About us

About the Partnership
The South London CVS Partnership (SLCVSP) is a charitable company limited by guarantee.  It began operating independently from April 2008.  Prior to this date, it was an informal partnership hosted by Richmond upon Thames Council for Voluntary Service.  The Partnership is also the sole member of its trading arm, the London Learning Consortium, a Community Interest Company.  

SLCVSP comprises the six Councils for Voluntary Service in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton.  It was formed in 2001 following the reorganisation of London Government and the creation of the south London sub-region.  Although the previous Mayor of London’s administration changed the boundaries with which SLCVSP was originally co-terminus it has remained in its existing form due to the current funding arrangements.

The Partnership exists to support its members to do their jobs better at both a strategic and operational level. We ensure effective representation of the voluntary and community sector at a sub regional and regional level and promote corporate CVS interests.  Collectively it represents the interests of some 4,000 mainly small and medium sized voluntary and community organisations that between them employ 20,000+ paid staff and provide a wide range of services to those living and working in south London.

The Partnership adopted the working principle of ‘strategic but local’.  This recognises the value and benefits of developing common policy positions and services (where appropriate) at a strategic level while retaining local identify and meeting the diverse needs of the sub-region through local delivery.  This approach is reflected in the development of our strategic objectives.

Governance Structure & Staffing
The Board of Trustees meets on a quarterly basis. The Board comprises two trustee representatives from each of the six member CVS.
The day to day work of the Partnership is implemented by the Partnership Manager in collaboration with the six member CVS Chief Executives. This group meets on a six-weekly basis. This group acts as an advisory group to the Trustees and members attend the Board meetings of the Partnership. The Partnership Manager presents a report to the CEO’s each meeting on activities of the Partnership and an update of what is happening at a regional and sub-regional level. This report is also distributed to trustees and CVS boards to ensure that they are kept up to date in between board meetings.

Apart from the Partnership Manager, who is managed by a designated SLCVSP Director, there are currently 2 other members of staff: a Project Manager responsible for the BESPOKE project and a Partnership Administrator working to the Manager.  


Regional Support Role

Until 2010, the Partnership played a key role in representing the interests of the CVS at a regional level. It was one of five sub-regional CVS partnerships in London and provided the coordination and administrative support for all five sub-regional workers to come together on a monthly basis. This enabled the sharing of good practice and development of common policy positions for consultation and advocacy purposes. The sub-regional workers group acted as the steering group for the London CVS Network events.  

Since the de-commissioning of the CVS networks by London Councils only 3 sub-regional networks exist (West, South and East). There is also a more limited regional representation role as many of the regional structures have been dismantled.