About VAST -
Networks & Partnership

VAST gives the VCS people and organisations in Stoke a voice in the decision-making processes that affect them, and represents their interests at a strategic level, locally in Stoke, Sub-regionally in Staffordshire, Regionally in the West Midlands and nationally.

We also are working with the public sector to ensure the VCS is involved in service delivery and is treated on playing field in the commissioning, tendering and contracting procedures.

We do this in a variety of ways:

• Representing VCO's at strategic partnerships and networks boards
• Supporting VCS representatives on such
• Encouraging and supporting groups and organisations to come together and discuss their issues and find solutions
• Informing the sectors about local regional and national policies that will affect them and encouraging them to share experiences and good practice
• Encouraging networks within the sectors to talk to each other and to partner agencies in order to gain better working relationships and better services for those that they work with, such as the Voluntary Sector Chief Officers Group.
• Planning facilitating and supporting meetings and briefings to ensure that all the above things happen.
  

The end outcome of all these actions will be to provide evidence to partner agencies that VCS in Stoke-on-Trent are substantial and professional providers of services to their client groups and that they deserve to be listened to and be at the table as full and equal partners in decision-making processes.