Local Infrastructure 2012 Networking Event

Friday 2nd March 2012, Exeter

South West Forum is organising a free informal networking event exclusively for local infrastructure organisations and support providers in the South West.

Read more details and book online

Public Health Reform: Engaging the Voluntary and Community Sector

South West Forum, The Care Forum and NHS South of England are working in partnership to deliver two free conferences on public health reforms to take place In Exeter on Monday 26th March and near Bristol on Tuesday 27th March, 10.00am - 3.30pm. Through a combination of keynote speakers and seminars, voluntary and community sector organisations and partner agencies will hear about the high level changes taking place in public health at a national and regional level and about how they can engage with those changes at a local level. The conference will also enable the VCS to influence new public health arrangements including the sector's engagement with the health and wellbeing boards.

Speakers include Dr Gabriel Scally, Director of Public Health, NHS South of England, representatives from the Marmot Review into health equalities and from a national VCS organisation. Seminars will explain how to influence your local health and wellbeing board: the concept of co-production in public health: and how to use wellbeing measures to demonstrate improvement in public health.

For further information about the Exeter event on 26th March contact Jane Smallcombe or BOOK ONLINE For further information about the Bristol event on 27th March contact Rachel Robinson at rachelrobinson@thecareforum.org.uk and to book a place contact Katharine Gonzales at events@thecareforum.org.uk

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Summaries for each LEP in the South West – each including a map, profile of their area, LEP priorities, Board members and contact point - are now available.

South West Forum in partnership with the Employment and Skills Partnership held a joint, free, event on 29th September 2011, to look at the changing landscape of skills and employment. The event was aimed at voluntary and community sector organisations, public sector agencies and training providers.

This film clip captures some of the key messages from the conference and highlights the need for small and medium sized organisations to work together, collaboratively, as subcontractors and delivery partners in skills and employment.

Speaker presentations and reports from the day can also be accessed at: www.southwestforum.org.uk/valuing-voluntary-action

South West Forum Annual Conference 2011

Presentations from our Annual Conference, held on Wednesday 16th November, are now available, as well as photos videos and tweets from the event. View the SWF Annual Conference page

Joining Up for Sustainable Growth - South West Stakeholders Conference

Community groups are the vital link

South West Forum is urging the region’s new Local Enterprise Partnerships [LEPs] to work with and involve voluntary groups and social enterprises.

In a report, The Vital Link, launched at the Valuing Voluntary Action conference in Taunton on 29th September, the Forum reveals that while there are instances of good practice, most of the LEPs being set up to drive local economic development are not connecting with community and voluntary groups in their area.

Read further information and download the report 

LEPs with Social Purpose - The Vital Link: latest news

During Summer and Autumn 2011 South West Forum supported its Voluntary Value partners to run a roadshow of events around the South West on increasing engagement and understanding between Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and social purpose organisations. These events had a particular but not exclusive focus on skills and employment.

Download the full report (143KB PDF)

Transforming Local Infrastructure – Latest News
Voluntary organisations in Somerset have set up a website (www.somerset-tli.org.uk) to make it easy to access information, documents, meeting notes and draft proposals relating to the county’s developing partnership and bid for Transforming Local Infrastructure funding.

Please do let us know if other TLI partnerships are establishing websites or other open communication platforms.

Who's Listening to the Big Society - New Report from South West Forum
SWF has just published a new report raising concerns that while the government might talk of ‘taking power away from the politicians and giving it to people’ the reality is rather different.

We surveyed each of the 15 county/unitary areas across the South West about how voluntary organisations have dialogue with local public authorities, and how marginalised groups are involved. The report includes case studies of creative and successful ways to help voluntary organisations have a voice.

Read more...

Spotlight on VCS Cuts
South West Forum Chief Executive, Stephen Woollett, appeared on Radio Devon on the morning of Tuesday 2nd August talking about the cuts affecting the voluntary sector in the SW. You can listen to the broadcast at: www.bbc.co.uk (skip to 1 hour 5 mins). This follows on from his appearance on BBC Spotlight last week (Tuesday 26th July). The news item focussed on the plight of String of Pearls, a Crediton based charity that works with offenders' families. Steve offered an insightful contribution reflecting the concerns of the VCS, not only in the region but nationally. Read more...

 South West Health and Care Network: join now!

South West Health and Care Network membership is free. Members receive a weekly ebulletin containing health and care related news and events as well as priority notifications of consultation activities and events.  To join the network email jane@southwestforum.org.uk with your request.

A meeting of voluntary and community sector leaders from the South West region took place on 26th May in Exeter and was fully subscribed with around 40 representatives from organisations working with patients, service users and carers from throughout the South West. Read feedback from the meeting and the SW Regional response

Find out more at www.southwestforum.org.uk/healthnetwork

 Mapping the Cuts 

It is absolutely vital that the impact of public sector funding cuts is publicised and understood.  That is why South West Forum is a partner in a new, national initiative to record the cuts online: www.voluntarysectorcuts.org.uk

Currently there are only a few cuts recorded in the SW region – whilst it would be nice to believe this is the case, the intelligence we are receiving on a daily basis from members and contacts tells us it is very unlikely. Those already listed tell a grim story.  Cuts to SWF funding are listed there too.

If your statutory funding is going to be cut or reduced please visit the site and fill in a very simple form to show the impact the cuts will have.

South West Forum - Operational Plan 2011-2013
SWF has produced its Operational Plan for 2011-2013. The plan identifies the services which the Forum is seeking to develop and provide from April 2011 onwards.
Read more...

Guide to South West MPs
South West Forum have produced a simple guide to the 55 South West MPs – with their photograph, name of their constituency and party and a brief commentary on their main interests.

We are happy to supply a copy on request. Please email admin@southwestforum.org.uk.

We prepared this guide for our very successful reception for South West MPs and are happy to share it. (If you can reciprocate with something equally useful for us then feel free!).

Stephen Gilbert MP (Newquay & St Austell) and Richard Graham MP (Gloucester) hosted this special event for SWF in the House of Commons on Wednesday 17th November 2010.

The focus of the event was “Big Society in the South West” and SWF used the occasion to present a report pulling together the feedback from the local Big Society events we have supported and promoted in partnership with local networks and support organisations.  The event was kindly supported by Foot Anstey Solicitors.

Local Enterprise Partnerships
Strong Local Economies need Strong Local Communities
SWF have produced a ten point Action Agenda which we are calling on those developing LEPs to adopt. LEPs provide a great opportunity to forge a strong local alliance between business, local authorities and wider civil society to drive the growth of local economies. We are urging LEPs to recognise they have the capacity to bring together the government's desire for business-led economic growth with the Big Society agenda for greater community involvement and a much enhanced role for civil society organisations.

Download the Action Agenda. (155KB Word doc)

 For the latest relevant LEP news visit our LEP Watch page.