A key role for CVA is being the collective voice for about 1,300 voluntary groups and communities in Croydon.
We bring them together through networks to take forward issues that are central to their existence and delivery in the borough.
Croydon Voluntary Sector Alliance (CVSA)
In the last 12 months the CVSA embraced important local topics, including violent crime, young people and Croydon Council's financial crisis through 4 online meetings and 2 events, bringing together hundreds of local organisations.
We produced the Communities Renewal Plan, a framework for action, negotiated with Croydon Council, that puts Croydon’s VCS at the heart of the borough’s recovery from the calamities of 2020. Two key aims were to develop the VCS role within the localities operating model and to ensure that the Council’s commissioning and procurement practices are responsive to the social value provided by the local VCS.
Healthy Communities Together Programme (HCT)
One Croydon was one of six groups across the country to bid successfully for the Healthy Communities Together Programme (HCT) run by The King’s Fund and National Lottery. The programme aims to support local areas to develop effective and sustainable partnerships between the VCS, the NHS and local authority to improve health and wellbeing of our residents, reduce health inequalities and empower local communities.
Local Community Partnerships
In partnership with the Council, CVA initiated quarterly partnership events in each of the 6 One Croydon localities laying the foundations for supporting One Croydon with the Kings Fund's ambition to devolve ‘power and authority to local people and communities’.
Overview: Between November 2020 and September 2022, we hosted 40 local partnership events across the six areas collaborating with 375 voluntary groups, 522 voluntary representatives, 143 Croydon council staff and One Croydon Project Management Officers, 12 Councillors, 43 NHS staff and commissioners, 23 Department of Work & Pensions staff, 9 schools and nurseries, 3 Metropolitan Police officers and 29 active citizens.
Community Plans: Local Community Partnerships have identified key priority themes for their neighbourhoods and Community Plans are emerging in each locality, using the strength of people and communities and joining up with services to tackle health inequalities. Through solution-orientated plans we are providing insight for Commissioners and enabling more transparent, joined up and effective commissioning in localities.
Leadership & Representation: CVA have coordinated the democratic selection of Co-Chairs through Local Community Partnerships, providing local leadership for each locality and representation of localities at One Croydon's VCS Leadership Board.
Community Hubs As part of One Croydon’s Locality Operating Model CVA is supporting the development of Community Hubs, a ‘close-to-home’, accessible and welcoming place where local residents will feel comfortable going to access wrap around support including connection to local activities. In 2022 CVA and ARCC's Community Facilitators worked with fantastic groups to launch Community Hubs in New Addington and Selsdon for Croydon South East and Brigstock Road for Croydon North West. Through Local Community Partnerships we've identified many potential Community Hubs across the borough and we're ambitious to support more! We've made a film to show what a Community Hub looks like in practice.
Local Community Partnership events are the best way to find out about what’s happening so that we can signpost into the community.
KevinO’Halloran, Disability Employment Advisor, Department of Work and Pensions.
Fantastic to learn more about so much important and valuable work occurring. And many opportunities for collaboration, which with so much to do, will be essential.
Dr Anna Clarke, Auckland Surgery
Homelessness Forum
CVA, in collaboration with the Rough Sleepers team at Croydon Council, run a Homelessness Forum this year. 4 meetings brought together 52 attendees representing 37 VCS organisations working with rough sleepers and the homeless in Croydon, to hear about local developments and services and initiate collaborations.
26 services were added to the Simply Connect directory and publicised through our regular newsletters. We also produced a flyer on Debt Advice services in the borough, in collaboration with the Food Aid Network, which are also all listed on Simply Connect Croydon.
Food Bank & Soup Kitchen Network
After responding to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, CVA continued to co-ordinate emergency supplies for the growing number of foodbanks, soup kitchens, community groups and faith organisations until December 2021.
We continue to host the Croydon Food Bank and Soup Kitchen Network with 49 members. The meetings enable information sharing, the making of partnerships, identification of needs, gaps and resources and influence of decision making locally. Find out more here.
Networks for children & young people groups
We run two networks for groups working with families, children and young people this year: the Young Londoners Fund Network for Croydon & Sutton, that met 3 times, and the Children Young People & Families' Network, which met in March hosting an update on Children Centres & Early years provision in Croydon.
We made sure our training programme incorporated sessions relevant to our members including the " Role of an Appropriate Adult". 4 newsletters with a focus on "young people" services went out in the last 12 months.
CEO group
Our VCS is at the heart of thriving and fair communities. CVA brings CEOs of established local VCS organisations regularly together to discuss challenges and opportunities for the sector, formulate strategic plans and advocate/campaign for change. We want to make sure policy makers understand the needs of the local VCS and engage effectively with them.
Croydon Mental Health Alliance (CMHA)
In 2021 CVA brought Mental Health community providers together to enable the VCS to achieve its full potential, empowering people to improve their mental health, wellbeing and overall quality of life.
The forum facilitates partnership working by networking, sharing information and exchanging good practice. It collaborates in developing a Croydon VCS business case that captures the unique strengths of community-led mental health provision and secures financial investment in Croydon’s VCS mental health providers.
CVA also supports a number of other networks including...
Croydon Green Network
The voluntary sector representatives elections in 2021 attracted a large number of interest from environmental organisations and, when the subgroups in question did not materialise, those groups decided to come together to form their own borough wide network. The forum wants to increase communication and collaboration between the local VCS and activists and meets regularly to share, discuss, plan and take action on sustainability issues. CVA provided them with a space to discuss this opportunity and a customised page on our website. We also supported Croydon Climate Action to receive funding for their Big Green week in 2021.