NAVCA Chair Sandra Meadows MBE and Brian Carr, Chief Exec at Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, provided an inspiring start to the day, followed by David Knott, CEO of the National Lottery Community Fund, who spoke about their new strategy and the importance of local infrastructure.

Then it was off to our morning workshop – ‘How do we strengthen collaboration in VCSE healthcare commissioning?’ Angela Ellis Paine, Lecturer in Voluntary Sector Management at City University, shared learning from research, policy and practice, offering some very interesting insights about fostering collaborative working between the VCSE sector and statutory health and care commissioning. It all felt very relevant to what we had planned for the afternoon!  

After lunch, it was time to deliver our workshop on Wakefield’s Third Sector Framework – ‘How can we make funding opportunities more fair and transparent?’

We talked about what the Framework is, our partnership approach, underlying principles, and some of the challenges we have faced since the Framework launched in January 2021. We were delighted by the enthusiasm and energy in the room for what we are doing here in Wakefield, and the group had some brilliant conversations and questions around capacity building support, Framework governance, investment, and the open, competitive nature of the Framework versus direct awards.

So much thought-provoking discussion, and attendees went away keen to think about which aspects of the TSF are already happening in their area and begin to piece together how their own local context might take some learning from the Framework’s approach.  

Leaving the conference, we reflected on the progress that has been made with the Third Sector Framework, particularly in terms of building a culture of collaboration in Wakefield between the VCSE sector and statutory services. Of course, there is plenty more work to be done, but we left with renewed energy and a sense of how far we’ve already come. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our workshop, and to NAVCA for the chance to be part of such a fantastic learning and networking opportunity.  

Read more about the Third Sector Framework.