Redcar & Cleveland Elected Members Briefing

1. Redcar & Cleveland Elected Members Briefing Linked and distinct! The Voluntary and Community Sector in Redcar and Cleveland

2. In this presentation we will cover: • An overview of the Voluntary and Community Sector • How we link together • The role of VCS Infrastructure • Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Sector Forum • Communications

3. Government’s Civil Society

4. Voluntary and Community Sector is not for profit • Self help groups • Unincorporated associations • Charities – may be in their own right or a branch of a national or regional organisation • Limited companies • Social enterprises (Community Interest Companies, Co-operatives)

5. Defining Our Sector The Voluntary & Community Sector is defined as being: • Independent in that they determine their own existence, constitution and objectives and legal status • Organisations and groups are run by members, committees or boards who derive no financial benefit • Created for public benefit social, economic, environmental or community

6. Voluntary and Community Sector in Redcar & Cleveland: scope and activity The key areas in Redcar and Cleveland include: • Groups that respond to local circumstances and seek to improve their community (community buildings, residents and community groups) • Groups who work in relation to, welfare rights, financial inclusion, employment needs, enterprise and training • Groups who respond to the health and social care agenda • Young people • Environment • Sports/arts and culture and heritage • Transport • Housing • Communities of interest e.g. Faith /gender/ethnicity/age/disability/sexulaity/rurality • Social activities • Development Trusts • Volunteers e.g. Self help groups all others including parish councils • Infrastructure organisations

7. Working with paid people & volunteers • Some organisations employ staff, work with volunteers, deliver contracts, receive public funding , trade, fundraise, are grant and donation funded • Some groups and organisations rely solely on volunteers

8. How the VCS in Redcar and Cleveland links together

9. Some Key Community Partnerships

10. What is Infrastructure? Organisations whose primary purpose is the provision of support, development,co-ordination, representation and promotion for frontline ‘Not for Profit’ organisations. ‘We know that only 18% of organisations receive support from infrastructure organisations but those groups that do are more likely to be successful In grant applications or bidding for contacts’ Supporting a Stronger Civil Society: 2010

11. Evidence shows that infrastructure organisations have mixed sources of funding but rely heavily on public funds and that local public funding is essential for sustainable infrastructure services. Funding is currently too thinly spread amongst hundreds of infrastructure organisations, leading to competition for funds with frontline groups. Supporting a Stronger Civil Society: 2010

12. Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency RCVDA is the primary infrastructure organisation for Redcar & Cleveland, providing a broad range of support, information, advice, guidance and training for Voluntary, community and social enterprises in the borough. RCVDA is the longest established VDA (26 years) is the Tees Valley, but is also the smallest in terms of staff and operational running costs. Over the last 7 years the organisation has restructured from 17 staff to 5.5; reflecting diminishing levels of general infrastructure funding and the organisation has shifted its focus on the delivery of essential core services: • Support with securing appropriate funding and the development of a range of income streams • Support with the development and implementation of policies, procedures and quality systems • Services that support individual volunteers and volunteer centred organisations • Support and guidance with project development and management • Advice and guidance on legal issues relating to VCS organisations • The provision of relevant and up to date information for the VCS in a range of accessible formats • Specific support for management committees with governance issues • The provision of good quality training and learning opportunities

13. TVRCC is a Rural Community Council one of 38 funded throughout the England providing support service to rural communities throughout the Tees Valley. The organisation:- • Is an Independent Registered Charity & Ltd Company • Supports the expression of rural needs/issues and seeks to find ways to address them, locally and through rural influencing joint regional and national representation. Currently being considered for the co-ordination of a DEFRA facing Farming Food and Rural Affairs Forum for Tees Valley. • Provides Information Support Guidance and Training to Village Halls, Town and Parish Councils and kinds of other rural groups • Is a Local Voluntary Sector Infrastructure body for the rural areas • Is in receipt of a contract funded by DeFRA which has specific threads of activity in support of rural communities which include rural broadband, Rural Housing, Transport, Access to services, Fuel poverty/energy generation, community planning • Develops specific projects which support rural concerns such as partnership in the North York Moors LEADER, Community Transport/East Cleveland Minibus Brokerage and is acting as the lead body in the BIG LOCAL programme for East Cleveland

14. Purpose • Elect and or nominate representatives to relevant bodies and networks at local, sub regional, regional and national levels • have a collective voice on local, regional and national issues • be responsive to the changing and diverse needs of a vibrant and thriving voluntary sector • inform infrastructure services which are responsive to the changing and diverse needs of a vibrant voluntary sector • reflect the diversity of communities it engages with and be representative of its constituency • to provide an arena for discussion of areas of interest to the voluntary sector • to provide an independent Forum which is influential and empowering, which embraces a Compact way of working and which recognises mutuality and values collaboration and partnership • to provide a forum that benefits the communities it seeks to support with the outcomes they need and want

15. Membership The VSF is open to any voluntary or community group that is based in or works in Redcar and Cleveland The VCS Forum Steering Group consists of 14 representatives of local ‘Not for Profit’ organisations; these include Community organisations, environmental organisations, voluntary groups, Community Interest Companies and Infrastructure Organisations: providing a broad range of perspectives and input into the steering group. The steering group seeks to respond to the needs identified by the sector Information and outcomes from our activities is circulated and shared via the databases of the infrastructure organisations to over 360 through RCVDA + 257 through TVRCC numbers VCS groups in Redcar & Cleveland

16. Communication across the sector • Flow of information as it stands • RCVDA and TVRCC maintain data bases and mail and email to contacts both for themselves and for the Voluntary Sector Forum • Email groups / Newsletters/others/ websites • Partnerships and Communities of interest have their own networks • Individual groups have their own membership lists • Public communication such as through libraries

17. Specific role of the sector in Redcar and Cleveland • Role as part of Redcar and Cleveland partnership • Role within Civil Society agenda • Role in neighbourhoods • Role as channel for communications • Role as critical friend; independent consultation and engagement e.g. seldom heard • Role as service providers • Specific initiatives ( Connecting Together for Change, building the capacity of the sector)