Dear Colleagues,
How the days and weeks fly by as we approach the end of January; there is so much work that we need to do,
Yesterday we held the first VCSEF Alliance Meeting of the year and it was wonderful to see so many new faces and hear new voices. We have such passion, commitment, and innovation in our sector in Wolverhampton which we must not take for granted.
We know that with regard to partners, the sector is fairly constantly being ‘engaged’ and ‘consulted’ on issues to ‘co-produce’ services etc.
However, a consistent ask of the sector is for the time, space and opportunity to network within the sector itself; to meet each other, share information and experience and learn from each other.
With this in mind, we are planning an event this year specifically for networking to provide a space purely for the VCSEF sector to connect and share.
We are also planning to re-start ‘Needs and Offers’, for the sector to ask for and/or give resources; this could be in the form of free meeting space, materials and resources or volunteer time etc.
Incidentally, we were informed at the Alliance Meeting by one of the trustees that funding is still available for this financial year through the James Beattie Trust.
January’s VCSEF Alliance meeting at ASAN.
In 2024, the Local Government Association (LGA) published a good practice guide; ‘Working with Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) to engage smaller VCSEF organisations.’ It’s worth a read and highlights the virtual impossibility that partner agencies are faced with when trying to ‘consult the VCSEF sector’ and that working with and through the local LIO, like WVCA, can be crucial.
The LGA outlines the four functions of LIOs and infrastructure as follows:
- leadership and advocacy of and with the VCSEF sector
- partnerships and collaboration bringing together VCSEF organisations with each other and with statutory partners including local authorities and health systems
- capacity building for the VCSEF sector
- support for volunteering.
This is a difficult position to navigate as there are many stakeholders with competing priorities and capacity building is a huge issue for our sector. It is, therefore, more important than ever that we unite and work together in partnership to continue to address the needs of our residents and our sector.
This week I attended the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Board which comprises a range of partners, including the police, housing, health, education and the VCSEF sector working together to respond to crime and community safety issues.
A significant proportion of issues around crime and community safety, cut across a range of themes and there is a mixed picture regarding community safety, with the police wanting there to be more visible engagement with officers and the community.
Small pots of funding will be available in due course, for example, the Common Ground Resilience Fund, for activities to help strengthen cohesion.
The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Strategy 2025–2028 can be found here.
If there are any issues that you would like to raise or anything that you would like to hear more about, please contact me.
If you would like more information, please remember to check out our website and newsletter regularly – there is always new information, and opportunities are always presenting themselves.
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen
Chief Executive Officer
WVCA