Membership Renewal is due on 1st April. The new membership forms are with this mailing of SNIPPETS.

SMART Communities Fife - A Community Portal for the community in and around the Howe of Fife. Well worth a visit has information on events, what's on and includes a directory of local businesses. www.smartcommunityfife.org.uk

Sight Village Scotland 2009

The UK's leading exhibition of technology and services for people who are blind or vision impaired.

Monday 2 March from 12:00 until 18:00

Tuesday 3 March from 10:00 until 15:30

Hilton Hotel 1 William Street Glasgow G3 8HT - Free admission - Contact Liz Mitchal or Trevor Collis of Calibre on 01296 432 339

VICEFife hosts final group curling sessions for 2009

Anyone with a visual impairment is invited to attend the last two group curling sessions for 2009 at the Green Hotel Kinross, to be hosted by the Vision Impaired Curlers of East Fife.

Two further days have been confirmed on Tuesday 3 and Tuesday 17 March, from 10:00 until around 12:00. Provision will also be made at these "Come and Have a Go" sessions for transport (for East Fife participants only), guiding, tuition and equipment, so all anyone would require is warm clothing. Places are limited, so it will be first-come, first-served, with priority places being given to vision impaired curlers who have never tried the sport. Each session will cost only £5 per person.

The Trustees of the Lady Margaret Skiffington Trust have provided a grant for any blind and vision impaired curlers with a financial boost for their 2008/9 curling season and the series of curling sessions have been organised with the assistance of VONEF Cupar.

Contact VICEFife at j.gales@btopenworld.com or by telephone on 01334 655 878.

Magnifi-Science - Family Fun Days + Education Programme for children and Young people. Venues include University of St Andrews and Adam Smith College. For more information visit www.magnifi-science.co.uk or phone 01592 583255. If you want to get involved as a Festival volunteer contact Linda Turnbull on 01592 645540 or email youth@volunteeringfife.org

The Employment Act 2008 - approved by Parliament in November last year:

• Repeals the mandatory 3 step process for discipline and grievance issues;
• There will be a revised Acas Code of Practice and accompanying guidance which lays out the principles and provides practical guidance on procedures for handling disciplinary and grievance matters in the workplace. This Code can be found at www.acas.org.uk/dgcode
• Allows employment tribunals to adjust awards by up to 25% if an employee or employer has acted unreasonably in not following the principles in the new Acas Code.

The changes to the legislation could save your organisation time and expense. By enabling you to deal with discipline and grievance issues effectively, airly, and with a minimum of formality, they could assist you to resolve problems at work before they end up at an employment tribunal.

For all the latest news and developments around the changes to dealing with workplace discipline and grievance issues, check: www.businesslink.gov.uk/emplyingpeople and www.acas.org.uk

UN CONVENTION ON "The Rights of the child" - A copy of this is available at the VONEF office or can be viewed on line at the Scottish Government Website www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/12/18090842/0 Young Scot are also holding an online survey for children and young people at www.youngscot.org/surveys/index.asp?a=sc&ID=472&s=137&sr=242. If you would like to have a copy for your own organisation please contact joan.kay@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or phone 0131 244 7466

Community Service Payback - Do you have a piece of scrubland in your community that you would like transformed into a wonderful garden? How about a new fence around a play park? Is there an area that you would like cleared of litter in Fife? Or does you local village hall need a new lick of paint?

If so, the Community Payback Scheme would like to hear from you. For more information contact archie.melville@fife.gov.uk or phone 08451 55 55 55 ext 460427

Gift Aid - A new Gift Aid CD has been produced by HMRC to help groups who are interested in joining the "Gift Aid Scheme". For further information go to: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift_aid/toolkit.htm

Important changes to National Minimum Wage from 6th April 2009 - New Automatic Penalties for those who do not comply with National Minimum Wage Rules - From 6th April 2009, a new automatic penalty will be levied on employers where our compliance officers find arrears of the National Minimum Wage. For more information on this and other employment issues visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/nmw

BTCV Scotland is part of a unique UK organisation, specialising in supporting people, volunteers and communities to make positive changes to their environment.

They are running the following courses in Scotland during March and April. To find out more visit www.btcv.org/scotland or email scotland@btcv.org.uk or phone 01786 479697. Cost of courses vary between £50 and £200.

March - Coppicing; Involving Corporates; Willow Garden Structures; Tool Care and Maintenance; Hedgelaying; Emergency First Aid (HSE); Towards Sustainability - Community Awareness Raising; Managing Stress through Time Management; Post and Wire Fencing; Environmental Education; Brushcutters and Trimmers (LANTRA); Inspiring Communities.

April - Presticide and Herbicide; Adding Value to the Visitor Experience; Menal Health First Aid; Introduction to Risk Assessment; Leadership Skills; First Aid at Work (HSE); Brushcutters and Trimmers (LANTRA); Woodland Management Planning

Fit for Purpose Training - THE NEXT CHAPTER

Charity Law - 29 April 2009 - Course Outline

Managing Money - 27 May 2009 - Course Outline

All courses run from 10 am to 1pm at cost £25 per person. For a booking form or further information please contact Sue