More About CVS
Read more about the Community and Voluntary Sector
Our Sector's Priorities
The top priority for CVS organisations is to have adequate income to deliver its activities effectively and support sustainability of organisations and their work.
Income and Sustainability
The top priority for CVS organisations is to have adequate income to deliver its activities effectively and support sustainability of organisations and their work. You can find more information about CVS organisations in North Lanarkshire through ALISS.
CVS organisations secure income form one or more sources including:
*Either in the form of a grant or a fee for delivery of a contracted service
Fair Funding
Where a CVS organisation receives income from a grant or contract, this should cover the real costs of delivery; make provision for inflation; and provide funding for a sufficient length of time.
This is called “Fair Funding”. CVS organisations across Scotland and in North Lanarkshire are calling on funders to provide fair funding to support the effectiveness and sustainability of the CVS.
North Lanarkshire CVS Fair Funding Charter
This funding charter [upload doc] has been developed by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) and the Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership Group to set out fair funding principles for our sector with the aim of supporting improvements in the funding our sector receives from the public and independent sectors.
If your CVS organisation would like to join the North Lanarkshire CVS Income Generation group, please contact info@VANL.co.uk or use the contact form here. You can also read about national Fair Funding developments for our sector here.
Guidance and Training
CVS organisations also need and value access to free and/or low cost guidance and training on a range of key issues including:
Leadership and governance
Strategic planning
Innovation, improvement and evaluation
Funding
People management
ICT
Communications and influencing
Workplace wellbeing and health and safety
Equality, human rights and public protection
Understanding of key population groups and key community issues
Effective participation, voice and influence
VANL receives funding from the Scottish Government, North Lanarkshire Council and Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire to provide guidance and training on the above and other issues – helping to build CVS capacity and effectiveness. VANL also works with partners, such as New College Lanarkshire, to provide access to wider, free or low cost training.
Respect and Recognition
Respect and recognition for our sector is vital for securing funding and to be treated as effective service providers and partners.
In North Lanarkshire, the CVS is generally well respected and given recognition for its contribution by public bodies and the wider public and this needs to be sustained and strengthened.
One key way of achieving this is for CVS organsations to demonstrate the quality of their organisation and their contribution and impact. Many CVS organisations already do this very well but if they need support this is available from a variety of sources, including VANL.
VANL promotes and uses the following two online resources for and with our sector to support its sustainability and quality:
More information on VANL’s support for CVS organisations is available here, including our CVS Evaluation Toolkit.
CVS Qualities
The work of the CVS in North Lanarkshire is supported by a sector-strategy, which was agreed in 2021 and is available to read below.
The CVS is value- and mission-led and has many recognised and valued strengths and assets.
The sector’s paid and voluntary workforce – including trustees – work with passion and commitment to achieve their organisation’s mission. And, whilst the CVS needs sufficient resources to deliver its work, because the sector involves many volunteers, it is highly cost-effective and delivers good quality support and services. For example, regulated care services provided by the CVS regularly receive high scores on their assessments.
Participation in key groups such as:
Challenges and Opportunities
Income
Community groups and smaller charities require modest funding, which they usually secure through a mix of grants and donations. Larger charities secure income from multiple sources including public donations; grants from public sector and independent funders; commissioned services and trading. Social Enterprises mostly rely on trading income, supplemented by loans and grants.
However, following a decade or more of under-funding from the public sector and reducing public donations due to the cost of living crisis, most CVS organisations struggle with insecure and inadequate income.
Recognition
Despite the amazing work of the CVS, its diversity and complexity mean that many public sector colleagues and the wider public do not always appreciate its value and contribution.
The CVS appreciates that the public sector also has significant funding challenges. The CVS helps the public sector through the public services it already provides. However, the CVS could contribute much more with greater cross-sector collaboration and co-design of services with more strategic investment in the CVS. We already know this approach can work as evidenced by our successful Health and Social Care NL Community Solutions programme. Let’s build on it!
CVS Collaboration and Partnership Working
The CVS in North Lanarkshire collaborate within the sector and with our public sector partners in various ways to maximise reach and effectiveness.
Collaboration within the CVS includes the following:
- The North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership Group which provides a strategic forum for CVS representatives to work together for the benefit of our sector and communities.
- Various networks and forums where representatives from key CVS organisations share information, provide peer support and work together to influence wider policy and practice. This includes forums and networks that bring CVS organisations and/or the public together to support specific groups or priority issues.
These Networks and Forums Support Key Groups of People:
Carers – including a North Lanarkshire Carers’ Forum convened by North Lanarkshire Carers Together – For more information, visit the North Lanarkshire Carers Together Website
A pan-Lanarkshire network for CVS organisations supporting Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Displaced Persons. – For more information contact info@vanl.co.uk
Children and young people and families – including following networks, forums and groups
A North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Children, Young People and Families Network – which helps the CVS improve the support they provide to children, young people and families. Please contact info@vanl.co.uk for more information.
Parent Councils in various schools, please contact collumw@northlan.gov.uk
Youth groups including the North Lanarkshire Youth Forum and the Care Experienced Champions Board “Today Not Tomorrow” -please contact cld@northlan.gov.uk
Older adults – through a North Lanarkshire Voice of Experience Forum- for more information visit the Voice of Experience Forum website
Disabled People through the North Lanarkshire Disability Forum – for more information visit the North Lanarkshire Disablity Forum website
North Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Network – The purpose of the NLSEN is to support a competitive and dynamic Social Enterprise (SE) sector in North Lanarkshire responsive to local needs, maximising local public and private procurement opportunities.
Grant McLean (Interim Chair) – Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire
Collete Donald (Convenor/Secretary) – Health and Wellness Hub
Contact email:nlsocialenterprise@yahoo.com
CVS Organisations Collaborate to Address the Following Key Issues:
CVS organisations also come together to support their work on the following key issues
For more information on these thematic networks please contact info@vanl.co.uk
CVS collaboration with the public sector includes representation and active participation in the following cross-sector partnerships and groups
Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership Group
The Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership Group (CVSPG) provides a strategic forum for representatives from the North Lanarkshire CVS to work together for the benefit of our sector and communities by:
- Sharing information, ideas, opportunities and good practice
- Developing initiatives of benefit to the sector, such as the proposed Fair Funding Charter
- Influencing and contributing to partnership working – for example, the Chair of CVSPG is a member of the Lanarkshire (Community Planning) Partnership (NLP) Board
VANL convenes and supports the CVSPG, which meets at least quarterly. The CVSPG Chair is Nichola Brown, from PlayPeace, a local charity supporting families with children with additional support needs. The CVSPG Vice-chair and secretary is Kirsty Struthers, Senior Manager, Community Development at VANL. For more information please contact info@vanl.co.uk