Support

Informing
Whether you need information on funding, charity law, working with committees, volunteers, publicity, in fact any aspect of voluntary or community work, we are here to offer advice and guidance.

• Our directory covers the range of voluntary organisations in Southampton.
• We publish 6 newsletters annually on voluntary sector issues which includes funding news.
• We run an extensive library and loan office equipment for talks and demonstrations.

Training
We run training and one-to-one consultancy programmes for voluntary groups – either free or at very low cost – on a wide range of topical subjects, and organise conferences to address particular areas of need. Please ring our office for the latest course details.

Involving
An information and referral service is available for anyone wishing to take up voluntary work in the Southampton area. Along with Southampton City Council, we administer the Volunteer Certificate Scheme, which helps those looking for paid jobs by formally recognising the value of the voluntary work they do.

Representing
We organise forums, networks and special briefings to bring interested parties together to share information and develop joint initiatives. We also represent their views to statutory services and the business community.

The forums we currently support include:

• Disability & Older Person’s Forum,
• Drug Reference Group,
• Mental Health Forum,
• Counselling Organisations Network,
• ESF Building Bridges Forum,
• Special Needs Play Forum,
• Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Group,
• Children and Young People’s Alliance.

Innovating
By networking with local groups we are able to identify gaps in the support currently available to Southampton residents and help find ways of filling them. We have managed many community-based projects over the years, some of which have been floated off as independent voluntary groups. Of those we are still involved with, we either run the scheme ourselves or on behalf of multi-agency partnerships, or help new groups set up to continue the work we began.

Promoting
Our biggest job remains promoting voluntary action… promoting organisations to new recruits, to statutory bodies and to the people they are set up to support, and encouraging people to work co-operatively together. The heart of the community lies in the hearts of its people. It is only by letting everyone know what help is available, and what help is required, that the voluntary sector can continue to enrich our communities and city.

Lead Responsibilities

We have development workers specialising in certain areas as follows:

Volunteering
Anna Hutchings and Karen Ringwald are the Volunteering Development Team for Southampton Voluntary Services (SVS). Their role is to help anyone enquiring about volunteering or to help those involved with the voluntary sector who may need help, support or advice on any topic connected to volunteers. 

View the volunteering pages for further information, or contact Anna on 023 80228291 or email: a.hutchings@southamptonvs.org.uk.