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Accessibility | Skip to Search | Skip to Navigation Menu | Skip to Themes | Skip to Regions | Skip to Members Sign InWant to sort out your Pathways for Change from your Partners for Change, your NAPs from your NOF? Use this tool to find definitions and explanations for the terminology, acronyms and abbreviations frequently used in the voluntary and community sector.
All listings have been given plain English definitions with links to websites for further information.
Title of a report on improving community relations published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in January 2004.
www.asharedfutureni.gov.uk
Trading which is purely complementary to a charity's objects, and which does not constitute a major part of the charity's activities or threaten the organisation's charitable status in any way.
The unincorporated association exists where a group of people band together to carry out an agreed object (otherwise than for profit) and where it is intended that there should be some provision for continuing membership and the future existence of the group. It is governed by a set of rules or constitution which sets down the objects of the association, its membership and structure, and the powers it gives itself to carry out its objects. The association is composed of members who delegate their power to a management group to carry out the association's activities. The management group is accountable to and elected by the members.
Anti-Social Behaviour Order, power to seek these was introduced in NI in 2004.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, formerly the New Earnings Survey. Data for Northern Ireland collected by DETI.
www.detini.gov.uk
Alternative Terms: New Earnings Survey
Democratic Dialogue research.
www.democraticdialogue.org
In English, good faith. This means an act performed on the strength of trust and with no intent to misrepresent or defraud.
An organisation that comes directly under the control of another body (its parent body) is an 'integrated branch'. Another type of branch is an autonomous branch, ie an organisation affiliated to a parent body, often using the same name (with permission of parent), but the branch committee is entirely responsible for the affairs of the branch.
A Charities Aid Foundation is an international NGO providing specialist financial services to charities and their supporters.
www.cafonline.org
There is no definition written in any law. In practice, an organisation is a charity in law if it has exclusively charitable objects, and its activities are aimed only at achieving the charitable objects. Northern Ireland based charities can seek formal confirmation from HM Revenue and Customs that the organisation is accepted as a charity for tax purposes.
A shop run by a charity selling donated goods ie things which people give to the charity shop, which the charity shop then sells.
Having charitable status means being accepted in law as a charity. There are various tax advantages and other perks for organisations with charitable status. There are also restrictions placed on them.
You can find out more by reading our guide to charitable status
The courts have identified four general categories of charitable purposes. For an organisation to be registered, its purposes have to fall within one or more of the following categories:
To find out more you can read our guide to Charitable Purposes.
Individuals (always volunteers) who manage the affairs of a charity and have the 'general control and management of the administration of a charity' are considered to be charity trustees in the legal sense, whether they are aware of it or not, and regardless of what they are called (eg committee member, executive committee member, board member).
A chairperson ensures that the agenda and minutes are prepared and that the agenda is followed. They ensure everyone has a chance to speak and that speakers keep to the point as well as promoting fairness and summing up discussion preparatory to decision. The chair should ensure that tasks allocated are carried out. They usually speak for the group publicly, unless otherwise agreed.
Confederation of British Industry represents large employers and has a committee and staff in NI.
www.cbi.org.uk
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment advises government and runs examinations in NI.
www.cces.org.uk
Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, formerly known as the NI Voluntary Trust, a funding body for community development and one of the Peace II Intermediary Funding Bodies.
www.communityfoundationni.org
Alternative Terms: NI Voluntary Trust
An international alliance established in 1993 to nurture global citizen action, especially in areas where participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are threatened.
www.civicus.org
CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation defines civil society as "the arena, between family, government, and market, where people voluntarily associate to advance common interests".
Commissioner for Children and Young People for NI. Independent champion and watchdog for children and young people in NI, first appointed October 2003.
www.niccy.org
One of the former Lottery funds, merged in 2004 with the New Opportunities Fund to form the Big Lottery.
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
A social partnership in Northern Ireland bringing together the agriculture, business, trade union and voluntary and community sectors to promote social and economic progress.
www.concordiapartnership.org
Corporate Social Responsibility, The idea that corporations should act ethically eg in their treatment of employees, local communities and the environment; sometimes used as a public relations ploy.
