Support provided by voluntary organisations in Buckinghamshire

The provision of high quality infrastructure services is vital for a thriving local Voluntary and Community Sector.  In April 2007, the district and county councils jointly let a single contract for the provision of services across the county.  This is being delivered by Community Impact Bucks.

Community Impact Bucks

Launched in 2010, Community Impact Bucks was born out of the merger of four key local organisations, Bucks Community Action (the rural community council), The Priory Centre, Vale Volunteers and Voluntary Action Chiltern and South Bucks. Prior to the merger the organisations were working together as Voluntary Impact Bucks.

Information and advice

• Funding advice, including support with grant applications (in partnership with Buckinghamshire Community Action)
• Advice on governance / management of organisations, including business planning and financial management
• Advice on human resources and workforce development, including training of volunteers
• Assistance to organisations to develop appropriate quality assurance arrangements
• Opportunities for networking, and sharing knowledge and best practice
• Advice for village halls, shops, pubs, post offices and other community buildings
• Support to organisations seeking to work towards a social enterprise model

Training and development

• Brokers and providers of training to the sector

Volunteering

• Brokerage and promotion service

Promotion and representation

• Community Impact Bucks have a key role in representing the VCS throughout the Bucks Strategic Partnership framework, including the Local Area Agreement (LAA) and county and district strategic partnerships
• Delivery of the Participation and Partnership Programme (3Ps) improving the engagement and influence of the VCS on key partnerships

Community appraisal support

• Advice on parish planning and community led appraisals.

Specialist appraisal support

• Rural transport, housing, retail and strategic issues.

Find out more about Community Impact Bucks 

Youth Focus

Youth Focus is the co-ordinating body for voluntary and community youth organisations in Buckinghamshire.  It gives support in the areas of policy and practice development and strives to ensure that the work of these organisations, for the benefit of young people, achieves the recognition and support it deserves.

For more information, visit Youth Focus.

Youth Focus also supports www.youthbiz.org.uk, a directory of youth organisations.

The Clare Foundation

The Clare Foundation aims to support and improve the efficiency and work of UK registered charities with the aim of helping them become as effective as successful private companies. Optimising a charity's social impact through business efficiency is the Foundation's core objective.

The Foundation is based at the Saunderton Estate (between High Wycombe and Princes Risborough) and is establishing a hub for local charities based in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire at the Saunderton Estate. The 50,000 ft office complex provides flexible serviced office accommodation for charities at subsidised rates. Onsite conference and function facilities are available to local charities at preferential rates.

For further information, including details of training programmes and other initiatives, please visit www.theclarefoundation.org 

The Buckinghamshire Racial Equality Councils

Buckinghamshire has three Racial Equality Councils (RECs) covering Wycombe, Aylesbury and Chiltern.  The RECs support a variety of activities, including an advice, information and casework service covering racial discrimination and harassment, welfare rights, employment, immigration and nationality.  Advice on education and housing is also available.

Through their programmes of community work they seek to promote good race relations, equality of opportunity and the elimination of racial discrimination.

For more information, please visit:

• Wycombe Race Equality Council on 01494 527616
• Aylesbury Vale Equality and Human Rights Council on 01296 425334
• Chiltern Race Equality Council on 01494 786 398
  

ChangeUp

This is a national Government programme focussed on improving the support and infrastructure services available to frontline VCS organisations.  Further information on ChangeUp in Buckinghamshire is available from the Partnerships page.

Improving Support is a joint initiative to strengthen the support services available to the VCS.  Nine new national workstreams are targeting areas where the sector needs improved support:

• Campaigning:  The campaigning and advocacy workstream, led by NCVO, promotes excellence in these areas through helping support providers develop their skills and improving their access to essential research on third sector campaigning and advocacy needs and good practice.
• Change: The responding to social change workstream, led by NCVO, seeks to empower third sector organisations to handle with confidence changes happening around and within them. It does so by giving support providers the information and resources they need to guide frontline organisations in their responses.
• Collaboration:  The collaborative working workstream, led by Bassac, aims to facilitate wide-ranging collaboration with and between the voluntary and community sector and the public and private sectors.
• Communications:  The marketing and communications workstream, led by the Media Trust, seeks to raise the visibility of the third sector by helping support providers gain resources, skills and contacts to improve frontline organisations’ ability to make themselves seen and heard.
• Equality:  The equalities and diversity workstream, led by the National Equality Partnership, seeks to improve support for equalities organisations, to help all support providers to value and respect each other’s work, and to aid all third sector organisations in addressing equality, diversity and human rights.
• Governance:  The leadership and governance workstream, led by NCVO, aims to strengthen the ability of support providers to guide third sector organisations in improving the way they are led and governed, thus increasing their effectiveness and securing sustainability.
• Income:  The income generation workstream, led by Acevo, promotes increased sustainability and independence for third sector organisations by developing the skills of their support providers and connecting them to widen their networking reach.
• Performance:  The performance management workstream, led by CES, promotes greater efficacy and sustainability in the third sector by helping support providers guide frontline organisations towards good practice in performance management.
• Volunteering:  The modernising volunteering workstream, led by Volunteering England, helps support providers to promote new forms of volunteer involvement and to maximise frontline organisations’ volunteering opportunities by overcoming barriers and exploring new initiatives.