WalpPCouncil for Voliir Supportirmd 'unities Annual report J 1995-1996 ANNUAL REPORT Wales Council for Voluntary Wales Council for Voluntary Action Supporting charities, volunteers and communities Action is the voice of the Cyngor Gweithredu Cwirfoddol Cymru voluntary sector in Wales. Yn cefnogi elusennau, gwirfoddolwyr a chymunedau It represents and campaigns Membership for voluntary organisations WCVA is the umbrella body for voluntary organisations, volunteering and charities in Wales. and volunteers, including At a time when the sector is in a state of flux, joining WCVA can help voluntary organisations and those who work with them to keep pace with its members. change. On a practical level we have teams of specialists who can provide information, advice and training on a whole range WCVA leads the sector in: of issues directly relevant to organisations in the sector. • Providing advice, information and Our funding team gives comprehensive advice on money training; available in the UK and Europe. • lobbying decision-makers at all levels; Through a series of information sheets, newsletters and our current awareness service, our policy and development • safeguarding and increasing resources officers ensure that members are kept up to date with for the sector; changes in legislation affecting the voluntary sector. Members also receive a free • copy of Network Wales, the responding positively to new challenges. leading monthly magazine for the sector in Wales. They are WCVA is an independent charity. It now has more than 500 also entitled to reductions on training sessions and new members across the whole spectrum of voluntary and publications. community groups - including social care and health, In addition, WCVA is active at a strategic level - promoting education and youth, the environment, arts and culture, volunteering, rural issues and bilingual policies, as well as and sport. working to establish links with local authorities, health Its growing membership bears testimony to the central role authorities and the business sector. it plays in representing and campaigning for the voluntary If you are not a member and would like to join, we will be sector, and taking the lead in helping organisations to happy to send you an information pack. manage change. Full membership is open to national, regional and umbrella voluntary organisations and any voluntary organisation not WCVA has 33 staff based at its Caerphilly headquarters, and represented at these levels. at offices in Llandudno and Welshpool. Each year full members elect the executive committee Registered Office - Head Office which guides the organisation. Llys Ifor, Crescent Road, Caerphilly CF8 1XL Tel 01222 869224/Fax 01222 860627 Associate membership is open to local organisations, branches of national voluntary organisations, statutory and Mid Wales Office private agencies and individuals. Park Lane House, 7 High Street, Welshpool, SY21 7JP Tel 01938 552379/Fax 01938 552092 For further details and an information pack, please contact Wendy Gilbert at WCVA's head office at Llys North Wales Office Ifor, Crescent Road, Caerphilly CF83 1XL. Tyldesley House, Clarence Road, Craig-y-Don, Llandudno LL30 IDT Tel 01492 871833/Fax 01492 877269 ANNUAL REPORT Director's report Chair's foreword The year covered by this report WCVA provides a voice for the has seen the end of one era and voluntary sector in Wales on the start of another, as the roles matters of common interest and and structures of government represents those interests to have undergone massive change. government, other decision makers, and indeed to society as During this period of change, a whole. many organisations have suffered considerable dislocation With some 22,000 voluntary and anxiety, as decisions organisations in Wales, this affecting their future have been could be a somewhat daunting late or delayed. Survival itself has been a major priority, and task. WCVA's approach is firmly based on working with much work remains to ensure that the work of charities is others, and we are constantly seeking to strengthen existing secure and enhanced within the new order. or establish new networks within the sector, and to develop stronger and more effective relations with others outside Changes in European funding, the publication of the Rural the sector. White Paper, the increasing flow of lottery funds, and the Make A Difference volunteering initiative, may create some This year, we have taken steps towards increasing the opportunities for enhancing voluntary action, volunteering number of our members and improving communication and community development. with them. WCVA is committed to consulting widely, and A voluntary manifesto for Wales, for example, has been Seizing such opportunities requires the voluntary sector to refined and redrafted following extensive debate and respond with quality, imaginative and accountable comment during the year. initiatives, not least to the emerging anti-poverty and Agenda 21 initiatives. It will also require effective support Looking outside the sector, we have nurtured stronger