Review by the UK Treasury on how government can best work with the voluntary and community sector to deliver high quality public services. Full title is The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery: A Cross Cutting Review, HM Treasury, 2002.
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in NI. NI Department responsible for culture, arts and leisure and for Lottery matters in NI.
www.dcalni.gov.uk
Alternative Terms: Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Department responsible in England for culture, media and sport, including the Lottery.
www.dcms.gov.uk
Depatment for Employment and Learning. NI Department responsible for employment and higher and further education and training.
www.delni.gov.uk
Department of Education. NI Department responsible for education, apart from higher and further education.
www.deni.gov.uk
Department for Social Development NI. NI Department responsible for social development; lead Department for voluntary and community sector matters.
www.dsdni.gov.uk
Alternative Terms: Department for Social Development
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. NI Department responsible for the economy.
www.deti.gov.uk
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. NI Department responsible for all health and social services and for services like firefighting.
www.dhsspsni.gov.uk
Alternative Terms: Department for Health and Social Services
Disability Discrimination Act. Came into force in October 2004. It sets out the responsibilities of service providers to make reasonable adjustments to their premises to ensure it is not impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled customers to gain access to them.
www.disabilityaction.org
Economic Development Forum. A partnership body created in 1999 to advise government on the economy; NICVA is represented on it.
www.edfni.com
Employers Forum on Age is an independent network of employers promoting the business value of attracting and retaining experienced employees regardless of their age.
www.efa.org.uk
European Programmes Advisory Group. Established by NICVA in 2000 to provide a forum for the voluntary and community sector to discuss European Union issues.
The four sister bodies representing the voluntary and community sectors in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Special funding for voluntary and community groups in the period between the ending of Peace I and the beginning of Peace II; now used to refer to any funding in the gap between programmes.
Definition: A barrier to appointment and promotion of disadvantaged groups, despite theoretical equality under the law; normally used in relation to women.
Definition: A strategy to encourage and train older people in the use of technology particularly the internet.
NICVA's searchable website of funding sources and advice for the voluntary and community sector in NI.
www.grant-tracker.org
Funding the Voluntary and Community Sector, 2000 or earlier?
A report on community relations by Dr Jeremy Harbison, which was drawn upon for the government proposals on community relations; its full title was Review of Community Relations, Policy, January 2002. See A Shared Future.
www.dsdni.gov.uk
Health and Social Services Boards are responsible for health and personal social services at regional level; there are four in NI.
Health and Social Services Councils monitor and advise on the work of the four HSSBs in NI.
Health and Social Services Trusts run health and personal social services locally; there are 14 in NI.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions, represents members throughout Ireland but has a separate NI committee and staff
www.ictu.ie
One of the organisations that allocates EU Peace funds.
Invest NI is an organisation that brought together the industrial development, tourism promotion and industrial research bodies in NI, under Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
www.investni.com
Alternative Terms: Invest, Industrial Development Board, IDB
Title of report of the Task Force on Resourcing the Voluntary and Community Sector, presented to government in October 2004.
Alternative Terms: Task Force
The Joint Government Voluntary and Community Sector Forum is a group of 15 voluntary and community sector representatives who meet government officials regularly to discuss common issues; this liaison machinery was created in 1998.
Alternative Terms: Joint Forum
Job Seeker's Allowance is an allowance payable to some registered unemployed people.
There are currently no terms begining with 'k'. Please let us know of entries that should be listed under 'k' in the Jargon Buster by emailing the item to
website@nicva.org.
A partnership body at District Council level to co-ordinate local activity and allocate some EU funding.
Also known as the Noble measures after academic, Mike Noble. These are the measures government uses to assess the extent of disadvantage in NI at local area level; they are important because they are often used as a basis fior allocating public funds.
www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk
Alternative Terms: Noble Index of Deprivation, Noble measures
National Action Plans on Social Inclusion are drawn up by all EU member states to report on plans and progress and are subject to comment and criticism. Latest EU plan covers 2003-2006.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2003/nap/index.asp
See Community Fund, merged to become The Big Lottery in 2004 .
