About Voscur

Leading Bristol's social economy

Voscur is the support and development agency for Bristol's Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. We support organisations in and around Bristol to increase their impact; we work with the investors who commission and fund the work of the VCSE sector, to ensure they make informed decisions and design effective services. We also build relationships between providers and investors to help them work together to coordinate services and maximise their social value.

Voscur's vision:

To improve the quality of life for the people of Bristol.

Voscur's mission:

To support, develop and represent Bristol's Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

Voscur's core values:

• Equality: Voscur is committed to an organisational and collective responsibility for creating an equal and inclusive society and to the principles of the 2010 Equality Act. Voscur's Statement of Commitment to Equality, extracted from our Equality and Diversity policy, can be found here.
• Sustainability: Quick fixes are no good. We work to support sustainable solutions to local issues - meeting local needs now without compromising those of the future.
• Accountability: Voscur is its membership - it supports, and is accountable to, the VCSE sector in Bristol.
• Empowerment: Community development is what people do for themselves, not what's done for (or to) them. Voscur empowers organisations to foster grassroots direction and action.
• Cooperation: Neither the public, private nor third sector can provide everything communities need. Voscur therefore facilitates cooperation and collaboration between all three.
• Independence: Independent from public bodies and other charities, support and development organisations can facilitate partnerships and be a critical friend.

Voscur's strategic aims:

• Development: Find out what local communities need and help organisations meet those needs.
• Support: Help organisations to function more effectively and improve their services.
• Liaison: Help organisations communicate and collaborate effectively together.
• Representation: Represent the views of the VCS to public bodies and policymakers to help improve the environment in which we all work.
• Strategic partnerships: Foster effective working between the public and voluntary sector to inform and influence local planning and policymaking.
• Equality: Increase the participation of all equalities groups in civic society.
• Sustainability: Be entrepreneurial and responsive to ensure Voscur’s own sustainability.

>> Find out about the benefits of being a Voscur member today.

>> Meet our expert staff team and learn about working at Voscur.

>> Read our 2018-2019 annual report.

>> Find all Voscur reports here, including the VCSE Strategy and Bristol in Partnership.