Community Action Hampshire is proud to announce the launch on 2 July of its brand new service in Portsmouth working to ensure that the ‘voice’ of the many groups and organisations, that support the most vulnerable people in Portsmouth, will be heard.

Working on behalf of Portsmouth City Council (PCC), Community Action Hampshire (CAH) is branching out with Community Action in Portsmouth (CAP) – providing the diverse voluntary and community organisations and groups in the city with high quality and accessible support to help them strengthen and thrive.

The CAP service will offer training, information and someone to talk to when the going gets tough! Sue Dovey, CAH Chief Executive, said, “We’re incredibly excited that PCC has given us this fabulous opportunity to support our sector in the city. Our fantastic new team of Hollie Watson, Jacky Charman and Liz Donegan are immensely experienced in working with voluntary and community groups and are raring to go.”

Hollie said, “My role is about supporting the voluntary and community sector networks in the city to ensure their ‘voice’, from grassroots up can inform, engage and lobby locally, regionally and nationally on issues affecting them and the people they support. I am really looking forward to being able to provide support to the networks in Portsmouth’s voluntary and community sector and talking with them about what they want and need.”

Jacky, who will deliver an outreach service said, “I am looking forward to getting out and about in Portsmouth to meet up with the local voluntary and community groups and organisations to see how we can strengthen them; particularly now, when they are having to work harder than ever to continue working with communities whilst weathering funding cuts.”

The CAP team will be based in the new Cathedral Innovation Centre in Old Portsmouth; however the team will be embracing the use of social media to get some of the information out about the specialist resources on funding and what is happening around the city and within PCC.  We will also be setting up regular surgeries at bases across the city to ensure groups can easily access the help they need on anything from advice on funding and income generation to HR and good governance.  We are also particularly interested in forging partnerships between voluntary organisations and private companies.

The people that work in the voluntary and community sector work tirelessly giving support and help to an ever growing population of people that need help. CAP will offer them the support they need and give them a voice so that they can lobby and work with the council and other public bodies to find solutions for the benefits of Portsmouth people. 

To find out more, get help or register for updates from Community Action in Portsmouth, please contact:

Jacky Charman, Voluntary & Community Sector Development Officer
E: jacky.charman(at)actionhants.org.uk
M: 07801 379 669

or

Hollie Watson, Project Manager – Community Action in Portsmouth
E: hollie.watson(at)actionhants.org.uk
T: 01962 857 381