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Press Release

5 April 2023

Council announces new plans for voluntary community support

Fareham Borough Council recognises the tremendous value of the voluntary sector throughout the Borough and has put plans in place to support voluntary organisations across the Borough. This new approach concentrates on the provision of support around three main areas: governance, volunteering and funding. It has been carefully devised to ensures that local charities and voluntary organisations are thriving to the best of their abilities.

One Community provided this support as an umbrella organisation on behalf of the Council for the last seven years but decided not to continue when the contract came up for renewal. The Council has now taken the opportunity to deliver support for this important sector in a different way by working with a number of key organisations rather than just one.

Communities First Wessex has a proven track record of offering community and social value services and will help to support the Borough’s local voluntary sector by providing guidance to help, secure and retain volunteers. Importantly the community showcase which helps to promote organisations located within the Borough and encourage networking will return to Fareham.

Action Hampshire provides a wealth of information and support for charitable organisations on a range of areas from funding to governance and the Council has now established a Governance Support Grant so that charitable organisations within the Borough can apply for membership. This will enable them to gain excellent relevant help and support whenever they need it.

Council’s Executive Member for Leisure and Community, Councillor Sue Walker said:

“The voluntary services sector is hugely important to the Borough, and we want to ensure that funding is allocated to those services in the most appropriate way. We will be doing things a little differently now and working with organisations that are absolutely committed to helping our voluntary services thrive. I am very much looking forward to working with our new partners.”

Tim Houghton, Chief Executive of Communities First Wessex, said:

“We’re pleased to be working together with Fareham Borough Council to build capacity in the voluntary sector.

“When it comes to volunteering, we’re seeing an increased enthusiasm from people of all ages and hope our work with FBC will keep this momentum going and encourage residents in the Borough to start their volunteering journey.”

Full details of Voluntary community support services can be found on the Council website at Volunteering (fareham.gov.uk).

ENDS