The RAISE home page

Click here to visit the RAISE Policy Website

RAISE exists to champion the third sector’s unique contribution to making South East England socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Join RAISE - no charge

If yours is a Voluntary/Community Organisation in the South East Region of England and you want to have your voice heard by decision makers, RAISE membership is for you.

Apply for RAISE membership online here.

More details about RAISE can be found in the 'About Us' section.

An Introduction to 'Advocating Intelligent Commissioning'

Two interactive seminars for local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) and those involved in commissioning will be held on 23rd March (Guildford) and 15th April (Reading). Do you work for a LIO or an organisation that provides support to other organisations? Do you work with your local authority or PCT on commissioning and want to advocate intelligent commissioning to achieve better services? If so, these workshops will be relevant for you.

The seminars will cover good practice in commissioning processes and will provide an opportunity for you to share local experiences and to learn from other LIOs about their experience of advocating intelligent commissioning. You will also hear from the Institute of Public Care about the public sector perspective of commissioning.

For more information and to book your place please click here

If you have any queries regarding the event please contact Abby Lee on 01483 885271 or email abigail@raise-networks.org.uk

RAISE Economic Climate Research

As part of RAISE's work to highlight the pressures the Sector faces and the needs of service users, RAISE is conducting a new quarterly survey on the challenges and opportunities that the coming year holds for the Sector. The results of these 'mini' surveys are used to influence key economic decision makers and funders to ensure that they understand the effects of the downturn and how investment in the Sector must be safeguarded.

The survey will only take 5 minutes to complete but your contribution is invaluable. We really appreciate your time and effort in providing this information. The deadline for survey responses is 5pm on the 28th January.

To take part in the survey please click here

Third Sector Engagement with Local Strategic Partnerships - 23rd February 2010

RAISE, Government Office for the South East and the South East Regional Strategic Cross-sector Partnership are pleased to be hosting a one-day regional conference on third sector engagement with Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs).

The event will provide an opportunity for the third sector to learn more about how they can better engage with their local partnership framework. The day will consist of speakers and workshops in the morning and a Knowledge Café session in the afternoon.

To book your place on this event and for further information please click here

If you have any queries regarding the event please contact Abby Lee on 01483 885271 or email abigail@raise-networks.org.uk

RAISE Job Vacancy - Senior Development Officer

Salary: £30,851, 10% pension, Guildford

RAISE is currently recruiting for a Senior Development Officer. To succeed applicants will need to demonstrate proven project management skills, experience of developing and delivering training sessions, workshops, seminars and events, experience of policy influencing and development on a wide range of issues and evaluating and evidencing social impact. The closing date for applications is the 8th February with interviews being held on the 25th February.

For more information on this job opportunity and receiving an application pack please click here

Adult Learners Week Awards - Deadline Approaching

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has announced that it is currently seeking nominations for the 2010 Adult Learners' Week Awards. The aim of the Adult Learners' Week Awards is to reward and publicise the achievements of adult learners in England, to promote the benefits and to highlight the diversity, of adult education. Winners receive a learning voucher between £200 and £1,500 and are invited to an awards ceremony during Adult Learners' Week (15th - 21st May 2010). The deadline for entries is 29th January 2010.

For more information please click here

VCS Health and Social Care Event - 3rd March 2010

This event will look at the issues affecting third sector engagement with the health and social care agenda and the roles that commissioners, providers and RAISE can play in addressing them. RAISE is in the process of setting up a regional third sector health and social care network and has been consulting with a range of members across the region to identify the most important issues around health and the potential barriers to service delivery. The event will explore some of these key areas through a range of presentations and interactive sessions that will provide opportunities to discuss your own experiences and share good practice from across the region.

Unfortunately this event is now FULLY BOOKED. However, if you would like to be placed on the reserve delegate list and/or receive follow-up information from the event please contact Rich Andrew on 01483 885265 or email richard@raise-networks.org.uk

Hidden Asset Launched

The highly anticipated Hidden Asset 2009 research has been launched at the RAISE Annual Conference. The key aim of the document was to gather evidence in order to demonstrate the vast contribution made by the third sector within multiple communities across the South East. The Hidden Asset 2009 report is of immense value to all infrastructure and frontline organisations operating in the region and is equally as relevant to the activities of regional and national policy makers and funders. as determined by national and regional policy-makers.

To view the full Hidden Asset 2009 research document please click here

To view the Hidden Asset Executive Summary please click here

To view a breakdown of the Hidden Asset results for each county please click here

To view the RAISE post conference site please click here

If you have a query regarding the RAISE the Hidden Asset document please email becky@raise-networks.org.uk

New Web Resource: RAISE Policy Website

The increasing number of consultations and key documents of relevance to the sector being published and the diverse range of subject matters covered by these documents has presented RAISE with two key challenges. 'How can we both disseminate this information to as wide a range of our members and other Voluntary/Community Organisations (VCOs) as possible? ' and 'How can we efficiently and effectively capture the views and opinion of the Sector to allow our Policy Team, to influence and canvas on behalf of the Sector in the region?'.

The solution was to provide a policy information web resource specifically for the Third Sector in the South East. It needed to impart not only the right information but to do so in a format that is easily digestible. It also had to be interactive, encouraging its users to feedback thoughts, opinions and comments on the issues affecting the Sector as determined by national and regional policy-makers. So that is exactly what RAISE has done.

Visit www.raisepolicy.org.uk to find out more.

If you have a query regarding the RAISE policy website please email becky@raise-networks.org.uk

This website and RAISE publications are supported by the Big Lottery Fund.

To find out about the Regional Strategic Cross-Sector Partnership for the third sector in the South East visit http://www.raise-networks.org.uk/RSCP/ (link opens in a new browser window)

Social Inclusion Partnership South East (SIPSE)

Visit the SIPSE site at http://www.raise-networks.org.uk/sipse/ (link opens in a new browser window)