The Bath Half is fast approaching on March 15th, and we know many of our member organisations will have runners fundraising for them in the race. Our Social Prescribing Project Manager, David Jenkins, is a keen runner himself, having completed the London Marathon, Bristol Half and Bath Half previously, as well as many others. Please hear from David, an experienced runner, on some top tips for individuals running the Bath Half on Sunday 15th March. Please note this is informal advice, and is only my own personal experience. All runners are advised to refer to the participant guide provided by London Marathon events.  Pre Race: You are unlikely to gain more fitness at this stage, and getting to the start line fit and healthy should be number one priority. Trying to chase fitness is unlikely to help and may leave you feeling tired. With one weekend to go, this is the perfect opportunity to test out your chosen running clothing & shoes.  This upcoming weekend put your race day outfit on and go for a spin.  Test out your fuelling strategy. Trying new gels or food on race day is not a good idea. This weekend test your pre race fuelling options (porridge, bagels, rice) before heading out for your run. On the run test out any chosen gels or food items. For all those who have already doing this in training runs you are a step ahead of the game.  Try to prioritise sleep and eat a healthy diet leading up to the race. The evening before there will likely be race nerves, so banking a few good night's sleep prior to this helps.  As your training volume is likely to be less, continue to consume the same amount of food and this is a smart way to carb load.  Please read the Bath Half Participant guide for all event specific queries. It is advised to get to the race village early to skip the queues and ensure there is no additional stress. Keep warm and any throw over clothes can be left at the start to be donated to charity. During Race:  Soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the occasion. For me it is one of the best events in the calendar year. The buzz around the city is electric. Look out for  water stations and be sure to take advantage of water at every station. For those who won't stop at the stations, cups make it difficult to consume water. One tip is to pinch the cup to create a 'funnel'. This is certainly not an easy task but the key is not to panic. Use gels or other food items as per your training. It is tempting to consume sweets and go off plan but your stomach won't thank you. Remember there it is a two lap course, don't go out too quick and run within your limits. Please refer to course map and information within the participant guide. Finishing the race: Be proud of your achievement. Finishing a half marathon is an incredible feat.  Try to get some warm clothes on to ensure your body temperature doesn't drop. Celebrate with friends, family and the wider running community.  Take a week of rest (unless this is warm up race for upcoming events ). Take on some post race nutrition and have a relaxing afternoon. Any questions between now and race day David is open to a conversation: david@3sg.org.uk

Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership is seeking a Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) based in Bristol or the wider West of England to deliver a Climate & Disability commission as part of the Community Climate & Nature Action Project. The commission will take place between Ma y 2026 – July 2028 for a budget of £50,000. They are looking for a Disabled People’s Organisation based and operating in the West of England region (Bristol, BANES, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset) who can: - Be a custodian of the existing community climate and nature action plan for Bristol’s community of Disabled people - Be an activator and advocate for the priorities within the community climate and nature action plan - Convene engagement events/conversations with members of the Disabled community across the West of England region (Bristol, BANES, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset) - Evolve the existing community climate and nature action plan for Bristol’s community of Disabled people for the wider West of England region - Contribute to the holistic Community Climate & Nature Action Project Find more information and the link to the short expression of interest form on their website at: https://bristolclimatenature.org/news/opportunity-for-disabled-peoples-organisation/ The deadline for expressions of interest is now 6pm on Friday 27 March 2026

The new easyfundraising Impact Fund is now open with 20 unrestricted grants of £500 for UK not-for-profit organisations to help them continue or enhance their work. The grant is unrestricted, so it can be used wherever the money is needed most to support your work. When to apply: 23 February – 5 April Who can apply: The fund is open to UK based: Registered charities Other not-for-profit organisations Sports clubs and teams Schools and education settings Social enterprises and CICs After-school and youth groups Churches and religious organisations How it’s awarded: The application form is straightforward. Grants will be awarded to organisations that best explain how they would use the £500. The grants will be awarded across a mix of categories and locations, and the fund is open to organisations of all sizes and structures. Apply here: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/impact-fund Need more info? Come along to a short session to find out more: Thursday 26th February on Zoom 12.30pm - 1pm Register here About easyfundraising: easyfundraising is a simple way for your organisation to raise extra funds from everyday online shopping. When your community shops with over 8,000 retailers through easyfundraising, the retailer makes a donation to your organisation - at no extra cost to anyone. From a weekly grocery shop to booking a holiday, it all helps generate free donations. Donations are paid to you every three months, and because they’re unrestricted, you can spend the money on whatever your organisation needs most. Register for free funding with easyfundraising here https://bit.ly/3o8dm23

