Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Support Service for Bristol groups
Voscur was awarded the contract by Bristol City Council to become the lead agency to support Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) groups in Bristol at the end of 2010. The contract started in February 2011 and lasts for 3 years; it is due to end in March 2014. The contract enables us to offer a free support service for VCS groups to help them improve their performance.
VCS Support Service question and answer
What areas of support are offered under the contract?
How will the free support service be offered?
What might a one-off support session include?
What might a series of free support sessions include?
Will the support include legal advice?
How do I know if my group can receive one or more free support sessions?
How will these support sessions be given?
What is the support sessions expected to achieve?
Who will provide the support sessions?
Who are the external specialist agencies?
How can groups get this free support service, what is the process?
What’s the procedure if my group is offered a series of support sessions (up to four units of 2.5 hours each)?
What’s the procedure if my group is offered a one-off support session (one unit of 2.5 hours)?
Who can apply for this service?
How do we apply for this service and is there a waiting list?
How do I find out more or request a screening?
Who is doing what to deliver the new service?
What areas of support are offered under the contract?
There are seven areas of support we can give; these were decided by Bristol City Council after they had consulted widely with groups in Bristol. The seven areas are headed as ‘performance domains’ because the support is to assist with, and measure, the performance of any group we support, as well as to measure how we’ve performed too. Below are examples of the support we can offer groups under the seven headings.
1. Improving your funding and financial stability
For Example: Help to explore opportunities for generating income (i.e., grants, considering a membership and charging structure; advice on setting up a bank account / petty cash / developing a basic book keeping system.
2. Providing better services
For Example: Help to identify a vision, mission and aims for the group; setting up a system to collect data and help to evaluate the impact of your service.
3. Managing your organisation better
For Example: Help to improve how your organisation is governed such as how the board meets and operates; help to develop and review policies (for example child protection, equality and diversity, volunteer policies).
4. Improving how you manage your volunteers and staff
For Example: Help to identify clear roles and responsibilities of volunteers including board members; to develop volunteer induction programmes or handbooks.
5. Developing Skills within your organisation
For Example: Help to assess what skills are in your organisation and how they are best being used; identifying training needs and opportunities to develop further learning within your staff or volunteer team.
6. Improving your premises and environmental impact
For Example: Help to carry out an audit of your premises; help to update your Health and Safety Policy or to produce an Environmental policy.
7. Getting your voice heard and increasing your Influence
For Example: Help to get linked in to VCS and local networks; supporting your group to have a role in making decisions that affect the sector, providing information on a range structures and resources that will help your group to have a greater influence.
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How will the free support service be offered?
The support service will be provided in units which will enable groups to get 2.5 hours support per unit, this will be:
A free one-off support session (one unit) either face to face, telephone support, or email support.
A series of free support sessions (up to four units) which will include one to one sessions with groups and enable them to increase their performance through a staged process.
A training session (one unit) as part of Voscur’s training schedule that will help to develop people’s skills and knowledge to improve the groups they represent. (Under this service the support will be a free bursary place on a Voscur training course; there are up to six bursary places available for each Voscur course).
All support will be provided by a member of staff from Voscur or from one of our partner agencies.
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What might a one-off support session include?
This could be:
- a grant finder session
- help to review your group’s polices
- support, or bursary to attend a Voscur training session
- advice about commissioning
- support to carry out a health check on your organisation.
What might a series of free support sessions include?
These could focus on one need, or a range of different needs for your group, such as:
- helping you, or your group to become a constituted group
- meetings with your board to work through a crisis in your organisation
- on-going feedback on a funding application you are planning to submit
- training sessions for your board, staff or volunteers
- help to develop a set of policies for your organisation.
Will the support include legal advice?
We are not able to provide legal advice as part of the service but will try to signpost groups to legal advice where possible.
How will these support sessions be given?
- Face to face: such as an outreach visit, or a training course
- Telephone: discussions with your group that enable you to work through a range of issues
- Electronically: on-going email contact and signposting to web-based and other resources
- Research based: staff preparing information, resources and data that will benefit your group.
