Voscur Member's Pack

Membership Pack

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Congratulations on becoming a member of Voscur! Our membership is made up of hundreds of local Voluntary and Community groups.

This pack contains all the information that you need to know about Voscur but if you have any questions, please contact us.

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Who We Are Voscur is a support and development agency for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Bristol. We believe that a strong, diverse and independent VCS plays a vital role in improving the quality and equality of life of people who live and work in Bristol.

For more information about us and a list of our staff and board of directors, visit: www.voscur.org/about

Voscur is its membership.

We only work because of the contribution you make.

We want to make sure that Voscur involves people from organisations right across our membership. We recognise that there are barriers that can prevent people from taking part in activities and are committed to ensuring that all of our activities are accessible and inclusive. We do this through providing relevant training, holding events in accessible venues, offering information in a range of formats (audiotape, on disk, large print, Braille etc.) and offering expenses for travel and Carers. Supporting our members is a key investment, one which will not only strengthen Voscur, but those we support.

Benefits of Membership

Thrive!

Members’ Desk

Capacity Building

Receive our quarterly magazine packed full of all kinds of information on funding, training, events, good practice and lots more.

Members are welcome to come in and use the facilities on the members’ desk which include a computer and internet access.

We provide information and support to enable groups to improve their performance and become more sustainable in the longer term.

over 4,000 grants from EC and UK Government sources, including Government departments, local authorities, charitable trusts and corporate sponsors.

Discounted Access to Services

Funding Advice Voscur now has GrantNET, a free to use service, which can help Voscur’s member organisations to identify suitable funding for their organisations and projects across a huge range of funding sources.

The main features of this interactive database are as follows: 1) Easy-to-use search tool which gives up-to-date information on

2) Rapid identification of funding sources specific to need.

3) An Account Profile option, enabling you to store your information. This is available through the Voscur website.

Voscur strives to provide its services free or at low cost, in order to be as accessible as possible. Members receive discounted rates for training, placing job adverts and for advertising in our newsletter.

We also, where possible, provide bursaries for training if member organisations fit the bursary criteria. We can also reimburse some out-of-pocket expenses.

Additional Services We Offer

VCS Ebulletin

Signposting

Conferences & briefings

We produce a fortnightly VCS ebulletin full of news, events, training, jobs, funding and resources – up-to-date information specifically for the VCSE sector. On alternate weeks we produce a jobs and events e-bulletin. To subscribe to the ebulletin visit: www.voscur.org/ebulletin.

We will happily talk with you and your members about what we do and ways to get more involved. We will answer questions and find out about the work you do and your particular interests. If we can't help, or don’t provide the particular service you need, we will do our best to suggest someone else who can.

We organise one-off briefings and consultation events on a whole range of local, regional and national issues. We also promote national and regional events that will be useful for your role in the sector. Visit the events calendar webpage: http://www.voscur.org/ calendar/month

Information

Training

We have a wide range of Information Sheets available on our website, (and as hard copies) that are regularly updated and added to. The Voscur website also contains information on consultations, VCS news, events calendar, noticeboard, jobs page, and much more. From the Voscur website you can also link to the websites for the Support Hub, Voice and Influence service and the Bristol Compact.

We deliver a programme of training around all aspects of running a group, for example, governance, fundraising and policy development. We also run training courses to help people in the local community get involved in decision making.

We also can provide in-house training tailored to your organisation’s needs.

Have your say in decision-making Voscur members are encouraged to take part in the VCS Assembly, part of the Voice and Influence service.

Voscur board members and staff are also engaged at a local, regional and national level across a range of organisations, including the Bristol Partnership, the South West Forum, meetings with City Council Councillors and senior officers, and a range of other partnerships and working groups.

How You Can Get Involved Collectively the members of Voscur represent a wide range of interests, perspectives and priorities. Not everything will be relevant for you and your members you will need to pick and choose the bits that are most useful to you. Some of the ways that you can get involved are:

Voscur E-Bulletin & ThriVe! Magazine We welcome news about events, articles, photos, letters or 'snippets' of information for the quarterly ThriVe! magazine. Once you have set up a website log-in you can also add items to the online noticeboard and events calendar that we’ll include in the e-bulletin. Join the ebulletin list at: http://www.voscur.org/ebulletin

The Board of Directors The Directors are elected every year at the Annual General Meeting. If you have joined Voscur part way through the year it is possible to be co-opted to the Board. Please ask for further details.

