text:
vog-logo
Vale of Glamorgan Council
Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
Why am I seeing this advert?
The Vale of Glamorgan Council
Minutes, Agendas and Reports
Voluntary Sector Joint Liaison
Home > our_council > Council Structure > minutes,_agendas_and_reports > voluntary_sector_joint_liaison > 14-09-23
VOLUNTARY SECTOR JOINT LIAISON COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting held on 23rd September, 2014.
Present: Councillor E. Williams (Chairman); Councillors G.A. Cox, Dr. I.J. Johnson, Mrs. M. Kelly Owen, R.A. Penrose and C.J. Williams.
Also present: Ms. A. Steere (Vale Volunteer Bureau), Ms. R. Connor (Vale Centre for Voluntary Services), Ms. L. Donovan (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board), Ms. T. Burris (Age Connects Cardiff and the Vale) and Mr. M. Davies (Children and Young People's Partnership Manager).
420 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors N. Moore (Vice-Chairman), Ms. R. Birch, L. Burnett, Ms. K. Quinn (Atal y Fro) Ms. A. Harris (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) and Ms. C. Chapman (MIND in the Vale).
421 MINUTES -
AGREED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 9th July, 2014 be approved as a correct record.
422 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -
No declarations were received.
423 MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN 2014/15 TO 2017/18 – REPORT TO CABINET 11TH AUGUST, 2014 –
It was agreed that the Medium Term Financial Plan 2014/15 to 2017/18 and the Reshaping Services report would be considered simultaneously. A presentation on these items was received by the Committee given by Mr. Alan Jenkins, Head of Finance, and Mr. Huw Isaac, Head of Performance and Development.
424 RESHAPING SERVICES - A NEW CHANGE PROGRAMME FOR THE COUNCIL (REF) -
The contents of the draft Medium Term Financial Plan 2014/15 - 2017/18 report; was endorsed by Cabinet at a meeting on the 11th August, 2014 and was included within the documentation received by the Committee prior to the meeting. The Head of Finance informed the Committee that the Medium Term Financial Plan was not a budget but the plan based on the best available information. The purpose of the plan was to link the Council's strategic planning process with the budget process and to ensure consistency between them. It was a mechanism that attempted to match future predicted resources and expenditure, identify potential shortfalls and provide the financial framework for the next 3-5 years. He further confirmed that it was not a budget setting process that allocated detailed budgets for services. Its purpose was to inform Members and to suggest a way of dealing with the future financial pressures facing the Council.
The Head of Finance informed the Committee that three quarters of the Vale of Glamorgan Council's net funding came from Welsh Government and the other quarter from Council Tax. Previous assumptions regarding future funding settlements from Welsh Government had been revised following a letter issued in June 2014 by the Minister for Local Government and Government Business to all Welsh Local Authorities. The letter raised the prospect of the 2015/16 assessment being a reduction of up to 4.5% in cash terms. The indicative figure for the Vale for 2015/16 had previously been advised as a reduction of 1.64% with each 1% additional reduction equating to approximately £1.5m less funding. Furthermore, he informed the Committee that the Minister had stated that local authorities should assume that current trends in local government funding would continue and that local authorities should scenario plan for a range of challenging settlements beyond 2015/16. The Head of Finance informed the Committee that the latest Medium Term Financial Plan had subsequently been based on the assumption of varying settlements from Welsh Government, of decreases of 4.5% in cash terms in 2015/16, a further 4% reduction in 2016/17 and 2% reduction in 2017/18.
The Head of Finance informed the Committee that a variety of legislative, demographic and other issues would have an impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan and that these would have financial consequences and that the financial pressures could possibly be understated. The Head of Finance provided the financial context for the Reshaping Services Programme and advised the Committee that some £32.4m of savings needed to be found over the next three years, of which £18m had been identified, however, these had not yet been implemented. There was therefore a £14m shortfall in the savings targets. The Head of Finance further informed the Committee that the figures contained within the Medium Term Financial Plan were based on assumptions and the best available information at the time. The Council would need to wait until they received their settlement and would continue to work closely with the WLGA.
The Head of Finance informed the Committee that £61m worth of savings were required over eight year period from 2010-2018, which excluded schools. The Welsh Government had set a minimum funding commitment for Education, and the schools' budget represented 37% of the overall Council budget. The Vale of Glamorgan Council ranked 20th out of the 22 Welsh authorities for funding per head of population and that the Council's current Band D Council Tax was below the Welsh average at £1,029.42.
The Committee was shown a graph which had been modelled by the Welsh Local Government Association to illustrate the impact of the level of funding reduction, if Welsh Government continued to require protection for Education and a possible level of protection for Social Services. The graph further illustrated that the full burden of the budget reductions would fall on other services which included many statutory services, therefore 'business as usual' was not an option, however, current way of business could not continue, however, there would be opportunities within the change programme which included investigating the way in which the Council works and delivers its services.
Following the presentation from the Head of Finance, a Member stated that Members of the Vale of Glamorgan Council had received the Reshaping Services Programme briefing and also received the report at Scrutiny Committees; therefore they had been given the opportunity to make their comments and it was important that the Voluntary Sector were now provided with the opportunity to put forward their views on this programme.
The Head of Performance and Development informed the Committee that the Reshaping Services Change Programme was in response to the Council's dire financial situation and that the Authority would need to look at new ways of progressing as a Council. The Reshaping Services report had been considered by Cabinet on the 11th August 2014 and it had been agreed in principle to institute a Reshaping Services strategy and change programme and to refer the report for consultation purposes to the Voluntary Sector Joint Liaison Committee.
The Head of Performance and Development informed the Committee of the conventional options for savings that were normally employed by Councils which included the following:
Effectiveness - which involved questioning how the authority was providing services
Income generation - which involved ascertaining whether services had scope for the generation of revenue
Targeted cuts and decommissioning - these had not been identified as yet.
The Committee was informed about alternative delivery models which included:
Joint provision with other public sector bodies
Delivery by external partners
Council owed companies
- Joint ventures
- Trading companies
- Employee / community owned companies
Co-production.
The Council was already involved with joint provision for services which included the Joint Education Service, Prosiect Gwyrdd and the proposed joint Regulatory Services with Cardiff Council and Bridgend County Borough Council. He confirmed that public sector bodies were already in dialogue with each other about how to deal with joint provision of services and provide services more effectively and efficiently.
The Committee was informed that the Authority already had experience of outsourcing certain services to external partners, such as the leisure centres to Parkwood and had transferred Dyffryn House to an external partner, the National Trust.
The Committee was informed that Council owned companies would involve the splitting off of a Council service from its parent, making it a separate, stand-alone company and staff would transfer to the new company. The main variants of Council owned companies were:
Local Authority owned companies
Employee / community owned companies
Privately owned companies.
Joint ventures involved the Council and a private sector company forming a newly jointly owned company to sell and deliver a service. They were used as a means of injecting significant funding to support rapid growth in the business, in return for an ownership stake.
Local authority trading companies were set up with the express purpose of entering into contracts with the public or private sectors and acting as an 'incubator', run on commercial lines but under the protection of the Council. In this way a service could be nurtured and allowed to develop by the Council before being fully exposed to the rigours of the commercial world.
Employee / community owned companies were owned by employees and their profits were redistributed to employees and the community. Mutuals and Co-operatives were examples of these kinds of companies. The Head of Performance and Development informed the Committee that the Authority was starting to look at aspects of co-production.
The Committee was informed of the pros and cons of Council owned companies. The main positives were that they would deliver cost savings by introducing a commercial discipline, the companies would be able to invest, there would be more flexibility and adaptability within the services and the company would have the ability to trade commercially and the Council would remain involved strategically, but not operationally.
The advantages of Mutuals and Co-operatives would be that there would be greater employee motivation and satisfaction due to self-determination. Furthermore, there would be lower absentee levels and greater community satisfaction. These companies were able to focus on citizen priorities and the Council would be on-board and retain a stake in the operations.
The downside of Council owned companies was that the Council would lose operational control, there could possibly be a lack of entrepreneurial enthusiasm in local authorities as well as the skills needed to set up a business. Furthermore, there could be an impact on pay, terms and conditions and pensions of staff and possible service fragmentation, there was also a lack of clear legislation on these companies, particularly for Co-operatives and Mutuals.
The Head of Performance and Development informed the Committee that co-production was not a vehicle for service development but was a set of values. He informed the Committee of a definition from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) which stated that co-production was:
'Seeing people and communities as assets and equals in the design and delivery of services. Services are built around the person and community creating opportunities for engage more actively in the community in which they live.
Co-production unlocks the potential resources of time, money and expertise to combine with and add to state funding so that state resources are used to enable and maximise the citizen and community action, social capital and care.'
Following the presentation the Chairman asked for questions from Members of the Committee. A Member of the Vale of Glamorgan Council stated that Wales had been underfunded for some time and this was becoming worse due to the level of the cuts. The Member asked what the delivery timetable was for the Reshaping Services programme, which services the Authority was looking to possibly outsource and how would this programme affect the voluntary sector. In response the Head of Performance and Development stated that there were several stages involved with the timescale for the Change Programme and that the first stage was to raise awareness of the programme itself. The Reshaping Services Programme was currently in the consultation phase and the report had been taken to the Local Service Board, the Community Liaison Committee and the Council was also consulting with Trade Unions. He advised that the main aim at this stage was to inform people and help them understand the current financial position and gave an assurance that any proposals would be taken seriously.
The timescale for the Change Programme was that in autumn 2014 a substantive strategy would be taken to Cabinet. This would be followed by engagement with and the establishment of a governance structure. He informed the Committee that baseline assessments of services were being carried out to identify possible problems, the effectiveness of services and also to identify ways of delivering services differently. Following the baseline assessments, the assessments would be analysed with a view to looking at and identifying possible service reviews to initiate. The baseline assessments and service reviews would be completed by April 2015 and the Change Programme would last between three and five years. The Head of Performance and Development further informed the Committee that he wanted to engage with the voluntary sector to take things forward.
