Dear User

Welcome to the New GoldStar Blog and Good Practice Gallery.

This area of the website has been designed to allow both GoldStar and non-GoldStar organisations and their volunteers to contribute to the ever expanding library of good practice.

We hope that this new area of the website will prove to be a very useful tool to you all, and we would encourage you to pass details of the blog onto anyone that you feel has something to contribute.

If you would like instructions of how to post an article or make a comments about any of the current articles please contact info@grantsadmin.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you….

Credit Unions now available to everyone in Swindon area
People living or working anywhere within the Borough of Swindon can now benefit from the services of a Credit Union.  Expanding the common bonds of both Clivey & Steam Ahead Credit Unions in Swindon has been made possible thanks to Co-operative Futures. 
 Credit Unions are financial co-operatives providing ethical savings and affordable loans.  It costs £1 to join and after saving regularly for a qualifying period, you could apply for a small loan on which the interest is fixed at 12.68%.  That’s the difference that Credit Unions make; as there are only a few places that you can borrow only a small amount from.   Most banks and financial institutions offer much …

Over the period of 4 weeks four volunteers undertake a tailor made media course to prepare them to track their work as volunteer. By the end of the programme, the volunteers will each have a Blog that they will keep updated with text, photographs and video to give an insight into their work.

You can check out their progress and experiences here:

• Pauline’s Blog - Volunteering in Leeds
• Carl’s Blog - A Tameside Volunteer
• Paulina’s Blog - Latin American Volunteers
• Maria Piedad’s Blog - Columbian in London

Campbell Robb, Director General of the Office of the Third Sector, launchs the partnership with Jo Hobbs and Paul Vaight of Chance UK and Hugh Thonbery and Ken McDougall of NCH…

The Chance UK child mentoring programme has achieved Approved Provider Standard from the national Mentoring and Befriending Foundation and has also won awards for volunteer support, alcohol prevention among primary school children and social reform.  By working with Chance UK, NCH can deliver a tried and tested, quality assured programme. “NCH is very excited about this partnership.  As one of the UK’s leading children’s charities we are totally committed to supporting the diversity and development of the sector and it is great to be …