Testimonials

As a result of browsing your resources library, I was able to pick out and then order from the Directory of Social Change, three books that I found to be extremely useful: The Charity Trustee's Handbook; The Charity Treasurer's Handbook; and Charitable Status. If I hadn't taken the opportunity to look at your resources whilst attending one of your excellent training courses, I wouldn't have come across these books. I'm now considering ordering Effective Fundraising! — Anne Wignall, Age UK STW

I just returned from the Shrewsbury Social Media Surgery and found it to be incredibly beneficial. If you are a social enterprise with a DIY budget, these types of surgeries are invaluable. I had the expert help of Kirsty Burgoine, a wonderful website developer with infinite patience to answer all of my niggly questions. Great stuff. — Judith Wester, CEDAR

A perfect opportunity to promote our work and raise funds. Thank you for your efforts and for allowing us to attend. Feedback from Greenfields Rescue following a Charity Market organised by Qube OCA

Home > what we do

what we do

We give support advice and guidance to the voluntary and community sector in Shropshire. This includes:

Training

We offer an extensive training programme based on consultation with the sector via a training and needs analysis. To find out exactly what is on offer follow this link.

Funding

We can help you explore a wide spectrum of financing options for your group including grants, donations, local fundraising events, sponsorship, loans, trading, payroll giving and gift aid. We can work on an individual basis with your group to help you develop a funding strategy for your organisation or its projects and activities.

We organise regular large scale funding fairs to enable you to meet the local, regional and national funders. We coordinate smaller, more specialised workshops and briefing events to provide more detailed support to help your group make a case for funding.

Please click on this link to see our full range of funding and finance related services.

Monitoring & Evaluation

A number of our advisors are qualified Outcomes Champions and they offer:

advice and information on methods and good practice
training opportunities and briefing sessions
toolkits and resources
subsidised end of project external evaluations

Click through the relevant link to get further information on these services or email info@Shropshirevcs.org.uk if you need help with monitoring and evaluation and dont know where to start, giving a brief overview of your project.

Volunteer Brokerage

We run a county wide matching service, matching potential volunteers with the right opportunity and vice versa. Our Volunteer Outreach Officers hold weekly surgeries around the county and they promote all opportunities on the national volunteering database Do-it.org.

To find out more about our volunteering services click here to go through to our Volunteering Hub.

Governance Advice

We have specialist development staff available to give advice and guidance on good governance for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises in Shropshire. This includes specialist, bespoke support to help you identify and develop the skills of your board.

DBS checks

Our partner Shropshire Youth Association can process your DBS (formerly CRB) checks. You can also contact them on 01743 254687.

For the imminent changes to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) click here.

Payroll Services

Our partner Shropshire Pre-School Learning Alliance can offer a fully supported payroll service. To find out more about this service click this link.

Resources

Our partners have built up a broad range of resources which are available to support the voluntary and community sector in Shropshire. This includes:

an extensive library of books
downloadable resources and useful links
toolkits, model documents and fact sheets
organisational ‘health check’ documents
‘how to’ guides
research findings and reports about the voluntary sector
meeting and training room hire
equipment loan

Please click on one of the links above to see what is available

Events and Networking opportunities

We organise events throughout the year of interest to a wide range of organisations and on a variety of themes (funding fairs, volunteers week, breakfast briefings), details of which are published as appropriate.

We also run a number of meetings (networking opportunities, focus groups) including six locally based Volunteer Forums, Charity Trustee Network meetings and a Social Enterprise group ‘Venture’, details of which can be found by clicking the relevant link.

Social Enterprise Advice

Social Enterprise (businesses trading for social and environmental purposes, with objectives providing social benefits) is growing in Shropshire. Our partners have experienced staff available to give advice on all aspects of this business model from initial ideas, to start up support to ongoing mentoring, advice and resources including funding advice and promotion. Click through to the Social Enterprise Advice area to get details of who to contact and how they can help you.

Social Business Mentors

Mentoring is the single most effective method of developing an individual to achieve success in employment, self emploment or life in general. Our partner Midwest Rural Enterprise CIC is co-ordinating a network of ‘Social Business Mentors’ to work with voluntary and community organisations in Shropshire. The mentors are all people with a wide range of business skills who can act as your ‘critical friend’, someone to talk organisational issues over with. All the mentors are trained and assessed to SFEDI endorsed standards. Interested? Find out more !

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