Sarah Collins of AdviceUK looks at fundraising within small charities.

Working for AdviceUK, a national organisation that has over 800 charities as members, a lot of questions have arisen over the years around fundraising...... and now, more so than ever.

Chasing the money

This 11 foot tall grim reaper puppet needs now has a new home, as we don't didn't have space for it any more.

It's head turns, it's jaw talks, and it's finger points / moves... it's very impressive and gets lots of wows in public.

Only drawback is it's very heavy and needs a strong soul to wear it, but for someone with prop building skills it wouldn't be too difficult to rebuild his body from lighter materials..? Paul can  advise how ...

Polyp has landed another book commission:

Right now I'm thrilled to be working on another political history graphic novel... one with lots of science stuff in it, and centred around an issue I care deeply about.

It even has a chapter set in the future, full of rare optimism, and a spacecraft! Bliss.

The publishers have asked me to keep the details to myself until they announce it themselves, so watch this space early next year!

Making a small multi-site organisation work

Running a small business is very challenging, as anyone working in one knows. Without enough people to form a department for each business function, everyone has to take responsibility for anything that requires attention. Under these circumstances, where knowledge is highly distributed within the business, good communication is paramount.

or "What it takes to be a freelance illustrator" from our own Ben Tallon:

Yesterday I sat here at my studio desk. I went through my daily routine, (or as close as a freelance creative gets to routine) checking my run of websites, eating lunch when I felt satisfied with my mornings progression.

Familiar people infiltrated my inbox and my ever expanding Itunes spat out it’s increasingly erratic playlist. Then one of those regular invaders dropped me a very interesting link...

There's plenty going on at Carbon Co-op, a new low carbon social enterprise developed by OpenSpace tenant Jonathan Atkinson working alongside URBED Co-op and Kindling Trust.

A big warm OpenSpace welcome to new part-time tenant John Ossoway of RAGINGtrifle.

John is a freelance designer and illustrator - check out his site at www.ragingtrifle.com

It's great to have a web designer in the office to complement our two developers, one programmer, and an SEO. I'm sure we'll be hiring each other and working on more joint projects in no time!

Poetry publishing company 'Puppywolf' is asking for submissions for 'Best of Manchester Poets Volume 2", their annual anthology which will be published in September 2011.

Anybody over 18 who calls themselves a Manchester poet can contribute. You can submit two poems and it’s free of charge to do so. The deadline for submissions is 30th June 2011.

Find out more here on their website.

Puppywolf is run by OpenSpace's very own Keir Thomas.

Last month OS members Jonathan and Paul started the 'Book Bloc' project - creating  banners / riot shields for forthcoming demos.

As the picture shows, they're essentially HUGE books, each having a special meaning in the context of deflecting aggression. They've a thin wooden base, but are made of thick slabs of foam- giving them yet more of a built in non violent / self defense message.