In July 2019 we held Briefings across Edinburgh’s four localities to introduce the 3 Conversations approach to our local voluntary and community sectors. Over seventy organisations participated in these events.

We have a first update: The Three Conversations approach and first innovation site.

This page is to be used to keep colleagues up to date with developments and provide a platform for further dialogue as the roll out begins. Please check back regularly.

Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership has recently begun work on the development of the Three Conversations model – which it is anticipated will reshape the way care and support are delivered across the city.

The new way of working will first be delivered at a number of ‘Innovation Sites’ across the city, which will allow teams to begin to redesign the way they work with people and move away from some of the current systems which are often flagged as bureaucratic, risk averse and admin heavy.

Clearly, to be successful this work will need to embed the widest range of community activities, groups, faith groups, Community Councils and citizens to support the design process and we are clear that this needs to happen at the beginning so that you are built in with the bricks of the programme.

EVOC will be supporting the development of work in the community following the Community Led Support methodology and we are starting to explore how that will work in reality. We will provide a briefing ahead of the event to people registered below.

Our intention is to ensure that the organisations and groups which make up communities can be facilitated to take a leading role in the development of the new initiative.

To begin this development, we will be hosting an event for local community based organisations, faith groups, Community Councils and other community groups on 23rd July 2019, 1pm – 4pm.

Community Led Support Event Briefing

Please book a place at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-led-support-tickets-64726727384

Briefing for voluntary organisations on the new 3 Conversations Model (Partners 4 Change) being adopted by Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership.

EVOC has been attending the steering group meetings to implement the new model and this event is a brief powerpoint discussion about what is happening and how practice for the Partnership will significantly change in the coming months.

These are small informal events with booking required to gauge numbers for teas/coffees. We currently have  events in each locality for you to choose from:

• Tuesday, 2 July 2019 from 11:30 to 12:30
• Joined by Nikki Conway, SE Locality Manager
• Libertus Services | 20 Gracemount Drive | EH16 6RN Edinburgh | United Kingdom

BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/3-conversations-briefing-tickets-63472568160

• Thursday, 4 July 2019 from 10:00 to 11:00
• Joined by Mike Massaro-Mallinson, NW Locality Manager
• EVOC | 525 Ferry Road | EH5 2FF Edinburgh | United Kingdom

• Tuesday, 9 July 2019 from 10:00 to 11:00
• Joined by Fiona Stratton, Cluster Manager and Alana Nabulsi, Contracts Manager
• Volunteer Edinburgh | 222 Leith Walk | EH6 5EQ Edinburgh | United Kingdom

EVOC members, supporters and voluntary organisations across the city are invited to ‘save the date’ for our annual Conference and AGM:

Tuesday 5 November 2019

9.00am – 1.00pm

Norton Park Conference Centre

More details, themes, booking and a full programme will be published in late August. 

Corra Foundation is committed to being the best grant-maker we can be. As part of this commitment, Corra is carrying out a full review of the Henry Duncan Grants (HDG) programme.

The review aims to gather the views from a wide audience of people working across Scotland’s third sector. This includes charities who are current Henry Duncan Grant holders, those who have had a grant through HDG in the past as well as hearing from charities that have not previously applied to HDG and EVOC is hosting a local focus group.

To inform the review of the HDG Programme, Corra with support from Arrivo Consulting will carry out a series of focus groups across Scotland.

The focus group in Edinburgh on Wednesday 5 June at 1.30 – 3.15 in the Board room at EVOC https://www.evoc.org.uk/contact-us/ .

We are looking for 10-12 representatives from different community and voluntary sector organisations to share their experiences and views to inform the future of the Henry Duncan Grants Programme.

Focus groups will last for approximately 1.5 hours. Focus group participants will be able to claim back reasonable travel expenses.

If you would like to attend, please click here, which will take you to an Eventbright page to book your place.

The official EVOC 150 documentary ‘150 Years of EVOC’ has now been officially launched after a Royal premier at EVOC’s premises on 30th April. 

Coinciding with a visit from HRH The Princess Royal to congradulate EVOC on 150 years of fighting for social justice, the documentary, made by Media Education, was premiered to The Princess and third sector colleagues at a very special event. 

The film focuses on EVOC’s origins and history, from working to relieve the conditions suffered by Edinburgh’s poor Victorians to the many organisations that have used EVOC as a springboard, and that now provide support and services to the city’s communities. 

The film is available to view here: 

150 Years of EVOC (with subtitles) from Media Education on Vimeo.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has payed a visit to EVOC, to officially recognise the organisation’s outstanding contribution to the voluntary sector and the City of Edinburgh, mark its 150th anniversary.

 Greeted by the Lord Provost, Her Royal Highness was treated to the premier of the EVOC 150 documentary film and took the time to speak to charities and voluntary organisations that EVOC has either help to set up, supported or launched over the years.

After greeting staff, The Princess unveiled a plaque to congratulate EVOC on 150 years and to officially open our new premises at 525 Ferry Road

Her Royal Highness was then presented with EVOC’s new 150th anniversary publication, ‘Celebrating 150 years: Reflections on EVOC’s history’ and a bouquet of flowers by our longest serving member of staff.

Ella Simpson, EVOC Chief Executive said: “We were delighted to receive recognition from HRH The Princess Royal for our 150th anniversary and the official opening of our new premises.

“HRH has been involved with charities and the voluntary sector for a substantial amount of time and understands the unique contribution the sector makes to communities.

“We know that this day will go down in our history and serves as a reminder for years to come of the important and tireless work that Edinburgh’s voluntary sector does.”

This Royal visit and last month’s Civic Reception mark the end of the Heritage Lottery Funded programme of EVOC 150 events.

Real Talk is set to host Mind the Craic, a community empowerment research project, at the Scottish Story Telling Centre, where ordinary Edinburgh citizens will perform as storytellers for the night.

The event will take place on Monday 25th March from 7:30pm and will centre on people being given the space to share their experience of issues like social isolation, discrimination and poverty and how charity and voluntary organisations have touched their lives.

Lily Asch, Real Talk Founder, said: “We are so excited about our collaboration with EVOC and Mind the Craic. We’ve been working with a group of individuals, including both service users and support workers, to empower them in crafting a 10 minute story about some part of their journey.

“The process has included two storytelling workshops and will culminate in an intimate performance at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

“This will allow all who attend to gain greater insight into to what works and what doesn’t for service provision in Edinburgh, to hear true stories and to join in meaningful conversation on the research findings.”

The event forms part of Mind the Craic research project which was was initiated in June 2018. Since then the voices of over 1000 people from disenfranchised groups including people affected by issues like social isolation, mental health issues and discrimination have been gathered.

Virginia Bjertnes, Mind the Craic Project Worker, said: “After hearing all the different experiences during the research, it felt right to provide a setting for sharing and discussing these experiences.

“The event that will convey people’s voices in a lively way and bring depth to the report, contribute to an understanding of the feelings and lived experiences in a way that is accessible for all.”

It is hoped that findings from the research, which is due to be launched as a report an accompanying documentary will raise awareness around social issues in the city and provide a solid base of evidence for the importance of investment in prevention and early intervention.

The Mind the Craic project is an initiative by EVOC in partnership with Volunteer Edinburgh and Edinburgh’s Third Sector Strategy Group (TSSG). This storytelling event will be held in partnership with Real Talk, a social enterprise dedicated to helping people share their experience of mental ill health and celebrating the authenticity of those experiences.

The event is free, but tickets are required. To book please visit https://realtalkmindthecraic.eventbrite.co.uk.