FOCUS ON

VIVA Awards – How to Write a Great Nomination
Not sure how to nominate someone for a VIVA Award? Our awareness session will give you some simple tips on how to write a strong nomination that really highlights the difference someone has made. We’ll look at what makes a good nomination, what information to include, and how to share real examples of the person’s contribution, achievements and impact. A great opportunity to make sure the volunteers and organisations who make a difference in West Dunbartonshire get the recognition they deserve! Nominations open 1st Sep and will close on 14th Oct. To see the session dates click here

Upcoming Training at WDCVS
WDCVS are offering training this Autumn for West Dunbartonshire based organisations. Our suite of courses cover Committee Skills, Minute Taking and Improving Chairing Skills. We are also offering a separate course on Report Writing. The suite of training courses take place on Wednesdays from 10am-12pm. Get the point training takes place on Tuesday 22nd September and is designed to help you to identify the importance of report writing, identify and discuss the 3P’s of report writing, exploring new structure and format that affects reports and offer some do’s and dont’s. Click here for more details

Employability and Green Skills Workshop
Scottish Government policy talks about growing Green Skills in many contexts including its commitment to net zero and growing our economy. It is an emerging priority in the NOLB (No One Left Behind) Strategic Plan 2024-27 which commits to recognising the role of green skills in future job roles, and ensuring employability training is aligned where relevant/possible. Come along to this workshop to learn more and hear from areas and organisations who are already engaging with this issue. This event is being held in partnership with TSEF and the TSI Network. Find out more and sign up

Charities must comply with updated EHRC Code of Practice
On 5 August 2026, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) updated Equality Act 2010: Code of Practice comes into force. The Code explains how the Equality Act 2010 applies in practice. The key updates to the Code reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling in April 2025, that the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act means ‘biological sex’. Charity trustees must consider what steps, if any, their charity needs to take to ensure compliance with the Equality Act and the updated EHRC Code. Read more here

Charities increasing in importance
Charities are seen as more important than ever by more than eight in 10 people, according to new research. Enthuse’s 2026 Donor Pulse report, published recently, found that 83% of UK adults believe charity services are either more important than ever or becoming increasingly important. Only 2% said charity services were not important, according to the study, which is based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out by RedFox Research in May. The report also found that charities were the most trusted British institutions, with three-quarters of respondents saying they had high or moderate trust in them. Read more here

Is Everyone Welcome? Toolkit
Looking to strengthen your volunteer engagement and inclusion? Based in the USA, nonprofit organisation Idealist has produced a new toolkit full of practical guidance, case studies, and real-world examples to help all organisations create more welcoming and inclusive environments.

The toolkit is adaptable to organisations of all sizes and in all sectors.

https://www.idealist.org/en/orgs/is-everyone-welcome-toolkit