BUILDING INFLUENCE AT a strategic level
A less well-known area of VAC’s work involves presenting a Camden Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) voice at a strategic level. This involves raising awareness about what the sector can offer; connecting the sector with strategic stakeholders; having sector influence in borough policy and strategy; ensuring that the sector is not excluded from decision-making process, or overlooked as a delivery partner in the provision of community-based services and projects that meet the needs of local people.
If you want to learn more about our strategic work in Camden, or are looking for support to help your group build influence, please get in touch.
The key areas we are currently focused on include:
- Fair Rent/access to space
- Social Value
- Health Inequalities
- Effective strategic links/forums between VCS and Public sector decision-making
- Developing an evidence base to inform evidence led policy
- Reforming commissioning
We do this through:
- Promoting the sector and raising key issues on strategic networks and boards
- Presenting a sector voice through our membership, forums, surveys and consultations
- Using data and qualitative insights generated from VAC’s work, the wider VCS and other external sources to promote and evidence issues for the sector and local residents
- Policy Briefings, the VAC newsletter and other updates
- Engaging in strategic projects locally, regionally and nationally to exert sector influence, support action and achieve change
- Developing consortia and partnerships
MAIN DECISION MAKING BODIES WE ENGAGE WITH:
- Adult Safeguarding Board Engagement Sub-Group
- Borough Resilience Forum (emergencies)
- C&I Mental Health Foundation Trust (CANDI) Council of Governors
- Community Safety Partnership
- Camden Patient and Public Engagement Group (CPPEG) Forum
- Green Social Prescribing Steering Group
- Haverstock Health Providers Forum
- Health and Wellbeing Board
- Local Care Partnership Board
- Mental Health Resilience Network
- National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) North Central London (NCL) CVS Social Prescribing group
- NASP Thriving Communities London Partners Group
- NCL / North London Partners Social Prescribing Advisory Group
- NCL North London Partners in health and care Residents Advisory Board
- Neighbourhoods Board
- Tavistock and Portman GB
- VCS partners/leaders forum
The main VCS forums and mechanisms that we feedback through:
- Engagement with our members
- Voluntary Action Forum
- Camden Social Prescribing Learning Network
- Health Inequalities Network
- Camden Infrastructure Wider Group
- Thriving Communities Learning Network
VAC does a lot of work to engage smaller organisations in consultations and to feed into strategy to make sure their views and input are not missed out. They also keep us up to date with a range of national policies as well as what is happening locally.
You can read more about the different ways we represent the voice of the Voluntary and Community Sector in our Guide on How Policy and Representation works in Camden or get in touch with Donna Turnbull at dturnbull@vac.org.uk