Following the presentation, Rachel Connor, Executive Director of the Vale Centre for Voluntary Services (VCVS), presented the initial response of the Third Sector to the Reshaping Services Change Programme, copies of which were circulated at the meeting. Ms. Connor informed the Committee that they had received a briefing from the Head of Performance and Development and the Head of Human Resources on the change programme and that the attendees had been very optimistic.
Following the presentation of the Cabinet paper on Reshaping Services at the Local Service Board in August, VCVS held a briefing event to engage the Third Sector in looking at how they might input to this complex scenario.
Ms. Connor stated that it had been noted that the Reshaping Services agenda outlined the need to consider alternative delivery models for services and that the Third Sector was well placed to play a role in these discussions, given its experience in innovative design and delivery, flexibility and adaptability to change. However, ongoing conversations would need to look not just at what was currently being provided and how best to provide that, but also to consider the need to do different things. This required looking at what was needed, why it was needed and who could deliver the services. Ms. Connor stated that the result might be not only a move to different providers of current services, but also encompass the development of different services delivered by a range of providers. An example of this was the provision of residential care. This could be looked at differently in terms of the quality of the offer and there was a role for the Third Sector in providing quality residential care on a different, not for profit model.
The Committee was informed that there were a number of important issues to consider; which included the costs of developing different models, which could not be borne by the Third Sector alone. Over the last few years, the Third Sector locally had lost resources and therefore capacity and faced increased competition for external funding from sources such as the Lottery. Ms. Connor stated that a move to different models of service, delivered by the Third Sector, must include some longer term commitment from the Vale of Glamorgan Council to the Third Sector organisations involved. Furthermore, there was also the issue of the public sector moving to a function which was primarily about managing contracts and relationships. As more services were moved to other providers, the safety net function of local authorities would be diluted and disappear. An example was given of a residential care home which if primarily delivered by the private sector; and the provider decided to close down, what role the local authority would have in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the residents.
Ms. Connor informed the Committee with regard to what the Third Sector would need to be able to contribute to the Reshaping Services programme. The initial thoughts were that involvement in discussions about Reshaping Services from the beginning would support the Third Sector contribution. A better understanding of the range of Council services would help Third Sector services identify the areas where they may be able to deliver. It would help the Third Sector take a broader look beyond what they currently provided.
There were a number of Third Sector services which were currently being funded by the Council, but which potentially faced funding reductions. These services might well be the kinds of services which Reshaping Services was aiming to achieve.
The Third Sector currently played a vital role in promoting health and wellbeing and as such contributed both to the public health agenda and to legislation such as the Future Generations Bill. The preventative nature of these services, which saved future, more costly interventions from taking place, needed to be considered.
Ms. Connor informed the Committee that some Third Sector organisations had already established trading and enterprise companies which could potentially take on a range of service provision, if adequately resourced.
An identified person within the Council who could liaise with the Third Sector about proposals submitted would help facilitate conversations and they could ensure that other Council staff were involved in discussions as appropriate.
The Committee was informed that VCVS and the wider Third Sector were keen to work with the Council to put in place a process whereby Expressions of Interest in providing services could be submitted, discussed and evaluated and that Third Sector organisations were being encouraged to think outside their normal areas of delivery.
Ms. Connor confirmed that VCVS would support the Reshaping Services strategy, with support from Third Sector Representatives, drawn from a range of Third Sector organisations and that resources would be required to support this increased activity.
Ms. Connor expressed concern that competitive tendering was not well suited to smaller, local Third Sector groups or to supporting co-production on a local basis. A preferred providers list would ensure that local Third Sector groups, which provided local services and supported co-production on a local community basis, were supported to bid for statutory funding. Where this was not possible or the size of the contract would suggest broader appeal from larger organisations, then the weighting in the score card for evaluation should take 'co-production' more into account. Ms. Connor also advised that there could be other models of commissioning which were alternative to either contracts or grants, and which might work better with new models of service.
Ms. Connor informed the Committee with regard to other areas for consideration, which included apprising them that there was a range of help available via Wales Co-operative Centre, Co-production Wales and Social Board Wales, which could be utilised. There needed to be a way of encouraging private sector investment, as it might not be easy to pull in private capital to support new models of service delivery, unless there was a commercial gain involved.
New models of service delivery might require looking at new roles, rather than perpetuating traditional health and social care roles. Discussions about Reshaping Services would benefit from involving Health Board colleagues as investment in social services had an impact on use of health services.
The proposed merger of local authorities was due to take place by 2020 and a legacy statement detailing Third Sector funding at the time of merger would provide stability to the organisations funded.
Following the presentation of Ms. Connor's report, a Member stated that the Authority would need to look at all service areas, however the Local Authority would need to maintain some overall control of these services. Members further expressed concern that the Council's reserves could be at a minimum by 2018/19 and therefore a level of urgency was required in delivering the Reshaping Services agenda.
A Member thanked Ms. Connor for her report and expressed concern with regards to commissioning and the danger of the Third Sector being out-bid and that it was important to remember the central nature of services and that people and services were involved and co-production was central to this. The Member also stated that the Reshaping Services programme should not be rushed without ensuring that the right services were provided at the end of it, however, appreciated that it was a difficult situation as the Authority was also dealing with the possibility of mergers concurrently.
A Member expressed the view that there needed to be a lot of consultation with stakeholders and concurred that the change programme should not be rushed and asked whether the Authority could look to well-run establishments for ideas of best practice and stated that they would like to maintain the ethos of the way services and establishments were currently run.
Ms. Connor confirmed that the request for a nominated officer could assist with the co-ordination of the Change Programme across the Authority and facilitate liaisons with various Third Sector bodies, however the officer would need to be the right point of contact and that the right representatives would also need to be identified within the Third Sector to review services.
The Chairman stated that the key element within the Change Programme was effective communication. A Member expressed the view that joint ventures and stand-alone companies had more potential and had improved performance and income streams and that these could also be established with other authorities. Furthermore, he stated that links could be made with outside sectors, including the Third Sector, with a view to income generation.
The representative from Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board informed the Committee that the Health Service was not in a dissimilar situation to local authorities and would embrace the Reshaping Services agenda, however, it was important that all parties worked together and also considered any possible negative impact on the Health Service and advised that they would like to build upon the work that had been started such as the integrated health work streams. In response to this, a Member stated that this was why it was important that Third Sector bodies were involved from the outset of the programme and that any change in services added to the role currently provided by the Health Services.
Following consideration of the Reshaping Services report and the Third Sector response the Committee
AGREED –
(1) T H A T the contents of the Reshaping Services report and the presentation given to the Committee be noted.
(2) T H A T it be recognised that the Third Sector were keen to engage in meaningful conversations about any proposals with the aim of contributing to Reshaping Services.
(3) T H A T involvement in discussions about Reshaping Services from the beginning would support the Third Sector contribution.
(4) T H A T having an identified person within the Council to liaise with the Third Sector about proposals submitted would help facilitate those conversations and they could ensure that other Council staff were involved in discussions as appropriate.
(5) T H A T additional resources to enable the Third Sector to participate fully in the co-production and planning involved in this initiative would be required.
(6) T H A T Cabinet be informed of the above.
Reason for Recommendations
(1) To have regard to the content of the report and presentation.
(2-6) To ensure that Reshaping Services has the greatest opportunity for success.
425 VALE VOLUNTEER BUREAU (VVB) ANNUAL REVIEW 2013-14 (VS) -
The Committee received a report from the Vale Volunteer Bureau (VVB) which outlined the achievements of the VVB from April 2013 to March 2014.
The VVB provided a one-stop resource for information, advice and guidance on all aspects of volunteering for both volunteers and recruiting organisations. Their aim was to link the skills, experiences, time and enthusiasm of local people looking to volunteer with organisations seeking to develop their services.
The VVB operated from shop fronted premises on Holton Road, Barry and Boverton Road, Llantwit Major. At both these locations recruiting organisations and members of the public could drop in and obtain information, advice and guidance from staff on all aspects of volunteering.
In 2012 the VVB changed its structure to become a charitable company limited by guarantee, and was managed by a Board of Trustees. During this reporting period the VVB employed a total of six members of staff (4 from core and 2 project staff). Their work was further supported by six volunteers.
The organisation worked within the national core services framework which was based on the Welsh Government's Partnership Agreement. In 2009 the VVB was awarded with Investing in Volunteers which was the UK quality standard for all organisations that involved volunteers in their work. This was renewed in 2013.
An audit of voluntary activity was firstly undertaken by the VVB in 2000 where the monetary value of volunteering was calculated to be £8,207,136. During 2013/14 a figure of £46,470,000 was calculated as the monetary value of voluntary activity in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Within each Unitary Authority area in Wales there was a volunteer bureau service which was provided by County Voluntary Councils or Independent Volunteer Bureau.
Through the Volunteering Wales website www.volunteering-wales.net staff responded to 1,086 enquires from potential volunteers. A total of 667 potential volunteers were interviewed by staff, of which 359 were placed, a 54% conversion rate; which had since increased to 372, a 56% conversion rate. The VVB recruited for 218 organisations which had a wide range of volunteering opportunities available to potential volunteers.
This year VVB received additional project funding from the Vale of Glamorgan Council's Voluntary Action Scheme to run a supported volunteering project. This project supported unemployed and / or economically inactive people aged 25+ who resided in the Vale of Glamorgan to identify suitable volunteering placements that met their requirements. Volunteers would also have an opportunity to gain an Agored Cymru accreditation in Volunteering and Community Participation. Due to the demand for this project the VVB had been working with their equivalent in Cardiff, VCS and CAVAMH to develop a regional project that would further support people with mental health needs to engage fully in volunteering, whilst offering recruiting organisations the skills and knowledge to work appropriately with this client group.
