As we approach midwinter, we know that the demands and pressure on you, our third sector members, partners and colleagues will continue to increase. So, I would like to remind you all that EVOC is here to provide support to groups and organisations across the city, as well as offering additional benefits to our members.
I would also like to share a few updates about what we have been doing recently.
Over the summer months, EVOC recruited five new board members – Caroline Rodgers, Craig Shepherd, Diego Quiroz, Isabel Garden and Roderick Wylie. These new directors bring a breadth of experience from backgrounds in both the third sector and business. More information about all of our current board members can be found here.
Work on the Edinburgh Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund has been progressing, and we were delighted to bring nearly 80 third sector colleagues together for a collaboration event in October – time to consider the initial expressions of interest against the needs in each locality, as well as build connections and partnerships. The deadline for applications for new projects is this Friday (5 December), and you can find the full timeline here.
At the start of November, we welcomed Valerie McIntosh to the team. Her development worker role has a particular focus on community planning, and she will be working closely with partners on neighbourhood prevention partnerships and other place-based work across the city.
John Hawryluk, one of our service delivery leads, also started a 12-month secondment with Community Renewal in November. He will continue to lead EVOC’s work on equalities, New Scots and the Ukraine response for 2 days a week, while spending 3 days supporting the development of Community Renewal’s consultancy and training subsidiary.
EVOC has now taken on the lease for office premises at Meadowbank, opposite the sports stadium. We moved in during November and have already welcomed visitors for some of our meetings and events. It is a small office with a meeting/training room in a modern building with student flats above. It is conveniently located on London Road with good bus services (4, 5, 15, 26, 44 and 45) on the doorstep.
The newly formed Chief Officers Group is holding its second meeting on Thursday, 11 December, in our new office. It is free for EVOC members and open to chief officers of third sector organisations across Edinburgh, bringing together a talented and committed bunch of leaders from the sector. The December meeting will have a focus on governance and accountability, and will be followed by some festive refreshments and networking.
EVOC’s financial position has stabilised over the last year, and the auditors are currently finalising the accounts for 2024/25. We will publish them on our website and share them with members, partners and colleagues at our AGM in the new year.
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