STRONG
NEW APPROACH TO VOLUNTARY
AND COMMUNITY SECTOR
SUPPORT IN WARWICKSHIRE
Continued from home page.
Four
independent support services for voluntary and community
sector organisations and groups in Warwickshire will merge
into one new organisation - under the direction of Chief
Executive, Paul Tolley, previous Rugby Council for Voluntary
Service Director.
On 1st April 2008 Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action
(Warwickshire CAVA) will be born, beginning the process
of bringing together Council for Voluntary Service (CVS)
organisations in Warwickshire and some District and Borough
based Volunteer Centres.
This move is the culmination of several years work in Warwickshire
prompted by ChangeUp and which has most recently led to
CapacityBuilders funding being secured through the local
Consortium Coventry & Warwickshire Infrastructure Consortium
(CWIC). This has enabled all local CVS and Volunteer Centres
to explore the benefits of merger and restructure.
Paul Tolley, who has been the director of Rugby CVS since
July 2007, said: “We have not seen an increase in
the generic levels of core funding available but the demands
upon our support services have increased hugely as the need
to involve the sector in shaping our communities and exploring
Public Service Delivery.
The challenge for the sector is one of how to make more
impact by uniting together, delivering our shared objectives
in partnership and drawing down both national and regional
funding that encourages and rewards innovation.
“A member of the Shadow Board established to see the
creation of Warwickshire CAVA regularly states that 'we
live in interesting times' and for me this is exactly how
I see the coming year, interesting times that will see the
shape and efficiency of infrastructure support to the whole
of the sector in Warwickshire begin a process of change
leading to improvements beyond recognition.”
There are approx 4,000 Voluntary & Community Sector
organisations in Warwickshire. All of these groups and organisations
require the support and guidance that Warwickshire CAVA
will provide. Whether this be improving access to funding,
finding ways to diversify into the realms of public service
delivery, help in creating innovative social enterprises
and ways to increase income generation, partnership working
and representation of the views and experience of the sector
to inform and shape policy and services that are responsive
to local need.
For
further information please visit http://www.rugbycvs.org.uk/?q=pauls_blog
