As the situation around the Coronavirus pandemic evolves, SCVS have put together a list of resources and sources of information for third sector organisations to use to help their organisation with planning, information and advice.

We will update this section with relevant third sector specific information as it becomes available, but in the meantime, please make sure you stay up to date with the key information from Welsh Government (click here), and with the key messages from Public health wales (click here).

This page will be updated regularly, but if you have any specific questions that are not covered here, or need direct support, please get in touch and we will do our very best to help – 01792 544000 / [email protected] 

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Last updated: 26th April 2021

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Make sure your clients have accessible public health information in relation to coronavirus - download the latest guidance for Swansea Bay in 15 formats and languages, including easy read, simplified, Mandarin, Polish, Arabic, Spanish and more.

Help for planning how to reopen / return to a new normal for your organisation

Here are a selection of documents to help you as you plan to reopen your organisation safely, or to resume more face-to-face / in person activities.

We’ll continue to update this section as new resources become available, and as ever, if there is anything you’re particularly concerned about, contact the SCVS Team on [email protected] and we’ll do our best to help.

Covid-19 Return to work Health and Safety Guidance Manual

Returning to work safely – The new normal: The 5 key principles, and the Plan – Do – Check – Act Framework

Safeguarding Considerations when returning to work (adapted from WCVA guidance for CVCs, July 2020)

Information for Community Centres - Click here for a revised information sheet (8th November 2020) which covers what you need to consider. (Read the current Welsh Government guidance on the reopening of community centres by clicking here)

Risk Assessments related to employees and volunteers in a physical setting - the 'All Wales Covid-19 Workforce Risk Assessment Tool' and the 'SBUHB Risk Assessment Tool for BAME Staff' (suitable for all staff) are invaluable resources to ensure your groups is able to operate safely

SCVS have put together an Infographic for organisations that are considering running Gifting schemes over the festive period - read to make sure that you're able to operate safely

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Volunteering and Easing out of lockdown - A new, key resource to help organisations think ahead as lockdown restrictions are gradually eased and consider how and what is needed for volunteering to resume has been published by TSSW (29th July, Third Sector Support Wales) - click here to download your free copy

Lateral Flow self-test kits now available to volunteers and those who are unable to work from home (from 26th April 21) - click for more

Public Health information / Resources

WCVA are conducting a survey of the availability of PPE supplies for voluntary organisations carrying out vital roles, and also have a mailing list to keep you up to date with PPE supplies and suppliers as they are informed – click here to for more information or to feed back

PPE Framework for for primary, outpatient, community and social care by setting, NHS and independent sector - and excellent guide to help you identify the appropriate level of PPE needed in for your organisation to operate safely

Catch it, Kill it, Bin it – poster (ENG)

Catch it, Kill it, Bin it – poster (CYMRAEG)

NHS Handwashing techniques poster

Public Health Wales – Self-isolation advice

Doctors of the World have produced Coronavirus (Covid 19) advice for patients in 21 languages:  English, Albanian, Dari, French, Pashto, Portuguese, Bengali, Vietnamese, Kurdish Sorani is available at the moment, but more languages coming soon: Mandarin, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Malayalam, Turkish, , Farsi, Amharic, Tigrinya, Somali – click here to access the information downloads 

Updated guidance from Welsh Government on infection prevention and control, including PPE measures

Welsh Government have produced guidance on what the shielding letter means for those who have and haven’t received it

Welsh Government have produced a briefing (11th May 2020) 'COVID19 Support for Shielding People - FAQs for Third Sector organisations' which answers common questions about provision for sheilded people and third sector arrangements at the moment.

Public Health Wales have produced a summary of public health information and guidance for the Third sector in Neath Port Talbot and Swansea 

Personnel management

CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development) - Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for UK employers

ACAS - Coronavirus: advice for employers and employees

Local company JCP Solicitors have posted lots of useful information to their site around furlough, employment and more during coronavirus. Read more here

Business continuity planning

Risk Assessments related to employees and volunteers in a physical setting - the 'All Wales Covid-19 Workforce Risk Assessment Tool' and the 'SBUHB Risk Assessment Tool for BAME Staff' (suitable for all staff) are invaluable resources to ensure your groups is able to operate safely

SCVS commissioned Eileen Murphy Consultancy to put together a comprehensive guide for third sector organisations - Helpful hints for managers - managing staff during the covid19 - Click here to download your copy

Zurich Organisational Resilience Tool – an excellent base tool to put together your Pandemic Contingency Plan - NB – If you need support to apply this to your organisation, contact SCVS and a staff member will help you go through it

