BURNLEY, PENDLE & ROSSENDALE COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE

Background information

CVS has been operational in Burnley since 1935, initially as the Citizens Guild, then the Council of Social Service from 1945 and with the current title since 1973. We expanded into Pendle and Rossendale more than 25 years ago. Our area of benefit is now the county of Lancashire.

The intervening years have seen a commitment of service to the local community which has been second to none with a series of notable achievements including:

  • for 40 years CVS ran the Citizens Advice Bureau;
  • for the last 45 years we have operated a Distress Fund for local families;
  • we have run a Volunteer Bureau (now Centre) for over 30 years;
  • we ran a young people’s homelessness project for 10 years;
  • we ran a Community Concern Group from 1991-1999 which provided recycled, good quality furniture and clothing and emergency food parcels to clients referred by Social Services, Health Visitors etc.

CVS has been instrumental in supporting the development of a wide range of local organisations including the Marriage Guidance Council, Guide Dogs for the Blind, CRUSE Bereavement Care, Crossroads, the M3 project and the Open Hands Centre.

Current Role

BPRCVS is not only a local support and development organisation which exists to develop, support and promote voluntary action and charitable activitybut also delivers a series of projects. The development activity can be summarised in six key statements:

  • we provide a range of support services to groups such as training, information, advice, payroll and office functions including access to sources of funding and constitutional advice;
  • we, through contact with individuals and groups, identify gaps in the provision of services and develop initiatives to meet those needs;
  • we bring together voluntary, community and faith organisations to discuss issues of common concern. This helps to avoid duplication of effort and helps to ensure that groups work together;
  • we help to disseminate information about statutory service provision and development;
  • we represent the views of the voluntary sector on many statutory led bodies;
  • weare involved in and encourage sector engagement in strategic partnership activity.

We have brought back into use the former Burnley Corporation Water Office (United Utilities) building on a prominent town centre gateway. The building is now known as the East Lancashire Voluntary Sector Resource Centre; it provides a base for a number of voluntary organisations and offers excellent conference and meeting facilities.

In addition:

  • we run a young carers project;
  • we operate the Volunteer Centre and the volunteer transport scheme;
  • we are the Local Trusted Organisation for Big Local Gannow;
  • we manage projects and grants;
  • we are engaged in the work of the Community Foundation for Lancashire;
  • we encourage volunteer involvement eg via health champions;
  • we support the development of consortia and partnerships across the county to encourage voluntary sector involvement in service delivery;
  • weactively engage in various partnerships across the county including the Lancashire Association of Councils for Voluntary Service, Third Sector Lancashire, One Lancashire, Volunteering Lancashire and developing structures within the NHS.

Status

We are both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee which ensures that we have systems in place to ensure that we are properly accountable to both charity and company law. Membership is open to all (organisations and individuals) who support our aims. However, we do not restrict our support or services to the members alone. We also benefit from the membership of regional or national organisations which provide, networking, training and advice facilities eg National Association forVoluntary and Community Action, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, including Volunteering England.

We are governed by an Executive Committee which comprises Trustees elected from the membership and local authority representatives.

Finance

BPRCVS activities are funded by grants from local authorities, NHS, Lottery, Trusts and the private sector.

Summary

CVS has performed a valuable service to the people of East Lancashire for almost 80 years. Though the role and functions have changed, and will continue to change over time, CVS will respond to contemporary needs; there can be no doubt that CVS has adapted itself to the needs of the individual and the community. Government recognises that voluntary service plays an important role in developing and maintaining a just and civilised society – in effective partnership with the public sector.

More Information

More details are provided on our web site (

June 2014