During this financial year the VVB with funding from GwirVol and BIG Lottery grant was able to continue, on a full time basis, the work that was done with young people. In order to further promote volunteering to young people, the VVB ran a youth led grants panel called 'Dish out Dosh.' This group of young people was recruited and trained to administer a grant of £10,000. A total of six youth led projects all based in the Vale of Glamorgan were funded. These Included:
Wick Junior Youth Club
Studio 41 Band Night
Cadoxton Youth Project
Amelia Trust Farm
Penarth & District Scouts
Major Music
Barry Air Training Corps.
The Committee was informed that the 'Dish out Dosh' panel had been recruiting and promoting the scheme and would shortly be making a decision on the allocation of this year's funding, with a presentation taking place at their Annual General Meeting in October 2014.
Despite their best efforts to replace one of the grants that came to an end in March 2014, the VVB had been unable to retain the Youth Volunteering Advisor on full time hours, however some additional funding had been secured, and this post was now 23 hours.
The VVB was the local co-ordinating partner for the Millennium Volunteering Programme (MVP) that recognised the achievements of young people aged 14-25. During this year, 118 young people registered onto this programme with 49 certificates for 50 hours, 37 certificates for 100 hours and 16 certificates for 200 hours volunteering issued. In addition to the MVP the VVB was also able to offer young people further recognition of their volunteering via the Agored Cymru accreditation in Volunteering and Community Involvement. This was offered at Level 1-3 and was funded through the BIG and the 14-19 annual development plan. A total of 27 learners achieved their accreditation in 2013/14.
On the VVB's website, www.vvb.org.uk there was an array of information for both volunteers and recruiting organisations. Potential volunteers could have access to information on volunteering opportunities 24/7, register online, note when the next outreach session was taking place, register as a Millennium Volunteer and see what the latest top 10 volunteering opportunities were. There was also a specific section on young people and volunteering.
For recruiting organisations there were downloadable newsletters, information on how to apply for funding from the Dish out Dosh Grants Panel and the MVP, help and support on how to gain Investors in Volunteering status as well as a wealth of advice from the free information sheets.
The VVB had increased their presence in the wider Vale and now had shop fronted premises in Llantwit Major. This was an initial 3 month pilot and had been launched as part of Volunteer's Week. Due to the demand for their service and an additional grant they were able to secure the premises until the end of the financial year. During this year the VVB had also negotiated with Adult Community Learning to share these premises in 2014/15 in order to attract new learners and those furthest away from the labour market. The partnership with Adult Community Learning was working well where the VVB had been working with them to promote their 'get back on track' courses to volunteers that the VVB interviewed, but also to put together some of the contents for their preparing for the workplace course, which would provide learners with the soft skills they needed whether they were volunteering or in the workplace. As part of VVB's interview they were able to suggest to volunteers, courses that would further compliment their volunteering and help to promote courses to first time learners.
Another success of outreach had been the continuation of their work with Penarth Job Centre Plus. To ensure diversity when recruiting volunteers the VVB had targeted those who were retired or approaching retirement by linking in with the Vale 50+ Strategic Forum as well as holding regular presentations for Cardiff and Vale Pre-Retirement Society. There had also been a focus on encouraging those who had experienced mental health issues to engage in volunteering where they were now able to offer support through the supported volunteering project.
VVB's volunteers were an essential part of the organisation, and they support the VVB by complementing the role of paid staff and bringing added value and expertise to the organisation. In doing this the VVB ensured that they have quality opportunities where the volunteers were able to utilise existing and develop new skills as well as having personal development opportunities.
As part of the other celebrations for Volunteers Weeks VVB had the annual appreciate event on Kings Square with a range of free activities for all the family. This event was well supported by Third Sector Organisations and volunteers giving their time and skills to make the event a huge success.
The Committee was further informed that a consultation event to mark World Mental Health Day on Friday 10th October was taking place where people who had mental health needs had been asked to participate and feedback ways in which VVB's proposed supported volunteering project might be able to assist with heightening self-confidence, addressing isolation and potentially developing pathways into employment.
In order to further promote volunteering the Council posted the latest top 10 volunteering opportunities on their website on a monthly basis. During this reporting period VVB was also given some additional resources in the way of a portable banner and leaflet stand which was used to promote their service at various locations including community centres, Doctors' surgeries, libraries, hospitals, and the Civic Offices.
Work also continued with the Vale Centre for Voluntary Services (VCVS) to merge and create a new organisation that would aim to preserve the quality services currently offered to volunteers, Third Sector organisations and partners.
The Committee was informed that the VVB would be celebrating the achievements and successes of the VVB and the VCVS and holding their AGM in the Memorial Hall, Barry on the 9th October and hoped that Committee Members would be able to attend.
Following the presentation of the report, a Member stated that it was good to hear about volunteering in the Vale of Glamorgan and asked when the Llantwit Major Project Shop would be coming to an end. In response, Ms. Steere informed the Committee that the VVB had negotiated with Adult Community Learning in order to share the premises and currently had a lease until March 2015. The Member further expressed concern with regard to projects that were unable to succeed without support; however it highlighted the challenges involved with delivering volunteering opportunities for individuals, for example the World Mental Health Day event.
Ms. Steere informed the Committee that the work they were carrying out with young people continued to increase year on year and despite their best efforts, they were unable to retain the Youth Volunteering Advisor on a full-time basis, however, some additional funding had been secured and this post was now part-time and hoped that the majority of youth work they were involved with would continue.
Following receipt of the report it was
AGREED - T H A T the contents of the Vale Volunteer Bureau (VVB) Annual Review - 2013/14 be noted.
Reason for recommendation
To have regard to the content of the report as required within the terms of the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Vale Volunteer Bureau Deed of Grant.
426 VALE YOUTH FORUM END OF PROJECT REPORT (VS) -
The Committee received a report which contained information on the work of the Vale Youth Forum ('the Forum') funded via the Vale Voluntary Action Scheme (VAS).
The Committee was informed that 2013/14 had been the third and final year of VAS funding for the Forum. The aim over the three years had been to develop the Forum into a more sustainable and established organisation of young people that represented their communities both in and out of school and to develop a Vale Youth Council, democratically elected to debate, influence and scrutinise issues which directly affected young people within the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Vale Centre for Voluntary Services (VCVS) was pleased to report that this goal had been successfully achieved. Within the report presented to the Committee were the statistics for the Forum and also illustrated the work that the Forum had carried out in reaching new members from across the Vale of Glamorgan, from areas ranging from Colwinston and Wick through Barry, Dinas Powys and Penarth and involving young people from local schools, Youth Service provision, Community First provision and Third Sector youth provision. The work with youth provision included organisations such as Young Carers, Penarth Youth Projects Disability Teen Scheme and United Youth Club for young people with Asperger Syndrome and Higher Functioning Autism and Vale People First.
The report detailed the following information:
The Forum had met 25 times since October, 2013 and had 51 new members
All Forum members were signed up to the Millennium Volunteer or Star Volunteer Awards and certificates for their volunteer hours would be awarded to the young people at their AGM in November.
The Forum had held two Forum Recruitment Events outside of Schools for Youth Provisions and Voluntary Agencies and two Meet and Greet Events with the new members
The Forum had undertaken 15 Training Workshops, including two Saturday training days
The Forum included members from:
Voluntary Youth Provisions including:
- Young Carers
- Vale People First
- Penarth Youth Project United Youth Club
- Penarth Youth Project Disability Teen Scheme
- Action for Children
- Wick Youth Club
- Army Cadets
Vale of Glamorgan Schools including:
- Cowbridge Comprehensive
- Ashgrove School
- Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg
- St. Richard Gwyn R/C School
- Stanwell Comprehensive
- Barry Comprehensive
- Bryn Hafren Comprehensive
Vale Youth Service Provisions
- The Hub Youth Provision
- Young Inspectors
Recruited the first Youth Councillors and delivered the first Youth Cabinet in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Forum also had 'independent' young members, who had not been voted directly from an organisation, but who felt their input for their area would be beneficial to their area / community.
The Committee was informed that it had been a busy and hugely successful year for the Forum members. In addition to their recruitment and training and the work of the Forum, it had been nominated at the Vale of Glamorgan Youth Awards in the Participation Category and was Highly Commended.
Candy Srinivas had won the WCVA Young Volunteer of the Year, in part for her
voluntary role as a member of the Forum and as Vice Chair of the Forum.
All of the work undertaken by the Forum was underpinned by the National Children and Young People's Participation Kite Mark for Wales Award which had been achieved in 2012. The Committee was also informed that four Forum members represented the Forum on the Welsh Assembly Government's Funky Dragon Grand Council.
Work had continued to raise the profile of the Forum and 15 articles had been produced for the Vale of Glamorgan 'Swoosh' website and 12 articles had been printed in the local Vale of Glamorgan papers including the Barry and District, Penarth Times and The Gem.
Ms. Connor, Executive Director of the VCVS, stated that the Forum had achieved what they had set out to and the Youth Forum Co-ordinator post had been hosted by the VCVS and helped to access Voluntary Action Scheme funding.
Following the presentation of the report a Member extended congratulations to the Forum on their excellent successes including the Vale Youth Cabinet and asked what the future held with regard to the end of the funding for the project. In response Ms. Connor informed the Committee that they had been unsuccessful in bidding for funding from People and Places, however advised that they could relook at their bid or participate with the Consortium Development Project with a view to securing funding. She further informed the Committee that there were a variety of opportunities with regards to funding bids; however as they no longer had a paid employee it would be a lot to ask volunteers to complete a strategy for fundraising.
The Children and Young People's Partnership Manager, stated that the Youth Service had also released an officer to work with the Youth Cabinet and that this funding would continue until March 2015 or possibly until June/July 2015, however, they would need to approach the Trustees with regards to a way forward. He further stated that funding streams had changed and that the Youth Service may need to pick up this work area, however, they would continue to struggle.
Following the presentation of the report it was
(1) T H A T the Committee noted the content of the report.
(2) T H A T the report be recommended to Cabinet for information.
Reasons for recommendations
(1) To have regard to the content of the report.
(2) To apprise Cabinet of the work of the Vale Youth Forum.
Holton Road
DisclaimersContact Us
Stonewall Diversity Champion Disability Employer


