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About PAVO

Background

 

In 1974 Powys Rural Council was created from the three independent Rural Community Councils of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknockshire.  Powys Rural Council changed its name to Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations in 1994.

PAVO became a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity on 1st April 1996 Registered Charity Number: 1069557, Company Limited by Guarantee Number: 3522144. Registered Office: Marlow, South Crescent, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 5DH.

 

PAVO is one of 19 Councils for Voluntary Service in Wales.  Membership is open to all voluntary organisations and community groups in Powys.

 

PAVO has a Board of Directors elected by the Membership at the Annual General Meeting. The Board can consist of up to 25 members. PAVO employs 28 full time and 26 part time staff divided between the three main offices which are situated in Newtown and Llandrindod Wells.

The Voluntary Sector in Powys

The Voluntary Sector in Powys actively contributes to a wide range of community activities in Powys. It is a diverse, vibrant presence in the County and involves a wide range of people, organisations and communities. It is independent of the state and exists for the public benefit not for private financial gain. Included in the sector are voluntary organisations, community groups, volunteers, self-help groups, co-operatives, social enterprises and religious organisations.

In Powys the voluntary sector involves over 2,000 groups - 2056 on PAVO's database (and over 1,000 organisations based outside the County having some activity in Powys). There are 22,313 trustees or management committee members and a further 26,346 volunteers and the sector is responsible for employing 3,344 paid staff, of whom 903 are in full time employment. It generates an annual income of over £54,519,711 (estimated income per head of population is £432). It provides many services to the community, complementing those delivered by the statutory agencies. The voluntary sector in Powys contributes £173.6 million to the economy; of this: £39.5 million is staff salaries and £129.1 million for volunteer time. [Source: WCVA - Essential information about the voluntary sector in Powys - Wales voluntary sector panel survey: Report 1.3.7 2005]

The Powys voluntary sector provides services to people in the County that contribute to the social, environmental, economic, cultural and health and well-being of their communities. These services complement those provided by public bodies and contribute to the improvement of public services such as health and social care, children's services, youth services, housing, education and training, tackling economic inactivity, waste recycling, community regeneration, transport and substance misuse services.

Wales Partnership Infrastructure

Background

In 2005 the Partnership Agreement between the Assembly Government, WCVA, CVCs and independent volunteer centres was signed. This ground-breaking agreement provided formal recognition of the role of CVCs, volunteer centres and WCVA as the three parts of the voluntary sector infrastructure. It made a five-year commitment to funding, and introduced, for the first time, core funding for volunteer centres. In the spirit of Making the Connections, the infrastructure committed to working together across boundaries to work out how best to meet the needs of the third sector, and to eliminate any avoidable duplication in order to free up resources for front-line services.

The challenge

Informed by Making the Connections, the infrastructure's challenge is to demonstrate that it is citizen centred - responding to the trustees, volunteers, employees, members and beneficiaries that are all part of the third sector. It needs to work to defined service standards that clearly state what services and help groups can expect to receive. And it needs to be more joined up, eliminating wasteful duplication, and maxiniising resources for front-line services to people in the third sector.

The current Partnership Agreement lasts until 2010. The challenge is to demonstrate that the Agreement has ensured a unique, high quality, cost effective, seamless, recognised and influential service that underpins citizens' voices and citizen's action in Wales.

New service specifications have been drawn up

Specifications, underpinned by comprehensive training and information frameworks, identifying who does what to meet the needs of the sector at national, regional and local levels. The objective has been to ensure that all services are delivered by trained and competent staff, and from the consumer's perspective are seamless, consistent, and have a widening reach. Anything that can be done once - like producing and updating information sheets, designing training courses - will only be done once, reducing wasteful duplication of resources, and freeing up staff to focus on direct work with groups.

The specifications cover:

  • volunteering
  • trustees and governance
  • funding advice
  • general information, guidance and support
  • policy, facilitation and representation
  • development, initiatives and regeneration