Two points were made in connection with the services and support we are able to provide for black and minority ethnic groups, which we intend to address before our next assessment. These were:

1. “CVS already supports many existing, new and emerging BME organisations. However there is scope to increase the support that these organisations receive”.
2. “There is a level of inconsistency in the strengths of the different representational structures. There are particular issues with representation for BME organisations”.

We would be really pleased to get your views on these comments.
• Are you able to give us any feedback on what you would like to see us do differently?
• For example, do we need to adapt our offer, provide more outreach services, or do things differently to encourage and facilitate access to services based at the Priory Street Centre?
• How can we work together to increase our reach to minority ethnic groups and enable them to access necessary support services, such as funding advice, governance support, community accounting and volunteering that other groups access readily?
• What do we need to do differently to encourage more minority ethnic groups to nominate representatives for the many forums and structures that exist in the city?
• How can we work together to achieve this?

We would be really interested to get your views and to discuss ways of improving our services to meet the needs of York’s rapidly changing population. Please feel free to pass this email on to anyone who you think will be interested. All views will be treated in confidence and will only be used in an anonymised way. My contact details are Angela.harrison@yorkcvs.org.uk, telephone 01904 621133.

And now for something completely different…..
It’s a girl! Congratulations to York CVS Office Administrator Lydia and her husband Jamie, on the birth of baby Jasmine. She was born on the 21st January, weighing 7lb 4oz.

Child Poverty Strategy for York. The Strategy was launched on December 20th and was a sobering reminder that for many children and young people life is not as comfortable as we would wish it to be. The latest data for York tells us that 4705 children and young people are living in poverty. That is the equivalent of 3 decent sized secondary schools. Please take a moment to read the strategy and more importantly, the action points it contains. We know these actions will be challenging given the current economic situation. If you think your organisation can help in any way or you have ideas for innovative ways to tackle these issues please get in touch with either myself or Bernie Flanagan at City of York Council.

City of York Council budget for 2012-14 As you are aware, the Council has some tough decisions to make about its future budgets. There will be a consultation meeting on Monday 16th January from 10am – 12 here at CVS where you can talk to politicians and officers about their budget plans. Please come and have your say on how funding should be used in the next 2 years. If you can’t get to the meeting but have a question to ask or comment to make please let me know and I can speak on your behalf.

Volunteering in York Volunteering enquiries continue to rise but the world of volunteering faces a number of challenges. What is the difference between a volunteer and an intern? Are we taking advantage of young people to get routine tasks done at low cost, or providing them with much needed experience for their CV’s? What is the role of volunteering in the health and wellbeing of the city’s residents? Is volunteering replacing some more structured forms of activity for vulnerable people and how can that be supported? How can we help more organisations to provide good quality, meaningful and enjoyable volunteering opportunities?

In 2012 the Volunteer Centre, as part of a Volunteering Partnership in York, will be launching a Charter for Volunteering – the main aim of the Charter will be ensure a consistently good quality experience for volunteers through establishing standards that organisations sign up to. Support and training to achieve the standards will be provided. Liz Hamilton is the Volunteering Manager at York CVS and can be contacted on 01904 621133 or liz.hamilton[at]yorkcvs.org.uk

Apprenticeships Did you know there are 3 new apprenticeships available to support voluntary sector employers? The roles focus on campaigning, fundraising and volunteer management. We are working with Your Consortium and City of York Council to see how we can support voluntary organisations in York to take young people into their organisations via this apprenticeship route. Please get in touch if you are interested to find out more.

Localism and the Big Society The Localism Act was passed in November. Many of the measures included in the Act, including Community Rights, will come into force in April 2012. Urban Forum has produced a useful briefing on the final Act that you may find helpful. It will be interesting to see how this translates locally in the coming months. One of our questions for the CYC budget consultation is to ask how the Council intends to facilitate more detailed discussions about changes to service delivery and the role of the voluntary sector in that delivery.

The Public Administration Select Committee has published its findings on the Big Society. Their press release can be found here. In summary the Committee says “Big Society doesn’t do enough to help ‘the little society’: Without a coherent implementation plan, there is confusion over message, whilst smaller charities face barriers in contracting and commissioning policies”. Whatever your thoughts or views, the “Big Society” debate hasn’t gone away and this report makes interesting reading and highlights some of the issues that many of us have been facing in recent times. I am sure this will continue to be a lively point of interest for 2012 too.

