- How do I become a CV?
- How often do CV's meet and where?
- What support will I receive?
- What is the role of a CV
- What training is available to become a CV?
- What skills do I need to be a CV
- How do I get a copy of the CEN newsletter
- How can I submit articles to the CEN newsletter?
- How can I get my event, job vacancy or training advertised on the CEN website
Community Voices (CV's)
Q. How do I become a CV?
CVs must be nominated by a community group or network of which they are an active member. You will have to complete an nomination form, saying what your experience and interests are, what community network you represent and what partnership group you would like to join. You will also have to sign to say you accept and will abide by the principles and standards of work set out in the CV roles and responsibilities paper. The CEN staff team will discuss with you what training, learning, briefing and support you need and will draw up and agree a learning and support programme with you. The team then forwards your details for decision to the CV gathering, to assess your application.
^ TOPQ. How often do CV's meet and where?
CV's tend to meet bi-monthly at the CV gathering. The venue for these can change from meeting to meeting but are usually held at a city centre venue. Any papers for the meeting are sent to CV's at least one week before the meeting.
^ TOPQ. What support will I receive?
CEN staff team, Regen team and Newcastle Partnership staff provide the help CVs need to do their challenging work – for example, we organise training on how the partnership works, key issues and the skills you will need.
We host a bi-monthly gathering of community voices, with presentations from other groups, organisations who can help support or fund you. The gathering gives community voices on different partnership bodies the chance to meet and support each other, compare notes and ensure Partnership Board members can raise issues on their behalf.
We meet out-of-pocket expenses for things like carers, travel and telephone calls.
We support CVs on Newcastle Partnership groups (theme partnerships, area partnerships, steering and coordinating groups, development and finance groups) with training, mentoring, practical support and briefings.
We encourage and enable members of Newcastle's most excluded communities to participate in the Newcastle Partnership – including giving extra support to smaller and recently-formed voluntary groups.
^ TOPQ. What is the role of a CV
You can find out about the role of a CV by downloading the CV roles and responsibilities paper.
^ TOPQ. What training is available to become a CV?
All CV's will receive an induction from a member of the CEN staff team. We are also running a number of training programmes for which you will be able to attend. For further details of the training available download the training leaflet and programme.
^ TOPQ. What skills do I need to be a CV
Some of the skills required to become a CV are:
Essential
- an interest in decision making at board, theme or area level within the Newcastle Partnership
- involvement in some sort of community network in Newcastle
- a network which has some way of ensuring they can be held to account for what they do
- willingness to share their skills and experiences with others
- willingness to work in a team with other representatives
- the ability to work in an open, honest and accountable way
Desirable
- some previous experience of influencing decision making
- the ability to work in cooperation with people at all levels
General
Q. How do I get a copy of the CEN newsletter
You can download a copy of the CEN newsletter from the Archive section of our website. Alternately if you would like a copy sent to you via post or email then please complete the Network Connection Form and post it to us using our freepost address. Your details will be added to our database and the newsletter will be sent to you each quarter.
^ TOPQ. How can I submit articles to the CEN newsletter?
If you would like to submit an article for consideration in our newsletter then please send it to newsletter@ncen.org.uk. We cannot promise to included everything sent to us but we will do our best.
^ TOPQ. How can I get my event, job vacancy or training advertised on the CEN website
If you would like to advertise an event, job vacancy or training on our website then please send it to website@ncen.org.uk, please mark your email with the appropriate subject area that you wish to advertise in.
^ TOPNewcastle Partnership (NP)
Q. What is the role of the NP?
The Partnership exists to set out a vision for Newcastle and to coordinate and drive the delivery of local services leading to improved outcomes that go beyond the remit of any one partner. Its role is:
- To be the partnership of partnerships for Newcastle, providing the strategic coordination within the area and linking with other plans and bodies established at regional, sub-regional and local levels;
- To ensure that a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) is produced by the local authority that sets the long term vision and the priorities for Newcastle, agreed by all parties, including local citizens and businesses, and founded on a local evidence base;
- To develop and drive the effective delivery of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) as an annually updatable three year improvement plan, addressing hard "cross-cutting" social problems and supporting the key actions needed to deliver the longer term Sustainable Community Strategy.
