Our development plan

The CVSF has developed successfully in recent years.

• We now have over 500 community and voluntary sector organisations from the Brighton and Hove area as our members.
• We have 77 seats on 35 different city wide boards and partnerships (as at October 2009).
• We represent the third sector at a city-wide strategic level and therefore succcessfully link the views of individuals to local policies.

However, we are far from complacent ...

Stronger Communities ProgrammeCentral, regional and local policies develop and change regularly, as do the issues that affect our local area and the quality of life for everyone in it. We'll be working hard to keep our members informed and ensuring that the views of the sector are fully presented to the correct boards / partnerships.

Reaching out further ... 

Additionally, we estimate that there are over 1,000 additional community and voluntary groups that we could also assist as they work to serve their local communities. We'll be striving to increase our membership so that we can truly make the voice of the third sector speak for everyone actively involved in the Brighton and Hove area.

Planning our future ...

For the next three years we'll follow our development plan. We will specifically be focussing on the following:

1. engaging local people and third sector organisations in working together;
2. promoting the third sector and its value to the city;
3. influencing decision making, delivery of local services and cross-sector partnership working;
4. building our own capacity, developing our internal management and maintaining a robust fund-rasing strategy.

Sustaining our progress ...

Our immediate future will continue to depend on our ability to add value in various areas and projects. A range of local statutory agencies currently funds the CVSF to undertake certain activities, including:

• Brighton and Hove City Council Communities Team (discretionary grant / SCP commissioned contract)
• Children and Young People Trust (Service Level Agreement)
• Children’s Workforce Development Council (commissioned contract)
• Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust (commissioned contract)
• Brighton and Hove City Council Consultation Team (commissioned contract – LINk)

Like most third sector organisations the CVSF faces an ongoing challenge to secure adequate resources to achieve our goals, particularly in the current economic climate.  CVSF aims to build a diverse funding base, including growing levels of self-generated income, as well as taking full advantage of opportunities to secure resources from statutory sources, and others where possible.   

Further information on CVSF’s funding can be found in CVSF’s 2009-11 Fund-raising Strategy.

Measuring our success ...