Are you a volunteer manager or part of an organisation working with volunteers? Come join us for the Lancashire-12 Volunteer Managers Forum — a chance to connect, share, and grow together under the theme Volunteering With Purpose.

We’re excited to announce that applications are now open for the Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) Small Groups Funding 2025–2026!

This vital fund is aimed at empowering small, voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise groups across Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale to deliver impactful, health-focused projects within their local communities.
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 First Round Application Deadline: Friday 15th August 2025 at 5:00pm

​The LACVS volunteering for Health programme would like to invite you to our first monthly Lancashire-12 Volunteer Managers Forum on Teams on Tuesday July 29th at 10am. This is FREE and open to all volunteer-including groups and organisations within the 12 non-unitary areas of Lancashire.  
If you are interested in being part of the work currently happening to develop a Vision for Volunteering for Lancashire -12, enabling volunteer best practice and other Lancashire wide initiatives [which will affect all areas of Lancashire], then please join us to have your voice heard.

​During August we will be hosting a Free certified course around creating a space for decision making through wellbeing. It starts at 9am on Friday 1st August for 4 weeks at 62-64 Yorkshire St.

As the new millennium dawned, the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Service (BPRCVS) stood at a crossroads carrying forward the legacy of civic compassion built over seven decades, while stepping into an era defined by digital change, shifting public policy, and growing social complexity.
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The 2000s were anything but predictable. Across the UK, the charity and voluntary sector underwent a period of rapid transformation, driven by New Labour’s focus on community cohesion, public sector reform, and the increasing role of civil society in delivering frontline services.

Amidst this national recalibration, BPRCVS emerged not as a passive bystander but as a proactive, dynamic force for local good. While public discourse swirled around targets, funding models and outcomes frameworks, BPRCVS remained grounded in the human side of community life listening to neighbours, empowering volunteers, supporting carers, and connecting the overlooked and the underserved.

Rebuilding Community in a Decade of Challenge and Change  
As the new millennium approached, the communities of Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale found themselves navigating the complex legacies of industrial decline. Once proud centres of textile manufacturing, footwear production, and heavy engineering, these East Lancashire towns had borne the brunt of post-war deindustrialisation. The closure of mills, factories, and coal depots in the 1970s and 1980s had left economic scars that were still raw in the 1990s.  
Unemployment remained persistently high, and many families who had relied on stable, skilled work across generations were now struggling to make ends meet. With limited job prospects and a welfare system undergoing major reform, the region faced an identity crisis and a growing need for support services that could fill the void left by shrinking public provision.  
Amidst this turbulence, the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Service (BPRCVS) emerged as a vital force for stability, empowerment, and hope. No longer just a coordinator of voluntary organisations, BPRCVS became a lifeline for individuals and families at risk of being left behind. The 1990s marked a profound period of growth for the organisation—not only in the services it delivered, but in its geographic reach, its social impact, and its role in shaping the wider third sector across East Lancashire.  ​

We want to celebrate our sector – and we need your help!
All entries are entered into a prize draw to win £500 for your group/organisation!

Applications are now open for the 2025/2026 Small Grants Programme.

When it's gone, it's gone! Apply today to avoid missing out.

New dates for our Monitoring & Evaluation Workshops over the summer period. All details including how to book are on the poster above -  click image to enlarge.

We’ve had a fantastic response to our campaign promoting the available office space at The CVS Centre. Of the 4 office spaces available we now have occupants in 2 of the spaces leaving just 2 more offices available to new tenants.

To celebrate our 90th anniversary we're also running a special offer promotion that can't be beaten! So, don't delay, act today... click 'read more' to discover the office space we have available.

In a decade of economic strife and social upheaval, one organisation became the steady heartbeat of local compassion and grassroots action in East Lancashire.
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Introduction: Community at the Crossroads 
The 1970s were a time of upheaval for Britain. Across the nation, economic downturns, strikes, inflation, and energy crises combined to create a climate of deep uncertainty. For Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale once thriving centres of industry the decade marked a painful transition away from the prosperity of the post-war era. 
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Against this backdrop of national decline and local hardship, the Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Service (BPRCVS) emerged not only as a provider of relief but as a catalyst for community cohesion, empowerment, and innovation. 

This article traces the milestones, challenges, and remarkable adaptations that defined BPRCVS in the 1970s. 
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Check out what's on at the centre this week...

​Social Prescribing Day 2025 has come and gone, and this year’s celebration was a resounding success, shining a spotlight on the incredible work being done to connect people with vital non-medical support. It is an annual event that recognises the contributions of the people, organisations, and communities who make social prescribing possible. The aim is not only to raise awareness but also to highlight the many benefits social prescribing brings to people’s health and wellbeing.

We're reviewing our room hire services and your feedback would be gratefully received.
Please take a couple of minutes to answer a few short questions - nearly all are multiple choice, so it really won't take you very long. Answers are anonymous.
Click the link to open the survey - ​https://forms.office.com/e/D690jKm77P