The new Community Rights are part of the Localism Act introduced in 2011 with the aim of devolving more decision making powers from central government back into the hands of individuals, communities and councils.

Don Foster MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government was guest speaker at the event entitled ‘Communities Taking Control – Solutions from the frontline’.  Other speakers include Steve Wyler, CEO of Locality and Alison Seabrooke, CEO of the Community Development Foundation.

Martin Holcombe, CEO at Birmingham Settlement said, “We had a hugely successful day with input from a wide range of organisations that were able to share their experiences and discuss the challenges they have faced.”

Steve Wyler added, “This was an opportunity to see beyond the legislation and discover how initiatives are actually working at grass roots level. It was inspiring to see how many varied projects are making a real difference in local communities.”

Birmingham Settlement is part of Locality’s West Midlands Regional Action Group and a kickstarter for the national Community Organisers programme.

Birmingham Settlement has secured funding for a third year from UK Online Centres, a national organisation that supports training and projects to help people make the most of online life.

This year’s programme will focus on providing people with the skills they need to feel confident about using the internet. It will cover activities such as how to search and explore the internet, to keep in touch with email, to stay safe online and the basics of using online public services.

The programme will be delivered via a selection of courses, which will take place at the Settlement’s Centre for the Aston Family, on Witton Road, Aston.

The courses are deigned to be short, fun, accessible and easy to follow. Learning will take place independently or with the support a dedicated ‘Digital Champion’. Anyone that wants to find out about the benefits of using the internet in their daily lives is welcome although there will be specific help for jobseekers.

Meena Bharadwa, Head of Operations at Birmingham Settlement, said: “The sessions will be interactive and fun and no previous experience is needed as we will start from basics. We will also be offering some progression courser for those looking to develop skills in specific areas such as making money work and using social media.”

For further information please contact the Centre for the Aston Family.

Women & Theatre are producing a performance to share eight stories, showing the contrast between stories from the 1600s and those from the modern day. For this production Women & Theatre are inviting people who wish to perform in the play to attend a casting callout to show their skills.

If you think you’ve got what it takes attend the casting event on:

Date: Thursday 2nd May 2013
Time: 4:30pm-6:30pm
Where: Stable Cafe, Aston Hall

For further information download the flyer below.

Are you interested in the local history of Aston? Do you want to discover fascinating stories about the people who lived and worked there – those whose lives don’t appear in the history books? Or do you want to be involved in a performance at Aston Hall?

Come and find out more about the ‘Aston Telling Tales’ project and how you can get involved.

When: Monday 11th February 2013
Where: Meet in the cafe at Aston Hall
Time: 10.30am–3.00pm

This is a free event.  Tea and biscuits will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.

For further information contact Terina or Rachel at Women & Theatre on 0121 449 7117 or email rachelsnape@womenandtheatre.co.uk

For more information about the project click here to download this information sheet.

On Saturday 15th December Birmingham Settlement held a day of fun activities for people from the local community to come and get involved in as the year comes to an end. The day was a fantastic success, with a wide range of activities taking place, including choir singing, drumming, arts and Santa’s grotto.

One of the activities was a performance from members of the Birmingham Ormiston Academy. Through a mixture of music, dance and storytelling they shared the idea that everybody can achieve their dreams and ambitions if they are willing to fight for them.

Service users and members of the public who attended had a great deal of fun and were able to get involved in many of the activites taking places. The day was supported by members of staff, volunteers, trustees and service users who all came together to make the day happen. We hope that everybody who attended enjoyed themselves and thank you for being a part of it!

Check out our album on Flickr for loads of lovely pictures from the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birminghamsettlement/sets/72157632265587491/

• Santa’s grotto, storytelling and face painting for the children.
• Choir and carol singing.
• Drumming and arts workshops.
• Hand massage and Mehndi hand painting.
• Yoga taster sessions.
• Table tennis tournament.
• Pop up Settlement Shop with a selection of books, toys and clothes from our charity shops.
• Representatives from emergency services will be available to speak to local residents and offer advice.
• Refreshments available.

Our Chief Executive Martin Holcombe said, “Many people have come together to organise and donate both time and prizes to the day. We’re hoping that many families will join us for what promises to be a great day.”

The event will be open from 11am-3pm at the Centre for the Aston Family at 359-361 Witton Road, Aston, B6 6NS. Whether you currently use our services or not you’re welcome to come along, have fun and get involved.

• Light Up The World – Tuesday 4th December 2012 at 6pm.
• Office Carols Service – Thursday 13th December 2012 at 1:15pm-1:45pm.

All are welcome to attend and refreshments and mince pies will be available afterwards! Our Chief Executive Martin Holcombe will be attending to speak about Birmingham Settlement and collections will be made to support our work. This is a great opportunity to attend a fun event while also supporting Birmingham Settlement.

