Useful Publications
Real meals: Simple cooking - cold food that tastes great
The DCSF has published a new cookbook for young people entitled Real meals: Simple cooking - cold food that tastes great. The book contains more than 20 recipes which will help give young people and families the chance to learn and develop cooking skills through simple, healthy dishes.
Click here to see recipe book >
Principles of proportionate monitoring and reporting
The Office of the Third Sector has published its Principles of proportionate monitoring and reporting, in order to lessen the unnecessary burden of monitoring on voluntary organisations. The principles commit Government departments to understanding the cost of reporting for third sector organisations and to working closely with them when establishing monitoring requirements, and will apply to all new funding streams. This is in response to the New Philanthropy Capital report in September 2008, which said that being monitored by external bodies cost charities an average of 6p in every pound of funding they received.
Click here for info >
Intelligent Monitoring – guidance for departments In addition, a corresponding guidance has been published by the National Audit Office entitled Intelligent Monitoring to help Government cut unnecessary red tape for the voluntary and community organisations that it funds. It has the support of the Office of the Third Sector, HM Treasury and the Commission for the Compact.
You are not on your own Change4Life Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood
Children's rights report
Voluntary action
The Children's Commissioner for England has published a booklet to help children affected by parental or carer alcohol abuse. It helps children discuss what they can do to keep safe and how the alcohol abuse is affecting their life with an adult that they trust. Download here.
The evaluation report is now available for the Change4Life programme promoting fruit and veg in convenience stores in areas of deprivation. The evaluation found that sales of fruit and veg were increased, and observations in the report include barriers to retailers preventing them from increasing their fruit and veg range, and changes in customer perceptions. Download here.
The Department for Education has published Reg Bailey's independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood. The review calls on businesses and media to play their part in ending the drift towards an increasingly sexualised ‘wallpaper' that surrounds children. It recommends that music videos should get age ratings, sexual images on magazine and newspaper front pages should be covered up and retailers should sign up to a family friendly code of practice.
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Bailey%20Review.pdf
NCVYS member the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) has launched Doing right for Children. Making a reality of children's rights in the family and juvenile justice. The publication makes the case for a consistent rights-based approach to all law, policy and practice affecting children, and explores in depth the implications of a children's rights approach to the family and to juvenile justice. It discusses the values and attitudes underpinning a children's rights framework and reports on good practice in a variety of settings.
http://www.crae.org.uk/assets/files/Doing%20right%20by%20children%20-%20June%202011.pdf
The National Coalition for Independent Action has published Voluntary action under threat: what privatisation means for charities and community groups. The report has evidence about the dangers of commissioning, localism and ‘big society', "all part of the government's privatisation agenda."
http://www.independentaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NCIAprivatisation-paper2011.pdf