Do you want to find out more about using Google for your business?

The Google Juice Bar, hosted by Reading East MP Rob Wilson, is coming to Reading Town Hall on the morning of Friday 28 March.

According to the publicity:

“Experts will be on hand to give 1-2-1 consultations, tips, guidance and advice on the effective use of AdWords and other Google tools to help you boost your online presence and use the internet effectively to drive growth. You will also receive a complimentary Adwords voucher with a handy guide on how to get the best out of your Adwords campaigns.”

For full details of the timings and to register for your free place, see https://uk.bookingbug.com/home/31808-Google-Juice-Bar.

I’m pleased to announce our second event, which will be an evening on “Networking for Success” held in central Reading on Thursday 20 February 2014.

We’ve got a great line-up of speakers, and I’m sure it will be another fun evening of networking, learning, and getting to know each other a little better.

I’m sure all of us know someone who has suffered from dementia. Reports suggest that dementia is more prevalent in African, Caribbean and South Asian people compared to the white British population, and that it starts earlier within the UK African and Caribbean population compared with the white British population.

That’s why I’ve been particularly interested in two articles on dementia which I came across recently. First, the Health Service Journal looks at commissioning dementia care for the BME population and then the Better Health briefing note on dementia.

The Better Health website is a great resource on health issues in the modern world. I know our members are interested in health issues, and some have great ideas for healthcare businesses.

Have you heard of the Institute of Fundraising?

The Institute is all about helping people working in charities and not-for-profit organisations get better at raising money for their charity or project. It’s well worth keeping an eye on their website. They put on regular conferences and training, and occasionally have bursaries to help with the costs of a conference or course.

The next one available is “Impact in Fundraising” on 24 February, and the deadline for applying for a bursary is 31 January 2014. Find out more here.

One of the things we are often asked about is funding for small community ventures.

Reading Borough Council has a fund of £20,000 for grants to local non-profit organisations, and there’s also some money available for improvements to premises. All the details are online here – but you’ve got to be quick, the deadline is 31 January 2014.

The University of Reading has got a couple of great free online courses open for registration at the moment.

The nine week course on Managing People caught our eye, but the seven week course to build your own mobile game looks great too.

You can find all the courses here and there are many more from other universities on the FutureLearn website.

We’ve hoping to put on some events at the university later this year.

Anyone else going along to this workshop from Reading Voluntary Action tomorrow evening?

Looks like a great opportunity to find out how to get involved with changing things in Parliament.