Providing services and a voice to voluntary organisations & community groups to support and enhance their development 

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About DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support

Providing services and a voice to voluntary organisations & community groups to support and enhance their development

What is DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support

DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support is an independent organisation which operates across Wiltshire from an office base in Chippenham and in Bath & North East Somerset with an office base in Bath. We are a registered Charity set up, owned and run by local groups support, develop and enhance local voluntary and community action.

We were first established in 1980 as CVS North Wiltshire. We are a Registered Charity, Company Limited by Guarantee and member of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, NAVCA.  The Bath & North East Somerset CVS service started in 2004. In July 2009 we changed our name from CVS to DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support to reflect the changing environment in which we work.

• DEVELOP Board of Directors

As a member of NAVCA we deliver five core functions:
 

Services and support
DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support promotes and enhances the effectiveness of local voluntary and community groups by providing them with a range of services. These include access to basic facilities, such as meeting rooms, photocopiers and ICT equipment and more involved services such as group support, networking opportunities and funding advice. DEVELOP also support local groups through regular e-newsletters, training courses, recruitment advertising, signposting and much more.

Liaison

As a focal point for the local voluntary and community sector, DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support encourages networking between individuals and groups within the sector, and between local groups and the statutory and private sectors. This allows local groups to learn from one another, establish contacts and work more effectively. We also help different communities to organise their own networking activity.

Representation

With government encouraging involvement of voluntary and community groups in shaping and delivering services, DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support enables the views of local groups to be represented. For example, through our Community Lunches and Forums which provide an opportunity for local groups to put forward their views on local and national policies.

Development work

Over the years, the local voluntary and community sector has pioneered some of the essential public services that we now take for granted. Child protection and care for the elderly, for example, had their origins in, and were developed by, the voluntary sector. This tradition has continued into the 21st century, and today DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support takes the lead in identifying gaps in service provision and work with groups to develop new and innovative services to meet these needs.

Strategic partnerships

DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support works in partnership with local government and other statutory agencies to shape the delivery of services. We play a key role in empowering local groups to take part in partnerships and are directly involved in a wide range of regeneration, neighbourhood renewal, health and social care, learning and other government initiatives. Strategic partnerships may be sub-regional, district wide or neighbourhood. They may cover several issues or have a particular focus.

Please browse around our website to find out more about the specific services that we offer.

Join DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support and take advantage of all the benefits of membership - it's free! 

• Download Membership Form

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DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support is a Company Limited By Guarantee registered in England and Wales 01986363.

Registered Office 3-4 New Road, Chippenham, SN15 1EJ. Registered Charity1096008.

DEVELOP Enhancing Community Support is a member of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA).