Voluntary & Community Sector Assembly
The Shropshire Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly enables representatives from voluntary and community organisations to come together to discuss common issues, develop shared strategies and plans and support each other in delivering services to a range of vulnerable and priority groups within the county. The Assembly supports joint working with public sector bodies such as the Shropshire Council and Shropshire County Primary Care Trust.
The role of the VCS Assembly covers:
- communication
- representation and engagement
- advocacy
- networking and support
- capacity building to engage with public sector
- education and building awareness of VCS in public sector agencies
The Assembly is supported by a national drive to encourage stronger relationships between the public sector and voluntary sector organisations (now often referred to as Civil Society Organisations).
The Assembly recognises the importance of ensuring all groups who deliver services are kept informed and consulted over the policies and strategies which affect them. The Assembly provides a medium for communication between public sector bodies and voluntary sector organisations. It provides an information flow, networking opportunities, and signposting to relevant organisations and individuals. The Assembly also supports capacity building within the voluntary sector in relation to service delivery, and enables the public sector to develop a better understanding of the unique nature of the sector.
The VCS Assembly produces a fortnightly email news update and a quarterly newsletter to report on the work undertaken by the VCS Assembly Board. Anyone wishing to receive this information from the Assembly, who has not yet registered their details, can do so by completing the membership form attached below.
Membership form 2011 (40KB)Members of the wider voluntary and community sector have highlighted how important it is to receive information from the Assembly. An example comment is shown below:
"Many thanks for all the information we get from you. It is invaluable. We don't mind deleting the emails that are not relevant to us - the ones that are relevant keep us in touch with the world outside."
The Chair of the Board of the Assembly (formally agreed by the Assembly members) is Sonia Roberts (Sonia is the Charity Manager for Landau Ltd.). The Assembly is funded and hosted by Shropshire Council.
The Assembly is co-ordinated by the VCSA Coordinator. The VCSA Coordinator's role is to support the Board in developing the role of the Assembly and in particular the continued development of Forums of Interest. Forums of Interest each supply representatives to sit on the Board and therefore provide a sector wide voice.
Forums of Interest continue to be established to enable VCS organisations to share information. Forums of Interest may be formed of groups and organisations:
- delivering similar activities/sharing similar objectives
- providing common types of service
- targeting similar client groups
Examples of Forums of Interest include:
- Health and Social Care Forum
- The Children and Young People's Summit
- Mental Health Forum
- Pan Disability Forum
- Community Transport Consortium
- Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership
- VCS Training Providers Consortium
- Shropshire Community Recycling Network
- Visual Arts Network
- Supporting People Providers Forum
- Shropshire Heritage Forum
- Social Enterprise Forum
Interest has been shown in developing other Forums of Interest. If you would be interested in finding out more about the Forums of Interest contact the Assembly Coordinator on 01743 2522740.