About Us - Serving the Borough since 1965

Basingstoke Voluntary Services (BVS) is a member of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) that collectively form a network of local charities offering support and development services to the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) across the UK.

BVS was set up in 1965 as a result of the town expansion. It has been instrumental in starting many of the charities that are now household names in the Borough. Examples of these are: Relate, Headway, Dial-a-Ride, Community Transport, Rape Crisis, CRUSE, Victim Support, Age Concern, Basingstoke Advocacy Scheme, Community Funirture Project and North Hampshire Mediation Service. Over the years the organisation has had to continually adpat to changing environments as its role has been, and will continue to be, one of support to the voluntary and community sector meeting their needs as they change.

We aim:

• To pro-actively identify needs in the local community and facilitate improvement in service provision to meet those needs.
• To assist local voluntary and community organisations (VCO) to function more effectively and deliver quality services to their users, members of constituents.
• To facilitate effective communication or networking and collaboration amongst local voluntary and community groups.
• To enable the diverse views of the local voluntary and community sector to be represented to external bodies, facilitating effective working relationships and two-way communication and embedding the sector as an intergral part of local planning and policy making.
• To support and increase the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering locally.
• To maximise BVS effectiveness, efficiency and quality of services.

For more information read our Introduction to BVS leaflet

Membership gives access to a wide range of services including:

• One-2-One support, advice and information on issues such as governance, funding, policies and procedures, finances, marketing etc
• Finding Volunteers
• Placing articles in Vol.Comm - the BVS monthly newsletter
• Voluntary Sector Forum
• Charity Fayre
• Resources - Discounts on the Hire of the Orchard facilities and access to equipment (laptops, laminators, gazeebo's etc) and photocopying
• Representation and advocacy for VCO
• Participation in BVS Events

Any voluntary or community organisation providing a service within Basginstoke and Deane can ask to become a FREE member of BVS or ring 01256 423816.