32 Why does the Newton-Raphson method not converge for some functions?
11 Let's converge to 9!
10 What does "ладу, ладу" mean in a song?
9 What are some mathematically interesting computations involving matrices?


text:
Fire Song directed by Adam Garnet Jones (USA) 2016 is set in a remote indigenous Northern Canadian community.
Daily life is difficult in this depressed and poor village. Shane is the principal character who struggles to deal with economic hardship, highly charged family issues, but also in affirming his sexual identity.
His dream is to make a better future for himself by going down to university in Toronto and taking his boyfriend with him.
However, the suicide of his sister and the depression of his mother make this move difficult. And the money left by his father may not be available for him.
Fire Song is now available in the U.S. via Wolfe Video on DVD / VOD: across all digital platforms including iTunes, Vimeo On Demand, and WolfeOnDemand.com, and will be on DVD via Wolfe Video and many major retailers.
Contact Wolfe Video for more information and online purchases.
Tagged family, gay, indian, native american

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Recreational Sport
Juliet Jacques
BA (Hons) MA PhD (Creative and Critical Writing)
Writer, filmmaker and lecturer
I studied A Levels in English Literature, History, Theatre Studies, and AS Level in Performing Arts at Collyer's from 1998-2000. I feel like I really became myself at Collyer's after a difficult time at my secondary school. I was able to explore literature, theatre, and History in-depth discovering my lifelong passions for these subjects. I felt inspired to read and write in my spare time, launching me on my path towards becoming a writer. I am still friends with plenty of people I met at Collyer's, and I remember it very fondly.
I then studied History at the University of Manchester, where I obtained a BA with Honours degree, and then moved to the University of Sussex, where I achieved an MA in Literature and Visual Culture.
I believe I have made a difference in people's lives as my writing has often focused on trans rights and representation, political and cultural history, in the hope of making things better for trans people in particular, and the LGBTQ+ community more widely. I have been invited back to Collyer's a couple of times to talk about my work, and that meant a lot to me.
Currently I write, make films, and teach at several universities, so I am always giving something to the world. I often think about one of my favourite writers, Blaise Cendrars, who talked about how most people just keep the cogs of society turning – he was lucky enough to create something on top of that. I am also an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art, the world's most influential postgraduate institution of Art and Design, teaching on the Contemporary Art Practice course.
In terms of my typical day, I start by answering emails, and usually sit down to write around 9.30am – at home or in my studio. I stop for lunch around midday, and then maybe do more in the early afternoon, trying to reach whatever target I have set myself (500-1000 words usually). In the afternoon, I often read or watch a film, or go to an exhibition.
I love my job as I get to create things to make a difference to people and will hopefully be remembered for a long time. I have a lot of freedom, too as I can structure my day as I wish.
For someone looking to get into a similar role you need to be able to write, which is practise of course. Read widely, write as much as you can, listen to constructive criticism, ignore anyone who tells you that you need a "proper degree" for a "proper job" and be very organised and self-motivated.
Looking back, the advice I would give to a younger me is the same advice that someone gave me when I was struggling with my writing and stuck in a boring job – "You become a loser when you give up."
What next Juliet? More of the same! I have got myself exactly where I want to be and that is an incredible feeling.


