Supporting Communities
Supporting our communities with a single point of contact
Within our Communities Team we are well-positioned to respond to current events as well as scanning the horizon for initiatives and requests that will impact the voluntary community sector (VCS). We can involve and co-ordinate our membership to help the VCS response to events such as the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020-21, cost of living crisis, and fuel poverty. We are a one-stop-shop for the statutory bodies and others to disseminate information to the VCS and wider public.
The Local Resilience Partnership
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Resilience Forum (CPLRF) is a multi-agency group made up of emergency services, local authorities, military, public health organisations and others who would all have a role to play should a disaster or major emergency occur.
The chief executives of all of these agencies come together to form the CPLRF board. There are then a number of subgroups which look at specific areas. In the last year or so, voluntary and community sector organisations have also begun to be involved in recognition that communities are often best placed to know of local issues and needs. As well as being on site to offer help in times of need.
The Forum produces emergency preparedness plans for how the agencies would respond to certain types of situations. These plans are reviewed regularly and tested through desktop and live exercises throughout the year. The Forum also has a duty to produce a Community Risk Register which highlights risks with the highest likelihood and potential to have a significant impact on local communities resulting in wide scale disruption.
CPLRF is working with communities and voluntary groups to promote community resilience to emergency situations. The intent of the forum is to help agencies to work together in an area. The risk register highlights some of the issues that could be faced by communities.
Centres for Warmth
We are extremely pleased to announce our newest project funded by a partnership between Cadent and NAVCA. This project idea came directly from the work of the Food Poverty Forum and demonstrates the strength of local collaborative working.
The project has begun to be rolled out in early December and has already had a great deal of interest. For more information please contract us using the ‘Get in touch’ link below.
PCVS works with the Voluntary Sector Network: Together for Healthier Communities
PCVS is a member of the steering group of the Voluntary Sector Network: Together for Healthier Communities (formerly known as Cambridgeshire and Peterborough VCSE Health Alliance). You can find out more about the network in the links below.
The Voluntary Sector Network also provides a regular newsletter, check out the latest bulletin below (February 2025):
The Voluntary Sector Network is currently working on the NHS Integrated Neighbourhoods initiative. You may have heard of Integrated neighbourhoods and how we can all play a part in our health and the health of communities we live in. Watch the video below to find out more.