Health and social care As discussed last month, 2012 will be a huge year of change in the world of health and social care, covering everything from the way in which services are commissioned and delivered to how patients and the public have their say on local services. We will be talking to you early in 2012 to make sure the sector is represented as effectively as possible in the new structures that are emerging.

And finally…I am delighted to say that York CVS successfully renewed its Quality Award with our national body NAVCA (The National Association of Voluntary and Community Action) in December. This involved much gathering of evidence of our work and its impact, as well as a full day’s audit visit. Many of you received random phone calls to check out your experience of the services we provide. But this Award can’t be something that sits on the shelf till it expires in 2014, so if you have views or ideas on what CVS should be doing to support you, or have feedback on a service you have received please get in touch.

With very best wishes for 2012
Angela Harrison

You may be aware that I have a seat on what will be the Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board. The next meeting is Friday, 9 December. Among other items, the meeting will consider the findings of the Independent Review of Health Services in North Yorkshire and York and their implications for the work of the Board. As you may know, work is also underway to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for York by the end of this year, so if you are able to contribute to that please do. The purpose of the JSNA is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the local health and wellbeing needs of children, adults, older people, geographic and vulnerable groups. It comprises a mix of quantitative and qualitative data and will inform the development of the local health and well being strategy and in turn inform priorities and commissioning decisions. Please send any relevant information to Becca De Koning, telephone 01904 554358 Wednesdays & Thursdays, or email Rebecca.dekoning@york.gov.uk

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, has been speaking about how government can simplify impact measurement – read what he has to say here. http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/bulletin/third_sector_daily_bulletin/article/1106127/nick-hurd-says-government-needs-simplify-impact-measurement/. We know this is an area of work that concerns many of you (and ourselves here at CVS!) so if you want to talk through your options or get advice and support please give us a call.

Angela Harrison

The end of October saw the submission of our partnership bid to Big Lottery for the Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund. To find out more read a summary of the bid on our website and how the funding will be used if we are successful.

On 2nd November we had our second shared conference with North Yorkshire colleagues, which included the AGMs of both York CVS and North Yorkshire and York Forum. It was great to see so many of you there. For those who couldn’t attend or who want more information, there are copies of some of the speakers’ slides and speeches on our website at www.yorkcvs.org.uk/event/facing-forward-joint-conference-york-cvs-nyyf-include-both-annual-general-meetings. If you have any feedback about the event or ideas for next year please do let us know.

The next few weeks up to Christmas are equally busy. Watch out for information about your opportunity to contribute to a revised Compact for York and a Thriving Voluntary Sector Strategy. The Local Strategic Partnership is proposing changes to the way in which it is organised, and the Transition Board takes its first steps towards becoming a Health and Well-being Board. There is a lot to take in!

Please get in touch if you have any questions or issues you want us to raise on your behalf.

Angela Harrison

Angela Harrison

The Lottery guidance gives the government’s view that infrastructure varies from “best in class to inconsistency, unnecessary duplication and fragmentation of resources”; that this programme is not about “business as usual” but that they are looking for us to adapt to economic reality and the changing needs of frontline groups.

The programme will support consolidation and collaboration, e.g. rethinking business models, asset consolidation, merger of back office functions and shared services; fresh thinking about the support civil society needs, integration of services, better links with local business, more peer to peer support within the sector, stronger partnerships with strategic bodies and long term sustainability that does not rely on government support

York CVS is the lead partner in this bid for York and will be working closely with core partners (so far identified as York Cares, Your Consortium, North Yorkshire and York Forum) and a range of other organisations to develop a bid by 31^st October 2011. As you can see, timescales are tight!  We will also work closely with NYYF who are the lead partner for a North Yorkshire bid to make sure that where work crosses over our local authority boundaries that we maximise the benefits of working together and make sure that groups in York and North Yorkshire can seamlessly access the same services, wherever they are based.

We would like to hear from you if you want to see things change.  Do you agree with the government’s aims?  Can you tell us what transformed services will look like to you?   Don’t hold back! If you think a service is poor, or we offer something that is no longer needed and should stop or close, be replaced by something else, or look very different in the future, then please tell us.  If something doesn’t currently work for you or frustrates you, we need to know.

Here are some questions to start you off but please feel free to comment in any way or to write your own questions for us to answer or for us to pass on for others to answer.

×          What do you want from the services that support you?

