of increased costs (such as food and childcare) and reduced incomes. Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people.

The Department for Education is providing funding to local authorities to coordinate a holiday programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities to school age children on Free School meals during Christmas Holidays. The application process is being administered by East End Community Foundation and grants will be awarded and managed by Tower Hamlets Council.

Deadline: Friday 22 October

The Trustees of Action for Bow are pleased to invite applications from organisations for funding to provide services or activities for residents in Bow East or West from January 2022. Action for Bow is interested in supporting projects that will benefit the residents of Bow East and Bow West and meet the following objectives:

- Improve the health and social wellbeing of local people
- Increase prosperity in the area, including job opportunities, access to good quality training and access to appropriate financial support and guidance
- Improve opportunities for young people, including educational attainment and personal development
- Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
- Provide recreational and leisure opportunities
- Improve the physical environment and encourage long-term sustainability measures
- Contribute to building and sustaining a vibrant inclusive local community

Please contact Ahmed Hussain to enquire about potential bids and to request the application form: ahmed.hussain@bbbc.org.uk. 

Deadline: Monday 15 November / @ 12 noon

Compass Wellbeing are seeking a voluntary or community sector provider to support the NHS service in providing a minimum of 1.0 whole time equivalent (WTE) community connector (or 2 part time roles) who will specialise in supporting young adults in the Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams in Tower Hamlets for a 12 month period. The maximum available funding is £53,000 which is inclusive of all costs.

The community connector role(s) will link young adult service users to voluntary and community sector provision based on need and provide support with engagement, as well as linking in with further education providers and their counselling/mental health services to engage with student populations where there is unmet need.

Disadvantage is any form of limiting factor that prevents an individual from reaching their full potential or enjoying a fulfilled life. The broad scope of this definition invites a wide range of organisations, from those tackling housing insecurity, prison rehabilitation, food poverty, domestic abuse to those supporting mental and physical health, to apply. Merchant Taylors' Foundation support educational charities and programmes so that anyone striving for a better future can achieve it.

LBTH is offering social value resources for organisations with a turnover of less than £100,000.

Organisations can apply for resources including first aid training, ICT support, equipment in good working order, annual subscriptions, and officer support and mentoring from senior managers. Organisations can apply up to a value of £2000. Resources will be offered first come, first served as organisations who fit the eligibility criteria apply.