Cornwall VSF (CVSF) is the voice of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; our aim is to work with others to create a thriving and effective voluntary sector. We aim to effect positive change for the voluntary sector by focusing our lobbying efforts on elected officials and public sector bodies such as the NHS and Cornwall Council.
For over 25 years Cornwall VSF has helped and worked with many small and medium sized groups and charities across Cornwall. Since we were formed in 1992 our membership has steadily grown and our members are made up of VCSE organisations across the county; these are people who want to improve wellness and health, environment, employment, housing, rural isolation and the list goes on and on. Many thousands of volunteers and groups are involved. The work of the sector is supported by donations, fundraising and commissioning by Cornwall Council, Health, the Police, Environmental agencies and others.
But times are changing. Funding is changing. The way that charities need support is changing. What isn’t changing or improving fast enough is the need in our communities. Cornwall VSF has to change now to work in a different way in the future; we have to be more active; to be more creative; to work with a wider variety of people such as employers, local groups in your village or town.
We are exceptionally proud of the contribution that VCSE organisations make to improving the quality of life for our residents and visitors and for the contribution they make to our local communities to ensure that they are more cohesive, caring and inclusive. We are proud to help them to realise their values such as generosity, kindness, compassion, and fairness; values that we also operate from. These are the values that will allow us to foster stronger relationships with each other to get things done.
The future development and lasting impact of CVSF’s strategy on behalf of the VCSE sector relies on the strength and diversity of our Board and staff. Four new Trustees joined our Board last year and our Chief Executive took up her post in March 2020, as the pandemic hit. Our core focus has been the development of alliances across the sector at a strategic, thematic, and local level. Coordinating the sector in this way has enabled us to build our trust and social capital, to pool and align our resources and to share critical intelligence on the issues most prevalent in the pandemic. The formation and strengthening of these alliances has been heralded as a great success. Our Chair has taken the decision to step back in the next year, so we are seeking a new Chair to take up this critical role in addition to a new Treasurer, and a number of new Trustees.
Further information about CVSF, our background and future direction is available in the attached brief, which includes an outline of the skills and experience that we are seeking in our new Chair and Trustees. We would also encourage confidential conversations, contact details are enclosed.
We are extremely excited about what the future holds and look forward to hearing from you if you believe that you have the skills, experience and enthusiasm needed to ensure our future ambitions.
We encourage confidential conversations in advance of your application. Please contact Anna Jay, Trustee of Cornwall VSF and MD of Public Leaders Appointments; anna@publicleadersappointments.com or 07904 236348. Alternatively, you can contact our Chair, Richard Williams: chair@cornwallvsf.org.
The closing date for applications is midday on 5 November 2020. Full details on how to apply are included in the attached brief.
Please click here to download a Zip file containing everything you need.
