 Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise The VCFSE Alliance is a group made up of representatives from the VCFSE sector across Lancashire & South Cumbria Its purpose is to strengthen equitable, meaningful, and effective partnership working between the wider VCFSE sector, public sector, and health and care. The Alliance acts as a collective voice, ensuring that the sector’s insight, expertise, and community connections shape priorities across Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC). Below are the key messages emerging from the LSC VCFSE Alliance. Updates & Activity The Alliance hosts regular meetings for members, with bi-monthly in-person sessions held at The Salvation Army, The Citadel Centre in Blackpool, with online meetings in the months between for optional monthly drop-in sessions, with attendance from ICB colleagues. LSC VCFSE Assembly We’re excited for the return of LSC VCFSE Assembly, a space for organisations from across the sector to come together, share perspectives and help shape collective conversations. Our first session, Neighbourhoods: Defining the VCFSE Contribution, will explore what neighbourhood working means for VCFSE organisations and the contribution our sector can make. Date: Tuesday 24 November Time: 10:00 - 11:30am Location: Online via Teams Sign up for the webinar here Further information, including the agenda, will be shared soon. Want to know more about the VCFSE Assembly? Take a look at our webpage for more information about past meetings. LSC VCFSE Assembly webpage Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Board VCFSE Representative The LSC VCFSE Alliance has been seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) for a VCFSE representative on the Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Board. Thank you to everyone who submitted an EOI. We had a fantastic response, which is great to see so many from across the sector keen to ensure the VCFSE voice is represented. The selection process is now underway, with a further update to follow once the representative has been confirmed. National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) Morecambe Bay Steering Group - latest update Phil Whiteley, Chair of the NNHIP M.Bay Steering Group, has shared an update on the programme and the work of the Steering Group, including what comes next. The update also includes notes from the latest Steering Group meeting and accompanying slides highlighting discussions around ICCs and wider Neighbourhood Health. Read more on our website Strengthening Health through Community Action Evidence from the MBPCC Fund Earlier this year, the Morecambe Bay Primary Care Collaborative invested £15,000 into VCFSE organisations across North Lancashire and South Cumbria. A newly published report demonstrates how investing in trusted community organisations can deliver tangible health and wellbeing benefits for local people. Administered through a partnership between Lancaster District CVS, Cumbria CVS and the South Cumbria VCFSE Gateway, with support from the LSC VCFSE Alliance, the fund invested in community-led activity that complements primary care and demonstrates the important contribution of the VCFSE sector to neighbourhood health. To find out more and read the full report, follow the link below. Read more on our website Meeting Owl 4+ Available for hire To help make hybrid meetings more inclusive and engaging, the Alliance has invested in a Meeting Owl 4+. And we’d like other organisations across Lancashire and South Cumbria to benefit too. The Owl is available to borrow free of charge for meetings, workshops and events, subject to availability and collection from Preston. To find out more, please get in touch by emailing: [email protected] VCFSE Alliance Engagement with the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (LSC ICB) Tracy Hopkins, VCFSE Alliance Chair, attends the Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) Integrated Care Board (ICB) quarterly Board Meetings as a partner member The most recent ICB Board meeting took place on 17 September, and you can access the meeting papers and recording here. The next ICB Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday 5 November, 1-4pm Help shape the ICB’s refreshed organisational strategy Alex Heritage, Chief Strategy & Planning Officer, LSC ICB Deadline extended: Midnight on Sunday 8 November 2026 VCFSE organisations are invited to contribute their views and help shape future priorities. You can respond in whichever way is most convenient: - Complete the short survey: ICB Strategy Refresh Survey - Email comments to [email protected] - Share a copy of your relevant strategy or plan Read Alex’s message and find out how your organisation can get involved in the strategy refresh using the link below. Read the full message here LSC VCFSE Alliance, Chair’s Blog - Tracy Hopkins “I’m more optimistic than ever about what comes next.” In this month’s Chair’s blog, Tracy reflects on three years of working in partnership with the ICB and how the relationship with the VCFSE sector has developed during that time. The blog looks at the journey so far and the importance of continuing to build strong relationships and work together to shape the future of health and care across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Read the full blog here News highlights from across the sector These highlights only capture a