Current Offers

Sector Connector aims to bring the business community of North Tyneside and local voluntary and community organisations closer together.

This page details some of the current offers made by local businesses for the support of voluntary and community sector organisations, which currently include:

• A range of courses from Carney Consultancy including Emergency First Aid at Work and Manual Handling
• Accenture free technology workshops
• Painting and decoration discounts from Tynemouth Decorators
• Online rebranding support
• Help with bid writing
• A free IT MOT from SolidBlueLiquid
• Trustee training sessions
• Graphic design support from Tyne Met College
• A limited number of free photography sessions

Contact us if you would like more information about these offers and how to access them.

Courses from Carney Consultancy

As part of their commitment to the Sector Connector project, Carney Consultancy has again agreed to provide free places for voluntary organisations on a number of its courses over 2020. The courses are as follows:

Mental Health First Aid: 2 day course which normally carries a charge of £250 per person. Dates available are: 3 March and 20 March 2020 or, 14 and 21 July 2020. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and you should indicate if you wish to be added to a waiting list in case additional places become available closer to the dates that the courses run.

Emergency First Aid at Work:  A full day course running on 21 January 2020, 27 February, 26 March and 20 April. If you would like to be put on a waiting list for a free place on any of these courses, please let us know. We will let you know as soon as possible if a place can be allocated, but a number of additional free places could be released 48 hours before the course runs.

Manual Handling:  A half day course running on 16 January, 6 February, 24 February, 10 March, 24 March, 9 April and 28 April. If you would like to be put on a waiting list for a free place on any of these courses, please let us know. We will let you know as soon as possible if a place can be allocated, but a number of additional free places could be released 48 hours before the course runs.

Safe Working At Height: A half day course running on 23 January, 18 February, 23 March and 24 April. If you would like to be put on a waiting list for a free place on any of these courses, please let us know. We will let you know as soon as possible if a place can be allocated, but a number of additional free places could be released 48 hours before the course runs.

Asbestos Awareness: A half day course running on 16 January, 6 February, 24 March; 9 April and 28 April. If you would like to be put on a waiting list for a free place on any of these courses, please let us know. We will let you know as soon as possible if a place can be allocated, but a number of additional free places could be released 48 hours before the course runs.

Please contact Ian Dodds.

Tynemouth Decorators

Tynemouth Decorators is offering local voluntary and community organisations a 10% discount for painting and decorating work and is also willing to supply materials at cost price. In addition, Tynemouth Decorators may be able to provide paint free of charge to some voluntary organisations. If you’re interested contact Ian Dodds..

Accenture tech workshops

Accenture is proposing to run three free workshops in 2020 to assist the voluntary sector in various aspects of technology:

Workshop 1 Social Media: You may be aware of the basics of social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, but do you know about the many great business features that they offer? Social media is so important these days to market your organisation and you can learn how to use tools that can help you track when your readers are online in order to schedule your posts to reach the majority of people; how to incorporate book now, contact us, and sign up into your posts, as well as a host of other useful tools. There will also be a chance to ask questions and advice from Accenture’s experts.

Workshop 2 QR Code: Increasingly charities are using bar codes that can be scanned using a smartphone. QR codes offer a fantastic opportunity to engage supporters with print and outdoor campaigns. Instead of copying out links, people simply snap the QR code with their phones and are taken directly to your content. This could be your website, YouTube account, your Twitter page or your Just Giving account (“scan here to make a donation of £X”). The workshop will cover how to build a QR code and connect to different sources (i.e donation payment or a link to websites).

Workshop 3 HTML to help your organisation: HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the most basic building block of most websites. Rather than trying to teach you a lot of mind-boggling theory, this workshop will focus on giving you the practical skills to build enhance your website with features that will be most beneficial to you as a charity.  Accenture aims to keep this session to the most basic level of html as possible and again there will be a chance to ask experts questions or get advice on the best way to meet your needs.

If you’re interested in a session for your organisation, please contact Ian Dodds.

Rebranding online support from Whiteacres Design

Thinking about rebranding? Whiteacres Design is offering up to five free spaces in the BrandSuccessClub.co.uk for a voluntary or community organisation who want to DIY their brand but need some expert support in an online, group environment. Membership will help voluntary or community organisations to improve their brand image through online tutorials and will also enable them to ask for feedback on whatever they are doing within the Brand Success Facebook group. Whiteacres is also offering free telephone consultations for voluntary organisations who are considering branding/re-branding.  If you’re interested, please contact Ian Dodds.

UberElla enterprise and bid writing support

UberElla, which hosts one of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Enterprise Advisers, is offering some pro bono enterprise support, coaching and bid writing expertise for small and micro voluntary organisations.  As part of this, they are able to offer some time-limited 1 to 1 support for chief officers of small VCS organisations.  If you’re interested, please contact Ian Dodds.

Free IT MOT from SolidBlueLiquid

SolidBlueLiquid is offering vcs organisations a free IT MOT. There is no obligation to buy services or software, and organisations are free to make suggested amendments themselves.

The MOT will cover:

• Email security
• Software versions
• Operating System versions
• Anti Virus
• Physical security
• Network setup
• Compliance of IT with GDPR
• Backups

Please contact us for more information.

Tait Walker trustee sessions

Calling all trustee boards that feel they want to know more about what to look for when discussing accounts or the finances of the organisation. Simon Brown from Tait Walker is offering to meet with trustee boards from October to answer any questions in an informal atmosphere about balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and trustees duties. If you and your trustees are interested in these free sessions, contact us to book a date.

For You Photography

Sector Connector Workshops

As part of Sector Connector, a number of businesses volunteer to deliver free workshops on a range of topics that may be beneficial to the voluntary and community sector. As such, if there are any particular topics or business skills that you think your organisation might benefit from and that could be the subject of a future Sector Connector workshop, please get in touch with Ian Dodds.