Hannah Gorf (Senior Programme Manager: Healthy Communities and Individuals Team, NHS Gloucestershire) would like to share some important updates for VCSE groups & organisations in Gloucestershire.

Hannah's update includes news about the co-development of a partnership model for the county and information about organisations that secured a Health & Wellbeing Grant. In addition to Hannah's update, we've also included news about the launch of Joining up Insight in Gloucestershire below.

Co-development begins for a new partnership model for Gloucestershire 

Work has begun on the co-development of a new VCSE sector-ICS (Integrated Care System) partnership model. This aims to support a thriving and sustainable VCSE sector and create community capacity and support to individuals on the ground. The first half of 2025 will see in-depth engagement take place to inform the future model. We welcome input on the best forums and ways in which to engage with the VCSE sector. We’d also like to hear your thoughts on what functions the new model needs to encompass and how to deliver these. 

This new model will build on learning and relationships to date, further informed by the outcomes of the engagement. Ultimately it is about building capacity in the VCSE Sector, as well as in our communities across Gloucestershire, and enhancing the opportunities for partnership across statutory and VCSE sectors for the good of the populations we serve. We will be engaging with stakeholders in the Spring, so please do get involved. Opportunities to do so will be promoted widely through Gloucestershire VCS Alliance bulletins and other channels. 

Community Health and Wellbeing Grants 

Whilst we co-develop a new ICS VCSE Partnership Model, we are very aware of the immediacy of need in the VCSE Sector and in communities across our county. Therefore, Gloucestershire County Council and the ICB (Integrated Care Board) held an open grants round late 2024 for to VCSE organisations working in the county. We had 177 applications and have awarded grants to 32 VCSE organisations, spread across Gloucestershire. The purpose of the grants is to help build community capacity and provide much needed support to individuals and communities during 2025. 

The successful recipient organisations were:

Organisation	Locality
Wiggly Charity	Countywide
Inclusion Gloucestershire	Countywide
Community Connexions	Countywide
Create Gloucestershire	Countywide
Building Circles	Countywide
Citizens Advice Stroud & Cotswolds	Countywide
The ITSA Digital Trust	Countywide
The Rock	Cheltenham
Hester’s Way Partnership	Cheltenham
Springbank Community Group CIC	Cheltenham
St Michael’s Cornerstone Trust	Cheltenham
Cotswold Friends	Cotswolds
The Churn	Cotswolds
Fairford & Lechlade – Working for Wellbeing	Cotswolds
CANDI	Forest of Dean
Forest Fighting Fit	Forest of Dean
Forest Voluntary Action Forum	Forest of Dean
Wilde Earth Journeys	Forest of Dean
Crossroads Gloucestershire	Forest of Dean
Fairshares Gloucestershire	Gloucester
Home Start	Gloucester
Kingfisher Treasure Seekers	Gloucester
Gloucester Feed The Hungry	Gloucester
The Venture	Gloucester
Gloucester City Mission	Gloucester
Stroud Grace Network	Stroud & BV
GL11 Community Project	Stroud & BV
The Keepers	Stroud & BV
Cashes Green Community Centre	Stroud & BV
CCP	Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury Nature Reserve	Tewkesbury
The Roses	Tewkesbury

Launch of Joining up Insight in Gloucestershire (JIG)

You are invited to sign up and contribute to JIG. This new workspace provides a central hub for gathering, collating and storing qualitative data or ‘insight’ – people's experiences, views, and feedback - so that people developing and delivering local services and support can access it, learn from it, and use it to influence their plans and decision-making. It reflects a commitment to putting people and communities at the heart of service development and decision-making across the Integrated Care System, ensuring that local voices are heard, valued and influential.

Qualitative data is being gathered by a range of health, care, statutory, voluntary and community organisations and groups on topics such as housing, education, employment, the environment, sport and leisure, criminal justice, culture and heritage. We hope that JIG will help foster a deeper understanding of what matters to people in Gloucestershire, reduce duplication of work and the risk of engagement fatigue in our communities. 

JIG is hosted on the FutureNHS online platform.  It is free and accessible to anyone working or volunteering in health and care, the statutory sector, voluntary and community organisations. Please join the workspace, add your reports and other insight to the collection, and use the information that is already there. 

We need your help to grow the information on JIG and make it a valuable resource for you and other people who support our Gloucestershire communities. If you have already signed up to FutureNHS you can use the search bar in the top right of the platform to find Joining up Insight in Gloucestershire and request to join the workspace. Alternatively, you can request access by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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We share weekly updates about news that matters to VCSE groups & organisations in Gloucestershire via our weekly News Bulletin. We also send out a free monthly Funding Bulletin. You can find out more and sign up on our newsletters page.

Support for the VCSE sector in Gloucestershire

We provide a range of support for VCSE sector groups & organisations of all shapes and sizes in Gloucestershire, including fully funded training & events, a range of thematic mailings, regular news updates, free membership and help to recruit volunteers.

We are the independent voice of the VCSE sector in Gloucestershire and are passionate about promoting equal partnerships at every level. You can find out more about how we work in partnership and represent the sector on our About Us page.