Voscur Website Visit the website for all the latest news on issues affecting our sector in Bristol. Here you can read up to date news, download our newsletters, e-bulletins, briefing sheets and other key reports. You can take part in local, regional and national consultations and find useful links to other sites.

You can add information to our online community diary, noticeboard, jobs page, feed-back on regular consultation briefings and add your details to a range of community directories on our website: http://www.voscur.org

Create a Log-in The website allows registered users to access more interactive features for advertising events, jobs and noticeboard items. To create a 'log-in', use the ‘Create Account’ link in the right hand column of the website:

1. Create a username and a password 2. Click on 'submit' 3. You will receive a confirmation email, containing your password and your user name. Please keep this in a safe place, as you will need your user name and password each time you wish to log on. You only need to create one log in account for your organisation; anyone in your organisation can use it so share the user name and password with your co-workers. Using your organisations name as your user name is a good idea.

4. You can then log-in (right hand menu bar) 5. Once you have logged in you can add a job (free for voluntary posts, a small fee for salaried posts), an event (free), a noticeboard item (free).

Any problems, please contact our office on: 0117 909 9949 or info@voscur.org

Support Hub Voscur offers a range of support to VCS groups through two main strands; the Support Hub and our Voice & Influence Service (more on this overleaf).

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What is the Support Hub?

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The Support Hub is a service that helps Bristol based VCS groups and organisations to improve their performance, capacity, sustainability and quality. You don’t have to be a member to access the Support Hub, as long as you fit the necessary criteria.

For more information visit: www.supporthub.org.uk

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What can the Support Hub offer?

The Support Hub can provide a range of services including:

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• One to one sessions with skilled development workers • Access to free or low cost training • Information and signposting

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How can the Support Hub help my organisation to improve performance?

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We can work with you to identify your needs and tailor an appropriate support package. This may include improving how you:

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Generate income and control your finances Provide quality services to your users Manage your organisation Support and manage staff, trustees and volunteers Increase skills and knowledge within your organisation Run your premises and improve your environmental impact.

Enable your organisation to be heard and to influence decisions.

Voice & Influence The V&I service is open to all VCS groups and organisations in Bristol—you don't need to be a Voscur member, but all members are invited to become involved.

V&I is about ensuring that the VCS has a strong voice and is able to influence decisions affecting them. The service includes:

The VCS Assembly The VCS Assembly is the forum for Voluntary and Community Sector Voice and Influence in Bristol. VCS Assembly meetings provide an opportunity for the VCS to discuss and inform the issues and priorities that the Voice and Influence staff and VCS Advocates will seek to influence.

Networks

Advocates are elected for two years; the last election took place in spring 2012.

VCS Advocates are currently nominated to the following:

There are three themed networks as part of the VCS Assembly; Children and Young People's Network; Health and Social Care Network and Neighbourhoods and Communities Network. Each network meets at least three times a year. For more information on the Networks visit: www.voiceandinfluence.org.uk

Children and Young People’s Outcomes Board (2 Positions)

VCS Advocates

North Area Partnership Executive Group

VCS Advocates are chosen by VCS organisations in Bristol to provide a voice for the sector at partnerships, meetings and during decision making processes on issues of importance to the VCS. V&I staff will support VCS Advocates to ensure that they reflect the views, knowledge and expertise from the voluntary and community sector in Bristol to inform and influence relevant decision making partnerships and processes. For more details on the VCS Advocates and how to get in touch with them contact us on: (0117) 909 9949 or visit:

www.voiceandinfluence.org.uk/ advocates#youradvocates

Children and Young People’s Attainment and Progression Board Children and Families Early Intervention Standing Group

South Area Partnership Executive Group Central and East Area Partnership Executive Group Health and Wellbeing Board Safer Bristol Partnership Reducing Re-offending board Bristol Safeguarding Children Board (2 positions) United Bristol Hospital Trust Trust Governor

Royal Oak House Royal Oak Avenue Bristol BS1 4GB T: 0117 909 9949 F: 0117 933 0501 E-mail: info@voscur.org

www.voscur.org