Training & Support
Upcoming Sessions
Let’s Develop Our Vision for Our Community
Co Wicklow Public Participation Network (PPN) & Wicklow County Council want to hear about your vision for the wellbeing of our community.
This consultation is aiming to understand what you or your group/organisation consider to be the important factors for the future wellbeing of our community under the six wellbeing themes.
In person sessions will be held in each Municipal District area and an online session will also be organised.
To find out more about these sessions and book click HERE for our Eventbrite page or contact us via email to info@countywicklowppn.ie or call Helen on 087 1895145/Grainne on 086 0487434
Previous Training Events - Resources
Insurance for Community Groups
Martina Westphal of BHP Insurance gave a short very informative presentation to our members on this topic. The reminder of the evening was given over to a Q&A session which provided attendees with an opportunity to raise their concerns and issues in relation to Insurance cover for their groups.
We will share a summary of the Q&A here in the coming days.
Risk Management
This session, delivered by Carmichael, aimed to enable participants to develop a good understanding of Risk Management within an organisation/group and the tools which can be employed to minimise risk. It also showed how the roles of Committees/Boards is vital for effective risk management and how risk management makes for very effective Committees/Boards.
Topics covered included:
• Understand Risk
• Understand Risk Categories
• Understand Risk Management and Know Why It Is Important
• Understand What Makes A Good Risk Management System
• Drafting your own Risk Management Strategy
Meet the Funders
The aim of the Meet the Funders sessions is to help support your group to access funding and gain useful tips when considering the; what, when and how of funding your group’s activities.
For this first Meet the Funders session on the 6th April we were joined by:
- Deirdre Whitfield from Wicklow County Council about the many funding schemes that are available through the County Council
- Alison Keogh from Co. Wicklow Partnership spoke about the LEADER funding scheme.
At the second Meet the Funders session on Wednesday 13th April we were joined by:
- The Community Foundation for Ireland
- South East Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG)
- Arklow Wind Farm Sponsorship Fund
- Raheenleagh Wind Farm Community Fund
- Eirgrid (No fund currently in Wicklow, but gave insights into making a successful funding application)
Looking After Your Group's Money
Making sure your group takes good care of its money is the responsibility of your whole committee, or, if you are a very small group, your whole group. During this session people learned about: Financial Management, Income and Expenditure and Financial Reporting.
This session was delivered by Andrea Shupinski, Carmichael.
Sourcing Funding For Your Group
This Free online session sought to share information about Funding and Fundraising with participants which will help to secure funding for their group. The session
This session was delivered by Liam Scollan, Carmichael.
Promoting & Marketing Your Group
This Free online session sought to support people to spread the word about the work your group is doing and in so doing help to ensure the success of the group.
During the session participants found out about the opportunities available to market and promote your group, including the use of digital media.
The session will be delivered by Sorcha MacMahon, Alice PR/Carmichael.
Ready & Able to Reopen 2021
Please Note: this training does not reflect the requirements of the revised COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Government on the 19th October 2021. To access the latest National Guidelines, click HERE.
This online session delivered by Liam Scollan, Carmichael on Thursday 23rd September, provided practical guidance by which not-for-profit organisations can structure their return to operations.
The information provided aims to help smaller organisations to judge the level of protocols that may be needed in their own particular situations. For larger bodies it deals with new policies such as homeworking, right to disconnect, cyber security and decisions in the work place around testing and vaccination.
Finding Your Way Around Local Government
To support community groups and individuals to understand the local government landscape Co Wicklow PPN organised three workshops that looked at the structures of local government, its committees, the policy areas it covers, the work it undertakes, the roles of its various stakeholders, the budgetary process and how to make effective submissions.
Social Justice Ireland provided an overview for each session and a Representative of Wicklow County Council spoke about the specifics within Co. Wicklow local government.
During the third session in this series of training Social Justice Ireland spoke about Participatory Budgeting. Participatory Budgeting has been defined as a process which ‘engages people in taking decisions on the spending priorities for a defined public budget in their local area. This means engaging residents and community groups to discuss spending priorities, make spending proposals, and vote on them, as well as giving local people a role in the scrutiny and monitoring of the process’ (Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), 2008, p. 8).
