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Policy

Lifetimes works to connect local organisations to the policy agenda at the local, regional and national level. We do this by providing policy information, responding to consultations, organising seminars and network meetings and running campaigns.

On these pages, you will find a Policy Update section with news, consultations and events that is updated monthly. There is also a section with Policy Topics in the right hand menu that explore key issues in more depth and provides links to resources.

Policy Update

Contents
Apr 2012

1. State of the Sector 2nd edition

2. The Queen's speech 9 May 2012

3. Big Local - £1m for Clapham Junction/West Battersea

4. Community Organising session 16 Feb 2012

5. Shall we Compact?

6. VCS Health & Wellbeing report from meeting 12 Dec 2011

7. Health and Wellbeing Partnership

State of the Sector - second edition

Participants at SOTS launch on 30 Mar 30 organisations came together to celebrate the launch of our new publication The State of the Sector (2nd edition) on 30 Mar 2012 at Battersea Arts Centre.

The State of the Sector brings together knowledge and data on the voluntary and community sector in Wandsworth to enable local people to get a better idea of the wealth of voluntary action happening around them and the astounding range of activities and community assets exist in Wandsworth. 10 organisations also took part in more in-depth case studies to showcase how their work contributes to a better life for local people in Wandsworth.

Download the report here

The Queen's speech

If you didn't get a chance to catch the Queen's speech on 9 May 2012, click here for a one-page summary.

Big Local

Big Local has landed in Battersea. Over the next 10 years, £1 million pounds will be invested in the area to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of local people for the area that they live in. For more information about what area is covered and how to get involved, please visit http://www.localtrust.org.uk/?project=clapham-junctionwest-battersea or contact the Big Local Representative Helen Garforth.

Community Organising

On 16 Feb 2012, we organised a half day session to introduce our members ot Community Organising in collaboration with London Citizens. 20 participants explored interviewing techniques and campaigning tools. Among other things, participants were asked to think about the key challenge facing communities in Wandsworth. This is what they came up with:

A lack of legal advice	Anti social behaviour
Lack of support for asylum seekers	Community/public sector relations
Cutbacks affecting women and the elderly	Isolation among the elderly
Big borough - diverse, segregated	Partnerships and communication - need for
Youth unemployment	Safe streets
Funding being withdrawn from community groups	Ethnic groups - trust and friendship
Disaffected young people	Areas of multiple disadvantage
Council - one party rule	Young families in need

Comm Organising listening Comm Organising role play Comm Organising group

Shall we Compact?

You may vaguely remember that we have a document called the Wandsworth Compact that is intended to lay down the ground rules for interaction between the public sector and voluntary and community organisations. That document was created in 2003 and we made an attempt at updating it in 2010. The elections and general political changes to many areas of work impacting on cross sector relationships meant that the update process was put on hold. A new national Compact has been agreed and Wandsworth Council has indicated that it wishes to update the Wandsworth Compact as well as its own Voluntary Sector Charter.

We are currently looking over all the feedback that so many of you contributed during the 2010 refresh process, to see what the key points were back then and if any of the feedback can be used as a starting point for looking at the project anew. In the coming weeks, I will be posting updates on this and you will all be invited to review, influence and ultimately decide how you want the ground rules for collaboration and partnership between the sectors to look in the future. Get in touch if you want to get involved.

Health and Wellbeing Follow Up Meeting

VSD Policy Festive Forum On 12 Dec, we hosted our last meeting of the year to follow up on your recommendations in the area of health and wellbeing. A report from the meeting is available here, which includes detailed suggestions for how the sector wants to work with LINk to feed into the Health & Wellbeing Board, as well as how closer links between the public sector and the voluntary sector can be created to enable community intelligence to feature in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Download the very useful JSNA profile pages here and please note that they are in draft format.

At our last Forum in September, 45 members of voluntary and community organisations and Wandsworth LINk came together to discuss health and wellbeing issues in Wandsworth. LINk is turning into HealthWatch and a new Health and Wellbeing Board has been formed bringing together key decision makers in the NHS and the Council. A report from the September event is available here. Or watch a short video below.

Health and Wellbeing Partnership

The last meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Partnership took place on 1 Feb at the Anchor Church Centre on Garratt Lane. The meeting was a pilot event to find ways of working together to identify solutions and assets to tackle health priorities in Wandsworht. A report will be available shortly. Read the minutes from the previous meeting here. Further background information and agenda papers are available here.

The Partnership's agenda is led by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, which gives an overview of health outcomes and priorities and outlines the health needs of Wandsworth's residents.

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