The Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector launches ambitious strategy

The VCSE sector launches aspirational new strategy.

THE Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sector has launched what it describes as an ambitious and aspirational strategy to improve partnership working in Hull.

Jane Stafford, the Chair of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Sector Liaison Group and CEO of Child Dynamix says the strategy aims to describe how the VCSE can work more collaboratively to improve partnership working between the sector’s organisations and groups and the Public and Private Sectors in the City and beyond.

With a foreword written by the leader of Hull City Council, Cllr Stephen Brady, the strategy sets out a vision and aims developed through consultation with the sector along with key priority areas which will be the main focus during the lifetime of this strategy. These are: Capacity building & Communications, Regeneration community cohesion and engagement, The Compact, Procurement and Commissioning, External Funding, Volunteering and the use of Community Assets.

Further to this a key purpose of the strategy is to illustrate the economic, environmental and social impact the VCSE has as part of its diverse role in the City. The VCSE and public sector work together every day in different ways across the City in order to improve quality of life for local people. This involves many people and organisations working in local communities often in unseen or uncelebrated ways.

VCSE organisations have unique capabilities to energise local communities and build social capital especially in the most vulnerable communities. We provide opportunities for voluntary action and in doing so make use of the wealth of knowledge, skills, interests, beliefs and values of individuals and groups. As social businesses and employers the VCSE are also significant contributors to the local economy.

In 2011 the majority of public sector infrastructure funding was withdrawn in Hull. This decision has along with the challenges of finding funding for this work from other sources left existing infrastructure organisations ill-equipped to support the changing needs of Hull’s VCSE sector. In the absence of traditional infrastructure support, the sector has become more fragmented with the Community sector anecdotally the biggest casualty.

Voice and influence in the last five years has come in the form of VCSE Leadership and representation working on a voluntary basis across the many partnerships in the City. This approach has been welcomed and supported by the VCSE, and other sectors, but there is still a large amount of work still to do to ensure we have a fair and consistent approach to representation from our sector on all of the partnerships and boards which influence shape and take decisions about Hull.

The full strategy can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.