Banks in Carson City at Financewg.com. Search banks and bank branches in Carson City, Nevada and view Carson City bank directory list. Use our interactive Carson City bank map to view banks across Carson City ZIP codes and in other cities nearby Carson City. See local banks in Carson City. View our Carson City banks listing below and click on to view information for local bank. Here, more internet users find Carson City bank information than at any other online bank web site.


text:
Life On Repeat debut new song, "Cut Open"
Life On Repeat have premiered a new song on PropertyOfZack titled, "Cut Open." The band's final album, Blacklisted, is due out on Dec. 3 via Equal Vision Records. Pre-orders are available on MerchNOW. Fans can stream the track below. Let us know what you think!
The band's farewell tour dates can be seen below:
Dec 07 Virginia Beach, VA @ Club Relevant
Dec 08 Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
Dec 14 Dover, DE @ Bubba's
Dec 28 Fort Worth, TX @ Tom Cat's West (acoustic show)
Written by Michele Bird
By day, Michele is a music journalist and photographer, but by night she is a fashion-lover and adventure enthusiast, seeking thrills from roller coasters to horror movies. Thanks to her endless concert-going days as a teen and to watching Almost Famous more times than two hands can count, she knew music was her passion. Her collection comprises little bit of everything ranging from Fall Out Boy to Bring Me The Horizon. This California native has big dreams and will always be on the lookout for the next great album as she continues to build the soundtrack of her life.


text:
Proposed HSWA Self Employed Exemption Amended
In Summer 2014 the HSE sought views on their proposal to exempt certain self-employed persons from Section 3(2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc.…
Between 7 July and 31 August 2014 the HSE sought views on their proposal to exempt certain self-employed persons from Section 3(2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA).
The proposal arose from the government-commissioned 2011 Löfstedt Report 'Reclaiming health and safety for all', which recommended that self-employed persons be exempt from health and safety law where they pose no potential risk of harm to others through their work activity.
At present,section 3(2) of HSWA, places general duties on everyone 'at work' including the self-employed. It states that:
'It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety'.
Section 53 of HSWA gives a broad definition of a self-employed person. It states that a 'self-employed person means an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment, whether or not he himself employs others'.
The proposed change to section 3(2) HSWA, which is due to be implemented in the Deregulation Act 2015, will mean that the self-employed will be exempt unless they are carrying out 'an undertaking of a prescribed description', in which case the undertaking must be carried out 'so far as is reasonably practicable' that the self-employed person and others (who are not his employees) are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
Last month when discussing the proposed amendment, the House of Lords have considered implementing a new Section 3(2)A, which would mean that when considering whether the self-employed should be on the prescribed list, a decision would also have to be made about whether others, including any employees, would 'thereby' be exposed to health and safety risks.
The wording adopted by the House of Lords in a debate on the proposed change is:
"A description of undertaking included in regulations under subsection (2) may be framed by reference to:
(a) The type of activities carried out by the undertaking, where those activities are carried out or any other feature of the undertaking;
(b) Whether persons who may be affected by the conduct of the undertaking, other than the self-employed person (or his employees), may thereby be exposed to risks to their health and safety."
This may mean that the proposed list of areas where self-employed are automatically covered by HSWA will increase beyond those originally envisaged. However, this proposed change has come under universal criticism on the basis that if the section is implemented, it would remain unclear whether or not the self-employed from certain industries were covered or not.
In response, Lord Wallace of Saltaire said that the amendment would:
1. address concerns that the original proposal to amend HSWA would lead to some self-employed who pose a risk to health and safety being exempt; and
2. enable the government to make regulations which retained s.3(2) duties on all self-employed person who conduct specified high hazard work activities, as well as those who may expose others to risks of their health and safety.
It is also understood that once the amended section is finalised (after the general election), the HSE is to produce guidance to address the above issues, and to supplement existing guidance which explains in practical terms what 'self-employed persons need to do to comply with the relevant law… and to limit the possibility of incorrectly assessing whether their work activities may expose other persons to risks to their health and safety'.
While this section is not yet in force, it is important that those who are self-employed keep abreast of the changes that are to be made. We will be producing a second update once the section has been finalised, with confirmation of the implementation due date.
Crispin Kenyon
View Crispin's Profile
Up to Previous


Now published. By Frederic Marsh.
Young Dan Cook is on a journey of self-discovery and betrayal in his struggle for justice in this the first nationwide strike where 600,000 miners were thrown out of their homes, forced to live in places like tent towns, and shot at. It is a fascinating look at the challenges and triumphs of working-class families in the early twentieth century.


text:
HOME / LAW & REGS / LITIGATION / ONGOING / UNNAMED PLAINTIFF #1 v. FEC
Unnamed Plaintiff #1, et al. v. FEC
(Pillar of Law Institute, et al. v. FEC)
Court Decisions and Related Documents
District Court (WY)
Litigation Home Ongoing Litigation Selected Cases Alphabetical Case Index
On July 22, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming entered a Consent Order and Judgment whereby the Commission agreed not to enforce the ban on corporate contributions against the Pillar of Law Institute ("Pillar") and two unnamed plaintiffs (collectively, "Plaintiffs") with respect to contributions to convention delegates.
The Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), generally prohibits corporations from making contributions or expenditures in connection with "any primary election or political convention or caucus held to select candidates for presidential and vice presidential electors or a Senator or Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, Congress." 52 U.S.C. § 30118. The ban applies to any direct or indirect payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or any services or anything of value to any candidate, campaign committee or political party or organization in connection with any election. See 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101(8)(A), 30118(b)(2); 11 CFR 114.1(a). "Anything of value" includes all in-kind contributions, such as the provision of goods or services without charge. See 52 U.S.C. § 30101(8)(A)(i); 11 CFR 100.52(a), (d).
Commission regulations define "election" to include a national nominating convention, as well as any primary election to select delegates to a convention. See 11 CFR 100.2(c)(3); Therefore, the Commission considers funds received and spent for delegate selection activities to be contributions and expenditures to influence a federal election that must come from permissible sources. 11 CFR 110.14(c)(1), (c)(2). However, since delegates do not qualify as candidates under the Act contributions to delegates are not subject to the amount limitations applicable to candidates. See 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101(2), (3), 30116(a)(1); 11 CFR 110.14(d)(1).
Pillar is a program of the Wyoming Liberty Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. The two unnamed plaintiffs were delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention. Through its "delegate autonomy project" Pillar intended to provide convention delegates with free educational materials about the political parties, conventions and delegates. The educational materials would not contain express advocacy for or against a federal candidate. Pillar also planned to provide travel stipends to convention delegates and free legal representation for delegates facing threats of lawsuits or other forms of legal intimidation.
None of the Plaintiffs requested an advisory opinion (AO) from the Commission on their proposed activities.
On May 25, 2016, Plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment that the bar on corporate contributions and expenditures in 52 U.S.C. § 30118 is an unconstitutional restriction of their First Amendment rights to speech and association. They also filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief to enjoin the Commission from enforcing 52 U.S.C. § 30118 against them.
On June 17, 2016, the Commission filed its opposition to the Plaintiffs' motion and argued that the Plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction because their proposed conduct would not violate the Act as it has been construed by the courts.
The Commission reasoned that the Act does not prohibit Pillar's proposal to provide educational materials and free legal services to delegates because they are neither contributions nor expenditures to influence a federal election. "[While the Act] effectively presumes that services provided to political committees without charge are election related. ...[i]n the context of discounted or free goods and services to delegates, however, no such rule applies. " [Emphasis in original.] In fact, the Commission contended that it has repeatedly approved of corporate produced, non-advocacy educational materials (see AOs 1988-22, 2004-07) and has allowed corporations to provide pro bono legal services under circumstances similar to this case (see AOs 1981-13, 1980-04).
The Commission further argued that Plaintiffs' proposed activity, including the proposed travel stipend, is permissible under FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc., 479 U.S. 238 (1986) ("MCFL"). In MCFL, the Supreme Court held that certain nonprofit advocacy corporations cannot constitutionally be barred from making independent expenditures. The MCFL exemption is available to corporations—like the Wyoming Liberty Group—that were formed for the express purpose of promoting political ideas and that do not engage in business activities; have "no shareholders or other persons affiliated so as to have a claim on its assets or earnings"; and are not established by a corporation or labor organization and do not accept contributions from such entities.
The Commission noted that neither the courts nor the Commission has ever enforced § 30118 to bar an MCFL corporation from making contributions or expenditures to a delegate to a national convention. "Although MCFL addressed only the independent expenditures of non-profit advocacy corporations... the Commission has never enforced the corporate contribution and expenditure bar against such an entity for providing funds or discounted goods or services to delegates. Nor would it in this case, because the conduct at issue is far closer to an independent expenditure directed at voters than a contribution to a candidate." The Commission reasoned that each of Pillar's proposals would not directly or indirectly provide anything of value to any particular candidate. The activities are also not designed to influence the outcome of any election in that they do not directly provide means for a candidate to fund his own campaign.
Relying on the FEC's argument that Commission and Court precedent would permit their proposed activity, Plaintiffs postponed their Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief on June 21, 2016.
Consent Order and Judgment
On July 22, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming entered a Consent Order and Judgment whereby the Commission agreed that it would not enforce 52 U.S.C. § 30118 and any implementing regulations against the Plaintiffs with regard to the monetary contributions made by MCFL-type corporations to delegates to a national nominating convention.
Source: FEC Record -- August 2016.
Court Decisions :
Consent Order and Judgment (7/22/16) [PDF; 2 pages]
Notice of Settlement and Stipulated Consent Order (7/22/16) [PDF; 5 pages]
Plaintiffs' Reply Brief to Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (6/21/16) [PDF; 7 pages]
Defendant FEC's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (6/17/16) [PDF; 34 pages]
Memorandum in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (6/3/16) [PDF; 20 pages]
Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief (6/3/16) [PDF; 4 pages]
Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (5/25/16) [PDF; 19 pages]
(Top of Page)


