nicvanews July/August 2010

This month’s round up

This month sees the role of the voluntary and community sector under scrutiny. 'Integration and mutual solidarity need to replace segmentation and division in order to build a good society', says the report of the independent Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, which was launched at NICVA last month. NICVA itself has also produced an important set of dialogue papers on the role of the third sector in areas such as service delivery, governance and creating a more tolerant society. You’ll find a copy of the papers in this mailout and we’d welcome your comments.

The economy and cutbacks are never far from the front page these days and this month is no exception. NICVA facilitated a briefing to the voluntary and community sector on the current financial situation by key DHSSPS officials, who had been instructed by Minister Michael McGimpsey to call the last minute meeting ahead of his briefing to the Assembly Health Committee. NICVA will now be contacting other departments and offering them the opportunity to discuss the current situation with voluntary and community organisations that are active in their areas of responsibility.

With all the talk of economising it might seem natural to cut back on things like training and development, but successful organisations are ones which continue to skill up their staff. To help you, NICVA is launching its latest training calendar this month, with an emphasis on demonstrating impact, helping you to measure outputs of your organisation’s work and communicating this to your stakeholders, especially funders. See the mailout for a copy of the calendar.

This month’s featured member is Volunteer Now, a new organisation formed from the successful merger of the Volunteer Development Agency and nine volunteer centres. Please contact the editor if you’d like to be featured.

Finally, congratulations to the successful participants of the first round of the Community Leadership Programme. We are delighted that they found the experience both rewarding and enjoyable. Recruitment is underway for the third and final run of the Programme. Find out more on page three and make sure you don’t miss out.

Got a story to share?

We welcome your stories for publication. If you would like to submit an article, the copy deadline is the first Tuesday of each month. Please contact the Information and Communications team, on 028 9087 7777 or email: editors@nicva.org.

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