Barking & Dagenham CVS is the umbrella organisation for the voluntary and community sector in Barking & Dagenham (including social enterprises and faith organisations). We promote and support the sector, helping it to be autonomous, effective, influential, flexible, responsive, value based, community led and well resourced.
We work at a strategic level to promote and represent the interests of the sector, and provide practical support and direct services to organisations and the people who run them.
Supporting Communities and Organisations
Barking & Dagenham CVS does not claim to be "The Voice" of the voluntary and community sector in Barking & Dagenham. We firmly believe that the sector has many voices, all of them legitimate, and it is this very diversity that gives us our strength. The CVS supports communities and the organisations that represent them to make their voices heard in their own way, and we provide a platform from which all communities are able to influence local policy makers and service providers.
We work with communities to help them identify and assess their needs, and then work with them and other agencies to evaluate and develop the most appropriate means of ensuring that those needs are best met given limited available resources.
Championing the Sector
Barking & Dagenham CVS acts as the bridge between the voluntary and community sector and local strategic bodies such as the local authority, the NHS, the police and the private sector. We champion and promote the work of the sector to these strategic bodies, participate in consultations and lobby for appropriate and sustainable funding for the sector.
Working in Partnership
Barking & Dagenham CVS works with people who are interested in developing voluntary action, whether they be from voluntary, community, statutory or private organisations.
We work in partnership with organisations, which share our vision and values in Barking & Dagenham and neighbouring boroughs.
Barking & Dagenham CVS supports local voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises and informal user led groups to identify and access funding from a range of different sources.
We offer information, advice and support to local voluntary and community organisations on many aspects of organisational management and development. This includes governance, strategic planning, project development, fundraising, recruitment and management of staff and volunteers, and financial management.
We help them to identify the most appropriate funding source for the work they want to do. We will then help you to develop your project ideas, formulate a fundraising strategy and submit funding bids. We also help groups to develop alternative income generation strategies, through sales and marketing.
We provide training and guidance on commissioning processes, and work with local commissioners to make these as fair, transparent and accessible as possible. We bring local groups together and facilitate partnership and consortium development so that local groups can take advantage of commissioning opportunities when these arise.