Jay Z and Beyonce perform during the On The Run tour at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday July 7, 2014 in Baltimore, MD.
At this point, Beyonce and HBO are just as much of an item as she is with Jay Z. So it should be no surprise that the premium cable network will host the power couple's On the Run tour concert special sometime in September.
HBO announced Thursday that it will tape the concert special during the Paris leg of the pair's tour on Sept. 12 and 13 inside the Stade de France venue.
The duo will perform more than 40 songs, and you can see the setlist in the gallery below.
The TV special follows Beyonce's previous collaborations with HBO, which include the feature-length documentary Life Is But a Dream from February 2013 and the ten-episode performance series BEYONCÉ: X10 that began in June. Jay Z also premiered his Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film on HBO in August 2013.


Men wholly bent on wordly treasures were the dupes of their own passions, rather than deceived by the writings or pretenses of those who claimed to be Alchemists. .
These men were religious when the spirit of religion was buried in forms and ceremonies, and when the priesthood had armed itself with the civil powers to put down all opposition, and suppress all freedom, intellectual, civil, and religious. .
The intolerance of the Middle, and even later, Ages, is a fact all too familiar to every one. .
They should hold themselves absolutely upon the immovable foundation of truth and nature, whereby alone they can save themselves from misapprehensions and from the danger of being entirely carried away from reality into mere dreams and fictions. .
Notwithstanding this high Ecclesiastical authority, he who dared accept truth only because it could be proved, or proved to be good, and disregard authority, was commonly stigmatized as an infidel. .
Maybe you are looking for Ethan A. Hitchcock quotes, Ethan A. Hitchcock sayings?


text:
The Mission Newsletter, 8/9/18
"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." — Ralph Nader
Level Up Your Skills To Do More With Less
Behind just about every "overnight success" are many, many other nights and weeks and years of early attempts, failure, and getting back up to try harder. You learn by doing and on the way to success.
In today's episode, Chad and Stephanie explain that advancing your skills and learning more about what you can do will define how far you can go.
Becoming A Monopoly Of One With Skill Layering
The standout men and women of history have all been self-taught, skill layering, life-long learners. Consider Leonardo DaVinci, Lucius Seneca, Ben Franklin, Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Holmes, and Elon Musk. Many of these people started far behind where we are in terms of resources, familial love, and technology that we now have access to.
Each of these monopolies of one suffered through adversities and were able to prosper without all the advantages we have in front of us today. They managed to become self-taught masters of many skills. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in right now, others have triumphed over worse.
Read: Becoming A Monopoly Of One With Skill Layering by Chad Grills
A study by researchers from Oxford University and Queen Mary University of London has shown that living on or near a busy road can lead to dangerous enlargement of your heart and other health problems.
The enlargement was linked to breathing in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or PM2.5 — the small particles of air pollution that can be absorbed deep into the lungs.
Although those who were found to have heart abnormalities showed no symptoms of anything wrong, a closer look revealed that their hearts were similar to those in the very early stages of heart failure. It's important to note that this study was paid for by The British Heart Foundation, and more testing will need to be done to prove causation. However, these new details are still worth paying attention to for your own heart health.
Conde Nast is one of the most successful publishing companies in the world. However, in order to stay viable in a slumping print market, recently it was reportedthat Conde will put three of their well-known brands up for sale: Brides, Golf Digest, and W.
The once bustling business lost $120 million last year, much of it due to a sharp decline in ad revenue brought in by print magazines. A portion of the loss was offset by the continued investment in digital sales and advertising, but as the market for print continues its downward trend, companies like Conde Nast must adjust to stay afloat. A shift to video production has been the way forward for Conde, which reported that for the first time in company history, video revenue had surpassed print.
In the workplace, women are much more likely to endure incivility from other womenthan from men.
Women who strayed from "stereotypical gender norms" — those who were assertive, took charge, delegated or spoke up, "behaviors we view as being characteristic of good leadership," Gabriel pointed out — were more vulnerable to rudeness from female coworkers than women who showed sympathy, complimented others or smiled, the study found.
Dealing with such incivility can be hard, but there are some strategies you can use:
Speak Up: confront the person directly
Address the situation in the moment: don't let things linger
Be direct and honest: don't go behind anyone's back
Don't take it personally: and don't ruminate on things
Realize it might not be about you: everyone is struggling with their own problems, sometimes you wind up in the crosshairs
Join us at SIGNAL!
SIGNAL celebrates the developers, the builders, the innovators, the doers, and the dreamers who are reimagining how the world communicates.
Be a part of it with us! Go to signal.twilio.com and get your ticket for 20% off by using the promo code: MISSION20.
A recently-released patent shows that Google is working on new facial recognition software that combs through social media and uses users' profile pictures and other photos to help identify people.
The system would bring in data from a user's social apps and examine "social connection metrics of social connectivity" to guess identities. … The system analyzes the visual query image and looks for other images that are both visually similar and relevant to the searcher's social networks. Upon finding a match, the system presents its best guess about the identity of the person. It also could provide information such as the person's occupation, group memberships, and other details.
Before making this software available, Google will have to navigate various privacy laws and regulations that have generally made facial-recognition more regulated.
According to Google Trends data, podcasts are surpassing blogs in popularity. Both consumers and creators are searching keywords and phrases associated with podcasts more than those associated with blogs, and creators are increasingly using Google to search for ways to monetize their podcasts.
Catching onto the trend, Google has itself gotten into the podcast game by developing a dedicated podcast app and promoting certain podcasts. The search engine is also developing a guidelines page for those looking to create podcast content.
The number of people delving into podcast creation is also skyrocketing since word got out that ad revenue from podcasts grew 86% in the last year, and the Internet Advertising Bureau projects that by 2020 podcast revenue will be at $659 million.
Changing the world requires a special outlook. At Babson College, an entrepreneurial approach has helped students stay ahead of the pack.
Among many other programs, Babson offers Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® (ET&A™) methodology that teaches undergraduates, graduates, and executives to balance action, experimentation, and creativity with a deep understanding of business fundamentals and rigorous analysis as the ideal approach to creating economic and social value.
By advocating action through reasonable steps, Babson believes that entrepreneurs who leave their program will be better equipped to change the world in a business sense, as well as through social change. Along with ET&A, Babson also offers a highly-ranked business school and a Social Innovation Lab, where ideas are fostered and incubated.
The Social Innovation Lab employs Babson's Uncommon Table methodology, which fosters "smart action" by bringing together diverse audiences with unique strengths and perspectives to address critical dilemmas facing the world.
Do you have the courage to stand out?
From the inventor of cubism Pablo Picasso to Spanx founder Sarah Blakely, the people we admire most in the world are original, unique, different. They take risks, claim new ground. They do not fit in, they stand out.
And they do not compete for attention in the traditional sense.
Most of us are tricked into believing that achieving personal and professional success means fitting in. What it really takes is the courage to stand out.
Level Up Your Skills was originally published in The Mission on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