HM Government Business Continuity Planning Toolkit

Pandemic Influenza Checklist for Businesses

Charity Commission – Guidance for the Charity Sector – regularly updated information for registered charities in Wales in light of Coronavirus

The ICO (Information Commissioners Office) have released updated information that is practical, thorough and concise – ‘Community groups and COVID-19: what you need to know about data protection’

Changes to the DBS System - the DBS standard and enhanced ID checking guidance will be changed for a temporary period, to enable: ID documents to be viewed over video link and scanned images to be used in advance of the DBS check being submitted. Read the statement here

NCVO have an excellent and regularly updated set of resources for third sector organisations covering all aspects during Coronavirus (please note – certain areas of legislation may be different here as NCVO are the umbrella body for England) – more here

Local Chartered Accountants Bevan and Buckland have rounded up guidance for charities and what they can do to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus – read more here

You can find the latest guidance, information and FAQs relating to DBS checks on the Gov.uk website by clicking here

Business in the Community have launched the National Business Response Network to identify community needs across the UK and match them to the right business support

Association of British Insurers have issued a statement saying given the extraordinary situation currently, you do not need to contact your car insurance provider if you are a volunteer helping the fight against Coronavirus 

Government Advice and Guidance specific to Community Interest Companies (CICs)

Reporting serious incidents to the Charity Commission during the coronavirus pandemic

Loans and financial support

Many funders have stated their commitment to supporting their grant recipients by being flexible with grants and reporting deadlines and listening to the needs of their recipients - for more information, click here to read statements and stances of many UK funders in relation to Coronavirus  

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Comic Relief VSEF Grant Scheme - Swansea - Comic Relief VSEF can fund work in Wales that benefits community members under its four strategic themes Children survive and thrive - Actions to give children the best start in life and access to opportunities to achieve their potential; Gender justice - Actions to improve equality for women and girls; A safe place to be - Actions to help vulnerable people improve their circumstances and safety;  Mental health matters - Actions to enable access to support and increase awareness. Click here for more information or to apply.

Voluntary Services Emergency Fund (VSEF) Small Grants – Swansea - Grant funding can be used for smaller capital or revenue expenditure including consumables, the request must fit in with the grant aims of maintaining or increasing voluntary services for vulnerable individuals and communities affected by or as we try to recover from the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Click here for more information or to apply

The Resilience & Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF) - a new fund for social enterprises and charities that are improving people’s lives across the UK who are experiencing disruption to their normal business model as a result of COVID-19. It has been established to make an existing government scheme (the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) more easily accessible to charities and social enterprises. RRLF is intended for those organisations who face a problem because expected income and activity has been delayed or disrupted. A loan may help with this, providing working capital until normal business can commence again. (Closes 20th November) Click here for more information.

Voluntary Services Emergency Fund - Launched 7th April 2020 - grant scheme to enable voluntary organisations providing vital support during the Coronavirus crisis to continue and expand their work.

Third sector resilience fund for Wales - Funding to provide cash flow support for voluntary organisations in Wales during the current Covid-19 crisis. The fund is part of the £24m of support announced by Welsh Government and will involve a blend of 75% grant and 25% initially interest free loan to be available to incorporated voluntary sector organisations towards the costs of ongoing revenue expenditure, including salaries. Organisations can apply for up to £75,000. Click here for more information.

Neighbourly Community Fund - (Currently closed to new applications - 16th November 2020) Neighbourly are launching a series of micro-grants of up to £400, to support good causes that are helping communities affected by the new Coronavirus outbreak. Grants will be awarded to members of Neighbourly in UK and Ireland that are actively supporting members of the community suffering economically, socially or from ill health as a result of the outbreak. This may include, but not be limited to, elderly people, those on low incomes and people at risk of food insecurity. Click for more

Persimmon Community Champions - Funding for the over 70s - Persimmon Homes advise - “From 1st April for the foreseeable future, we want to focus on organisations that support the over-70s - a vulnerable group in our society that we feel need our support at this time. It’s really simple to apply for a donation. All you need to do is complete the online form, telling us why your group or charity, which works with or supports the over-70s, deserves our donation. Included in your application we need to know how much you want us to donate. Remember, we need the name and location of the initiative so that we can ensure the right business receives your request.” For more information click here

Swansea University have been in touch to say that their Campus Life Community Grant (up to £250 per application), which can be accessed by students and local residents to assist with community good, can be flexible with the criteria at the moment, given the circumstances, so we would welcome applications that might help isolated or vulnerable people in this time of need. More information here