The Bath Fundraisers provides a forum for charities to learn from each other what makes a successful fundraising program. Bath Fundraisers' Group The Bath Fundraisers’ Group was established to support and enable inclusive networking and learning amongst those involved in fundraising living and working in and around Bath. The Bath Fundraisers’ Network meets online every two months, with speakers volunteering their time to share insights, expertise and experience. We aim to: Promote fundraising within the local community Support local fundraisers and help us all to connect, share best practice, learn together and collaborate where possible Encourage people from more diverse backgrounds to get involved in fundraising Provide information and resources for those involved in fundraising within organisations of all shapes and sizes Supporting & Enabling Charitable Fundraising in BaNES Join Group Click below to visit our LinkedIn page Get Updated Click below to sign up to the mailing list for regular updates Next Meeting In-Person Tuesday, 18 July⋅10:00 – 11:30 - Register Jul 18th Sign up to the mailing lis t for regular updates above on MailChimp. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of each email update. Click here for the Bath Fundraisers’ Group Privacy Notice. BFG Newsletter Archive Bath Fundraisers’ Group Updates Competence Framework The Competence Framework has been developed by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising as a resource to help fundraisers develop their skills, knowledge, behaviours and practices. Other Resources Download Document Treating Donors Fairly Treating donors fairly is updated guidance on responding to the needs of people in vulnerable circumstances. Extension pack for the #ChangeCollective Equality Diversity and Inclusion recruitment guides - for those interested in a job in fundraising, working for a charity, have taken a break, or changing career. Download Document Next Fundraising & Communications Network meeting: Our next network meeting will be in July 2023 - find out more and register here. Also make sure to sign up for our newslette r if you'd like more details of future events, when available.

Job opportunity at RUHX - Legacy & Tribute Manager Previous Job Next Job Join RUHX – Be part of something extra extraordinary. At RUHX, we’re more than the Official NHS charity of the Royal United Hospitals Bath. We go further to give every patient the extra extraordinary care they deserve, while supporting our staff to do what they do best and furthering innovation within our hospitals. We’re out there in our community, collaborating with the people and organisations who drive real change. And we’re making sure that every penny we raise goes towards improving health, happiness and wellbeing for everyone in our community. We are looking for an experienced Legacy and Tribute Manager who will be responsible for generating around £1.4 million annually through compassionate and professional management of Gifts in Wills and Tribute Giving. You will lead, shape and deliver RUHX’s Legacy & Tribute Programme—one of our most impactful income streams that enables supporters to honour exceptional care given at the RUH. We’re looking for an experienced legacy fundraising professional with a strong track record in generating income through Gifts in Wills, creating inspiring marketing campaigns, and managing complex legacy administration with confidence and accuracy. You will bring proven expertise in handling sensitive donor relationships, working with solicitors and executors, and navigating legal processes with minimal guidance. Main duties of the job We need someone highly skilled, emotionally resilient, and able to lead a busy programme while delivering outstanding stewardship rooted in compassion. This is your chance to help create extra extraordinary healthcare for everyone —by giving supporters a meaningful way to express gratitude, honour loved ones and create a legacy that lasts. No two days in our team are the same. We split our time evenly between working flexibly at home and onsite in the office in Bath, as well as being out and about in our community. You will have a varied role which involves managing a wide range of duties and tasks including. You will: Lead legacy marketing, stewardship and administration with confidence and integrity Support bereaved families and grateful patients with empathy and professionalism Build strong relationships with local solicitors, legal partners and clinical teams Manage a wide and varied caseload of legacies with accuracy and legal competency Deliver marketing and supporter engagement activity that inspires long-term giving Drive forward RUHX’s Grateful Patient Strategy through legacy and tribute pathways This is a role where compassion meets strategy—where technical knowledge of legacy administration and marketing is combined with meaningful relationship-building. < All Jobs Legacy & Tribute Manager Salary: £38,682 - £46,580 Per annum Hours: 37.5 hours per week Contract Type: Full time -(Hybrid working with 50% time-based in the office) Location: RUHX Offices, Royal United Hospital's Bath Close Date: Tuesday, 31 March 2026 Email Contact: < All Jobs Previous Job Next Job Apply for Job

