Dacorum CVS is an organization with a long standing expertise in education and social work.
We have a staff team of 42 plus many tutors and interpreters we engage as required. In the past year our European Project activity has increased and with this growth we have developed and increased our staff team, with other colleagues providing support at times of hosting meetings / delivering training. This is part of our strategy of developing our expertise in this area.
By our programme Support4Dacorum we provide training to NGOs to enable them to build their capacity in areas such as Fundraising, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Employment, Managing Volunteer and Roles within Committees – and provide a range of services such as printing, payroll, equipment hire, minibus hire and advice in relation to governance, funding advice, social enterprise, income generation and practical skills.
We have in the last year developed social media Forums in fundraising, financial management, volunteer management to ensure informal learning and sharing of knowledge.
We also operate a community based internet radio station, Radio Dacorum, which is used to develop the skills of volunteers as well as being an effective communication channel for local community activity and our European Projects.
Our projects meet community needs, e.g. Community Transport, Shopmobility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Creative Learning Project, an Interpreting and Translation Service, an Adult Career Information Advice and Guidance, Migration Integration and Domestic Violence support.
We set up the online community radio station in 2012 and provide digital skills training to volunteer presenters to ensure they can operate the technology in the radio studio and effectively engage with the audience.
We are also a delivery partner and contribute to project management in three current ESF projects in Hertfordshire addressing social inclusion. They have been set up to respond to identified needs and support individuals facing barriers and disadvantage. We take account of needs in venue, day of the weekend time, and engaging at an earlier stage with learners to ensure we address confidence barriers Our activities are supported in their delivery by 150 volunteers including 2 EVS on 9 and 11 month placements (from Italy & Romania) and intern placements from France & Italy.
We represent NGO’s in strategic and other partnerships where we sit with the public and private sectors in community planning and ensuring good current service delivery. We actively engage with a wide variety of subject areas; such as European funding, economic development, social enterprise, children and young people, migrant workers, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, older people, the environment, community safety and lifelong learning.
The organization turnover in the current financial year will rise to £2.5 million.
We have the following quality standards:
- Investors in People,
- Investors in Diversity,
- Matrix and ISO9001.
We are active in working with young people and adults through a range of community activities are also an adult educational provider and combine this role with community development, support and services.
We deliver a range of leisure and employability skills related courses, including ESOL, Interpreter training, Arts and Crafts, Belly dancing, Confidence building, Employability, Swimming, Volunteering, Yoga and courses to support NGO’s improve their organisational capacity.
We have in recent years increased the online and e-learning within course provision.
We use our expertise as outlined above to engage in a range of European transnational projects and our ethos is that we have a story to share and many stories to learn as part of developing new ideas to develop the support we provide in our community.
Complimenting our local work is our engagement in European Projects, where we have and are involved with number of projects which increase the skill of tutors and develop new e-learning tools, such as: a) MALL Guide: KA2 Adult – led by Iberika – developed a resource for tutors on the options and values of online learning resources b) Lang MOOCS: KA2 Adult – led by ACP – created online language resources available through a MOOC platform c) The Suitcase, The Map and The Voyage of a Youth Worker – KA2 Youth – created an online platform to enable young people to make informed career path choices and youth workers to improve skills in career advice d) SMIIM: KA2 Adult – led by Dacorum CVS – will develop online training resources for adults learning to be interpreters and cultural mediators e) LISTEN: KA2 Adult – creating online and face to face learning tools on storytelling and radio communication to assist educators and community workers who work with enforced migrants f) New Horizons – KA2 Adult creating online and face to face resources to assist career advisors in supporting adults who are having to change career path due to an acquired disability
Autobiographical Method for Migrants' and Minorities' Inclusion in Communities they are living In 