Projects

The Devon Consortium represents the interests of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) at Devon Strategic Partnerships. This is in order to enable better systems of accountability and an open flow of information and dialogue between members, representatives and statutory bodies.

In order to realise its stated outcomes, the Devon Consortium has identified the several programmes of work which we believe will realise our objectives. These are:

Total Support

Volunteer Activity Management Programme

Stronger Communities Programmes (see below)

In the summer of 2009, following the completion of Count Me In, a successful project managed through the Volunteer Centres Devon, the Devon Consortium was asked to assign funding which Devon County Council has received from Central Government.

It was agreed by members of the Consortium and Devon County Council that this funding would be allocated to the following areas of work:- Volunteering Support Services, Voluntary and Community Sector Representation, Service User Engagement, Community Hubs and Development of the 3rd Sector.

Under the banner of the Stronger Communities Programme, organisations have been awarded funding to carry out these areas of work following an application process, overseen by an independent assessment panel (including frontline organisations) as follows:

Community Hubs Project - Project lead:  The Community Council of Devon in partnership with Exeter Community Initiatives (ECI) and Devon Association of Community Buildings (DACB)

Developing the Third Sector  - Project Lead: Teignbridge CVS (on behalf of DACVS)

Service User Engagement - Project lead: Living Options Devon

Voluntary & Community Sector Representation - Project Lead: Torridge Voluntary Services (on behalf of DACVS)

Volunteering Support Services - Project lead: Exeter CVS (on behalf of DACVS)

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Experience of Project Delivery

In year one of ChangeUp, the Devon Consortium delivered 13 projects. The leads of these projects were drawn from members of the consortium. The skills of these individuals varied with some having extensive project management experience in the commercial sector, some within the voluntary sector and other with less demonstrable project management skills but with a great deal of experience within the voluntary and community sector itself.

The projects themselves varied in size and complexity and the Consortium endeavoured to fit lead organisations and resources most appropriate.

In acknowledgement of the fact that we could learn from our initial experiences and improve our ability to select Project Leads and thus mitigate any associated risks to our projects, we undertook a formal independent evaluation of a selection of our projects.

It is with the outcomes of this evaluation in mind that we have revised our selection processess for this round of ChangeUp projects and have also reviewed the support available to Project Leads from the Consortium through the appointment of a Consortium Development and Support Worker.

Projects we have completed in 2007/08 are:

  • Representation and Communities of Interest
  • Performance Improvement
  • A Compact for Devon

More information on these can be found here.

List of partnerships:

What are Strategic Partnerships?

The County strategic partnership (Devon Strategic Partnership) and Devon County Council, working closely with districts and local strategic partnerships help lead the LAA (Local Area Agreement).It’s a 3-year agreement between the Government and

Devon to deliver a series of outcomes for the County. By working with a range of partners in a new way, the LAA will enable the voluntary and community sector to help in delivering the long-term vision of improving life in the County.

What are the benefits for Devon?

Local strategic partnerships able to work ‘with teeth’, greater accountability to local people, simplified funding arrangements, reduced ring-fencing of resources, for local flexibility, and freedom from some ‘red tape’.

What is covered by a Local Area Agreement?

All LAAs are structured around these four ‘blocks’:

  • Children and young people
  • Healthier communities and older people
  • Safe and stronger communities
  • Economic development and enterprise

The voluntary and community sector has an interest in all these blocks because it includes service providers, user representatives etc.

It also has an interest in cross-cutting issues (i.e. those relating to more than one ‘block’) such as environment, equality and access to services.   For more information please see:

Devon LAA at www.devonlaa.org.uk

Devon Strategic Partnerships at www.devonsp.org.uk