Volunteer recruitment Fayre & Information Event Thursday 2nd May- British Legion, Thurso 12-4pm
Thursday 9th May , Harpers, Back Bridge Street, Wick 12-4pm
Drop-in and meet local Voluntary Groups looking to Recruit volunteers,and also information on Older Adult services will be available.

Wick Family Centre has been taken over by a new company called No Limits Caithness.

Caithness Rural Transport has a 10-seat minibus for hire that is wheelchair accessible

Download guidance on ACAS website.

Grant from Dounreay Communities fund to go towards garden maintenance.

The award will be used for coaching volunteers.

The fund will offer grassroots projects the chance to apply for funding of between £250 to £10,000.

Caithness rural transport has a new 10 seat mini bus available for hire.

The Future of Scotland coalition has launched its website http://www.futureofscotland.org

COMMUNITY groups and schools in Caithness are being given a chance to take part in a national tree-planting scheme to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Woodland Trust is marking the historic occasion by helping millions of people across the UK to come together to plant six million trees in the Jubilee Woods project.

RoWAN is a waste awareness charity based in Highland whose aim is to help people cut their waste.

From 1st January existing charitable companies and charitable industrial and provident societies will also be able to apply to OSCR to convert to SCIO form.

Groups are being encouraged to take part in this historic event by building and lighting one or more beacons on Monday 4th June 2012.

Big Lottery have now agreed to consider applications from projects which are located outside eligible areas.

Public agencies are supporting an Autism Alert Card Event being held at 2 pm on 24 August at 2pm in the Recreational Hall, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. Each partner organisation will have a stall with their own information displayed with application forms for the card.

The Caithness Volunteer Centre is still located in Telford House Wick.  It is no longer called Volunteering Highland and has new contact details. 
We are able to provide Voluntary Groups and individuals wishing to volunteer with the following services:

Voluntary Arts Scotland is currently recruiting people to become a Arts Ambassador

Voluntary Arts Scotland aims to promote participation in the arts and crafts across the U.K

The new Scottish Government contract for Business Support services for Enterprising Third Sector Organisations has been secured by the Just Enterprise consortium

This is a programme for communities of less than 300 who are looking to set up and run a community-owned rural shop

The Scottish Government has provided funding to the Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) to establish COSS.  Building on a previous pilot phase, COSS will offer support and advice to both communities and local authorities to explore and advance the effective transfer of local authority assets to community ownership.

The scheme - The programme aims to support communities to come together around a space or place that matters to them, helping those spaces and places be better used, and the communities to improve the environment and to work together to be healthier and more active. The kinds of projects they might fund include parks and community gardens, outdoor play areas, allotments and community centres or meeting spaces.

Two Caithness Projects successful in securing Climate Challenge fund awards

Volunteering Highland is promoting volunteering awards in Caithness

A new disclosure scheme to improve the protection of Scotland’s most vulnerable groups went live on February 28,

Excellent Office space for rent at Telford House, Williamson Street, Wick

VOLUNTARY organisations using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) model can too easily inflate the results to make their work look good.

Remember VAT rise from January 2011

Rise in national minimum wage for October 2010

Lloyds foundation awards over £300,000 in Scotland

ACAS guidance on snow and getting to work

Wick memorial Garden bulb planting

Legislation will introduce charges for playing recorded music in public venues from 2011, but charities are given an extra year to prepare.

The Flexible Training Opportunities programme gives Scottish businesses (1-50 employees) the opportunity to apply for up to £500* towards employee training costs.