text:
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at awmedia7@gmail.com.
At http://star96deals.co we consider the privacy of our visitors to be extremely important. This privacy policy document describes in detail the types of personal information is collected and recorded by http://iphoneringtone.us and how we use it.
Like many other Web sites, http://iphoneringtone.us makes use of log files. These files merely logs visitors to the site – usually a standard procedure for hosting companies and a part of hosting services's analytics. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. This information is used to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
http://iphoneringtone.us uses cookies to store information about visitors' preferences, to record user-specific information on which pages the site visitor accesses or visits, and to personalize or customize our web page content based upon visitors' browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.
→ Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://iphoneringtone.us.
→ Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our site's visitors based upon their visit to http://iphoneringtone.us and other sites on the Internet.
You may consult this listing to find the privacy policy for each of the advertising partners of http://iphoneringtone.us.
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology in their respective advertisements and links that appear on http://iphoneringtone.us and which are sent directly to your browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) may also be used by our site's third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on the site.
http://iphoneringtone.us has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://iphoneringtone.us's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites. You may find a comprehensive listing of these privacy policies and their links here: Privacy Policy Links.
We believe it is important to provide added protection for children online. We encourage parents and guardians to spend time online with their children to observe, participate in and/or monitor and guide their online activity. http://iphoneringtone.us does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If a parent or guardian believes that http://iphoneringtone.us has in its database the personally-identifiable information of a child under the age of 13, please contact us immediately (using the contact in the first paragraph) and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.
Recomended Posts
BlockFi vs Coinbase – Ease of Use and Security
It is no stranger to what Blockfi is and what Coinbase is. Blockfi vs Coinbase, what exactly is the difference?...
Importance of Warehouse Management System
Inventory and Warehousing Management is part of the operations intensive function and is one of the key building blocks in...
What Methods Can Be Used to Recover Data from a Hard Drive?
Usually, data is lost when deleting data from a hard drive. Many times, people delete various files, pictures, etc. data...
The Main US-based Mining Companies and Their Areas of Operation
I am a big enthusiast of markets and how they work, who are their leaders, what countries are their leaders...
Why Hire a Corporate Entertainment
For those who don't know, I've been human rights director for 3 years, at the beginning, it was a little...
Fotobeheersoftware om afbeeldingen te vinden met een heleboel essentiële snufjes
In welke sectoren wordt dit programma om foto's te sorteren gebruikt? Fotobeheersoftware voor PC is een term die wordt gebruikt...
My Drain is Clogged – Should I Call a Professional?
Hair, wet wipes, and dirt – what do these seemingly unrelated objects have in common? All three have the potential...
Apple iphone 4s 32gb white
When it comes to phone, Apple has definitely carved its utmost significance, as one of the topmost mobile phone brands...
Sony Ericsson xperia X8 Deals- Lets you Explore more
Sony Ericsson is the world famous mobile manufacturer. Its mobile phones have given its users a new of communication. Sony...
The Hunger Games Film Review
Directed by: Gary Ross Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth "A little hope is effective. A lot of...
Download Movies To Samsung Galaxy S With Free Flash Video Downloader
Samsung Galaxy S is the best Samsung smart phones in the market. This gadget is loaded with jaw dropping features...
Resistive Vs. Capacitive Android Tablet
If you are in the market for a new Android touch screen tablet, there are some things to keep in...
The Best Ever Car Gadget Inventions!
Ever wondered how we ever cope driving around without the quintessential cup holder? In fact how did we ever get...
UNIQUE iPad SMART COVERS
The very best way to acquire these ipad cover is to go online. In the current past, a lot of...
Apple iPad 2 Tablet Review
Check out this review about the iPad 2 before you purchase it. If you are like most people who work...
Copyright © 2023 iPhone ringtone


