June 5, 2018

It’s hard to believe that we are almost half way through 2018. When did the New Year become June? The last five months have truly flown – and in that time we have witnessed a period of more exciting developments.

For Cumbria CVS, our staff team has grown in response to funding: we are pleased to welcome Clare Edwards as the new Health Partnership Officer for North Cumbria (see next article); we have successfully recruited to the new Community Resilience Co-ordinator post and are also strengthening our Building Better Opportunities team with the appointment of a new Project Manager and Lead Key Worker.  We have also been delighted to welcome a new volunteer to our team at Shaddongate who is helping us look after our fabulous building.

We have witnessed other developments too. Like most other organisations, we have devised new systems and processes to comply with new GDPR requirements; we have updated our Quality Policy, which is now available for all on our website (About Us) and we are currently undertaking a review of our Governance structures and processes to achieve our aim of being the exemplar for good governance across the sector and beyond.

We are working towards Disability Confident Status and hope to encourage others to do the same; and have recently developed a new volunteering policy in relation to Employer Supported Volunteering, which we look forward to sharing with you all soon.

So, what does the second half of the year hold?  We look forward to taking some time to further deliver our strategic plan and enjoy the exciting opportunities that this brings, whilst reviewing activities, reflecting on experiences and celebrating successes.

As a final note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all volunteers across the county, including trustees, for their continued commitment and dedication without which our sector would not be what it is. In particular, a big thanks to Cumbria CVS volunteers and trustees for all their hard work and support this year. We could not do it without you.

Here’s hoping that your year is going well too.

Best wishes

Laura Cadman
Executive Officer
Cumbria CVS