EVOC Blog - EVOC

Do Funding Streams Pigeonhole Services?

22 September 2017 | Written by Maria Arnold | Leave a Comment

Do Funding Streams Pigeonhole Services?There is a great deal of effort going into involving people in shaping their services these days. And rightly so. The Christie report (among others) makes a strong case for how this will improve outcomes for everyone and make sure money is spent more wisely, especially while there is less of it to go round. […]

Getting Ready For GDPR

30 August 2017 | Written by | Leave a Comment

Getting Ready For GDPRThere is a lot of chatter out there at the moment about GDPR, as well as a rapidly expanding portfolio of training events, some of which come with eye-watering price tags. You should not underestimate the importance of GDPR and the processes you will need to implement to become compliant by May 2018. However, before […]

Accessing Adulthood Transitions thinkSpace – A Personal Perspective

21 August 2017 | Written by | Leave a Comment

Accessing Adulthood Transitions thinkSpace – A Personal PerspectiveThe period of transition is one that is daunting for any individual, but especially if a young person has additional support needs. As a young person with a physical disability, I found the process of transition a very challenging process, and I didn’t know what my future would hold. The transition thinkSpace brought about many […]

Localities: Empowering our Communities? By Dave Pickering

8 August 2017 | Written by | Leave a Comment

Localities: Empowering our Communities? By Dave PickeringI recently attended Empowering our Communities, an event organised by the Scottish Government’s Ingage team. The event was billed as ‘a pop-up day of advice, inspiration and connections’. Like many of the delegates present, I’ve attended quite a few of these ‘inspirational’ events over the years, only to later be deflated by the grinding reality […]

Let’s Get VOCAL this Carers Week

13 June 2017 | Written by | Leave a Comment

Let’s Get VOCAL this Carers WeekCarers Week We spoke to Sebastian Fischer, Chief Executive of Vocal, about how he became involved with the organisation and how you can support the work of carers this week and beyond. How long have you been CEO of Vocal, and how did you get there? In 1993, family carers established VOCAL as the Voice […]

Volunteering In Edinburgh

7 June 2017 | Written by | 1 Comment

Volunteering In EdinburghVolunteering is a great way to offer personal skills and abilities to a variety of organisations, to work in areas you’re interested in and with people you want to work with. In current society, there is so much pressure to find a job, make an income and pay the bills. There is increasing demand for people […]

Lifeline No Longer

6 June 2017 | Written by Maria Arnold | Leave a Comment

Lifeline No Longer-By Maria Arnold The recent demise of Lifeline is a sad thing, and above all I hope that people who had been receiving their services across the UK do not suffer too much disruption as a result. EVOC were involved in some of the debate around the decision to award three big contracts to Lifeline in […]

Everybody’s Edinburgh: hustings, campaign promises and the next administration

3 May 2017 | Written by | Leave a Comment

Everybody’s Edinburgh: hustings, campaign promises and the next administrationOver the last couple of weeks we heard from each of the political parties about their plans for the next administration, should they be elected, and how they envision the relationship between the council and charities, volunteers, and community groups, and the citizens of Edinburgh who use our services. We would like to thank all […]

Local Issues, National Reach – Engaging with Parliament

5 April 2017 | Written by Christina Hinds | Leave a Comment

Local Issues, National Reach – Engaging with Parliament– by Christina Hinds My colleagues and I recently attended a series of sessions with the Parliament Outreach Team to learn more about the ways that Edinburgh’s Third Sector organisations and community groups can engage better with Parliament. These sessions were very useful, and highlighted several routes into engagement with parliament and how best to […]

People’s Health Trust funding – a guide to your application.

31 January 2017 | Written by Christina Hinds | Leave a Comment

People’s Health Trust funding – a guide to your application.EVOC is working with People’s Health Trust to promote their Active Communities fund to Edinburgh organisations and help them with the first stage of the application process. At first glance, organisations may think that the remaining time to apply is too short or that the criteria doesn’t fit their project, so read on if you’re […]