Voluntary and community action is all about building active and sustainable communities and ensuring your community have a voice.
Has your community or organisation got an idea for a project and not sure what to do next? CVSC organisation support and guidance is FREE and can help you and your community develop these ideas for new projects by-
Advising on the creation of a new group with all the related needs of a new committee
Creating a constitution/governing document for a new group or even review one that already exists
Charity registration, if appropriate
Discuss your idea and start developing it in preparation for grant applications if needed
Discuss policies that your group may be interested in adopting e.g. Welsh Language policy or Equal Opportunities policy
Offer general support as you move ahead and turn an idea into a real project.
When you are thinking about setting up a new group or organisation there are different options open to you, depending on what the group hopes to achieve. Will your group/ organisation be small and informal? Or do you have big plans and will need to grow and manage some serious funds?
Please take a look at the introductory video below, which helps to explain these different options, along with the advantages and disadvantages. Do get in touch with us if you need any further information or when you are ready to move things forward.
Music ©Rafael Krux via Canva.com
Credit to PAVO
We can also help with:
Accessing local and low cost training opportunities
Recruiting volunteers to drive your idea forward
Providing information sources
Publicity and promotion for your group
Also consider becoming a member organisation and you will have first access to our email newsletters and magazines. More information here.
The Charity Commission has launched a new set of simple, easy to understand guides to help trustees
The Charity Commission, the charity regulator for England and Wales, has launched a new set of simple, easy to understand guides, designed to help trustees run their charities in line with the law.
The new guides cover five key aspects of charity management - a ‘core syllabus’ covering the basics that the regulator expects all trustees to be aware of.
They explain the basics of:
This ‘gateway’ level guidance will make it easier and quicker for all trustees to check what is expected and to find more detailed information if needed, which is all the more important as charities respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Commission’s research and testing with trustees have helped shape their design and content.
The publications come as part of the Commission’s programme, outlined in its 2020/21 Business Plan, to deliver updated core guidance and an improved website, so that it is easier for trustees, who are overwhelmingly unpaid volunteers, to access the information they need. This is in line with the Commission’s strategic priority of ensuring trustees have the tools and understanding they need to succeed, and helping them maximise the difference they make.
The new tools have been launched to coincide with Trustees’ Week, the annual celebration of charity trustees and the contribution they make to society.
Helen Stephenson CBE, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said:
Volunteer trustees are the bedrock of the charity sector. Without their commitment and dedication charity would simply not be possible. When I started at the Commission, I said our guidance and advice needed to become more available and accessible to trustees, to help them deliver on the causes they support and champion. These new 5 minute guides are an important milestone in our delivery on that promise.
The Commission stresses that whilst the guides may be basic, they are designed to serve the needs of experienced trustees as well as those new to the role. It says that years of experience cannot immunise even the very best trustees from running into questions or problems.
In a blog, Helen Stephenson sets out how she hopes the new guides will aid trustees, particularly as they face unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic.
Helen Stephenson added:
Our 5-minute guides are designed with real trustees and real situations in mind. They recognise that good governance is not a bureaucratic detail – it underpins the delivery of a charity’s purposes to the high standards expected by the public – and is all the more important in the midst of this pandemic which is impacting civil society so heavily. I hope trustees, both new and experienced, read and use them to help them fulfil their charity’s purpose for the public benefit.
Community and Voluntary Support Conwy
7 Rhiw Rd, Colwyn Bay LL29 7TG
