Chair’s Report (2003-04)

The past year saw me as the new Chair and Ajamu Mutumwa as the new Director of Voluntary Action. With the help of the Executive Committee and our staff we set about making changes to Voluntary Action to prepare for the changing funding environment in which the voluntary and community sector have to work.

The coming year will see the move from grants to commissioning and more partnership working and joined up thinking with the Local Strategic Partnership.

There are also many changes coming in the way health and social care will be organised, and the change in how groups are funded will not be far behind. As an organisation we need to be prepared for the changed environment, and with the development of our Business Plan we are slowly beginning to address some of those challenges.

Voluntary Action, in common with many groups needs to sell itself even better in the future. This annual report is our opportunity to demonstrate to our members, non members and partners the work that we have done, and the value that we add to the sector. It also gives us an opportunity to renew our bond with our members, so that we may do better each year.

This does not stop me from saying that I believe that we still have a lot to do, but I can say that we are fortunate with our excellent staff team and our Executive Committee. I thank them for all their hard work.

I also must thank my co officers Arnold Zulu (Vice Chair), Jasmine Taylor (Vice Chair), and Valentin Yombo (Treasurer) for all their hard work and support during this last year.

Finally I wish to thank our funders who are listed in the body of the Annual Report.

Neil Collins,
Chair