About us

 The South London CVS Partnership 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 Council for Voluntary Service (RCVS).  The Partnership is also the sole member of its trading arm, the London Learning Consortium, a Community Interest Company. 

Regional Support Role

The Partnership is one of five sub-regional CVS partnerships in London and provides the coordination and administrative support for all five sub-regional workers to come together on a monthly basis. This enables the sharing of good practice and development of common policy positions for consultation and advocacy purposes. The sub-regional workers group acts as the steering group for the London CVS Network events. 

ChangeUp

The Partnership is the accountable body for Staying Connected, the South London sub-regional ChangeUp consortium. The Consortium is responsible for implementing the ChangeUp strategic and business plans supporting and improving infrastructure organisations across South London and is accountable to the funder Capacity Builders. Funding for the consortium is due to end in March 2011 and it is very unlikely that further funding will be available. SLCVSP is leading on a review of the consortium to inform how it might continue beyond this date.

Staff team

We are a small, but perfectly formed team of three

 Partnership Manager: Charmaine Sainsbury

Charmaine has managed the Partnership since April 2010 and in that time has overseen a strategic review of the organisation.

Previously, she worked at NCVO where she managed a national programme of support and before that she was a local authority grants officer.

She sits on the steering group for 3SA (Third Sector Alliance: the policy forum for London's third sector), is a member of Voluntary Sector Forum which represents organisations funded by London Councils and attends the Change Up Workforce Development sub group meetings. 

Helen has also been with the Partnership since April 2010, supporting the Partnership Team by managing the website content and providing information & communications links between the Partnership members. Helen is event coordinator and administrates the Partnership meetings.

Previously Helen has worked in the Civil Service as an HR policy writer and training facilitator.

   BESPOKE Project Manager: David Jackson

David joined the Partnership in July 2010 and is managing the BESPOKE Project - sharing best practice for back office services across the Partnership and saving the members money in the process. 

David has moved to London from Sheffield, where he managed the city's Community Empowerment Network, an independent charity.

Prior to this he worked for BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) in Birmingham and the Black Country.