Knowing that support with food was needed to reach people over the October half-term, 3SG collaborated with Bath MP Wera Hobhouse and ran a LocalGiving campaign to raise funds in support of getting food to families and young people in need during the school holidays. Holiday Hunger BaNES Holiday Hunger Appeal 2020 The Coronavirus pandemic has put the UK’s wealth gap in the spotlight with child food poverty being an area that has received much publicity. Schools remained closed for the final four months of the academic year, which meant fewer children were guaranteed a substantial meal during this period. This was further exacerbated as term time ended and we moved into the holidays. Knowing that support with food was needed to reach people over the October half-term, 3SG collaborated with Bath MP Wera Hobhouse and ran a LocalGiving campaign to raise funds in support of getting food to families and young people in need during the school holidays. In one week, the campaign raised £55,000 and together with St. John’s Foundation, 3SG was able to identify and direct those funds to community-led food projects and charities tackling holiday hunger in BaNES. With a mind to the future, and the knowledge that food poverty remains an issue outside of school holidays, the Holiday Hunger Appeal directed these funds to projects that are committed to having a long term impact on food poverty. FareShare South West, Mercy In Action, Oasis Hub, Weston Welcome Cafe and Food Club, Southside Family Project and FOOD Clubs are some of the organisations that benefited from increased funding to support their work providing more affordable food to families and young people in BaNES. Below is some of the feedback from the projects and individuals that benefited from the Holiday Hunger Appeal: Action Pantry Southside Family Project Oasis Pantry & Plate Up (formerly known as Make Lunch) Make Lunch in Bath received a generous donation from the Localgiving appeal. This was used directly to supporting our holiday hunger programme, which we’ve been running in Bath for the last 5 years. We used some of these funds to expand our provision at Christmas, and to provide additional support in February half term and at Easter. We made 200 deliveries across these three holidays to 58 different families, encompassing nearly 200 children and another 100 adults. Alongside store cupboard foods and treats we delivered fruit and vegetable bags, which had proven earlier in the year to be really popular, and so we really wanted to provide again. This crowdfunder made that possible, and we know how much that’s appreciated by our families. We also delivered bags of activities as we couldn't meet together, for children of all ages to do both independently and with their families. This included decorations to make, baking kits and a booklet of even more Christmas crafts and activities alongside seasonal recipes. At Easter we sent out a pack of new activities alongside "make your own playdough" kits and Easter hat kits. We will continue to use these funds over the months ahead to provide both food and further activities over May and summer, and are very excited to be currently planning our "Summer adventures" pack. This will comprise of a jam-packed booklet full of different ideas for activities, crafts, games, local walks and simple picnic recipes, and will be delivered alongside some practical equipment and tools to support a summer filled with family adventures, and a great range of tasty food. Holiday hunger, and poverty, are about so much more than food, and so that’s why alongside providing tasty and nutritious food we’re also using these funds to provide experiences, to increase skills and confidence in cooking, and to provide support and encouragement for families to explore new experiences together. We’re really grateful to everyone who supported the Crowdfunder so generously, and so is directly supporting families who need that extra help at the moment. Every single penny has made a difference. During 2020 Action Pantry was inundated with requests to provide weekly food for an increasing number of families for whom the pandemic had caused additional hardship. Our numbers grew from 40+ families in February 2020 to 125 in June. By the autumn numbers had dipped and risen again to 140 with more referrals on a weekly basis. Food was more available than earlier in the year but deliveries to 50 households a week was labour intensive and becoming difficult to sustain. The award from 3SG enabled us to extend the employment of a part time member of staff for a further 3 months and to give 8 hours a week to another person. Between them and with volunteer and trustee support it enabled us to guarantee deliveries and a pick up system for everyone on our Pantry books. Money was spent buying additional food during December to make sure every family had something to celebrate and buying in Halal meat ( something we rarely have donated) for our Muslim families made them feel accepted and celebrated at a time they can feel marginalised. The extra racking was vital as it gave us space to prepare our food boxes each week. Since our shops have reopened we have been able to retain both temporary members of staff and have offered yet more hours to one of them. She was previously a Pantry member who had volunteered to help. She’s now training to be the manager! I hope you’ll feel the award to Mercy in Action was well used and gave value for money. I know our service would have not been the success it has been without this donation at such a vital time. Thank you for enabling us to serve hundreds of families at such a critical time. We intend to build on this over the coming months. The last word from one of our members... “Thank you so much, I really wouldn’t have gotten through these last months without all your help. I was going without meals so that the kids could eat, and it was so sad when they were hungry, and we did not even have basic snacks for them. Now we can get those things and not have to worry when money is tight or worry about what our family was going to eat each day. It has really been a godsend.”