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Margaret completed her Transformative Leadership Programme in the Colin / Dunmurry / Seymour Hill / Twinbrook area in Spring 2021.

Volunteers’ Week 1-7 June! After a fallow year in 2020, we’re back and delighted to be taking forward the campaign

Mass vaccination is a crucial part of our response to coronavirus, and the voluntary sector can play an essential role. Vaccines are

Our latest update on what’s going on in Westminster that might impact charities, including a delay to the controversial police

The below article details the latest policy and research activities of NICVA’s Policy and Public Affairs team.

NICVA and RCN sent guidance on annual reporting to hundreds of charities and provided detailed help and support to over 200.

Joanne McDowell, Northern Ireland Manager at the Fundraising Regulator reflects on the Fundraising Regulator’s recent Annual Event and collaborative work in

Public trust and confidence in charities is higher in Northern Ireland than in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland,

The Wheel and NICVA, the representative bodies for the community and voluntary sectors in the Republic of Ireland and Northern

Responding to Government consultations is vital to ensure that the voices of all of society are incorporated into the policy

People in Northern Ireland gave significantly less to charity during the last 12 months compared to the same period in

This blog was jointly written by Joanna Stuart and Laura Crawford. Joanna is an independent researcher and NCVO research associate,

NICVA’s online platform, CommunityNI is launching two new features to help widen access to services and better meet the needs of communities. 

Many commentators have, rightly, scorned Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s description of charity as one of ‘gentleness’. After all the issues tackled

In this article we hear from two of the learners from our ILM level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management. Why

On 11 March 2021 we held another webinar as part of the CFNI Accelerator programme funded by Department of Communities on

VODG has today responded to the Supreme Court judgment on sleep in payments, which upholds a 2018 Court of Appeal

As of 1st January 2021, the UK and Northern Ireland are no longer a part of the European Union, and

The Department for Communities is consulting on a new sport and physical activity strategy for Northern Ireland. Read here how you can

Welcome to the first edition of our 2021 impact round-up. It’s been a year since the WHO declared a global

Belfast City Council are currently consulting on the draft ‘Audit of Inequalities’ and Equality Action Plan 2021-2024.

SEUPB are seeking views on the draft content of the European Union funded PEACE PLUS Programme (2021-2027), which shall be worth

 Mandy James is development manager at Volunteering Matters, working to improve the impact of volunteering. Less of the barriers, more

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, the scale and pace of change has impacted the way we live and work. Although

The Minister for Communities has commissioned an independent review of charity regulation in N.Ireland which commenced on 25 January 2021.  

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has announced the release of over £7.5 million of awards to support charities facing financial difficulty

Last week the chancellor delivered his spring budget. Since March 2020 more than 700,000 people have lost their jobs while

Following their recent Call for Evidence, the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of Rights has launched

Women’s Aid have today launched a petition calling on the Northern Ireland Assembly to develop and implement a ‘Violence Against

The National Minimum and National Living Wage rates will increase on 1 April 2021.

Anne-Marie, head of volunteering at Mencap, has worked in volunteer management within health and social care for over 20 years.

VODG is pleased to support the roll out of a Digital Lifeline project to distribute 5,000 devices to adults with

Following a year of unprecedented challenges and economic uncertainty, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, yesterday announced the new budget for

Stephen McGarry from Workwest delivered a session on Introduction to Business Planning on 17 February as part of the CFNI

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until the end of September 2021.

The William Grant Foundation have signed up to our eight commitments for open and trusting grant–making. They join us as

Kids Company case After a 3-year legal case, the high court dismissed claims by the Official Receiver that the CEO

Laura did her TLP course in the Falls Shankill area in Autumn 2020 via Zoom. She comes from a youth

This webinar on Digital Fundraising was part of the CFNI Accelerator programme and delivered by professional fundraisers: Nadine Campbell, Matthew

Dr Jurgen Grotz is the Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

In the fight against Coronavirus, maintaining social distancing is everyone’s responsibility. 

The draft NI Public Budget for 2021-22 and a number of departmental budget proposals are out for consultation.  Will this

Our latest update on what’s going on in Westminster that might impact charities, including the #RightNow campaign, and Oliver Dowden’s

In response to today’s announcement that all people with learning disabilities will now be invited for a COVID-19 vaccine, the

Updated Knowhow covid guidance  We’re looking forward to lockdown easing! We will be updating our coronavirus Involving Volunteers guidance in the coming

On February 12th NICVA hosted a consultation event with the Executive Office examining the draft Programme for Government Outcomes framework.

The RSPB have launched a campaign asking Finance Minister Conor Murphy to establish a Green Recovery Fund for Northern Ireland

#RightNow campaign Wednesday saw the launch of the #RightNow campaign that NCVO is supporting along with hundreds of other charities.

