Hello and welcome to ISSBA’s March newsletter. 2024 is flying by but at least we can look forward to some warmer weather soon!
Thank you to everyone that joined us for our February networking event with our Charity of the Year, Lighthouse Women’s Aid and also thank you to Debra, Deb and the rest of their team for hosting us. It was fantastic to hear from them and see the facilities on offer at their Women’s Centre. They have had some fabulous prizes donated already for the raffle they will be holding at ABE this year so thank you to everyone that has donated so far. If you’d like to offer a prize, please let us know on mail@issba.co.uk.
In March, Lighthouse Women’s Aid are kindly offering a 2 hour free online training session on 13th March for ISSBA members – Awareness Training on Domestic Abuse. This is such an important topic so please book your place and join us. Full info and booking here.
Anglia Business Exhibition 2024 takes place on 8th May at Trinity Park. There are only a small number of spaces left now so don’t miss out on the chance to showcase your business. Our exclusive Sponsor/Press launch event also takes place this month, giving our sponsors an extra bit of PR and a chance to network with other sponsors. Visit https://www.angliabusinessexhibition.com/abeevent/floorplan/1/1 to find out more or get in touch now on contact@angliabusinessexhibition.com and we will be happy to help. Read our ABE2024 update here.
Our March Member of the Month is New Wolsey Theatre. Most people know they do great shows but they offer lots more so find out all about what they do.
Suffolk Libraries have kindly written an article titled ‘Menopause & Me provides support for employers after Equality and Human Rights Commission issues new guidance’. Really useful information for all businesses, thank you to them for sharing it.
If you are currently recruiting for any vacancies, the University of Suffolk have shared the following with us ‘Businesses are welcome to advertise any jobs suitable for students on our Free to use jobs board – Handshake. These could include internships, graduate jobs, placement year opportunities or even part time work.’ The links are:
Info: https://www.uos.ac.uk/life-at-suffolk/careers-employability-and-enterprise/our-exclusive-job-board-/
Employer invite: https://app.joinhandshake.co.uk/login?school_approval_token=f1mojY-E-bvDKGNP45IDlk1QhOckVU60BjZNkz4ue27XhzFSw8r9Ow
Profile guide: https://support.joinhandshake.com/hc/en-gb/articles/12898528857111
Would you be interested in joining the ISSBA committee? If so, let us know on mail@issba.co.uk. We are a friendly bunch and usually meet once per month (via Zoom currently). As well as having a say in how the organisation is run, this is a fantastic opportunity to build your profile in the local area. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Don’t forget our Recommend a Friend scheme, it is great to see ISSBA members benefiting from this. Any current ISSBA member will get one month's free membership for each new member they recommend, plus the new member also gets one free month, so Win-Win! There are no limits to how many referrals each ISSBA member can make as long as you have a current, paid up membership, so if you bring in 12 new members, you'll get a whole year for free!
GoCardless is making the renewal process much easier for many of our members. If you haven’t signed up yet, either let us know on mail@issba.co.uk or keep an eye on your inbox for an authorisation request. GoCardless is a direct debit system fully protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee and means that you never need to worry about forgetting to renew again. By signing up to this you will help your committee save valuable time in chasing renewals, so please, if you aren’t already signed up, please do!
Graham Barton, ISSBA Chair