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Quarterly Update to Members and Subscribers

31st March 2023

With the clocks changing and lighter days ahead, we have been reflecting on our work over the winter months and want to share with you some of our future priorities coming into Spring 2023. Keep reading to find out more!

Three things happening this year that you should know about

For the past few months, we have been surveying our members to develop a picture of their needs and expectations for 2023/24. Don’t worry if you haven’t responded yet, you still have time – follow this link to tell us what you think https://www.tfaforms.com/5039347. All responses will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 shopping vouchers for your organisation! Good luck!

So far, your feedback has helped us with deciding three new things to do in 2023/24.

Number 1 – Investing in our VCS Leaders

What you told us
You’ve been finding novel ways of working, and embracing improvisation and learning to tackle the challenges facing communities over the past few years. It has been, and continues to be, a hugely challenging and exhausting period that has taken its toll on staff.

As CEO’s/Directors being a leader can sometimes be an isolating experience. You are tasked with responding to external factors that are often out of your control, and managing pressures and expectations that can often feel overwhelming.

How can VAC help?
It is time to invest in our VCSE sector leaders. We are launching ‘VCSE CEO Network’ in May. The Network is for leaders of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations in Camden who want to meet to discuss issues and ideas for the mutual benefit of the VCSE sector.

The Network is there to encourage, guide, support and develop VCSE sector leaders. We will be discussing the big strategic issues facing your organisation, sharing leadership experiences with each other, and seeking the advice and support of our peers.

The Network is free for VAC members that are leading a VCSE organisation in Camden.

Keep an eye out in our future newsletters to find out more and register for our first Network event in June where we will be joined by Jane Ide, Chief Executive of ACEVO.

Number 2 – Investing in Trustees

What you told us
Your trustees are integral to your organisation and critical to the quality of community service provision in the borough. You want them to receive more support to fulfil their roles to the best of their ability, and you want more ways to recognise and celebrate the value that they bring.

How can VAC Help?
In partnership with Volunteer Centre Camden (VCC) and London Borough of Camden, we are launching a ‘VCSE Trustees Network’.

In November 2022, VAC and VCC hosted a Trustee event, sponsored by London Borough of Camden. The event coincided with national Trustees’ Week (7th-11th November) to celebrate and recognise the contributions trustees make. Following on from this successful event, we have designed a new Network that will bring together trustees from different VSCE organisations in Camden to share experiences, good practice, ideas and offer peer support.

The Network is free for trustees of VSCE organisations in Camden.

Keep an eye out in our future newsletters to find out more and to register for our first Network event in June.

Number 3 – Supporting the Camden Voluntary and Community Sector

What you told us
You have continued to demonstrate, with limited resources the important role you play in keeping communities connected, safe and healthy. But this is probably your toughest period in decades because of sequential crisis (pandemic, cost-of-living, record levels of inflation) that have left you enervated. You need more investment in the sector. You want better access to relevant and cost-effective training. You want to be able to speak to an expert confidentially when you have a challenge or if things go wrong.

How can VAC help?
In January, we launched our rebranded Consultancy service. Whether you are just getting started or already established we can help you with:

Setting up the group and registering as the correct legal structure
Drafting your constitution
Getting your safeguarding, governance, financial, IT and management practices and policies in shape
Fundraising
Finding the right workspace
Project development advice
Building connections and influence
Working better with data, and much more!

In the summer, we are looking forward to launching our new training programme in partnership with several of our partners. The training programme will include:

Child safeguarding
Vulnerable adults safeguarding
Safer recruitment
Introduction to good governance
Effective communication
Volunteer management
Fire safety and building compliance, and much more!

In June, we will be relaunching our fundraising support package for VAC members. This will include a year-long programme of events including, ‘Meet the Funders’, fundraising webinars, 1-2-1 funding application surgeries, and measuring impact workshops.
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Other things you should know about:

VAC AGM and VAC 2026

You are cordially invited to our AGM on 4^th July 2023, 6 – 8pm. This is a great opportunity to find out about our work, what we’ve achieved, and hear about our plans for the future. Look out for a ‘Save the date’ dropping in your inbox soon.

VAC 2026 is our new three-year strategy that we are launching at our AGM in July. We have worked with our members and partners to create a new vision for VAC. Together we want to develop and support a vibrant civil society that underpins a high quality of life in Camden.

We want Camden to be place where everyone can get involved in driving positive change. This means creating a fairer Camden, safeguarding the voluntary and community sector, and amplifying the voice of Camden’s voluntary, community sector.

Join us at our AGM to find out more and get your copy of our strategy.

Camden VCSE sector Community Resilience

Over the next few months, we will be conducting a review of learning from recent emergency responses. During the pandemic several valuable partnerships were formed which contributed to a robust response. However, at the beginning it was clear that there were insufficiencies in how information about community services including, emergency response was being stored and made available to residents and VCSE sector.

We also needed better communication and coordination between statutory services and VCSE sector in the early stages. Our review of learning will assess the impact of various initiatives that aim to improve the preparedness of the community for emergencies. This will help us to develop a response framework as a guide to how Camden VCSE sector and London Borough of Camden will work together to respond to all types of disasters and emergencies.

Look out for more information about how you can get involved in shaping the framework.

Camden Community Vaccine Champion Project

Last year, in partnership with C4 we launched a fund to help tackle vaccine hesitancy and contribute to addressing key wider health and wellbeing needs that have been impacted by COVID-19.

This year, we are pleased to have distributed 6 more grants to community groups and organisations bringing the total number of grant recipients to 13, and the total grant amount to £127,325. This year, we focused on engaging smaller, less know community groups and organisations through our Cultural Advocacy and Community Safety Partnership programmes.

Examples of projects funded include:

Somers Town Community Association – Bespoke activities across Somers Town to identify the barriers that prevent local people taking up the vaccine and engaging with other health services such as, breast cancer screening and smear tests, female menopause, osteoporosis, testicular cancer, dementia, and mental health.
Henna Asian Women’s Group – Targeted group discussions with BAME communities about the ingredients of the vaccine to show that they are not haram, or contravening any faith, and how and where to get vaccinated or become a vaccine ambassador.
Kentish Town City Farm – Sharing expert knowledge about food production and agriculture to increase awareness and understanding of how viruses spread with specific reference to animals living in dense populations.

Camden Council VCS Grants Programme
(2024-2031) Survey

Camden Council would like to hear your views on their new 7 year funding programme. The results of the survey will be used to inform the design of this £4 million per year grants programme.

You can complete the survey here à Camden Future Grants Programme Survey by Thursday 20^th April 2023. The survey is anonymous and takes 20 minutes to complete.

As you can see, we have a busy year ahead and are looking forward to seeing you throughout the Spring and at our upcoming events!

All the best from the VAC Team.