Community Page

Supporting Community and Self-Help Groups

Part of the work of Voluntary Action for Oadby and Wigston is to support Community and Self Help Groups. If you run or attend, any such group, we can offer you the following services:

Advice

On your groups constitutions
On Managing your group
On keeping your accounts

Funding

We can advise you on applying for various grants, including the Big Lotter Fund (the Lottery!) and we also have Funder Finder software available for use.

Administration

We can type letters or let you use our computers, assist with photocopying (at a small charge of 7p per A4 side black and white or 12p colour) and create posters (again a similar charge is levied).

Advertising

We can advertise your group in our newsletter, on our website and in our Self-Help Directory.

Services

You can use our meeting room, for a reduced fee. We have a library of resources that you can access. We can provide some training or information where you can get training.

Volunteers

We can help you with recruiting volunteers to help with your group.

If you would like to register with VAOW, please contact us on :

Telephone 0116 281 0026

Fax: 0116 288 6423

Email: admin@vaow.org.uk

There is no charge for being a registered group but there are lots of advantages!

The Oadby & Wigston Compact

"The Oadby & Wigston Compact is an agreement between local Government, the voluntary and community sector and other local Public bodies of the Borough of Oadby & Wigston to improve our relationship for positive outcomes within the local community."

The purpose of the Compact is to:

Improve communication, common understanding, ways of working together, trust and respect between the Voluntary and Community Sector and the Statutory Sector.

Set a framework for effective consultation, representation and partnership working including an agreement on definitions, shared values and joint and distinct undertakings.

Set out ways for developing working relationships between the Voluntary and Community Sector and the Statutory Sector.

Act as a reference document and a process for monitoring and evaluating the quality of those relationships and partnership working at all levels.

Support and reinforce the application of value for money ("Best Value") principles in the relationship between the Statutory and Voluntary and Community organisations.

This Compact was signed at Voluntary Action's Annual General Meeting on the 12th October 2005.

If you would like a copy please contact Voluntary Action on 0116-281 0026 and we will be happy to send one to you.

Directories

We currently have two directories that are available for public use:
The Self Help Directory which gives information about local groups, charities and organisations. This information is generally a contact name, address and telephone number and if it is a group, where and when they meet.
The Community Facilities Directory gives all the information you require for hiring a room/facilities in the Oadby and Wigston area.
If you go to our Directories section of this website you will be able to down load the Community Facilities Directory.
If you require a copy of the Self-Help Directory please contact us direct and we will send you one.

Health & Wellbeing Project

The Health & Wellbeing Project has been established to ensure that local community and voluntary groups are effective partners in the planning, commissioning and delivery of health and wellbeing services.

This project receives funding from the Primary Care Trust to forge these positive links between Statutory provision in the fields of health and wellbeing and the Voluntary and Community Sector.

This service, located in Voluntary Action for Oadby & Wigston’s offices in Wigston, covering Oadby and Wigston, aims to widen and improve the involvement of voluntary organisations, community groups and self-help groups in healthcare planning.

The important contribution these organisations can make to improving health and wellbeing, reducing health inequalities and helping to build quality services, is well recognised and the role of this project is to assist the voluntary and community sector in sharing this knowledge with both health and wellbeing providers.

Health and wellbeing is something that most services are now recognising and planning for in their delivery, especially Healthcare providers. However, what makes the Voluntary Sector stand out is the fact that we have been providing a wellbeing approach to our services for a considerable length of time.

This model of working enables the project to join up local and county planning levels, ensuring a much more co-ordinated approach between local work at a PCT and district level, with that at a County and sub-regional level. This two-way communication and consultation enables all voluntary and community groups to have an effective involvement in the development of health and wellbeing.

To contact the Health & Wellbeing Worker, Sue Hill, please either telephone on 0116-281 0026 or email on shill@vaow.org.uk

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