Coronavirus has had a local, national and global impact, and we know that many of Bristol's community groups and organisations are balancing increased demand for services with workforce challenges, from self-isolation and illness to adjusting to online working.
Now more so than ever, Voscur aims to support the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector as much as possible, and that includes being aware of financial struggles.
As well as assisting with citywide coordination of volunteering, and supporting organisations to continue their valuable work, we are now waiving charges for our paid for services until the end of April 2020. This includes recruitment and event advertising, training courses or events, and membership fees.
Click here to read the official statement from Sandra Meadows, Chief Executive of Voscur.
Towards the end of April 2020 we will review the situation and update our members and the wider sector accordingly.
Voscur’s services:
- Voscur is a place for posting volunteer opportunities, but if you are recruiting volunteers linked to coronavirus response, please list them on Can Do Bristol rather than on the Voscur website. This helps Bristol City Council coordinate volunteer supply and demand across the city at this challenging time.
- You can post a job advert to the Voscur website - you just need to create a Voscur website login (this is always free). Please consider social distancing advice during the recruitment process - for example, by organising telephone or Zoom interviews.
- Voscur can help promote your training courses and events. Please bear in mind when organising training courses and events that the UK government advice is to stay at home when possible and to practice social distancing; any planned face-to-face events will need to be held remotely - maybe you will organise an online support session, change one-to-one sessions to phone calls, or postpone your event to a later date. Click here to upload details of your training course or event.
- All our training courses will be delivered online for the foreseeable future, and you can check the Voscur training calendar here.
- We are aware that some organisations are concerned about their sustainability and we are providing fundraising support. We can offer a review of your funding application.Click here for details. You may also be interested in our upcoming online course, Basic Bid Writing.
- Becoming a member of Voscur means you have support with funding, collaboration, governance, development, sector issues, advocacy, and much more. You will be part of a network of 500+ members from across the city and beyond, from informal neighbourhood groups to well-known charities. Click here to apply.
We hope that introducing temporary free services for everyone will help your group or organisation stay resilient during this challenging time, and help redirect resources to support the citywide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Voscur Team is now working remotely, but still very much available to answer questions or to offer guidance where needed:
Thank you.