×          Do you want fewer places to go? A one-stop shop?

×          Do you care if your services are provided by a charity, or a private company or the state?

×          Is the Priory Street Centre a suitable place for you to access services? If not, why not? Where else would you prefer to go?

×          Are there places you go for help that all need to be located together?  Can you tell us what they are?

×          Are there any services which you would be prepared to pay for? If so what? Why?

×          Are there services you would never be prepared to pay for? If so, what? Why?

×          What needs to be different? How?

×          What needs to be better? How?

There are a number of ways you can get in touch.  It would help if you could do this by Friday 14^th October.  You can email bigtif@yorkcvs.org.uk.  You can ring us on 01904 621133.  You can ask for a freepost envelope.  You can arrange to come in and talk to someone about what you think.  You can leave a comment on our blog or you can tweet us using #bigtifyork. Thank you!  We look forward to hearing from you and will keep you updated on how the partnership and bid are progressing.

Angela Harrison

To start our discussions internally with our staff, trustees and volunteers we used the attached presentation which we are happy to share.  We started with the question “what do groups and individuals need to enable voluntary action to flourish..?” Here’s our presentation of the session:york-cvs-the-future-of-infrastructure.

Progress to date; a meeting of the potential partners was held on 10th August. A number of themes for further discussion were identified and meetings subsequently arranged.  A letter to partners 26 aug was issued explaining how York CVS proposes to register the preliminary partnership.

Please post any thoughts below that can contribute to a winning bid for York!

Many thanks.

Angela Harrison, Chief Executive, York CVS

More information is available from Big Lottery.
And on the York CVS website.

However the overall pace of change for us at CVS and for our members and those who use all our services appears to be relentless.  The changing health and social care agendas continue to dominate. Just in the last few days we have seen:-

•  City of York Council being to consult on the future of care for the elderly.  You can find out more about how to take part in the consultation here. http://www.york.gov.uk/health/Services_for_older_people/eph. This is a significant change and we know many of you will want to have your say.  I am sure this will be a hot topic for the relevant health and social care forums.

• The Independent Review of Health Services in North Yorkshire and York published its findings to make recommendations for the future commissioning of services within a sustainable financial framework to ensure future financial balance.  Many of you contributed to this work. The strategic recommendations from the review can be found below but include redesign of the model of care so that patients are treated according to their level of need and shifting care from the hospital to the community sector.  There are also specific recommendations relating to a stronger role for voluntary sector providers in contributing to integrated provision of community and primary care services, mental health services and preventative work. To find out more go to http://www.yorksandhumber.nhs.uk/reports_and_publications/north_yorkshire_and_york_review/

And finally on health issues some of you have been asking for more information about the Transition Board, the interim arrangement prior to the new Health and Wellbeing Board for York. I am pleased to say that fellow Board Members Pete Dwyer and Rachel Johns will be guests at our Voluntary Sector Strategic Forum on 13^th September 2011 to join me in answering your questions.   More information available here. http://www.yorkcvs.org.uk/content/voluntary-sector-strategic-forum

For CVS last week saw the announcement of the Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund, which was first discussed when the current government came into power and consulted on many months ago.  This is said to be the final funding round for our type of organisation so it is crucial that we use this funding to truly transform our organisation and the services we provide. This will mean working  with groups we know, finding more of those we don’t know, and establishing their needs in this ever-changing environment.   We will work with appropriate partners to deliver the right services, in the right place in and in the right way.  Please read more about this important piece of funding and tell us how it could be used to enable you to access better infrastructure support.  http://www.yorkcvs.org.uk/content/transforming-local-infrastructure-fund

We are still working with City of York Council to develop a Service Level Agreement for the additional funding to the sector for 1^st October 2011 to 31^st March 2012 so please bear with us on this and we will release details as soon as possible.

As always please get in touch if there is anything you would like to talk about.  We have just updated our Comments, Compliments and Complaints Policy which can be found here http://www.yorkcvs.org.uk/ycvs-policies but we’re equally happy to take your comments by phone, email, fax, letter or tweet!

Partly we wouldn’t wish it to be any other way, because it is often that time when you are clearing tables or mucking in that you get the opportunity to chat more informally with staff, volunteers and customers or service users and find out more about each other and what people really think about the services you provide.

