Cumbria CVS (Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service) offers help, advice, training and support to third sector groups throughout Cumbria.

We bring organisations together to form a powerful voice for our sector.

Local Infrastructure organisations, like us, support over 160,000 local charities and voluntary groups across the country, helping them to thrive and deliver essential services within their communities.

 

Our Mission

Increased Impact, Influence and Investment in and from Cumbria CVS and the Third Sector.

 

Our Values

Leadership
Leading by example – encouraging creativity, innovation and best practice and being passionate about what we do.

Excellence
Aiming for and promoting excellence in everything we do.

Equity
Recognising, valuing and being accessible to the Cumbrian community in all its diversity.

Integrity
Treating ourselves and others with respect and dignity, being honest, transparent and accountable to all our stakeholders.

Voluntarism
Championing the principle of not-for-profit contributions to life in Cumbria.

 

Our Strategic Priorities

Our Strategic Focus

System improvement and partnership

Cumbria CVS aspires to greater collaborative practice for itself and for our sector. We believe there are savings and efficiencies to be found from de-duplication and that more effective services can be developed with shared knowledge and resources. We champion a partnership approach that welcomes and capitalises on shared skills and experience, joint strategic development and co-production.

Improved representation

Cumbria CVS develops strong, effective leadership and representation amongst the agencies and communities we serve. We will invest to support our members in this shared endeavour and in brokering access to impactful services, resources and projects. We will continue to review and improve our own governance and reporting arrangements as well as those for the networks and constituencies we serve.

Increased capacity-building

We will build sector capacity through two key routes:

Encouraging partnership and collaboration to:

• identify gaps in service capacity
• identify solutions which make the best use of available resources
• add value through a more joined-up approach
• build stronger research and impact evaluation approaches
• share learning about “what works”
• promote and develop quality standards

Delivering services directly when they:

• contribute to shared learning or increased capacity across the sector
• can be delivered without competition or duplication with members
• adopt clear “exit” strategies which benefit the sector
• and where we either have or can obtain the expertise and skills to provide services of sufficient quality

Increase membership and membership engagement

As an infrastructure organisation, our strength lies firmly in our membership. Our strategy is to:

• grow our membership across the rich variety of voluntary organisations
• encourage “member to member” mutual support arrangements: to share ideas, tools and expertise and work towards shared goals
• increase member representation and self-advocacy

 

Annual Accounts

Cumbria CVS Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 March 2024

 

General Data Protection Regulations 2018

You can view our Privacy Notice here

 

Caldicott Guardian

Caldicott Guardians help their organisations to ensure that confidential information about health and social care service users is used ethically, legally, and appropriately. Find out more about the roles and responsibilities of the Caldicott Guardian here

Our Caldicott Guardian is Dominic Gordon. You can contact Dominic via email dominic.gordon@cumbriacvs.org.uk

 

Equality and Diversity Statement

Cumbria CVS is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Organisation. It is our policy to ensure that all employees, associated organisations, service users and job applicants receive the same treatment regardless of their gender, culture, sexual orientation, marital status, age, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religious belief, disability or background. Nobody should be disadvantaged by any conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justified.

Cumbria CVS is committed to take action to remove any unfair discrimination in all its operations as well as taking positive action to promote equal opportunities.

Click here to read our Equal Opportunities policy

 

Disability Confident Employer

Cumbria CVS is a Disability Confident Employer and supports the ethos and aims of the programme. We are committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment processes and will guarantee an interview to disabled applicants meeting the essential criteria. We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants so that we can benefit from a wide a recruitment pool as possible.

 

Armed Forces Covenant

Cumbria CVS is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant and holds the Defence Employers Recognition Scheme Bronze Award. We also have a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for Veterans, which is a commitment that Cumbria CVS has made to support the Armed Forces Community Covenant.

This commitment is to guarantee an interview for any veterans that meet the essential criteria set out in the role profile for roles where external recruitment is required only. The scheme is not a guaranteed job for Veterans, as selection procedures will ensure the best candidate for the job is appointed, based on the objective criteria of the role profile.

You can view our Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy here and Click here to read our Equal Opportunities policy

 

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Cumbria CVS are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all of our staff. That’s why we’ve taken the Mental Health at Work Commitment and are currently delivering a programme of activities to ensure that everyone can have open and honest conversations about their wellbeing in the workplace and feel supported. We encourage applications from persons with experience of poor mental health and are committed to supporting our employees to fulfil their potential and perform at their best in work.

 

Living Wage Commitment

We are accredited as a Living Wage Employer.

The Living Wage commitment sees everyone working at Cumbria CVS receive a minimum hourly wage of £10.90, higher than the government minimum for over 23s, which currently stands at £10.42 per hour.

In the North West 12.5% of all jobs pay less than the real Living Wage – around 367,000 jobs. Despite this, we have committed to pay the real Living Wage and deliver a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.

The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchcmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 450,000 people and put over £2 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.

 

Complaints Policy

Cumbria CVS tries to provide the best possible service. However, if you have been disappointed in any way, please let us know by using our Complaints Policy

 

Third-Party Suppliers

Although Cumbria CVS displays information about third-party suppliers, this does not in any way imply, suggest, or constitute Cumbria CVS’s approval of third-party suppliers.

Cumbria CVS does not endorse or recommend the products or services of any third-party suppliers and is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of information relating to third-party suppliers contained on this website.