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/
TSN policy introduced in NI in 1991 to skew resources to disadvantaged areas, groups and individuals; re-launched as New TSN in 1998. Government proposed in 2004 to re-name it the Anti-Poverty Strategy.
http://www.newtsnni.gov.uk/
Alternative Terms: New TSN, Targeting Social Need, TSN
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is an umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in NI. It has 1,000+ member organisations and is governed by an executive elected by and from the sector.
http://www.nicva.org/
Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service. Provided by NISRA, gives free access to census and other data at small area level.
http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, NI's official statistics organisation.
http://www.nisra.gov.uk/
Non Government Organisation. Another term for voluntary and community sector groups, usually referring to those involved with international organisations.
National Vocational Qualifications, a system of classifying awards at five levels, now incorporated into a new National Qualification Framework of nine levels that applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland..
http://www.qca.org/
A central department created for the devolved Executive bringing together the First and Deputy First Ministers; has a coordinating role and is centre for important units such as equality and New TSN.
http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/
A citizens' campaign to persuade people to take small personal steps to challenge their own prejudices and build peace.
http://www.onesmallstepcampaign.org/
Alternative Terms: One Small Step
A position paper issued by the Taskforce on Resourcing the Voluntary and Community sector. See Investing Together.
The first Special European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation 1995-1999.
http://www.eugrants.org/
The second Special European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, 2001-2004, then extended until 2006.
http://www.eugrants.org/
A website that provides a single gateway to information about a particular topic.
Review of secondary education and further education; its most controversial element is the abolition of selection at the age of 11. The two most recent reports on the subject are the Burns and Costello reports, both on the Department of Education website.
http://www.deni.gov.uk/
The planned activities of the NI Executive under devolution, normally opened annually for consultation.
http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/
There are currently no terms begining with 'q'. Please let us know of entries that should be listed under 'q' in the Jargon Buster by emailing the item towebsite@nicva.org.
Proposals by the Department of Finance and Personnel to reform the system of rating in NI, due to be implemented in 2006.
http://www.nics.gov.uk/ratingpolicy
Under the Northern Act 1998 (The Act) public authorities carrying out functions that relate to Northern Ireland are required to have due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity between different religious beliefs, political opinion, racial group, age, martial status and sexual orientation, men and women generally, persons with a disability and persons with dependents and persons without.
Special European Union Programmes Body, a cross-border body responsible for implementing EU social, economic, reconciliation and cultural programmes in NI and the border counties.
http://www.seupb.org/
Organisations which are run on a 'not for personal profit' basis, such as housing associations, credit unions, community businesses, co-operatives or pre-school service providers.
http://www.socialeconomynetwork.org/
TSN policy introduced in NI in 1991 to skew resources to disadvantaged areas, groups and individuals; re-launched as New TSN in 1998. Government proposed in 2004 to re-name it the Anti-Poverty Strategy.
http://www.newtsnni.gov.uk/
Alternative Terms: New TSN, Targeting Social Need, TSN
Funds operated by the European Union, namely European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); European Social Fund (ESF); European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF); and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG).
http://www.eugrants.org/
An approach to government that defies definitions like conservative and socialist, left and right. Associated with Bill Clinton in USA and Tony Blair in UK, who adopted a mix of policies.
There are currently no terms begining with 'u'. Please let us know of entries that should be listed under'u' in the Jargon Buster by emailing the item towebsite@nicva.org.
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A system of payment specifically for water and sewerage services; at present these are paid for from general taxation and rates.
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
http://www.wilpf.org/
There are currently no terms begining with 'x'. Please let us know of entries that should be listed under'x' in the Jargon Buster by emailing the item towebsite@nicva.org.
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Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is registered as a company limited by guarantee in Northern Ireland (No 1792) and is registered as a charity for tax purposes with the Inland Revenue
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