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About us

Find out about our services, the way we operate and how we champion voluntary action

Who we are

We’re the membership community for charities, voluntary organisations and community groups in England

Our services

Find out how we can support you, from support for small charities and training to consultancy and corporate relations

Training

We offer a range of training courses designed to help you do what you do best

eLearning: Roles and duties of trustees

This flexible, interactive course will help you understand your duties as a trustee and support you to run your charity effectively so you can make a bigger difference

Leading on purpose

A practical four-month programme for emerging charity leaders who are on their way to leading organisations

Our vision for charity leaders

Learn about the mindset, knowledge and connections that emerging leaders need to guide the sector into the 2030s

Support for small charities and voluntary organisations

We know small charities make a big impact with limited resource - that's why we're here to help

Small charity helpdesk

Ask our practical support team any question about the setting up or running of your charity or voluntary organisation.

Creating inclusive growth: Local Enterprise Partnerships' engagement with the voluntary sector

  • Collaboration
  • Involving volunteers

Levelling up: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund

  • Government and politics

Volunteering: A family affair? Summary report

  • Involving volunteers

Volunteering: A family affair?

  • Involving volunteers

Beyond charities

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion

The impact of covid-19 on the voluntary sector

  • Coronavirus
  • Involving volunteers

The Road Ahead 2020

A review of the voluntary sector's operating environment.

  • Responding to crises
  • Coronavirus
  • Funding and income

Creating partnerships for success

  • Collaboration
  • Impact and evaluation

Time Well Spent: Volunteering in the public sector

  • Involving volunteers

Deciding to merge

This page highlights key questions to think about before making the decision to merge

  • Collaboration

Due diligence

Actions to ensure a planned merger is in the best interests of your organisations and beneficiaries

  • Collaboration

Pre-merger: Areas of focus

Things to consider in the run-up to a formal merger

  • Collaboration

Merger process

Planning the process with stakeholders and making sure you are clear about the role of your organisation’s regulator is key

  • Collaboration

Actions post-merger

What to consider once your merger has completed

  • Collaboration

Working with local Compacts

A guide to implementing local Compact agreements between voluntary organisations and local authorities, health services, and government departments

  • Collaboration

Coproduction and service user involvement

How to involve people who use services in the design and delivery of services

  • Collaboration

Joint working agreements explained

What to consider when setting up a joint working agreement

  • Collaboration

Joint working agreement checklist

A checklist to help you develop a joint working agreement

Charity Essentials (English version)

An English version of the Charity Essentials tool, which can help you do a basic health check on how your organisation is performing

Strategic planning: tools for decision making (1 day)

This course will introduce processes and tools to help ensure that decision-making is responsive to your environment and focused on the most important issues affecting your organisation

Managing people in the charity sector (2 days)

This course will equip managers in the voluntary sector with the skills and techniques they need to effectively manage paid members of staff

Good practice in volunteer management (1 day)

This course provides an introduction to the key principles of good volunteer management and how to apply them in your organisation

Safeguarding essentials for trustees (0.5 day)

This introductory course explains the key trustee responsibilities for safeguarding, following guidance from the Charity Commission

Project management in the voluntary sector (2 days)

This practical course is specifically tailored to the voluntary sector. It’s designed to give you all the principles and practical tools you need to plan, deliver and evaluate your project successfully

Data protection essentials (2 x 0.5 days)

This essentials course is suitable for anyone within an organisation that handles the personal data of staff, service users, beneficiaries, volunteers, customers, members or supporters, and needs to know the basics of data protection for voluntary organisations.

Strategic leadership (1 day)

This practical one-day course for aspiring and existing charity leaders will elevate your strategic leadership skills, so you can create lasting impact for your organisations and the communities you serve.

Safeguarding essentials in charities (1 day)

All voluntary organisations have a duty to keep the people they work with safe from harm. This course introduces the basics of safeguarding within a charity context in England and highlights effective safeguarding practice

Charity finance strategy (1 day)

This course will give you an overview of how to build a simple finance strategy. We’ll introduce tools to help you build the financial resilience of your charity

Webinar: Navigating the new Code of Fundraising Practice

Join our free online webinar with the Fundraising Regulator for an essential overview of the new Code of Fundraising Practice which sets the standard for legal, open, honest and respectful fundraising.