How do I know if my group can receive one or more free support sessions?
The criteria has been set by Bristol City Council. A group needs to show that it is:
1) Working with socially excluded groups in a deprived area of Bristol, or working with equalities communities
2) Operating with an annual turnover of under £50,000
3) Seriously thinking about being contracted to deliver services
4) A new group planning on meeting a gap in services
5) Experiencing financial or operational crisis
6) Meeting specific goals aimed at improving the lives of children and young people in Bristol.
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What is the support sessions expected to achieve?
The support given needs to measure:
1) How each group has developed or improved from the support they received from us.
2) The impact of our help to each group.
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Who will provide the support sessions?
There are certain posts in Voscur that will be involved in this; they are development workers with specific expertise in:
- Funding and financial support
- Performance improvement
- Training and skills development
- Commissioning
- Equality and diversity
Services will also be delivered by external specialist agencies.
Who are the external specialist agencies?
These include so far:
- Volunteering Bristol
- Quartet Community Foundation
- Ethical Property Foundation
How can groups get this free support service, what is the process?
Step one: the service can be accessed either directly by groups contacting us themselves, or they can be referred by a third party.
Step two: once a request is made, a member of Voscur staff or one of our specialist agencies will discuss with the group which area(s) of support the group needs, and if the group requires free one-off support, a series of support sessions or a bursary place on Voscur training.
Step three: a member of Voscur staff will carry out a short screening questionnaire based on Bristol City Council’s qualifying criteria to find out if a group qualifies for free support.
Step four: the member of Voscur staff or one of our specialist agencies will use the information the group has provided in the screening to assess whether the group qualifies for the free support service.
Step five: a decision is made and the group is contacted and told whether they qualify or not.
- if a group does not qualify for the free support service we will aim to refer them to other organisations or resources that can help them.
- If a group does qualify for the free support service we will decide with them what type of support they need; one-off support, a series of support sessions (up to 4 units), or a bursary place on a Voscur training course.
What’s the procedure if my group is offered a one-off support session (one unit of 2.5 hours)?
- Once you are screened, and if it is decided you are eligible, then a member of staff will contact you to further discuss your group’s needs and decide which is the most suitable type of support to help improve your performance under one or more of the seven areas.
- At the start of the session staff will ask you to indicate your current situation and at the end of the session they ask you to complete an evaluation form so that we can assess how / if you have improved your performance and if our support has helped.
What’s the procedure if my group is offered a series of support sessions (up to four units of 2.5 hours each)?
- Once you are screened and if it is decided you are eligible then a member of staff will contact you to further discuss your group’s needs and decide which is the most suitable type of support to help improve your performance under one or more of the seven areas.
- You will be informed as to who will be providing support to your group and asked to sign an agreement with Voscur about what will be covered in the support, how the sessions will be managed, with a commitment to following up on agreed actions.
- A assessment will be carried out to help identify your current situation regarding the health of your organisation
- At the end of the sessions both parties will complete an evaluation so that we can assess how / if you have improved your performance and if our support has helped.
Who can apply for this service?
- Any VCS group can apply whether they are new or have been established for a longer period of time.
- If you are a social enterprise or a CIC we may also be able to help you or refer you to another agency.
- Individuals who are considering setting up a group can also apply for this service.
- Groups do not need necessarily need to be members of Voscur; the service is equally on offer to any group or potential group.
How do we apply for this service and is there a waiting list?
We currently have a list of groups who have requested this support but we will screen everyone who requests it and for groups that do qualify we try to prioritise those who are in most urgent need.
If you require a one-off support session including a bursary for a training session it is likely that we can offer you this support as soon as possible. Times will be negotiated with you especially if the support will be offered over a series of sessions.
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How do I find out more or request a screening?
From more information or to request a screening please contact Voscur on:
Tel: 0117 909 9949
Email: liz@voscur.org
We look forward to hearing from you.
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Who is doing what to deliver the new service?
Click here to see details of Voscur staff and who does what.
