VCS Training Providers' Consortium
The Consortium's purpose is to provide a mutually beneficial structure for all voluntary and community sector training providers in Shropshire in order to support and enable all full member organisations to access funding, develop their capacity and achieve high standards of quality and performance in learning and training. In addition the consortium is investigating demand and looking to develop model that will meet new commissioning requirements.Consortium membership is open to all Shropshire based voluntary and community organisations, however large or small, interested in training and learning, including:
- those training their own volunteers, but feel they could benefit from funding aimed at hard to reach people
- those working in a small geographical area
- those working with specific service users
The Consortium was established in late 2007 and has 25 members from a wide range of voluntary and community organisations across Shropshire. The Consortium meets quarterly, usually at a central venue in Shrewsbury.
Some key achievements are:
- Being a single gateway for external agencies seeking partnership, joint bidding or sub-contracting arrangements, with the voluntary sector and community sector in the county in training and learning.
- Offering support to members to assist them with meeting quality standards and accessing training and learning.
- Sharing information and best practice with the Consortium and to the wider Voluntary and Community Sector.
- Providing strategic representation of the sector in relation to training and learning.
- Accessing capacity ESF technical assistance funding to develop consortium capacity though a series of workshops in view of the impending tendering round and to support participation by voluntary and community sector organisations.
- Big Lottery partnership bid to be submitted this coming year involving 6 partner organisations.
- Matrix of training and gaps analysis to be completed 2010/11
- Involvement in infrastructure development work in Shropshire
The Consortium is co-ordinated by Gill Green, Shropshire VCS Training Providers Consortium Coordinator Telephone: 01584 877751 email: gill@furniturescheme.co.uk