Its only got small items now, but we have big plans…
Let us know what you think!

The 2012 Community Calendar contains information about the local charities that you are helping when you buy it. It details their valuable work and how you can access it. Its also a very seasonal symbol of people coming together to do good, to raise mutual understanding and to help people where and when they need it most. The calendars sell for £5.

The cards and the calendars are available at the Michael Wood Centre (where Well for Living is based) in reception. The Michael Wood Centre is at 53 Regent Road Leicester. The calendars are also available from the 11 other charities involved. See posts below for more details!

 You can get involved with the 50 in 250 campaign by using any of the following Well for Living services

• Room Hire
• Design
• Catering
• Marketing
• IT and telecoms

Yesterday saw the launch of a new initiative to help raise funds and awareness for Community Organisations and Charities.

Twelve different organisations, all of them working to improve the lives of people living in Leicester and Leicestershire, and all are featured together in a calendar to help them to spread the word about their work, encourage community involvement and help raise funds in this difficult climate. The calendar also highlights important dates for the sector, such as Volunteers Week.

Leicestershire Community Calendar has been made possible by the twelve diverse groups working together in partnership. One of the great things about this is that each group gets an equal amount of promotion from the calendar no matter the size, and gives some small organisations an opportunity for publicity in places they may find hard to reach otherwise.

The groups featured in the calendar include Voluntary Action Charnwood, Refugee Action, Art-Tea Events, Leicestershire AIDS Support Services, Zimbabwe Action in Solidarity, Leicester Centre for Integrated Living, New Dawn New Day, the Cooke E Learning Centre, Network for Change, Self Advocacy in Action, LeicestHERday trust and Tomorrow Together.

Jenny Hand, CEO of LASS said; “This is an example of how the voluntary sector is working together and using social enterprise to diversify their funding stream in the face of government cuts. By buying this calendar you can help to maintain & extend innovative vital services supporting people locally.

Leanne Wightman, Projects Leader with Self Advocacy in Action had this to say; “We are really pleased to be involved in the calendar and we are excited about letting more people know about who we are and what we do. We are a very small organisation but are very passionate about what we do and feel proud to part of something which represents other community groups and enterprises. Please do buy this calendar, the money will support the good work of the organisation’s it represents.”

The 2012 calendar will be on sale at events and from each of the charities and organisations featured. If you would like a copy please contact any of the organisations above.

The calendar is an original idea created by Leicester Social Enterprise Well for Living. All the money from the calendar sales go directly to the community group selling the calendar. Well for Living donates all its profits to its parent charity Leicestershire AIDS Support Services. You can find out more at www.wellforliving.co.uk or www.lass.org.uk.

Picture features left to right Jenny Hand CEO of LASS, Adele Finlayson Supervisor / IT trainer with Tomorrow Together, Leanne Wightman Projects Leader of Self Advocacy in Action, Baz Kanabar Manager of Cook E Learning, George Sanderson, Design & Marketing for Well for Living, and co-ordinator of the calendar project.

We have some great organisations on board right now, but are looking for just 1 more so we can go ahead. Theres not much left to be a part of this innovative and community focused opportunity.

This is a project bringing together diverse organisations in a mutual fund and awareness raising drive. The calendar will remind people of important charity awareness days and events, and also inform them of the activities of their local community organisations and charities throughout the year.

If your a 3rd Sector organisation, Charity or Community Project, please get in touch with george@wellforliving.co.uk,  or call 0116 255 9995 and ask for George or Jenny.

Social Enterprise Mark – are you ready? from Social Enterprise on Vimeo.

Well for Living are proud to announce that we are now approved users of the Social Enterprise mark!

A superior, flexible system to enhance health & social care delivery

Pyramid is a database system designed by experienced health and social care professionals.  It offers huge benefits for managers, staff, clients and funders, making management of caseloads more efficient and effective, and providing opportunities for producing quality reports and evidence for funders and funding applications.  It gives an immediate picture of both work underway and outcomes achieved.
Pyramid: tracking clients up and down the ‘pyramid of needs’
Pyramid database is unique in that it automatically moves clients up and down the ‘pyramid of support needs’ as activity is carried out.  Staff can see when a client is in need of high level care and when and how they may have moved down to lower level care needs, and vice versa.

Consequently, managers can better track resource needs and use and more easily demonstrate outcomes and funding requirements to funders, senior management and other key decision makers.

What does Pyramid Actually Offer?
For funders- Provision of detailed reports and analysis of how their money is being or will be spent and outcomes aimed for or achieved.
Staff time saved in managing and delivering services and creating reports.
Increased confidence in an organisation that is using technology to improve delivery and  demonstrate effective use of funds.

For clients- Increased efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of client care.
Better communication between clients and multiple workers.
Better planning by services for a client’s future needs as a picture is built of patterns of activity.

For staff- Effective management of ‘live’ case loads and tasks carried out or still underway.
Better monitoring of client progress and need; particularly useful when clients are supported by a variety of staff.
Cutting down on time spent on paperwork, giving more time for face to face work and increasing work satisfaction!

For managers & supervisors- Accessible tracking of resources and time used to support individual clients and client numbers at each pyramid level.
Easy review of workloads to help with support and guidance of staff.
Quick access to client analysis (e.g. gender, language, ethnicity) and care categories.

Setting up and using Pyramid
Pyramid has two security levels: administrator and user.  This ensures the database is set up and managed using settings and criteria agreed by your own organisation or department to meet your particular needs.  A nominated administrator would manage the settings, whilst staff and managers log on as ‘users’ for day to day use of the database.  The settings can be changed and adapted whenever necessary by the administrator.

Once settings are in place, staff add and manage client information day to day:

- Adding and editing client records, including adding new clients and activities

- Performing simple on screen analysis

As activities are added a client automatically moves up and down the ‘pyramid of needs’, depending on the support level an activity has been assigned by your organisation.

Pyramid’s report and analysis opportunities:

Pyramid has a variety of reporting tools, as well as a facility for tracking organisational outputs and funders’ contracted outcomes, such as Our Health, Our Care, Our Say.

Report criteria can be set to produce focussed reports. For example, a report for a certain timeframe can be produced.

The database transfers data to Microsoft Excel, which allows organisations to produce analytical reports, including impressive multi-coloured graphs and charts!

Can you answer ‘yes!’ to these questions?

• Does your organisation use Microsoft XP or above?
• Does your organisation have internet access?
• Does your organisation have the Excel database programme and a staff member confident in using it?*

If so, Pyramid is a tool your organisation can use to great benefit!

*If you have an existing database using older or other software it is possible to import this into Pyramid.  Just discuss your needs with LASS to assess levels of support and possible cost implications.

CONTACT:

pyramid@lass.org.uk

You will be assigned a named member of staff to answer your questions

and take your enquiry forward.

Pyramid has been designed and developed by Leicestershire AIDS Support Services (LASS) in partnership with the University of Leicester.  All profits from sales of Pyramid go directly to LASS.