We’ve seen so much commitment from Norfolk’s VCSE sector in to adapting to new ways of working during COVID-19. Dealing with the impact of social isolation was a primary developmental driver for Aylsham & District Care Trust (ACT) and remains at the heart of their work today, reinforced by additional need triggered by the pandemic.
More than 97% of the world’s water is too salty to drink. Another 2% is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves less than 1% for us – for drinking, washing, watering our gardens, for agriculture, for industry. Following Anglian Water’s ‘Keep It Clear’ campaign, encouraging the public to dispose of wastewater and material safely, we are now helping with their ‘Love Every Drop’ campaign.
CAN’s research into the state of the VCSE sector across Norfolk during the COVID-19 pandemic has been building a comprehensive analysis of information needed for future sector planning. It also reflects the resilience which many charities and voluntary organisations have shown in adapting to delivering their services at this time. Leeway, operating across all of Norfolk and part of Suffolk, is one such.
CAN’s work in organising and delivering Social prescribing in Breckland and West Norfolk has reached more than 1,600 people since its inception, and garnered recognition as a finalist at 2019’s International Social Prescribing Awards. Every individual has their own story in finding their way forward.
We regularly receive enquiries from people who are uncertain about their roles and responsibilities as trustees. This is the fourth and final article in our series explaining the lines of demarcation between the roles of the different types of trustee, explaining what they are and are not empowered to do.
We are regularly reporting on the wonderful achievements of Good Neighbour Schemes and community support groups – many of which have been born in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CAN’s Development Officers have been advising and supporting many of these enterprises. Such a group is Sprowston Supporting Our Community Together, which has joined our Good Neighbour Scheme network. Their chosen title describes exactly what they do.
There are many community-based projects that have sprung up to help vulnerable people across Norfolk during the COVID pandemic. Others were already well-established and have proved their worth before and during these difficult times. CAN has been working with many such groups, and we are pleased to be working with FABB.
Here at CAN we work with a wide variety of VCSE organisations, and during the COVID-19 pandemic have been busy gathering sector data on the impact on capacity to deliver. You can read more about that here.
We have in recent weeks featured encouraging examples of how VCSE organisations have adapted and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it is apparent that the voluntary sector, though hard-pressed at times, has proved to be remarkably resilient in changing service delivery to meet clients’ needs.