My name is Charisse Reynolds, I previously attended Job Club this year at Birmingham Settlement in Aston. I was actively searching for work at the time, but I found the support, guidance and advice given to me by Sourour and Louise, motivating and friendly. I was always called the day before Job Club to remind me to attend, which was a very welcoming prompt for me to continue my job search. After getting many unsuccessful applications, I often felt like giving up, demotivated by the lack of results for my efforts. But the Job Club put me in touch with other likeminded people who were feeling the exact same way. We could share job search tips, vacancies we had seen and new schemes that were recently being implemented. If one person didn’t turn up to Job Club, because they had an interview or a job offer, it gave me a positive push towards finding work and being hopeful that I would find work too. 

After applying to a recruitment agency, I soon found work and for a short period of time I was starting to rebuild a scheduled routine. But before long the contracts were withdrawn and work dried up. I had to visit the Job Centre many times and was told that supporting me with travel to attend interviews or the first month of employment was no longer an option available. However, there was a fund for me to attend an interview outside of Birmingham. I was quite frustrated with the idea that I was getting more support to seek work outside of Birmingham rather than seek employment within the area. I asked for advice and support at the Job Club, and they helped me to plan out a reasonable plan of entering employment in a new town.

Step by step I had new concerns and tasks to undertake to make this transition. I didn’t think that I would be able to do it but Sourour and Louise helped me by sharing their opinions and experiences, motivating me about the prospects of something new, whilst highlighting the preparations and requirements to relocate and re-enter employment. I have recently been offered a job working with a popular charity. The work that I do is very rewarding and I am starting to have a different outlook on what the future may bring.

I would like to say a special thank you to Birmingham Settlement, Sourour, Louise and the all the people who attended Job Club. Everyone together made a difference, I am happy to have been involved.

These eReading Rooms aspire to put informal learning at the heart of communities, where knowledge and information can be shared to help people enhance their skills. Birmingham Settlement will be providing members of the community with the opportunity to access ‘The Learning Zone’ to learn about any topic they are interested in, from gardening to history. We will offer the latest technology for people to access the site and provide a friendly and helpful environment for their interests to grow.

This is a great way for members of the community to explore their interests and gain new knowledge and skills, but also to enhance their computer and Internet skills.

The team has also set up an ‘Aston Community’ Facebook page, working alongside the Aston Community Blog. It’s proved to be a great way to involve members of the community in local news, events and issues. It’s in the early stages, but we think it has the potential to really take off. So if you haven’t done so already, ‘like’ us on Facebook and share the page with people in the community. Take a look through the link: http://www.facebook.com/astoncommunity

It is a gloomy and uncertain time in the UK economy. Banks are slow to invest, inflation and unemployment rates are high, and a lot of big retail names have gone under in recent months. It might seem like the worst time to start up a new business of your own!

BUT in any community there are always people who want to do things, people who have a passion – based on an idea, a skill, a hobby or an interest – that they could turn into a business. All they need is a little help, someone to support them, to break down the barriers to success. This workshop will help you start to do just that.

What can you expect from the day?

An opportunity to hear about starting a business, the different ways people approach it and the simple things you can do to help yourself. 

• Your starting point
  • A checklist to consider
  • Your business plan demystified
  • Developing your idea

• Who is out there to help?
  • Help is closer than you think

• Taking your first steps
  • Ways to experience what it might be like
  • What can you learn before you start
  • How will you deal with competition

Who is this event for?

This event is for everyone who is looking to learn more about how they can start up a small business, or grow their current business, in tough economic times. You might be interested in starting up a business yourself, or looking to learn some useful tips and techniques to help others. All are welcome.

If you are interested in how to start a new business where you live in Birmingham please contact sourour.trevelyan@bsettlement.org.uk – if you have any questions about the event please email joe.penny@neweconomics.org.

Locality is a national network of community-led organisations of which Birmingham Settlement is an active member. Locality have recently launched a new website to help local people learn more about their rights under the Localism Act. If you’re passionate about your local community and want to know more about how you can address the issues affecting you, then take a look at this new website for some great guidance on developing your community.

www.mycommunityrights.org.uk

Head of Development, Meena Bharadwa and I set off for a very humid London on Tuesday to share UK Online’s celebration of one million learners accessing the internet. The afternoon was kindly hosted by Facebook’s UK office and we had a great tour of what goes on there. Facebook’s Director of Policy chatted about the importance of the work that UK Online Centres do in helping to reduce social exclusion across the country and UK Online’s Managing Director, Helen Milner provided an inspiring insight into the work that’s already been carried out, compelling us towards another million! To see more about the impact that this work is having in the UK check out Helen Milner‘s blog.   It was a great day all round and we met some fantastic organisations involved in this work like Action Acton. We chatted to one of their volunteers who had previously been a UK Online learner. He saw so much value in what Action Acton do that he now volunteers to support other people get online and involved. Birmingham Settlement is a registered UK Online Centre and we’ve got some great stories like the one below about how people are benefiting from a bit of support to get online.