London Voluntary Service Council supports London’s Voluntary and Community Organisations to deliver better services through expert support, assistance, training and advice. As we approach our centenary in 2010, we need to be confident we are responding effectively to changes in the environment and working appropriately to support our sector.
LVSC has been thinking creatively about how to best meet the needs of London’s voluntary and community sector (VCS). We have reviewed our vision, values and strategic objectives to set out a new five-year plan that will meet the challenges facing Londoners and the VCS groups that serve them.
COVER and other regional networks in the East of England have worked jointly to produce a report identifying the top nine issues for the region for producing a ‘Thriving Third Sector’. These issues include funding inequalities, high growth levels, rurality, equality, governance challenges, ICT needs, recruitment and retention, skills, and partnership.
The report is published by Regional Infrastructure Services East (RISE) who are a forum with representatives from each of the subregional consortia in the East of England funded by Capacity Builders.
The Community and Voluntary Forum: Eastern Region (COVER) held its annual AGM recently on the topic of ‘A Thriving Third Sector’. Speakers from the Eastern Region Public Health Observatory, the Government Office for the East of England, the East of England Development Agency and the Strategic Health Authority contributed their thoughts on this topic, and workshops were facilitated by Skills Third Sector, NCVO, i-Trust, and Peter Vince, a Change Management consultant.