Our colleagues at WCVA have invited VAMT members to join them on Human Rights Day, 10 December, for an online information / mini-training and question and answer session on Understanding Human Rights in Wales.

The session will cover:

• The additional benefits that incorporation of international human rights law into Welsh law brings
• How incorporation works
• What is progressive realisation and how it works
• How use of maximum available resources works
• How law and policy can be used to ensure everyday rights for everyone in practice
• Lots of time for questions from participants

This session will be held through the medium of English.

We welcome any voluntary sector or civil society organisation in Wales to attend this free session. You do not need to be a human rights expert or working on human rights issues specifically to attend.

Date: 10 December 2025

Time: 1 pm to 3 pm

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Please register by clicking the link here: https://luma.com/3utfk68z

If you’re unable to register online or have any questions please email ehicks@wcva.cymru

New Horizons is seeking to work with trusted community organisations in supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing needs.

In addition to our Recovery College courses we have more recently been trialling Virtual Reality courses working with Arts Factory  - see the ITV news item: 

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/virtual-reality-headset-project-offers-a-new-way-to-support-mental-health/hvnjlbj?brid=xMiSn_6rlVgvfpYkJf1H-w

We are looking to expand this and other work in communities so we're now asking people to complete a 5-minute survey online survey telling us their views on demand/needs and support they know about and what they might like to see offered:

https://forms.office.com/e/XSNx7PV6ju

Closing date is Friday December 19^th 

Practice Solutions has been commissioned by the Welsh Government's National Office for Care and Support to undertake research into the impact of social care prevention and early intervention services.

As part of this research, there is the opportunity for the 3rd Sector and people who have used prevention services to complete the surveys below. This will help us to understand the role of commissioned preventative services, how they have been funded over the last ten years, and the impact they have had.

This research comes from the Implementation Plan (2023), which specifies that research into Local Authority budgets and annual spend on prevention and early intervention services spanning the last ten years should be undertaken; following which consideration should be made to the funding required as part of wider social care funding discussions. As part of the research, we will be working with Local Authorities and their partner organisations to clarify the services that are provided as part of their early intervention and prevention spend to ensure that equitable comparisons are made.

THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS

Social Care Prevention and Early Intervention Research – Third Sector

PEOPLE WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE OF SERVICES

Social Care Prevention and Early Intervention Research – Lived experience of services 

The deadline for both surveys is SUNDAY 30th NOVEMBER 11am.

Some upcoming workshops that may be of interest to you or your organisation. These sessions are designed to provide practical guidance on DBS processes, eligibility, and best practices for safeguarding.

• Information Gathering (Referrals) Workshop – Tuesday 25th November 2025 13:00 – 14:30 – Open
• Disclosure (Eligibility) Workshop – Wednesday 10th December 2025 12:00 – 13:30 – Voluntary
• Barring Referral Service (Referrals) Workshop – Friday 12th December 2025 10:00 – 11:00 – Open
• Update Service (Eligibility) Workshop – Wednesday 17th December 2025 12:00 – 13:30 – Open
• Disclosure (Eligibility) Workshop – Monday 22nd December 2025 11:00 – 12:30 – Safeguarding
• Dual (Eligibility and Referrals) Workshop – Wednesday 7th January 2026 10:00 – 12:00 – Open
• Disclosure (Eligibility) Workshop – Tuesday 13th January 2026 10:00 – 11:30 – Open
• Q & A Drop In – Tuesday 13th January 2026 13:00 – 14:00 – Open
• Barring (Referrals) Workshop – Tuesday 20th January 2026 12:00 – 13:30 – Voluntary
• Barring (Referrals) Workshop – Friday 30th January 2026 10:00 – 11:30 – Sport

Owain Rowlands, Regional Outreach Advisor (Wales)

Owain.Rowlands@dbs.gov.uk