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Our Work

Established in 1875, Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service aims to improve the quality of people’s lives in Nottingham by strengthening the voluntary and community sector.

The voluntary and community sector is the collective name for local community groups, voluntary organisations, charities, faith groups, social enterprises and community interest companies. You may see this referred to as the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, or VCSE for short.

Some people prefer to use the term civil society, or the social sector, or the third sector. 'Third sector' distinguishes our work from the public sector and the private sector. Public sector services are controlled by central or local government e.g. emergency services, healthcare, city/borough councils, education. Private sector businesses are set up to make a profit for their owners and shareholders. 

Nottingham CVS supports the voluntary and community sector through:

  • Volunteering: improving the quality of volunteering and breadth of volunteering opportunities across the city;
  • Voluntary sector development: strengthening the voluntary sector’s capacity to help its clients through promoting best practice, funding advice and training;
  • Voices: speaking up for the voluntary sector on issues crucial to its future, and increasing the sector’s access to, and influence upon, decision makers.
     

Our support includes quality training, plus one-to-one guidance on funding, governance, policy development and volunteer management. We actively promote volunteering and community action, supporting local charities and community groups to find the most appropriate volunteers, attract skilled staff and trustees, and to share stories about their work.

We have an important role in helping to facilitate representative partnerships which fully recognise the strengths, challenges and interests of our diverse local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. Together, our networks are a voice for the voluntary sector in local, regional and national policy planning and development, leading to improved service delivery for all communities.
 

Our People

Find out more about the staff, trustees and volunteers behind NCVS on our Meet the Team page.
 

Our Vision

Our vision is a thriving voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) in Nottingham that improves the quality of people's lives in the city.
 

Our Mission

Our mission is to support VCSE organisations and groups to grow their capacity and capability, to increase the scale, scope and impact of volunteering and to be a strong, strategic voice for the sector.