To find out more about Participatory Budgeting click HERE to access the IPA Report on Participatory Budgeting.
Group Good Governance
This training aimed to assist groups to develop their operational systems and structures so they can achieve their organisation’s purposes and demonstrate good governance practices.
The training was provided over four online sessions which covered the following:
Session 1: Overview of the context in which not-for-profit groups now operate and what is expected of them in terms of accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness. The session also considered the Charities Regulator’s Code Principles 1 & 2
Session 2: Considered the Charities Regulator’s Code Principles 3 & 4
Session 3: Considered the Charities Regulator’s Code Principles 5 & 6
Session 4: Reviewed the whole process and recapped on the most challenging aspects of developing the documentation necessary to demonstrate that any organisation has the necessary approach to good governance.
Making the Sustainable Development Goals more visible in Wicklow
This workshop was a collaboration between: Development Perspective (Saolta), Co Wicklow PPN and Wicklow County Council.
The workshop covered the following:
- Introduction to the SDGs
- Identifying how we highlight the SDGs in our work in Co. Wicklow and label it with the relevant goal.
- Hear about the new Wicklow mapping of SDGs
- Access Free community development resources
Access and input your groups actions to the SDG Mapping Tool for Co. Wicklow
What are the SDGs and what can I do to help achieve them?
Ready & Able Post COVID-19
Co Wicklow PPN organised two sessions to support groups, clubs and community centres to safely provide their services to the people they support and work with.
The online session provided attendees with a thorough understanding of the protocols and best practice for returning safely to operations. Participants were guided through a workbook which contains the key steps and templates they need to re-open and which also generates the key documentation they need.
Peer Support for Community Centres & Halls session held in The Brockagh Centre focused on sharing experiences and providing peer support. In addition, Deirdre Whitfield from the community section of Wicklow County Council provided information on funding streams available to support these groups in the current climate.
New Options for Funding Your Community Group
This course was delivered for Co. Wicklow PPN by Liam Scollan of the Carmichael Centre over two sessions – Tuesday 22nd & 29th September 2020. This course aimed to support all community groups challenged with loss of any type of income from traditional sources as a result of Covid-19.
Super Charge Your Self Care Programme
During 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and bearing in mind the shared Vision for Community Wellbeing developed with communities throughout the County, which highlighted the wish that people be connected and enjoy a good level of social and community support Co. Wicklow PPN decided to develop a resource to help support the wellbeing of individuals and communities. We teamed up Avril Bailey to develop this Super Charge Your Selfcare Programme.
This programme was initially delivered as online training. It has now been developed into a series of six short videos.
View the Six Videos on YouTube
For more information and resources check out:
Training Fair - 2019
In 2018 Co Wicklow PPN held its first training fair. It was so beneficial to community groups and volunteers that they asked if Co Wicklow PPN would make it an annual event. Building on the success of the 2018, the 2019
Training Fair took place on Saturday 21 September in The Brockagh Centre, Laragh. Workshops provided included: Funding your group; Getting the most out of Social Media; Charitable Status & the Governance Code; Running effective meetings; Mental health & wellbeing in the community; GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation); Good governance – where to start; Health & Safety for your group; and Attracting Volunteers. The spotlight on a PPN member group will showcase Laragh/Glendalough Tidy Towns and their work as a tidy towns committee, setting up a sustainable energy community and establishing a community garden. A visit to the community garden will be included. There will be lots of information stands from organisations that support community groups and lunch will be provided with contributions from local community cafés.
Training Fair 2019 - Presentations
Funding Your Group - Carmichael
GDPR - Cramdentech, Caroline Egan
Training Fair - 2018
At the request of member groups, County Wicklow PPN organised a Free Training Fair to support community & voluntary groups to do their work. The event was held on Saturday 8th September in The Brockagh Centre, Laragh. Workshops ran throughout the day on topics including: Charities Regulation, How To Manage Your Volunteers, Social & Digital Media, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), Safeguarding Children in Sport, Planning for Success, Governance Code, Garda Vetting and more.
Along with the workshops there were information stands from organisations that support and fund community groups including. Our wonderful local community cafés were on hand to share their experiences of setting up these great initiatives while also providing refreshments.