Voluntary and Community Sector Support
Voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations are a vital part of our local neighbourhoods providing support, advice, social contact and a range of activities to enhance the well-being of residents. Our Community Development Team provides support to the local voluntary and community sector to help organisations to:
- Be more efficient and effective
- Be more sustainable
- Meet their legal obligations
- Have greater funding security
- Set up a new group/activity that meets a local need
Whether yours is a large organisation or small group, established or new, we can help you to strengthen and develop what you do.
What we offer
Health Checks
Our voluntary sector officer can support you through a ‘Health Check’ for your organisation to make sure that you have good governance arrangements in place. For example, help to develop appropriate policies such as safeguarding, equality and diversity, and volunteering procedures.
Events, Workshops and Training
We run regular FREE events, workshops and training on a variety of topics that matter to our VCS organisations, groups and clubs in the district. For example, recent events have included:
- Insurance and managing risks - you can watch this session using the link at the bottom of the page
- Writing successful funding applications
They'll also be information sessions about:
Our online community lottery: Love Blaby Lottery
VCS newsletter
We send a bi-monthly e-newsletter packed full of useful information tailored to support our voluntary sector. This includes details of any events, workshops or training we are running, features on local VCS organisations, funding opportunities and much more. The e-newsletter goes out to all VCS organisations on our database and mailing list. To join our mailing list, use the contact form at the bottom of the page.
If you need further advice or assistance from a member of the team or wish to enquire about any of the support we offer, please contact us using our online form at the bottom of this page.
Other Support
In addition to the help available through our council, there is lots of other support available for local voluntary and community sector organisations.
Voluntary Action Leicestershire offers a range of services including:
- Advice on setting up or growing your group or organisation
- Recruitment, retention and management of volunteers
- Training courses
- Opportunities to consult with key partners and commissioners
- Different types of funding, including access to the Leicestershire Funding Toolkit
VAL is also running online surgeries every Wednesday between 1.30-3.30pm. To find out more visit the Voluntary Action Leicestershire website.
Leicestershire County Council's Leicestershire Communities website includes lots of information to support community organisations, including access to monthly funding bulletins.