Networks & Forums
Chief Officers and Chairs Group
“To work together to ensure a thriving third sector in the Harrogate District which is able to meet the needs of the local community”
Upcoming Meeting Dates
Thursday 17 May 2012, 11am
at The Avalon Group, 6 Grove Park Court, Harrogate HG1 4DP
Wednesday 19 September 2012, 11am
Thursday 15 November 2012, 11am (please note new date)
February Update
The February meeting was held at Your Consortium in Knaresborough and was another interesting and well attended session. Sally Anderson, North Yorkshire County Council Safeguarding Adults Policy Officer, gave a presentation about safeguarding adults and answered the Group's questions. Plans were discussed for the Health & Wellbeing event to be held at the Cairn Hotel in Harrogate on 27 March. This event would be an opportunity to meet with commissioners and look at how services should be commissioned. There was also an update on plans for a Celebration of Volunteering event at The Big Picnic in Valley Gardens on Sunday 8 July. Discussions took place on the future of local support and development and the launch of a Harrogate District Trusee Network. At each meeting all members of the Group are also invited to give an information update on their organisation and also the issues they are facing.
November 2011 Update
The November meeting was held at Disability Action Yorkshire. It was good to welcome some members to their first meeting and there was very useful discussion and information sharing on issues which local organisations are currently facing. The many varied topics included the need for VCS representation on the Health & Wellbeing Board, unit costing, feeding views into the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, Adult Social Care Vision and Harrogate District Strategic Forum.
On 10 October at St George Hotel an interactive “Dragon’s Den” style session took place where pitchers from a number of members of the Harrogate District VCS Chief Officers and Chairs Group presented their proposals for investment in the local community to Chamber of Trade members.
Background/History
The Chief Officers and Chairs Group was set up by Harrogate & Area CVS and Ripon CVS in late 2009 in order to support the local Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to consult on the NYCC and NHS North Yorkshire and York “Securing the Future: A Dialogue with the Third Sector” paper.
The group was established to allow key decision makers from local VCS organisations to identify issues of mutual concern and to generate local solutions. The group aims to collaborate and communicate more effectively within the sector and therefore strengthen the collective voice of the local VCS.
The group is facilitated by HACVS and meets up to 4 times a year at different venues, offered by its members. The terms of reference can be read here.
One of the aims of the Chief Officers and Chairs Group is to provide a forum for the exchange of information concerning changes to infrastructure, funding etc. During 2010 the Forum had presentations from Naomi Garbutt (Strategic Commissioning Manager – West, Commissioning and Partnerships, NYCC), Amanda Bloor (Locality Director - Craven and Harrogate, NHS North Yorkshire and York) and Seamus Breen (Assistant Director of NYCC Adult and Community Services). Details of the Question and Answer sessions are available in the notes of these meetings, which can be found below.
Notes from Previous meetings
May 2011- NYCC Commissioning Framework consultation
September 2010 - Responding to the Funding Challenge Event
Useful Documents
In December 2010 the Chief Officers and Chairs Group carried out a survey on funding cuts in local VCS organisations. The outline survey results are available here.
In May 2011 Linked2Success ran an introduction to LinkedIn session for the Chief Officers and Chairs Groups. Some helpful tips were compiled from this session. Tips on using LinkedIn
More Information
If you are a key decision maker in a local voluntary or community group and would like to attend the Chief Officers & Chairs Forum please email Angela Jones at angela@harrogatecvs.org.uk.
The Harrogate District VCS Chief Officers and Chairs group is now on LinkedIn. Click on the icon below to join this group.
