Latest News

Our ChangeUp pages have been updated, providing updates, news, information and resources about projects which are developing support services to the sector. Lots of new and useful things have been added at www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/changeup.

Key leaders and decision makers from the public and third sector within Brighton and Hove, will come together on 11th June for a one day event that has been specifically designed to find better ways to share expertise and work in partnership to support the city and its residents during and beyond recession.

Councillor Dee Simson, Cabinet Member for Community Affairs, Inclusion & Internal Relations, Roger French, Chair of The Local Strategic Partnership and Simon Fanshawe, Chair of The Economic Partnership, will be keynote speakers, alongside representatives from local government, voluntary and community groups and the private sector.

The aim of the event is to:
- Establish the key challenges faced by city residents during the current economic climate such as issues around health, employment and social care
- Find out how these needs are currently being provided for in terms of public and voluntary services
- Examine how the public and voluntary service providers, faced with reduced budgets and resources, can themselves, survive and continue to offer collaborative support
- Devise an action plan which outlines how local authorities, third sector organisations and, where appropriate, the private sector, can work together in partnership to address resident and community needs more effectively

The conference at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel, is the first event of its kind in Brighton and Hove and has been co-ordinated by the third sector support organisations; Community Voluntary Sector Forum (CVSF) and The Working Together Project.

"There is a lot of expertise and knowledge within the city's voluntary sector on how to assist hard to reach groups and communities. This sector can offer professional and specialist services in many areas such as mental health, disability, health and social care and young people. We feel that by working in partnership with the public sector and, where relevant, the private sector, the path to recession recovery for Brighton and Hove will be clearer, stronger and more successful." Paul Bramwell, The Working Together Project

All delegates will attend specially designed workshops, practical action-planning sessions and organised networking, in order to develop better ways to work together and offer cohesive and comprehensive services.

In conclusion, the event will map the work of current recession initiatives within the city and this will feed into the development of a joint action
plan that can be put into place across the city.

Simon Fanshawe, Chair of The local Economic Partnership, comments:
"The next few years will see enormous reductions in public spending, yet a demand for a level of services that government will struggle to provide. The voluntary sector will also be faced with demands to increase their productivity and their effectiveness, both in terms of cost and impact. Both sectors will have to develop better partnerships with one another to make their budgets go further. This conference is a crucial gathering that will be a reality check for the future and a chance to discuss the opportunities and challenges offered by this wholly new scenario to develop services for and with the people of Brighton and Hove."

Who should attend?

* Voluntary organisations
* Community groups
* Social enterprises
* Statutory sector commissioners
* Public sector community liaison representatives
* Local businesses interested in assisting third sector partnerships

This event is FREE to attend and includes refreshments, lunch and networking drinks

11th June 2009
9.30am - 5.30pm
Ramada Jarvis Hotel
149 Kings Road
Brighton, BN1 2PP

For a detailed agenda and to book your place:
Please call The Working Together Project on (01273) 234773 OR email
bookings@workingtogetherproject.org.uk

A new guide to support services for third sector organisations in Brighton and Hove has just been published by the Community and Voluntary Sector Forum.

From money to people, training and skills to physical resources, or information and knowledge, the booklet provides a list of the wide range of (mostly free) support services available to all groups in the city.

Your Guide to Support Services is available to download, or as a hard copy on request. Telephone (01273) 234000 if you would like a copy. 

A new law embodied in the Sustainable Communities Act, launched in 2008, provides local councils and local communities with the opportunity to ask national Government to devolve more power to councils to improve the sustainability of local areas.

Each year national Government will be asking local councils to submit ideas on how it can help councils improve the sustainability of their area.

See Chance for Change - Ideas for Improving the Sustainability of Brighton and Hove

A factsheet outlining the main elements of the Act (SCA) can be downloaded here

Contact: Katy McGrory, (01273) 234003 or Sally Hiscock, (01273) 234044

Local Charities Bring In Millions Despite Credit Crunch

In times of economic hardship, the local third sector plays a major role in bringing millions of pounds into the city and maintaining free, high quality services for its residents. Charities and voluntary groups contribute a staggering £96 million a year to the Brighton and Hove economy, according to a new report, Taking Account, launched today.

The report shows:
• That there are approximately 1,600 third sector organisations in Brighton and Hove, who contribute £96 million to the Brighton and Hove economy each year
• That the sector is a significant employer in the city, employing about 8,000 people
• That only 43% of its income comes from grants, of which the majority (62%) comes from outside the city.

The report also shows that Brighton and Hove's citizens are strongly committed to improving the city's wellbeing for all, and do so by spending generous amounts of their time volunteering.

Value of volunteering:
• There are 19,200 volunteer positions in Brighton and Hove, giving 57,600 hours per week
• If volunteers were paid the same rate as workers in the third sector their annual salary bill would be worth £24 million - a huge donation of time and effort.

Case study: Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project

"... I felt totally alienated..."
"I first came to the Centre because I felt totally alienated and didn't know what to do. I saw a flyer about the Centre at the DSS office and on my first visit I was immediately grabbed as an Art Group volunteer. It seems as though the needs of the centre and my own personal needs were combined to complement each other perfectly. Volunteers are respected for what they are and the workers speak a language which I understand. I have now been approached to do an arts project outside of the centre; the vision came from the Centre and could not have had the opportunity without BUCFP".

Paul Bramwell, Chair of the Dialogue 50/50 Group said: "The economic contribution the third sector makes to the city is of enormous value, not least because it attracts vast amounts in. Factor in the value of volunteering and the city's charities and voluntary groups are worth £120 million a year; a staggering sum and indicative of a workforce which is highly committed, educated and professional".

The report also found that while the financial benefits to the city were great, the sector also brings great social wealth, which, to the thousands of people it benefits, is priceless.

Case study: Brighton Women's Centre
"...given me a sense of self-confidence that was lost to me during my period of abuse..."

BWC offers counselling to women more speedily than NHS provision and at a cost lower than NHS or private counselling services. Nine counsellors work for the centre, each seeing around three or four clients per week. Every client receives about 12 sessions each costing a minimum of £5 and maximum of £25 - scaled according to the individual's financial situation.

The waiting time for counselling at BWC is approximately three months, around half the time on NHS waiting lists. The women that access the centre for counselling often have varied and very serious issues and, according to the feedback of their counsellors, their level of distress is often higher than in a general GP surgery.

Mr Bramwell continued: "In many ways, putting a monetary value on the third sector hides the real story, which is about bringing and keeping communities together. It provides so much more than the services which are familiar to many of us, because for the individuals who are helped, the difference it makes to their lives can be immeasurable, sometimes, quite literally, the difference between life and death".

Ends

Notes to editors
1. Taking Account is a highly successful partnership project produced by The Dialogue 50/50 Group (members include representatives from The Community and Voluntary Sector Forum, Brighton University Community University Partnership Programme, Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust and others).
2. Taking Account is available to download at www.cvsectorforum.org.uk/takingaccount in both full report and summary versions
3. A number of third sector organisations who are featured in the report are available as written case studies. Please contact Katy McGrory on (01273) 234003 for more information.