( From H. Mum of 4 who is unable to leave her home due to anxiety) Weston Welcome Cafe The grant of £5,000 from 3SG is being used to support a second Community Café in Weston Village, helping to fight food poverty in the area. The first Café was opened in July 2020 as a response to the pandemic, and provides a free lunch and a food pantry for local residents every Monday, helping to reduce food poverty in the Weston area, and building supportive friendships for those who come. This takes place on Mondays in a community hall in the village. The second Café will open in another community hall, on Fridays. It is in a popular area, and will provide support mainly for young families and for older people. Food for both Cafés will come from both FareShare and Bath Foodbank. The new Café will open after the end of lockdown. Both Cafés are managed by the churches in Weston Village. Said Peter Heywood “We are all most grateful to 3SG for helping to tackle hunger in the Weston Village area. Our intention is to continue to run both Cafés for the foreseeable future, and additional services, including cookery classes, will be added as we go forwards.” The grant will be used to support the employment of a part-time manager for the new Café, who will be supported by a team of volunteers. “We were so inspired to see the generosity of local people across Bath and North East Somerset in responding to 3SG’s Holiday Hunger Appeal launched by Wera Hobhouse MP. The Covid-19 crisis has been so difficult for children, young people and families struggling with food poverty and the additional pressures of isolation, home learning and financial pressures with the loss of work or income. This kind support has helped Southside to provide essential food supplies through our Food Pantries and deliveries of hundreds of nutritious meals to isolated families, connecting with them to ensure that they can also access other help and support they need at this difficult time. Many thanks to 3SG, Wera Hobhouse MP and all the individual donors for your generous support.” - Penny McKissock (CEO, Southside Family Project) The support from the Holiday Hunger Appeal helped Southside to provide targeted support for local families particularly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis through: Weekly Food Pantries in Twerton and Peasedown St John, in partnership with FareShare SW Family Food Hub Groups with a professional chef preparing nutritious family meals, delivered to homes Meals donated by Wessex Water in January and February, distributed to families in need through local schools The Southside Family Food Hub Groups were set up in August 2020 to support families with children facing holiday hunger and continued through the generosity of donors. Each family receives around 3-5 meals in their weekly delivery, one for each member of the family: November 2020 102 deliveries, supporting 53 families (over 400 meals) December 2020 150 deliveries, supporting 61 families (over 600 meals) January 2021 107 deliveries, supporting 51 families (over 420 meals) February 2021 130 deliveries, supporting 54 families (over 520 meals) March 2021 215 deliveries, supporting 59 families (over 850 meals) Feedback from families: "It is a lifesaver; I do not know what I would do without it." "It has helped me try new foods that I couldn’t risk or afford to buy in case my children didn’t like them and experiment with different ingredients." "Thank you so much, it’s such a treat knowing on a Thursday the meals are coming and I don’t have to worry about what to cook tonight. They are delicious and the children love them". "This funding will help increase our capacity and open our existing clubs a second day a week – therefore supporting an additional 50 families from each club." Family Action operates three FOOD clubs in the B&NES area. These are located in: St Martins Children Centre, Odd Down, Bath Keynsham Children’s Centre, Keynsham Radstock Library, Radstock, Somerset FOOD clubs were set up to provide families with good-quality food at a low cost, while also reducing food waste. FOOD clubs are a membership scheme. It costs just £1 a year for a family to become a member. To become a member a family must live or work within 15 minutes of a FOOD club. Families accessing the club over a year pay a weekly charge of £3.50 (£182 for the year). In return, each family receives a mixture of fresh meat, fresh vegetables, dairy, bakery and store-cupboard essentials worth up to £15 per week (in excess of £780 per year). Each household therefore saves approx. £600 per year. As well as the impact on family finances, FOOD clubs also: Improve access to healthy food, and provide education around how to cook new foods Encourage families to access local support services and be signposted to other agencies Reduces the amount of food being sent to landfill in the UK by utilising surplus food The funding from the Holiday Hunger Appeal contributed to staffing hours required to operate the FOOD clubs, food costs from Fareshare, Health and Safety costs (including PPE and cleaning equipment), volunteer expenses and training costs. Up to the end of May 2021, in total, the FOOD club scheme in B&NES has provided local families with savings of over £37,000 in the 42 weeks since opening. These savings have freed up budgets for members to be able to purchase and pay for other essentials (e.g. energy costs, clothing, school equipment). Alongside the financial savings on food, the club has provided many other services and benefits: Children Centre Support – due to the close partnership with the Bright Start Children Centres in all three settings, members of the food club can also access other support services. This has been a crucial lifeline for families during lockdowns. Access to FamilyLine – members of the FOOD club have access to Family Action’s Family Line service, which is to help adult family members with ongoing support with parenting and other issues. Upskilling of members – volunteering opportunities at the FOOD clubs for members and locals. Each of our volunteers has access to a wide range of training, such as Food Hygiene Level 3. One of B&NES volunteers, Rakeesh, has written a blog about their experience of volunteering at the FOOD club in Bath. Environmental Impact – Each food club receives 200kg of food a week from Fareshare South West. This food would otherwise have been wasted as it is an industry surplus. In the 42 weeks since opening, the 3 FOOD clubs in B&NES have redistributed 25 tonnes of food (saving it from landfill) and saved 10 tonnes of CO2. A selection of quotes from the B&NES FOOD club members: “Got to say this has been a life saver since losing my job during first lockdown. Everyone is so happy and helpful. Thank you so much x” “Love it! This is fab, so much choice for little money! Thank you!” “Brilliant, different meals each week. Such a bargain price too. Love it :) “ “I think this is a really good idea and has helped me a lot. The people who are running the club are all lovely and helpful “ Family Action Food Clubs