Thursday, 21 May 2009

Following last night’s meal, we today met more formally with NAVCA CEO Kevin Curley. One big issue covered was the need for NAVCA to develop an independent voice on volunteering. At present, all volunteering initiatives and discussions defer to Volunteering England: there is a sense that Volunteering England’s approach to volunteering is the only acceptable approach and that anything deviating from this is beyond the pale and doomed to failure. This blinkered approach has to change.

The second big issue addressed was the need for smaller CVSs to identify their needs and develop their own agenda. At present, too many national meetings are dominated by larger CVSs we can’t hope to emulate. And we’re not sure we should.

Finally, we had a brief discussion about the desirability of setting up a county-wide CVS "trading arm" jointly owned by all Herts CVSs. Personally I think the need for this is established almost beyond debate, but several of my colleagues seemed strangely reticent. I wonder why?