Dear Colleagues,
You may remember that in 2024, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) ran a number of engagement activities regarding the relationship between civil society and government.
They have now published a new report which makes recommendations for the development and implementation of the Civil Society Covenant which is due to be published in the summer.
A sample of the many findings are highlighted below:
- Civil society organisations experience barriers to working with government including bureaucratic processes, lack of understanding of civil society, and lack of trust.
- There are several factors that can support effective working relationships including open and honest communication, understanding of civil society, long term funding and investment in working relationships.
- Civil society organisations have a significant role to play to innovate in partnership with government, but they need the right conditions to develop and test new solutions.
- Civil society organisations often feel disempowered in their relationships with government and lack capacity, yet there are some actions civil society can take to improve the relationship with government.
The full report can be accessed here: “A New Relationship: Building a Covenant for Civil Society & Government.”
Next week sees the return of Volunteer’s Week, and on Wednesday, 4th June, Wolverhampton Volunteers are holding a “Think Volunteering” event in the Downstairs Mall of the Mander Centre from 10 am – 2 pm.
The aim of the event is for people to find out more about volunteering and how it can be life-transforming, how to become a volunteer and to hear about the range of volunteering opportunities available.
We have 16 organisations who are registered with the Volunteer Centre who will be in attendance and who have volunteering roles for the following sectors:
- Communities
- Law and Order
- Education
- Mentoring
- Health and Social Care
- Conservation/maintenance
- Retail
- Trustees
- Arts
- Business and Administration
Please try to come along to find out more, share information, network and make connections.
Finally, there is still time to apply for the Research Evaluation Network Development (REND) Programme, which is about community research. There are currently 20 applications in the pipeline. If you are interested in applying to the programme, please email applyren@wvca.org.uk.
Remember too to check out our website and newsletter regularly – opportunities are always presenting themselves.
If there are any issues that you would like to raise or anything that you would like to hear more about, please contact me.
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen Chief Executive Officer