An evening of connections and looking ahead

On 20 March, BD_Collective hosted our first event for the year to share some progress and upcoming activities that included new opportunities we can look forward to. Over 30 people attended in person and online, with representation across borough geographies and stakeholder groups, which was very encouraging to see.

We had an opening speech from Pip Salvador-Jones, Chair of the Barking & Dagenham Council for Volunteer Services (BDCVS) and Chief Officer of Barking & Dagenham Citizens Advice Bureau (BDCAB), who emphasised on the value of solidarity and shared space for the social and voluntary sector to thrive for the benefit of communities we serve. She also mentioned that the new CBS is a vital opportunity to grow the capacity and strength of the VCSE sector enabling us to be stronger together.

Following that, Amelie Tan, the community benefit society (CBS) Development Lead, presented a recap and overview on the ongoing as well as upcoming activities. Amelie also shared that BD_Collective is looking for individuals to join the CBS Working Group.

The CBS Working Group will be made of  six to eight people, who will work with the Secretariat to develop strategy and membership details amongst other key areas. Find out more about the CBS Working Group here. Applications close on Wednesday, 23 April (extended from Monday, 7 April). 

Resources

Due to technical difficulty we weren’t able to record the presentation. However, for those who didn’t manage to attend, the slide deck is linked below, along with interesting results from an interactive Mentimeter session, where we asked for live audience feedback across a number of topics including our priorities and how we can foster a sense of ownership of the CBS.