Future Role

The Future Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Bolton

Bolton has a strong and diverse voluntary and community sector (VCS) which contributes enormously to the locality. Consisting of between 1500 and 2000 organisations, including around 100 led by and for BME groups, Bolton’s VCS is supported by one of the best CVSs in the country.

This is an exciting time for the VCS in Bolton, with the new Hub on Bold Street providing a focal point and substantial resource for the sector’s future. It is also a time when much national policy is focusing on the role of the VCS, including in  community engagement and public service delivery.

In September 2006, Bolton CVS organised a consultation event to feed the sector’s views into central Government’s review of the third sector’s role in social and economic regeneration. Following this, Bolton’s public and VCS partners agreed to look at the future role of the VCS in Bolton, and in particular, the sector’s role in:

• empowering local people and communities
• influencing local decision making
• shaping the delivery of future services

The ‘future role’ project is a unique opportunity for Bolton’s public and VCS partners to:

• explore the role of the VCS in Bolton and its relationship with the public sector;
• work toward developing a shared vision for the future; and
• identify actions to achieve this.

We are putting the following papers on the internet for reference. There are all in PDF format. For help with PDF, click here.