Membership Services

Topics covered in this section:

» VAEF and the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS)

What can we do for you?
» Funding
» Practical Support
» Training and Development
» Newsletter
» Liaison and Representation

» How can your organisation join us?

Local Compact
» What is a compact?
» What is its purpose?
» Why have a Compact?
» Who is involved?

VAEF and the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS)

VAEF is affiliated to the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS) and undertakes five core functions:

• Development – Identifying local need, working with others to develop appropriate action and working strategically to benefit the local voluntary and community sector.
• Liaison – Helping to maintain links with a wide range of voluntary and community organisations and promoting cross-sector relationships.
• Representation – Enabling the local voluntary and community sector to present its views to statutory and public sector bodies through consultation, networking, fora, seminars and workshops etc.
• Services – Funding information and advice, training, legal financial, management and constitutional advice and information, meeting space, newsletters and mailings.
• Strategic Partnership – Working with the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), helping to develop the voluntary sector compact, participating in neighbourhood regeneration and working with other statutory bodies at a strategic level.

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What can we do for you?

Funding

We can help groups to find and apply for funding. This includes access to Funderfinder and Grantnet software packages, help with completing application forms, plus suggestions about where to look for particular sources of funding.

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Practical Support

We offer practical services to groups including photocopying, equipment loans, meeting room hire and special mailings.

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Training and Development

By working with Voluntary Sector Training we can support groups to access a wide variety of courses, training sessions and events. These courses cover a wide range of issues and topics relevant to the needs of local groups. They range from one-off training sessions to accredited courses.

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Newsletter

We produce a quarterly newsletter for member groups. It includes information on our activities and new initiatives, funding and training, local, regional and national news.

The newsletter will be available to download from this section as a PDF file soon.

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Liaison and Representation

We work to maintain links with a wide range of voluntary and community organisations, plus cross-sector links within the District and across Essex. VAEF is also involved locally in partnerships and fora to enable the voluntary and community sector to present its views on various topics, through consultation, networking, seminars and workshops.

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How can your organisation join us?

Voluntary Action Epping Forest is a membership organisation, governed by our members, over 200 voluntary and community groups across the Epping Forest District. Our members nominate and elect our Board of Trustees, they benefit from a wide range of services and most importantly they become part of a network that Voluntary Action Epping Forest works hard to represent and speak up for. Enable us to make the local voluntary and community sector stronger by joining our network.

We charge an annual subscription for affiliated membership and always welcome new members. For more details contact us.

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Local Compact

What is a Compact?

A written understanding between local Statutory organisations and the Voluntary and Community Sector. The Compact will define how the two sectors will behave towards each other. It is an agreement between organisations and not individuals.

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What is its purpose?

The Compact is designed to benefit the local community, by establishing an effective relationship between the two sectors and ensuring that energies and resources are not wasted and more joint working is possible. In addition to the framework document, there are a series of Codes of Practice, which provide more detailed guidance on:

• Diversity and Equality
• Community Groups
• Consultation and Policy
• Funding, and
• Volunteering

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Why have a Compact?

The Compact for Epping Forest will improve the working relationship between the sectors, by formalising the relationship. The Compact recognises the complementary roles of each sector in the development of citizenship, a sense of community and the creation of a just and inclusive society.

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Who is involved?

The Compact has been written by the Compact Steering group, but the whole of the Statutory and Voluntary and Community Sector within the Epping Forest District is involved.

A copy of the Epping Forest Compact can be downloaded for reference.

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All content ©2005-2009 Voluntary Action Epping Forest. All rights reserved. VAEF is supported by:

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