North West
VCS Engage work in the North West is building upon the
Government Offices for the North West (GONW) funded work with the
VCS in the region (since September 2005). GONW are continuing to
fund an additional day a week strategic level post to work
alongside the RDM until the end of March 2008 to coincide with the
funding available from VCS Engage. The reference group for this
work has taken on the steering group responsibility.
Mapping of the key contacts for the children,
youth and families VCS in each Local Authority area can be found
here [pdf 33kb].
A health check for local authorities has also been produced:
download [pdf 523kb]
Network meetings
Key representatives from
the children, youth and families VCS meet together from across the
region, in order to share information and best practice and
identify gaps where additional work may be needed.
Meetings have also been held within the North West with regional
representatives of UK Youth, Children England, NCVYS and NW
Regional Youth Work Unit to explore the setting up of a
comprehensive support structure for children, young people and
families groups.
Black and Minority Ethnic VCS
A comprehensive research and mapping of the needs of the BME VCS is
currently being carried out. An interim report can be found
here [pdf 28kb].
Additional support
Due to work already
carried out in the North West, the RDMs are planning to work
differently from other regions regarding the Self Evaluation Tool
(SET). They will reach all authorities wishing to receive support
to share learning and further development improvement plans
through:
a) The provision of three workshops across the region to offer a
development session to colleagues in the VCS and Children’s
Services to address work undertaken to date and self scrutinise
progress made in a supportive environment.
b) The provision of a learning set for those areas wishing to
engage in a longer term process of applying learning and reviewing
progress in a group context.
Good practice
Examples of good or emerging
practice will be added to this section:
Event
The NW region hosted a national
conference in June, to share the learning from their region and
others on achieving successful outcomes through VCS engagement,
with delegates from both the VCS and statutory sector
attending.