text:
Scottish Parliament: Remembrance Commemorations (10 Nov 2020)
Maurice Corry: I declare that I am an armed forces veteran and convener of the cross-party group on the armed forces and veterans community. It is a real privilege to take part in, and to lead for, the Scottish Conservatives in the debate. We will support the motion at decision time. I record our appreciation for the considerable work that the minister has done in the past year for our veterans. He and I...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (Welfare Funding) (5 Nov 2020)
Shirley-Anne Somerville: We have provided a £350 million funding package to ensure support for people and communities that are most in need. We have significantly increased the Scottish welfare fund and we have targeted help with housing costs, including through increasing our discretionary housing payment fund and introducing a tenant hardship fund. In recognition of the additional pressures that unpaid carers have...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (Food Poverty) (4 Nov 2020)
Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has invested more than £130 million to tackle the food insecurity that has been caused by the pandemic. That includes free school meal provision over the summer. We have also recently announced that we will continue to support free school meal provision in holiday periods up to and including Easter 2021, which will benefit more than 150,000 families. That is in...
Free School Meals - Private Notice Question (27 Oct 2020)
Baroness Berridge: My Lords, the method used by the Scottish and Welsh Governments is, in fact, a similar methodology to the local authority welfare assistance fund, as it is through local councils and does not expect schools to deliver it. This is a time, during the pandemic, when all of us—government, communities, faith communities, families and charities—need to come together to support everyone.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill - Second Reading (19 Oct 2020)
Lord Callanan: ...to thrive and has been the source of unhindered and open trade across our country. It has helped to demonstrate that, as a union, our country is greater than the sum of all our parts. Around 60% of Scottish and Welsh exports are to the rest of the UK, which is around three times as much as exports to the whole of the rest of the European Union. About 50% of Northern Ireland's sales are...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (15 Oct 2020)
...Covid to work from home and to continue to be paid, as far as that is possible. The details of all of that have been set out, and the payment will be administered by local authorities through the Scottish welfare fund, which is a tried and tested way of getting money quickly to those who need it most. This week, we confirmed that there will be a new proactive service that will also be...
Universal Basic Income — [Philip Davies in the Chair] (13 Oct 2020)
Ronnie Cowan: ...mental health, yet the current system dangles the threat of sanctions over the heads of recipients, going so far as to drive some to suicide. UBI removes that psychological burden. A UBI will not fund the lifestyle of an MP, but it is a platform on which individuals can add other income without fear of financial repercussions. The current system ties work to welfare. It can make the...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (7 Oct 2020)
...Minister: The support scheme is the key way by which we will help people on low incomes to self-isolate if they are asked to do so. It is a payment of £500 that will be administered through the Scottish welfare fund, and will be targeted particularly at people who are on universal credit, although some flexibility will be needed in order to reach others who are in need. We are also...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (Self-isolation Support Grant) (1 Oct 2020)
Nicola Sturgeon: We confirmed yesterday that the fund will be administered through the Scottish welfare fund, which is already established and is tried and tested in making crisis support available to people who need it. It will be available to people on low incomes and targeted at people on universal credit who will lose income if they are not able to work because of the advice to self-isolate. However, we...
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill: New Clause 4 - Objectives and general functions (29 Sep 2020)
Drew Hendry: ...the Tories won. Why? Because they do not listen to the people of Scotland and they do not have their interests at heart. Using this Bill, they are able to lower standards by holding a veto over Scottish Parliament decisions. The mutual recognition mechanism in the Bill starts a race to the bottom on standards, with the UK Government imposing their will. As we heard, clauses 2 to 9 contain...
Scottish Parliament: Scottish Budget Update (29 Sep 2020)
Kate Forbes: Patrick Harvie makes a good point about the impact on our tax receipts, as well as about the increased need for welfare support. He will know that, when it comes to setting a budget, one of the reasons that the timetable is so important is that the Scottish Fiscal Commission needs enough time to provide its own forecast, which will include the likely impacts on tax and welfare support. We...
Scottish Parliament: Local Authority Decision-making Powers (24 Sep 2020)
Aileen Campbell: ...of the pandemic, I announced £350 million of community support, which went to local authorities, the third sector and communities themselves. It also enhanced the support around, for instance, the Scottish welfare fund so that, at an individual level, people were able to access additional support from the fund if they required it. More important is the way in which communities across...
Scottish Parliament: Prioritising Education (23 Sep 2020)
Clare Adamson: ...truth of the afternoon is that the Conservatives are responsible for the austerity policies that cause poverty and that they hold the levers of power to address the issue fully. That leaves the Scottish Government mitigating for poor ideological decisions that are taken elsewhere—a conundrum that would easily be solved by a vote for independence. The Scottish Government has tackled...
Scottish Parliament: Food Banks (Increased Use) (17 Sep 2020)
Nicola Sturgeon: That concerns me deeply—as, I know, it concerns everybody. Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has invested significant amounts of money in helping to tackle food insecurity. We will continue to take that very seriously. The money includes, but is not limited to, the money that was provided to carry on provision of school meals throughout the school holidays. We have also...
Scottish Parliament: Covid-19 (Vulnerable and Older People) (3 Sep 2020)
Aileen Campbell: ...provided a considerable amount of support to local authorities, including £57.6 million to provide co-ordinated support with food and essentials for people at risk. We have also doubled the Scottish welfare fund. Our programme for government commits to more investment in people and communities, including £275 million over five years to support community-led regeneration and town centre...
Scottish Parliament: Child Social Security Support (Cowdenbeath) (3 Sep 2020)
Shirley-Anne Somerville: We will be making the Scottish child payment only two months later than was originally planned. That two-months change is due to the difficulty of having a benefit go live during the Covid pandemic. That does not mean that we are not serious about our responsibility to ensure that we support low-income families. For example, £110 million has been spent to tackle food insecurity during the...
Scottish Parliament: Families in Poverty (Government Support) (3 Sep 2020)
Kate Forbes: Last year, we spent around £1.4 billion supporting low-income households, including more than £100 million to mitigate the impact of United Kingdom Government welfare cuts. In response to the pandemic, we have gone well beyond our original £70 million food fund commitment, which was introduced in March, by investing more than £110 million on tackling food insecurity, supporting people...
Pauline McNeill: ...we predicted that. I raised it many times during the course of the first and second coronavirus bills. My amendment 22 to the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Bill called for the creation of a tenants fund, but the Government voted against it. I am pleased to see the announcement of a tenant hardship fund, but I wonder why it took so long for the Government to come to the same conclusion as...
Scottish Welfare Fund (1 Sep 2020)
Scottish Welfare Fund
Scottish Parliament: Advice Services (1 Sep 2020)
Aileen Campbell: ...in the chamber. Citizens advice bureaux support people in our communities across the country. As he knows, the majority are individual charities, with each bureau being responsible for its own funding, including any core funding from the local authority as well as project funding from other sources such as the Big Lottery Fund. For example, through the Department for Work and Pensions, the...


If you distribute your feeds through Mercent please reach out to your account manager at Mercent. He or she will be able to configure Wishpot as a new channel in your existing account, so you can continue monitoring and managing all your channels in the Mercent Dashboard.
Your feed provider will be set to "Mercent" and your Feed file prefix will start with "mercent_" followed by your company's name. Mercent will keep your product feed updated within Wishpot automatically.


The reason is simple: so the Internet can grow.
Web pages, which by my reckoning are the core use of the Internet, unfortunately don't magically spring up. A person has to create those pages. A person then has to maintain those pages. If a page feature is difficult to get working or is not supported in all browsers, then that feature gets abandoned. Thus, if a browser lags behind, and a lot of people are using that browser, then developers have to forsake features, or worse hack them in, to target the maximum audience.
This brings us to IE, which is by far the furthest behind the curve, both in terms of standards-compliance and features. Take a simple feature like rounded corners, which have been available in other browsers since IE was at version 6. For a developer to add rounded borders in FireFox, Chrome, and Safari is a couple of simple lines of styling. IE 7 and 8 releases passed by without this simple feature, and Microsoft's recommendations (put out in 2005, and sadly still relevant to IE8) on how to emulate this feature all complicate and bloat site design and maintenance.
Some developers will still choose to implement features like this. And as a result, they will spend a chunk of their time implementing and maintaining the hacked-in-for-IE feature rather than developing other features. The end result is that the users of the site lose out. All the time the developer wasted on adding in an IE-specific hack could have been put to a much more constructive use.
So far I've only mentioned absence of features. IE has a number of rendering problems that cause a developer to spend a lot of time trying to get a site to work in IE. All browsers have rendering issues, but IE is the very worst in my experience.
With the recent release of IE8, some of IE's hackiness will supposedly be eliminated, but it is still very far behind in terms of features.
So, from a developer standpoint, IE is severely limiting. Not only does it not have time-saving features that other popular browsers are supporting, but years will pass before they update the browser, and then they don't add much, or even get anywhere close to catching up to the state-of-the-art, from a developer perspective.
The best way for the web to move forward is for IE to be abandoned wholesale by users. Then developers can turn the time they would ordinarily waste hacking things into their code for IE into more time creating, innovating, and improving the web. If users dropped IE en mass, I believe that web developer productivity would increase by no small amount. Which in turn means that the end user has a better experience.
If you use a PC (IE is currently only available on PC), do yourself and the rest of the Internet a favor and use IE only once: to download some other browser. Firefox is probably the most popular. Safari is great if you like simple interfaces. Chrome is currently my favorite and is produced by Google.


text:
package canvas2d

import "bitbucket.org/StephenPatrick/go-winaudio/winaudio"

var winaudioInicializado bool

type Audio struct {
	audio   winaudio.Audio
	playing bool
}

func (self *Audio) Play() {
	self.playing = true
	self.audio.Play()
}

func (self *Audio) Pause() {
	self.playing = false
	self.audio.Pause()
}

func (self *Audio) Stop() {
	self.playing = false
	self.audio.Stop()
}

func (self *Audio) IsPlaying() bool {
	return self.playing
}

func NewAudio(filepath string) *Audio {
	// Windows Only
	if !winaudioInicializado {
		winaudio.InitWinAudio()
		winaudioInicializado = true
	}
	wav, err := winaudio.LoadWav(filepath)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	return &Audio{audio: wav}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home Montauk Point Lighthouse Join Our Sponsors
Phase I of the Tower Restoration was completed during 2019. This phase of the restoration included repairing the metal at the top of the tower and stripping the paint off the limestone exterior.
Phase II, a major part of this restoration, was begun in 2020 and has an estimated cost of $700,000. This phase calls for repairing masonry and mortar joints, as well as restoring the iconic Lantern Gate as seen in the photo above. It is slated to be completed this year.
Phase III, the final phase, includes the recoating of the Tower, and will be finished next year.
This is the most extensive work project to be undertaken on the tower since 30 feet were added to its height in 1860. We will need your help during this ambitious restoration, which is scheduled to be completed in 2022. The importance of this project is reflected in the grants received from NY State to date totaling $438,500.
We're responsible for raising the balance and are grateful to our growing list of sponsors for helping to make this possible. There are sponsorship opportunities available as we begin Phase II of the restoration. Please contact Nick Racanelli at 516-523-6154 or Nhr@racanelliconstruction.com if you are interested in sponsoring the restoration of the Lantern Gate or another piece of this Historical Restoration.
With your support it's possible to keep its light shining for decades to come.