Volunteering Matters and NCVO are working in partnership to develop recommendations for a National Volunteer Passporting Scheme. Over the next

Read here how the current proposals for the Department of Communities budget if implemented could leave major funding shortfalls in wide

Camilla Long from Bespoke Communications delivered a session on Using LinkedIn to connect on 11 February as part of the

Meabh is a local resident and completed her TLP course in Autumn 2020 in West Belfast,along with participants from BCC,

Amanda Johnston from Social Enterprise NI (SENI) along with 3 social enterprises delivered a session on Starting a social enterprise

Paul is a member of the SDLP and did the course in Autumn 2020 in West Belfast, along with participants

In response to today’s launch of the government’s Health and Social Care White Paper, Integration and Innovation: working together to

What we discovered NCVO’s EDI report, the findings of which were shared last summer, provides a picture of an organisation with a toxic

Queen’s University, Belfast is accepting expressions of interest from organisations who would like to explore the possibility of providing a 12-week internship

Just before the end of 2020 the government published a green paper setting out reforms to procurement legislation post-Brexit. Procurement

What does a modern charity membership body do and how does it do it? Those are the questions we’ve asked

Since March 2020, funders and charities alike have learnt to work in a new way: remotely, and in extreme uncertainty.

We have launched the final report of the Rebalancing the Relationship project, in partnership with ACEVO and Lloyds Bank Foundation

This article outlines how completing your annual monitoring return can increase your chance of funding. 

Anne Fleming works as part of the NI Assembly Engagement Team. Here she shares her story.

The past year has been a challenging time for organisations across the sector but technology has enabled many of us

Northern Ireland risks slipping further behind other countries in the Skills of its workforce, a new report by a leading

Siofra Healy, Director of Philanthropy at the Community Foundation for NI and Sandra Bailie, Head of Organisational Development at NICVA

Margaret Connolly from Monkstown Village Initiatives explains how she has benefited from the new skills and relationships she gained through taking part

Great training opportunities are now available for faith based groups.

In partnership with SEUK, IVAR hosted the Transforming Healthcare Together Virtual Conference on 17th and 18th November 2020. Panellists on

A keep in touch (KIT) meeting for members of the VODG Quality and safeguarding network with a focus on fire

Updated Knowhow covid guidance We’ve updated our coronavirus Involving Volunteers guidance to help you be clear about the national lockdown for

“I watched people blossoming over the 10 sessions of the course. And I learned to retreat a bit at times

The Charity Commission has stopped sending reminders to charities.  However, online services is still operational and charities can complete their

By Sarah Vibert and Daniel King If one thing’s clear from the last few months, it’s how fast the environment

Welcome to our third EDI round-up where we’ll be sharing what we’ve been doing, reading and thinking at NCVO over

Road Ahead 2021 This week we published our annual Road Ahead report looking at the key trends, opportunities and challenges

New Charity Governance Code launched Last month we, together with our Steering Group partners, published a new version of the

Due to exceptional demand in the sector for the Community Wellbeing and Resilience Programme, additional dates have been added.

Traditionally, January is a month where we reflect on the year that has passed, celebrate our achievements, and set out

DoJ has launched a consultation on proposals to reform rehabilitation periods in Northern Ireland.  

Following the implementation of Government policies and strategies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, WRDA identified the disproportionate impact on

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has today announced the opening of a second phase, worth £1m of the Voluntary, Community and

Information on the support and services available through the Department for Communities to individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

EU citizens living in NI must apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to retain their right to stay but many may not

Our latest update on what’s going on in Westminster that might impact charities, including a return to remote parliamentary proceedings,

In this 10-minute blog, Ben and Sara explore the idea of ‘alignment’ and how it could help trusts and foundations

An ad hoc committee examining a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland has recently been set up by the Northern

On Tuesday 12th January 2021, NICVA was joined by the new Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman, Margaret Kelly for an

The Dormant Accounts Fund NI is now open. This programme will support the VCSE sector in Northern Ireland to be

The Department for Communities are reopening the Voluntary, Community and Social Economy (VCSE) COVID Recovery Fund for applications on 18

GP practices will start rolling out the free COVID-19 vaccination programme from today, Monday 4th January 2021.

As the year draws to a close, we reflect back on the work of the Policy and Public Affairs team

Companies, registered societies and credit unions that are due to hold an AGM in early 2021 will be glad to

NCVO research: Impact of covid-19 on the sector We’ve published our latest findings from the Response, recover, reset: the voluntary

NCVO chair of trustees, Priya Singh, reflects on NCVO’s progress with equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and looks forward to the

The government announced on 17 December that the furlough scheme will be extended until the end of April 2021

NICVA has launched a new support package for community and voluntary sector staff and volunteers working on the frontline of

Today, we have launched our report into diversity and volunteering, our third in a series of focused reports building on

Throughout 2020 volunteering has taken centre stage in many national conversations and in media coverage. We have seen new roles and programmes