Business Wales – Support for Business round up of funding and sources of support

UK Government – Covid-19 Support for Businesses

Social Investment Cymru - Emergency fast-track loans – for Incorporated social enterprises or charities based in Wales (Click to download the fact sheet)

Manage financial difficulties in your charity caused by coronavirus - Guidance from the Charity Commission

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Not sure how to apply, or whether the funds above are right for your group? Contact SCVS Development Officers Karen Procter - [email protected] or Alyx Baharie - [email protected] for support

Volunteering

SCVS hold on new volunteer recruitment – over the last 3 weeks more than 1400 people have signed up to offer their help to people during the coronavirus pandemic. This means that we have put a temporary hold on the recruitment of new volunteers at this time. If your organisation would benefit from new volunteers, please email us on [email protected] to link up with this valuable pool of people offering their time to help.

'Informal Volunteering - What you need to know'. A new SCVS created Information sheet for individuals taking part in informal volunteering, covering the basics of what they need to do to keep themselves, and the people they're supporting, healthy and safe. Whilst this is intended for use in informal volunteering settings, the advice stands. Click to download and share with your volunteers. (you can also download a plain text version here)

WCVA have produced guidance on safeguarding issues related to financial transactions during the coronavirus outbreak

We at SCVS have produced a very simple and straightforward overview of safeguarding and confidentially which is great for informal volunteers to make sure they understand their responsibilities and how to report concerns. Click here to download

Mental Health Support

The SCVS Mental Health Development Team have put together a huge amount of information on their new Coronavirus Mental Health & Well-Being Information page; including, a frequently updated 'Covid 19 Wellbeing Service Directory for Swansea' which you can download free of charge. The Directory contains details of local and national organisations providing support at this time, including changes to their services in relation to Coronavirus. Click here to visit the page.

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Mental Health Foundation - Looking after your mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak

Mind - Coronavirus and your wellbeing guide

Young Minds - What to do if you’re anxious about Coronavirus

World Health Organisation - Mental Health Considerations during COVID-19 Outbreak

The Intensive Care Society have produced a poster covering the importance of self-care during times of crisis – click to download

'Taking Care of Yourself in Challenging Times' Resource Sheet

The Swansea Wellbeing Centre is offering a full range of free telephone consultations and on-line support for the amazing frontline health care professionals and support workers in this crisis – click here for more information

Other resources / information to help your organisation at this time

'Informal Volunteering - What you need to know'. A new SCVS created Information sheet for individuals taking part in informal volunteering, covering the basics of what they need to do to keep themselves, and the people they're supporting, healthy and safe. Whilst this is intended for use in informal volunteering settings, the advice stands. Click to download and share with your volunteers. (you can also download a plain text version here)

Free Supplies through www.givingworld.org.uk – they can provide free of charge clothing, food Items, toiletries, cleaning and household products so the most vulnerable people in our communities can stay safe and well. If you are not already registered with them to access free of charge business surplus stock, click here 

CAST (Centre for the Acceleration of Digital Technology) have produced a great ‘practical guide for remote working’ – click here to download it

Civil Society have a regularly updated news page relating to the third sector and Coronavirus – click here to view 

Specific guidance for specialist third sector organisations

Guidance for food banks/Food Suppliers - Any new food supplies coming in should ideally be quarantined for 72hrs. A practical suggestion would be to have a bay for each day for donations so it's easier to rotate the stock. The main message is TO BE CONTACTLESS. So if you have a space like a porch or vestry, put the food there for people to collect. Keep all volunteers separate from the public to decrease cross contamination (if you're supplying food for the community, and haven't already made contact with SCVS, please email: [email protected] 

Housing Justice has produced expert Health and Safety advice for winter night shelter projects on precautions projects can take to mitigate against the virus spreading – click here for more

Care Inspectorate Wales has a ‘Coronavirus (Covid 19) FAQs’ page with some of the most frequently asked questions for care providers and staff across Wales – click here  for information

Read Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Statement re COVID-19 arrangements

Swansea Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Service have issued information about continuity actions during COVID 19 

'Together we’ll keep children and young people safe as we rebuild from Covid-19 - Non-statutory guide for practitioners' - (July 2020) The Welsh Government has produced this non-statutory guide to remind practitioners working across agencies of their responsibilities to safeguard children and to support them in responding to concerns about children at risk.

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(Click to go back to the main Coronavirus page)