links at both a local and a national level. with decision makers at all levels and have developed successful relations with MPs from all parties and with the At a local level, the review of local intermediary voluntary business community. We have looked beyond traditional support services, announced in January, will lead to a new boundaries and made connections with groups in Eastern role for WCVA as the funding channel, and to a Europe and agencies in Brussels and Eire. We have used the re-structuring of local voluntary support services in each media too as an effective tool in raising awareness about unitary authority area. At a national level, WCVA will the issues confronting voluntary organisations and continue to provide and improve its stable and strategic volunteers today. leadership as the clear and respected voice of the sector in Wales, and will review its own activities as it looks toward It has been a testing year for many involved in the sector the millennium. with the uncertainty created by local government reorganisation. We must now look to the future. WCVA for WCVA's work would not be possible without the support of its part is looking forward to working with the new Local its expanding voluntary membership, those who give their Government Association for Wales and to developing links time freely to its activities, and the many trusts and with the new health authorities. government agencies, particularly the Welsh Office and the National Lottery Charities Board, who have provided May I thank all who have worked and collaborated with us financial backing during the year. this year and express my warmest appreciation to fellow executive members and staff for their contributions. M OI-UL Graham Benfield Marjorie Dykins OBE 1 ANNUAL REPORT Looking back A whistle-stop tour of some significant developments. These are changing times and almost everyone has been affected by the pace of change. WCVA has worked on behalf of voluntary organisations making sure their voice was heard and their interests represented at all levels. Working in partnership with others, the organisation has facilitated initiatives that will benefit voluntary and community groups throughout Wales. This is a very record some WCVA brief of landmarks passed Tavernspite village hall: If WCVA's bid to the Millenium Commission gets the in the 12 months from April 95 to March 96: go-ahead, many halls in rural communities could benefit from similar renovations. • A voluntary sector manifesto was produced and widely • distributed. An anti-poverty development project was started with • lottery funding. WCVA supported almost 200 • A organisations which attracted a comprehensive survey of the support needs of total of £16 million in voluntary organisations was undertaken. European funds for the voluntary and community Signposting the way to sectors in Wales. the future * The organisation co-ordinated Jane Hutt, WCVA vice-chair and chair of the Manifesto Towards the Millennium a high profile campaign to put working group. voluntary sector concerns on WCVA has a number of projects planned for the the agenda during local current financial year. Many build on work already government reorganisation. started in 1995, and others are breaking new \ * ground. WCVA campaigned for - and won - a fifteen per cent The quota of Strategic Development Fund money for following maps out the work staff are undertaking in voluntary groups. 1996/97 although it by no means covers the full scope and * range of projects planned. WCVA submitted a multi-million pound bid to the • A media research Millenium Commission on behalf of groups in Wales for project which aims to break down the the regeneration of village and community halls. stereotypical images of volunteering. * • The Volunteering in Wales Fund, administered by WCVA, Two projects to determine how volunteering can benefit was increased by £160,000 as part of the Make A older and younger people. Difference initiative - the UK volunteering strategy. • A steering group of WCVA and others is drawing up good • Good practice guidelines were prepared for voluntary practice guidelines for volunteers in support of carers. groups wishing to adopt bilingual policies. • Research on the extent to which NVQs are being used by • The first conference for volunteer organisers in Wales was volunteers. a huge success, with bookings exceeding space available. • Seminars in North and South Wales to introduce * WCVA went live on the Internet with a bilingual World voluntary organisations to Investors in People and the Wide Web page. Management Charter Initiative. • • Links were made with the emerging voluntary sector in Early work looking at national standards for the sector central and eastern Europe. will gather pace in 1996/97. A • voluntary sector training organisation development WCVA will target MPs and MEPs to raise voluntary sector project is now up and running. issues at Wales and UK levels. 2 ANNUAL REPORT The dominant themes ... A support network is planned for organisations planning to use the WCVA guide to develop bilingual policies.