Useful links

Voluntary and community sector

Regional Links

• Business in the Community West Midlands encourages business to understand and report its impact on the environment, workplace, marketplace and community
• B:rap works with others to better understand how practice might be improved in ways that reduce inequality
• Regional site of the Development Trusts Association the leading network of community enterprise practitioners helping people set up development trusts and helping existing development trusts learn from each other and work effectively
• West Midlands Faiths Forum provides a meeting place for the voices of faith groups in the West Midlands
• Social Enterprise West Midlands (SEWM) is the regional voice for the social enterprise sector in the West Midlands
• West Midlands Rural Affairs Forum.
• Localise West Midlands (LWM) promote localisation for social, environmental and economic benefit

Sub-regional organisations

View list of sub-regional infrastructure consortia.

• The Coventry and Warwickshire Co-operative Development Agency (CWCDA)
• The Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Consortium of Infrastructure Organisations (SCIO)
• Community First in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
• Solihull SUSTAiN
• Wolverhampton Network Consortium (WNC)
• Warwickshire Rural Community Council (WRCC)
• Birmingham & Solihull Social Economy Consortium (BSSEC)

Voluntary Service Councils

• National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) is the national organisation for CVS (councils for voluntary service) and other LDAs (local development associations)
• The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) links to other organisations, and provides useful resources, including helpdesk, campaigns, compacts, research, policy and trustees

Birmingham

• Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC)

Black Country

• Dudley Council for Voluntary Service
  
• Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations
• Walsall Voluntary Action
• Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council

Herefordshire

• Community Voluntary Action Ledbury & District
• Herefordshire Voluntary Action

Shropshire

• Community Council of Shropshire
• Telford & Wrekin Council for Voluntary Service

Staffordshire

• Chase Council for Voluntary Service
• Lichfield and District Community & Voluntary Sector Support
• Newcastle-under-Lyme Community & Voluntary Support and Volunteer Centre
• South Staffordshire Community & Voluntary Action
• Stafford District Voluntary Services
• Staffordshire Moorlands Community & Voluntary Services
• Tamworth Council for Voluntary Service
• Voluntary Action Stoke-on-Trent (VAST)

Warwickshire

• Voluntary Action Coventry
• Voluntary Action Stratford-upon-Avon
• Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WACVA)

Worcestershire

• Community Action Malvern & District
• Community Action Wyre Forest
• Droitwich Spa & Rural Council for Voluntary Service
• Worcester Volunteer Centre

National links

• Age UK
• The British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres is a membership network of multi-purpose community organisations
• Capacitybuilders is the agency with responsibility for managing the ChangeUp programme in the country. It works with infrastructure bodies in every region to help the voluntary and community sector become even more effective and efficient
• Community Development Foundation (CDF) news & projects
• Community Development Exchange (CDX) works to ensure that community development is recognised and supported as a powerful way of tackling inequality and achieving social justice
• Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) a comprehensive site detailing the range of advice available
• Community Service Volunteers the national organisation to promote volunteering
• Directory of Social Change - training and publications (particularly on funding)
• Development Trusts Association national organisation for development trusts
• Futurebuilders England is a government-backed fund offering support and investment to third sector organisations to deliver public services
• Help the Aged provides advice on pensions, residential care, welfare support and other information, together with background briefings on the older population and current government policy
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation provides research and funding programme, including the latest JRF reports
• KnowHow NonProfit is a Lottery funded website that is a free resource and an online community made up of over 2,000 members. It has been built to help you and your member organisations in your work
• London Advice Services Alliance (LASA) provides advice and information services, with help on information systems and getting the best out of your IT, welfare benefits (including training and policy work in the UK advice sector)
• National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) co-ordinates, through its members, 500,000 paid and voluntary workers who provide direct support to approximately five million young people
• The Refugee Council is the largest organisation in the UK working with asylum seekers and refugees
• RightsNet provides benefits information and discussion forums for advice workers from LASA (London Advice Services Alliance)
• The Social Investment Business is the largest social investor in the UK. It manages the Futurebuilders Fund, the Communitybuilders Fund, the Modernisation Fund and the Social Enterprise Investment Fund
• Voluntary Arts England promotes and supports participation in the arts and crafts and offers a number of services to voluntary arts groups which include information services; lobbying and advocacy; advice and volunteer development
• Volresource aims to be a quick and easy source of information on anything to do with running a voluntary organisation
• Volunteering England.

Regional and central government and other official sites

Regional

• Advantage West Midlands, the West Midlands Regional Development Agency
• NHS West Midlands is the Strategic Health Authority for the West Midlands
• West Midlands Regional Observatory has been the source of regional research, facts and figures since 2002
• West Midlands European Network is the regional resource for third sector organisations seeking information and assistance with regard to European funding in the West Midlands
• WMPHO works to improve the health of the public in the region and reduce inequalities by providing intelligence, developing public health capacity and acting as advocates for both.

Central

• The Cabinet Office is at the centre of government, coordinating policy and strategy across government departments. This website brings together information from units in the department
• Department for Communities and Local Government
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department for Education and Skills
• Department of Health
• Directgov is the place to turn to for the latest and widest range of public service information from the UK government
• HM Treasury
• The Home Office
• UK Parliament