V GOOD!

In the afternoon, a quick dash across the road from Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living to Voluntary Action LeicesterShire, for a meeting of the EVDC East Midlands steering group. EVDC is an arm of Volunteering England (though independent of that parent body), and exists to promote volunteering as an expression of citizenship. The East Midlands is the last region of England to establish an EVDC (surprise, surprise); this meeting is an attempt to get one up and running. Since Leicester Council of Faiths had been involved in a major project with Volunteering England earlier this year, looking at the role of volunteering within the faith communities, I'm interested in ensuring recognition for their contribution and strengthening their ongoing involvement. There's a presentation on volunteering challenges and opportunities related to the 2012 Olympics, which I find especially interesting and rather inspiring, if truth be told. Mind you, the one thing that wasn't made clear at any point in the meeting was: what do the initials EVDC stand for? On Volunteering England's website, it appears, they appear to stand for England Volunteering Development Council, but that doesn't really make sense in terms of a regional presence. Hmmm ...