small part of what’s happening across the sector. You can find additional sector news by connecting with your local VCFSE networks and subscribing to their newsletters. The LOCAL Project Hyndburn & Ribble Valley CVSBurnley, Pendle & Rossendale CVS Lancaster CVSWest Lancs CVSCommunity CVS VCSE Handbook for Neighbourhood Health Prepared by The Partner Ship with Alliance42 and NAVCA Alliance42 and NAVCA, working with The Partner Ship, have produced a new handbook setting out why VCSE partnership in neighbourhood health is essential and how it can work in practice. It focuses specifically on how the NHS and other public sector partners can work effectively with communities and the local VCSE organisations that support them. The handbook is designed for local leaders in regional NHS England teams, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Local Authorities, Primary Care, NHS providers, Health and Wellbeing Boards and VCSE organisations who are responsible for planning and delivering Neighbourhood Health. Rather than proposing new models or presenting a collection of case studies, this handbook brings together practical VCSE learning about cross-sector collaboration, across different areas of practice, and at neighbourhood, place, system, regional and national levels. VCSE Briefing Note VCSE Handbook for Neighbourhood Health Community Connect - Tell us what matters to you! Hyndburn & Ribble Valley CVS Join Hyndburn & Ribble Valley CVS to have your say and receive information on local health, social and community issues to help strengthen your community. - Guest speakers - Pie and pea supper - Refreshments Date: Wednesday 25 November 2026 Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm Location: Mercer Hall, Queen Street, Great Harwood, BB6 7AL To register, follow the link below or call 01254 888614 Register your place More Than Advice: Why community debt advice matters more than ever Resolve Poverty (Talk Money Week Webinar) Resolve Poverty, alongside their partners from More Than Advice programme, are hosting a webinar which will explore the role and potential of community-based debt advice and why it matters within the wider financial inclusion and policy landscape. Date: Thursday 5 November 2026 Time: 10am - 11:30am Location: Online via Microsoft Teams The webinar will introduce More Than Advice and how its community-based approach is being delivered across the programme, share early learning and reflections, and create space to consider the wider implications for policy and practice. The webinar is open to anyone with an interest in debt advice, financial inclusion, anti-poverty and related issues, including those working across national and local government, policy, advice services, health regulation, funding, community and voluntary organisations, and research. Book your tickets The Big Conversation on Care: Lancashire ListensResidents share their views on the future of care Lancashire Listens provided an opportunity for people to share their experiences and views on the future of adult social care. One of the strongest messages from the day was that there is no one size fits all. Different experiences and perspectives are essential to shaping services that work for people and communities. Throughout the day, discussions explored co-production, what it means in practice and the value of capturing the everyday conversations that ask what, if and how. It reinforced an important principle: working with people, not for people. As conversations about the future of adult social care continue, it is essential that people and communities have opportunities to share their experiences and have their say. [ Read more about the day ] The Big Conversation on Care Accessible Information - Easy Read Workshop Make your information more accessible and inclusive This practical, face-to-face course is designed for professionals who want to develop their skills in creating accessible information for people with learning disabilities, autistic people and those with other communication needs. Co-produced and do-delivered by people with lived experience, this training offers valuable practical insights to help you make your information clearer, more accessible and more inclusive. Date: Thursday 26 November 2026 Time: 10am - 3pm Location: Oswaldtwistle Mills Business Centre, Pickup Street, Accrington, BB5 0EY Cost: £95 per person Previous attendees have described the training as engaging, informative and immediately applicable to their work. Ready to book your place? Use the booking link provided below or contact Leanne Windell at [email protected] for further information and bookings. Book Now Lancashire Local Government Reorganisation
Government confirms timetable for review in Lancashire In September, the Government decided to review all its recent LGR decisions, including its decision to replace all 15 councils in Lancashire with four new unitary councils. On Thursday 29 October, the Government confirmed that its review of LGR in Lancashire will continue until early 2027 and that its original decision has been withdrawn. Lancashire’s LGR Programme Delivery team has already reviewed implementation plans to prioritise the work that can be progressed while the government concludes its review. You can read more about what this latest LGR update means on the Lancashire LGR website. Lancashire LGR website Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed