Voluntary Sector: Have your say on key services

edinburgh-castle

Each year the Council engages citizens on its spending and savings plans for the year ahead.  A four year financial plan for Edinburgh has been set now. However,  participants from previous consultations told the CEC that they would like to be involved in helping the Council to identify solutions and redesign services.  Continue reading Voluntary Sector: Have your say on key services

Learning to love Localities?

Forth & Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum

Tuesday 11 October 9.30 – 11.30am

North Edinburgh Arts Centre

NEA

Next week’s Forth & Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum will focus on Localities. What are Localities – and how will they affect your organisation?

What are Localities?

The City of Edinburgh Council and the Health and Social Care Partnership are moving to a locality model of working with a phased implementation from the start of April 2016 – July 2016. This is supported by the Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland.

There will be four localities in Edinburgh – details of the geography for each of these areas and the current voluntary sector forums that are in them can be found here.

Why the move to Localities? 

Locality working is a legal requirement of the Health and Social Care Partnership and City of Edinburgh Council has decided to move to the same model, believing that this change will help the services deliver better outcomes through being less bureaucratic, more agile and innovative in approaches. Their need for cost savings through staff reductions have also reinforced this move.  Police Scotland and the Fire and Rescue Service are supportive of the move and are aligning to the model.

There is an overall desired outcome that Edinburgh citizens will receive better co-produced services with the third sector as a key partner.

What does it mean for the Third Sector?

EVOC has held ThinkSpace events in each locality to update organisations and groups on locality working and to discuss how the third sector can be represented in localities. The papers relevant to each locality can be found under each locality.

Here are the notes gathered from the robust discussions at these events: Report from four Locality Think Space Events

Locality Leadership groups have been established for each locality with monthly meetings planned. As a result of the discussions the following immediate actions have resulted:

  • The Third Sector Lead will now be referred to as the Third Sector Representative
  • As well as EVOC staff representing the third sector at these meetings there will also be a Chair from one of the voluntary sector forums attending these meetings.
  • A session will be held at the next meeting where EVOC can report back from these ThinkSpaces.
  • EVOC is applying for support to support better communications across the third sector regarding locality working.

Influencing the locality leadership meetings can be done via the quarterly local Voluntary Sector Forums

To access information on a particular locality please click on the links below 

WANT TO FIND OUT THE LATEST ON LOCALITIES?

Tuesday 11th October 2016, 9.30-11.30am – North Edinburgh Arts

Getting to know you’ event with the locality leadership team. All Third Sector organisations in the area are welcome to attend – and please be ready to talk about your project!

For further information please contact Denise Horn, email denise.horn@evoc.org.uk or call 555 9117.

EVOC thinkSpace event

 

Edinburgh Compact: last chance to book your space

Compact Third Sector Forum 2016

TWO DAYS TO GO!

  

10 June 9.15am-3.30pm
Edinburgh City Chambers

The Edinburgh Compact Partnership brings together key Public Sector partners and a range of Third Sector partners under the overarching principle: In Equal Respect.

Many third sector organisations working across the City will be aware of substantial changes taking place across our communities. Key demographic and financial pressures mean that both public and third sector organisations are now required to think differently about the way services are delivered.

This year’s Forum is based upon the twin themes of transformation and maximising assets. The forum will provide an opportunity to consider the issues affecting the City and how we, in partnership, can respond to and effectively deal with these challenges in a sustainable balanced way while continuing to provide good quality and valued services to our citizens.

The Forum will be highly interactive and will take the form of a ‘conversation-cafe’ to consider:

  • Session 1: Citizens at the Centre – Transforming public services in the City;

  • Session 2: Citizens at the Centre – Maximising assets for community benefit.

Product from the event will be included within the annual report to the Council’s Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee on the social and economic contribution to the city. The Forum will also launch the Compact Voice 2015/16 Report based on the most recent Compact Voice Survey.

For those that can attend, I look forward to seeing you at the Forum. A draft programme for the Forum has been developed and is available using the following link.

Cllr Maureen Child, Convenor of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee and Political Third Sector Champion

Booking your place – LIMITED SPACES LEFT!

For each session, there are 100 spaces available for third sector leaders and board members and these will be allocated on a first-come basis and limited to two attendees per organisation (one senior staff and one board member) only. While there is no charge for attending the event, organisations will need to directly consider any related costs for sending representatives to the Forum.

For organisations that wish to send representatives, please complete the following:

Organisation Name
 Attender 1 (staff)  Attender 2 (board)
Session 1
 Attender 1 (staff) Attender 2 (board)
Session 2

Please send details of your nominated representatives to Korstiaan Allan at Korstiaan.Allan@edinburgh.gov.uk or call 0131 469 3847.

Voluntary Sector Forum to meet on Tuesday

EVOClogo

Hi 

Please find attached Agenda for the next Forth and Inverleith Forum scheduled to take place next Tuesday 12th April from 1 – 3pm at Pilton Community Health Project, Boswall Parkway. 

Forth & Inverleith Agenda – 12th April 2016

The Agenda is deliberately short to ensure there is sufficient time for AOB – this is to ensure members have an opportunity to discuss challenges organisations are facing through funding cuts and also the shift to Localities both by the CEC and Health and Social Care Partnership.

june details

LOCALITIES Thinkspace Events

• South East – 20th April 2016, 9.30-12.00 – City of Edinburgh Methodist Church – 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

• South West – 21st April 2016, 9.30-12.00 – WHALEARTS – 30 Westburn Grove, Edinburgh EH14 2SA

North West – 27th April 2016, 9.30-12.00 – West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre – 19 W Pilton Grove

• North East – 28th April 2016, 9.30-12.00 South Leith Parish Church Halls – 6 Henderson St, Edinburgh EH6 6BS

The City of Edinburgh Council, Health and Social Care Partnership, Police Scotland and the Fire and Rescue Service are moving to a locality model.  How the Third Sector engages with this needs to be considered and  EVOC would like to invite you to Localities ThinkSpaces taking place in each Locality area in April.

Find further information and booking details here.

Goodbye, Total Craigroyston; hello, Localities

checking-out

It’s been part of our community for four years, but on the day Total Craigroyston bows out with a final event: what next for community planning in North Edinburgh?

The city council is introducing a new Localities framework from 1 April. What are Localities? EVOC’s JUNE DICKSON provides at least some of the answers in document below:

NW-LOCALITY-INFORMATION

The city council and community planning – see below for an update on the Capital Coalition pledge:

Ensuring_Edinburgh__and_its_residents

EVOC to host BIG Lottery session

BIG Lottery Fund Information WorkshopEVOClogo

Thursday 4 February – 10:00am – 12.30pm
EVOC, Ashley Place

In November 2015, The Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) launched their new five-year £250 million funding scheme to applications. With a focus on helping people and communities most in need, groups across the country can now share these life changing funds.

If you are applying for The Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) funding, you will be asked how you plan to include these three approaches in your activities:

  • People-led
  • Strengths-based
  • Connected

The Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) aim to fund activities that embrace these three approaches. This will be hugely important when your application is being considered.

EVOC and The Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) are hosting a workshop which will help to explain what is meant by each of these three approaches, as well as outline the Big Lottery Scotland funding application process. There will further be short funding ‘surgeries’ in which you can have a one-to-one with Big Lottery Fund (Scotland) funding advisors.

This an ideal opportunity to ask any questions regarding funding and to help ensure your application is considered.

Book your place here