VCS assembly steering group (1)

At Voluntary Action Leicester (VAL) in Newarke Street this morning, for a meeting of what's being called (for want of a better name) the LeicesterShire Voluntary Sector Assembly Steering Group. Can't see that one featuring on a best-selling t-shirt - and it wouldn't exactly be my choice - but it has to be called something, right? This meeting is following up on a Development Day held at VAL at the end of October last year, when 65 delegates representing the diverse range of voluntary and community sector organisations in the city and county. That was an occasion for disemmination of information, for discussion, for networking and for workshops - all in aid of assisting in the development of a LeicesterShire Voluntary Sector Assembly. The aim of that day was to:

• begin the process of creating a single strong voice for the Voluntary and Community Sector in the city and county;
• enable the Voluntary and Community Sector to feed into the development and future of the Assembly;
• Identify clear priority areas of work for the Voluntary and Community Sector in 2010-11.

At the end of that Development Day, I put my name forward as being interested in sitting on this steering group which would consider practical ways to move this project forward. I'm here on behalf of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership as much as I'm here for the Council of Faiths. Half a dozen of us from VCS organisations and three VAL staffers spend 90 minutes this morning looking at some basic issues that arose from the Development Day and that lead into possible future work.

There are no formal conclusions at this meeing: it's not that kind of group and it's still early days anyway. However, there are several general areas of agreement - most importantly that the establishment of such an Assembly would be sa good thing. We recognise a number of other important points too. While the VCS is uniquely flexible and responsive, it's become used to surviving on crumbs that fall from the table of the private and public sectors. An Assembly would have to help change that situation and advance the interests and elevate the status of the VCS. The work of any such Assembly should help sustain a thriving VCS; complement Leicester Partnership's system of "Host Organisations" and "communities of interest", rather than attempting to duplicte or rival that structure and service (which is still in its infancy); encourage, enable and support VCS's independence and robustness; facilitate and improve communication and cooperation among VCS organisations and groups.

Next time we meet, we'll have the chance to compare what we might be able to do in Leicester and Leicestershire with what's been done in other parts of the country which are comparable in some ways.