At our Meet the Business Sector event I met a group who were looking to raise funds and support for the long term development of a building.   For CVS to be thriving in 3 – 5 years when that group’s plans come to fruition, and they may want further support from us to grow their group, then we have to be doing our own forward planning and lifting our heads from the day to day once in a while.    So recently I did take time out to go and meet a CVS chief officer from another part of the country.   His CVS is doing some interesting work that we can learn from, including establishment of a social enterprise trading company delivering a range of services under a brand name which enables them to clearly identify charged for services from free core services.  They are sharing a senior management post with a neighbouring, smaller CVS and exploring lots of money-making ideas in recognition of lost income streams that may well not return.

So I shall risk your wrath and ask the question anyway.  Are you finding time, even a few minutes here and there, to think about your organisation’s future? One small step I’ve taken recently is to retire my very basic Pay as You Go mobile and  invest in the sort of device my technology-savvy (and I must admit younger) staff have been using for years. I’ve given them endless hours of amusement these past few weeks as I’ve struggled to make it perform the most basic of functions, such as actually making a phone call.  However, I’m now using it to download useful podcasts I can listen to on the bus and to follow a small number of organisations and people on Twitter who can stimulate some of those ideas and help with that thinking. My next step is to master the voice-function software to save typing time – but I’m not sure my fellow bus passengers will want me dictating my Voluntary Voice article on the way home to Pocklington!

The other key message for me from the NAVCA conference was that what the sector needs now is optimistic leadership.  Again, how to ask leaders of voluntary organisations to rise to that challenge, when many of us know that in the next 10 years our sector may change beyond all recognition. Traditional funding sources will contract further, some organisations will cease to exist, some will reduce significantly and the private sector may become our competitor.  Mission drift debates will rage and the volunteer vs. paid staff member scenario will be a contentious issue.

However, there are also opportunities and possibilities.  In York we have a thriving sector, skilled staff, volunteers with incredible energy and commitment, support from the local authority and the business sector and an emerging GP consortium that is interested in our work and keen to know more. We have not suffered the scale of cuts that the sector has seen in some parts of the country and if enquiries to CVS are anything to go by, then many of you are addressing your sustainability issues and looking at new and different income streams, including trading arms and the development of social enterprises.   On a national level, new technology will be used to make giving easier and maybe increased donations through the use of direct debits, bank cards and mobile phones will free up some staff and volunteer time.  So I for one am willing to sign up to the optimistic model of leadership.

P.s.  the new phone is also great for catching up with the Desert Island Discs archive – one episode  lasts just long enough for the bus journey home!

Angela Harrison

Some of your needs we can meet from existing resources, and we hope others will be met from some additional CYC funding to be decided on at the July Cabinet meeting.  It is not too late to tell us what you need from us so please do get in touch if you did not complete the survey. It is no surprise that for many of you funding and fundraising are key concerns this year.  Some of you have raised the question of whether it is possible to share a fundraiser or how to access more practical, hands on support with writing applications and finding new ways of raising funds from different sources.

On 20^th June we are holding an event at Priory Street in partnership with York Cares for you to meet local businesses who may be able to offer their services, for example  as Trustees and Treasurers (who seem to be worth their weight in gold at the moment if you can find one!). We hope this will be an opportunity for you to start to build longer term relationships that may lead to help with fundraising and gifts in kind.  We should remember that many of us purchase their services too, be it legal services, electricians or caterers so our private sector colleagues need our business too.

This month we have signed up 2 new organisations to our payroll service and are doing accounts work for 6 voluntary organisations who are new to our services. The Community Accounting Service for York and North Yorkshire is now reaching 150 organisations and Big Lottery are delighted with the outcomes.  We are proud of this service and are already developing ways in which the service can be sustained when Lottery Funding runs out.  Please remember the old adage – “use it or lose it”!

We have also launched our electronic support network for Trustees. To join please go to www.yorkcvs.org.uk/group/trustee-network.    May also saw the launch of our Buildings Network, discussing procurement, energy deals www.yorkcvs.org.uk/event/community-buildings-information-network.

And last, but most definitely not least. Did you know that this week (1^st – 7^th June) is Volunteers Week? Like many organisations, we could not function without our volunteers here at CVS. As well as our Trustees, we have volunteers who help us with media skills and IT, and even volunteers who help us to help other volunteers find a volunteer placement!   So a big thank you from us to all the CVS volunteers and watch out this week as our tweets and web posts will definitely be volunteer-inspired.