Get Involved:
Skills Led Opportunities
www.darlingtoncares.co.uk
bringing business and the community together
www.darlingtoncares.co.uk
About Darlington Cares
Darlington Cares is a partnership of over 20 of the town’s leading employers
who are committed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Cares works by centrally coordinating the skills, expertise and volunteering
power of members and their employees and unites them with projects,
community groups and local charities where they can have the most impact.
Projects are delivered across three key areas, based on Darlington’s
community needs:
•Getting the best start in life
•Caring for the environment
•Supporting people when needed
Projects work to support key areas of need in Darlington, including youth
employability, poverty, community engagement, the environment, and are
delivered in a variety of ways including outdoor community challenges, skills
led projects, donation campaigns and a volunteer reading scheme based in
schools. Key achievements have included the following:
•Over 75 successful projects
•Over 10,000 hours of employee supported volunteering
•85 volunteers trained as part of the Busy Readers scheme
•Over 3,000 school children have benefited from the additional
volunteer support of Busy Readers
•Over 800 young people have benefited from an employability skills
programme
We package and facilitate all volunteering opportunities, making it really
straight forward for our members and the communities they support to get
involved.
We are always interested to explore ways of supporting our community and if
you have an idea or particular group / charity you would like to work with,
please let us know and we will investigate the possibility further.
www.darlingtoncares.co.uk
Skills Hub
The professional knowledge and skills that exist across the Cares membership
has the possibility to up skill and provide vital support to the third sector in the
town. Often something as simple as a couple of hours of professional advice
or knowledge sharing with a charity can make a real difference.
The Skills Hub is an online platform, where members and their employees can
enter their skills, expertise and resources, which enables us to unite specific
skills with community groups and charities who are in need of development in
a particular area.
The Skills Hub is available at: www.darlingtoncares.co.uk/our-work
Previously we have matched employee volunteers to provide HR support to
Darlington Credit Union and marketing advice to Darlington Citizens Advice
Bureau.
Testimonial:
“As a local, independent charity the support from Darlington Cares is invaluable to us.
Having provided us with crucial profession expertise many times, Darlington Cares’
demonstrates how businesses and residents can work together towards positive change in
the town. Darlington Cares’ extensive network has been a brilliant resource for fundraising
and bridging skills gaps, and shows just how much local people and businesses care about
Darlington.”
Neeraj Sharma, CEO of Darlington CAB
Skills Led Opportunities
We are currently looking for skills and expertise in the following areas:
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Sickness and absence management
Staff performance and development reviews
Disciplinary and grievance procedures
Staff hand book development
Managing conflict
Budgeting
Social media marketing
Events management
We would like to organise a series of short seminars where businesses would
deliver a two hour session to local charities and community groups. The
above have been identified by the third sector as areas in which they would
like to develop their skills and good practice.
www.darlingtoncares.co.uk
Volunteers: One per company or however many deemed necessary
Hours: Flexible approach, we envisage initial two hour seminar style sessions
on a specific topic. If your organisation is interested in sharing knowledge
and skills, please register your details with us.
Location: Firthmoor Community Centre, Burnside Road, Darlington, DL1 4SU
Dates: tbc
To register your interest or for further information please contact:
Simone McNeill
E: S.McNeill@tees.ac.uk
T: 01642 738964
www.darlingtoncares.co.uk