Wandle Park's a winner
In case you haven’t already heard the good news:

Wandle Park's a winner. The Friends of Wandle Park and the council are jumping for joy at having won £400,000 from the Mayor of London's £6m parks bonanza. The prize will be used for wide-ranging improvements to the park, including restoring the River Wandle to the surface for the first time in 40 years. There’s more information here: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/
democracy/councilnews/wpwins

Contracts for Mentoring Scheme for young people with learning disabilities - London Borough of Croydon

Croydon Council is seeking a partner organisation(s) to establish and manage a Mentoring Scheme for young people with learning disabilities, mainly aged 16-23.

The Scheme will recruit, deploy and support volunteer mentors.

Interested organisations will be required to demonstrate:

  • Substantial experience in supporting young people with learning disabilities to develop skills, interests, independence and choice
  • Experience of managing and working with volunteers
  • Preferably, experience of operating a mentoring scheme
  • Willingness to have the base for the Scheme in Croydon
    more


 

 

What's New at CVA?

Commissioning - what does it mean?

What should I be doing to make sure my group is ready?

How will it impact on my work as a commissioner?

more...

CVA Audit of VCS Premises

 Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) has a new department called Property Services Management (PSM). One of the roles of the department will be to support CVA members in property matters: from advice on day to day property management, to support with locating, purchasing, leasing or renting property to carry out your activities.

This questionnaire will give you the opportunity to shape the development of the PSM to better reflect your individual property support needs -it will also provide you with the means to receive direct support for your current property needs. We are receiving requests from statutory bodies (including Croydon Council), to work with them to make better use of existing vacant or under-used property, and to engage with them in the new Government agenda on Asset Transfer.

We are also being asked by Housing Associations and the Private Sector to join in partnerships with them on new developments to include facilities for the voluntary and social sectors. This is something that they are keen to do. The new CVA Resource Centre at 82 London Road is a very good example of the success of this sort of partnership; where CVA worked with the Health Authority, Croydon Council and the developers, Metropolitan Housing Association, to build this new resource for the voluntary sector in Croydon.

Our potential partners need to have a realistic assessment of the property needs of the voluntary and social sectors, and that is where you, as a community group, come in. We had a good response to the Property Needs section in our recent Membership Survey and we are hoping to expand on this with the attached questionnaire. The better the assessment that we can provide for potential partners of the realistic needs of our members, the better the chances of us, and you, being able to create a thriving 3rd Sector, housed in good, and well managed, accommodation.

We would be most grateful if you could find some time to fill in the attached questionnaire. The deadline for replies is Friday 13 November. Your options are to either

(i) complete it and return it to us via email, at cva@cvalive.org.uk or
(ii) fill it in, print it and post it to CVA, or
(iii) visit www.talk2Croydon.co.uk and download the survey at:

http://www.talk2croydon.co.uk/Property+Service+Needs+Survey ,
you can also take part in the discussion at http://www.talk2croydon.co.uk/My+property+needs or
(iii) give us a quick response by taking part in the poll at http://www.talk2croydon.co.uk/Property+Poll .

If you are new to Talk2Croydon its quick and easy to join up you just need to give your email and a user name.

Thank you

Eamon Durkan
Head of Property Management

THE NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution is intended to be both a living and an enduring document. It needs to reflect developments in services but any changes to it must be considered carefully. We are therefore consulting on a small number of proposed additions to the NHS Constitution that reflect recent developments.

We are legally required to consult staff, patients, carers and the public when significant changes are made to the NHS Constitution but, more importantly, the NHS Constitution belongs to us all, and it is important that any changes that are made to it fully reflect what people think.

Staff, patients, carers and the public are being asked what they think about the inclusion of two new rights in the NHS Constitution, what they think about other potential future changes to the NHS Constitution and what they think about the introduction of the new role of constitution champion.

Please click on link below to tell us what you think.

http://www.croydon.nhs.uk/aboutus/Pages/NHSconstitution.aspx

Grassroots Grants up for grabs!

CVA has £422,000 in small grants to distribute from now until 2011 to small voluntary and community organisations in Croydon. CVA is distributing the grants on behalf of the Government’s Office of the Third Sector. more...

Apply for Office Space at the New CVA Resource Centre

The application form, selection criteria and information on charges, for office space at the CVA Resource Centre can be downloaded here.

Selection Criteria
Application Form
Tariff Sheet
Licence Terms

If you are interested in office space please contact Folake on 8253 7080

Completed applications along with supporting documents should be submitted to:
CVA Resource Centre Application
Croydon Voluntary Action
97 High Street
Thornton Heath CR7 8RY

Questions
If you have any questions, please contact Bhupendra Solanki on 020 8684 3862 or bhupendra.solanki@cvalive.org.uk

Winter Edition Out Now

The Winter edition of our magazine "CVAlive" is available now. If you have not received your copy and would like to find out about all the work being done in Croydon Please call CVA on 020 8684 3862 to order a copy.

The magazine focusses on the key areas of CVAs work, capacity building, community involvement, volunteering, Policy & Partnerships and Training as well as articles of general interest to the sector, letters, opinions and much much more.

Copies of this exciting new publication are available throughout the borough in Council offices, libraries and at all CVA offices. Copies are free of charge. You can also view the magazine online here (4mb)

1000s of Everyday Conversations
with the local NHS

The Croydon Primary Care Trust (CPCT) is developing its strategy for patient and public involvement (known as PPI) in health. A draft strategy called '1000s of everyday conversations' is available. It's been out since May 2008 and has already been discussed by loads of people at many events. Just to give you a hint of what you can find in the strategy here’s the main values that the PCT are planning to commit to:

  • We will build on the best
  • We see PPI as part of the solution
  • We will remove the barriers to engagement
  • We will deepen and extend local partnership work
  • We will tap into what happens at the frontline
  • We will make better use of data about the patient experience (Insight)
  • We will foster a new approach to involvement in commissioning

You can contribute to an online discussion at: www.talk2croydon.co.uk/buzz/patient-and-public-involvement-health.

David Gilbert, the CPCT Interim Director for Patient and Public Involvement, wants to make sure this strategy does not sit on the shelf. There will be lots of work going on to make sure recommendations are followed through with specific opportunities to engage on projects. One of the early projects will be about 'health aspirations' under the banner of 'Do Something Different'.

Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) is working closely with CPCT to ensure Croydon people and voluntary groups can benefit from this new era of community empowerment in health.

You can contact David Gilbert on 020 8274 6000 David.Gilbert@croydonpct.nhs.uk, www.croydon.nhs.uk/
Or contact Jo Gough on 020 8683 5901 or jo.gough@cvalive.org.uk

Beacon Application - VCS role in service delivery
Croydon Council is currently being pressed for its work in supporting voluntary and community organisations to deliver more services. The Croydon Compact is once again under scrutiny and will be re-visited at the inaugural meeting, early next year, of the new Strengthening Communities Partnership.

Croydon Community Involvement Commitments Out
A new set of principles has been agreed to ensure 'democratic participation' in Croydon. The Croydon Community Involvement Commitments, as the newly published document is called, is part of the Croydon Compact between the local voluntary sector, the Primary Care Trust, and the local authority. Click here to view the full document.

Have You Ever Thought of Volunteering?
There are several new exciting volunteer opportunities at the Croydon Volunteer Centre, from working in marketing and organising events to helpline operators as well as helping to organise Croydon Summer Festival. Click here to find out what opportunities there are. If you are interested in volunteering issues and live in Croydon you may also want to attend the next Volunteer Organisers Forum in February. Visit our Diary Page for details.