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Local support and development organisations

Local support and development organisations are either ‘generalist’ (such as a Council for Voluntary Service), which means they provide services relevant to all or most organisations, or ‘specialist’, which means they support specific groups or provide specific types of advice (such as the Youth Work Unit or the Humber Learning Consortium.)

Local support and development organisations are essential partners in creating strong, vibrant and cohesive communities.

Every district in Yorkshire and the Humber has a local Council for Voluntary Service (or Voluntary Action) - the best known type of local support and development organisation.

Sometimes it makes more sense to organise a service or input into decision making on a bigger scale across several local authority areas such as the West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service, the Humber Learning Consortium or Involve Yorkshire & Humber.

Local support and development organisations matter because they are a trusted, up to date source of local information, expertise, experience and advice for voluntary and community organisations and for public agencies.
Support and development organisations:

• are close to the people they serve and know what goes in our communities. They are accountable to the communities they serve

• bring people and communities together, particularly people most in need.

• champion the voluntary and community sector’s role in improving public services and bringing services nearer to people

• encourage and support local groups to share resources and work collaboratively

• contribute to policy making and planning by providing a strong voice for local communities

• support voluntary and community organisations in the design and delivery of public services, particularly local services.

• offer a flexible and fast response to change

• facilitate the contribution, by the voluntary and community sector, of £2.75 billion to the economy of Yorkshire and the Humber.