Click on the links to take you to each section:

Constitutions
Development staff are available to give support and advice to your group. If you need a new constitution or governing document, or wish to review your constitution or governing document, we can help you through this process and give you up to date models to work from. You can come to the office or we can visit you at a venue of your choice. We cater for one off enquiries to long term ongoing support when you need it.

Governance
Governance is the key to the effective functioning of your group, whether you are a small voluntary group or a large company limited by guarantee. It is the responsibilities of the trustees, committee or board members to deliver good governance. Download our CVSA Governance Pack to help you get the best from your group.

Starting a new initiative?
If you are thinking about starting a new initiative and just have an outline idea we can help you to think through your plans and ideas, put you in touch with other people and projects that might help you and work with you to help you decide what kind of legal structure you may need.

Charitable Status
We can offer you support and guidance on gaining charitable status, help to fill out the application forms, information about Trustee responsibilities and can offer training to your Trustee Board of you are a new charity. We also keep a check on the Register and alert you if you have failed to make your annual return!

Policies & procedures
Visit the Skye & Lochalsh Community Toolkit for a good range of advice and free downloadable model policies. We can also advise you on which policies you may need for your organisation and help you to customise a model to fit with your requirements.

Skills Audits
Need support to think about what skills you already have around the table in your group? Unsure about how to identify what skills you are looking for in your new management committee? Ask us for help.

Evaluation & monitoring
In partnership with our Community Learning colleagues, we can offer you advice, information and training on the best way to evaluate your project or organisation.

Business Planning
If you're unsure where to start, contact us for models that you can use.

Newsletter
Keep in touch with other organisations activities; advertise your events and new developments; spread the news about the work that you are doing. Contact our Information Manager to submit an article. You can click on our newsletter link on the home page to view back copies!

Charity Fair
We hold 2 events each year which provide local community groups with an opportunity to raise awareness and some money side by side with other local charities. Our summer event is based in Banchory and our winter event in the Stonehaven area. Contact the office to find out more.

CVSA subscribes to the Grantfinder program. This is the UK's largest database of funding opportunities. It allows the user to answer questions about their group and what they need funding for in order to produce a list of potential funding bodies that may be approached for funding. The search results can then be saved and printed to allow the user to then go and research each funder in their own time.
The program is an excellent way getting the ball rolling - the output from the search will only include funders that meet some or all of the criteria that is entered into the search which means you don't have to waste time researching funders that won't be interested in your project. To use the CVSA Grantfinder service, call 01330 825027 to make an appointment with Lindsay Allardyce. Alternatively, download the Grantfinder search form here and send your completed form to Lindsay.Allardyce@cvsa.co.uk who will do the search for you and email the results on to you. To go along with the search form you will also need the Grantfinder Codes document which can be downloaded here.

CVSA can also help with the daunting task of filling in funding applications. It's often useful for someone not directly involved to look over an application and make suggestions that may make it more successful. Our Development Officers Linda Babbs and Alison Melville can help with this and can be contacted on 01330 825027.

The CVSA Funding Pack contains lots of useful information and advice on the funding process - from funding strategies to top tips on filling in funding applications and budgets. It is available in hard copy on a borrow and return basis from the office - or you can download the pack here.

Current funding issues and projects are always featured in the CVSA newsletter - download the newsletters from this site, or contact us and join our mailing list to keep your group up-to-date!

As part of the Aberdeenshire CVS Network, the CVS Training Initiative provides training for local groups and organisations throughout the whole Aberdeenshire area. They produce new training programmes approximately every six months and training is held in a range of areas throughout Aberdeenshire. For further information on training programmes and events in this area contact:

Diane Miller, Coordinator
CVS Training Initiative
33/34 The Square
Ellon
Aberdeenshire
AB41 9JB 
01358 722205
admin@cvstraininginitiative.org.uk

CVSA are registered with the Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS) and are therefore able to give assistance to local groups and organisations requiring checks for their staff and volunteers. We encourage groups to register themselves with CRBS as it is free and we can also help with the registration process by doing Visual Identification checks.
If you require disclosure checks for your organisation please contact CVSA to arrange an appointment. The CRBS website also provides very useful information on the whole process and outlines the policies that groups should have in place before accessing disclosures - sample policies can be downloaded from their site: www.crbs.org.uk
While checks for Volunteers are free, CVSA charge an administration fee of £7.50 for each form processed. Staff members have a fee of £30.50 per form processed which includes the fee of £23 paid to CRBS.

To read the 'Adult at Risk Eligibility document produced by CRBS, click here.

In this section you can download sample policies for your group. They are usually a Word or Acrobat file - click on the policy to download it.

Local groups and organisations are required to have policies in place before accessing Disclosure information for volunteers and staff. Further information about the policies can be obtained by visiting the CRBS website at www.crbs.org.uk. Sample Policies relating to CRBS:

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders
Secure Handling, Use, Storage and Retention of Disclosure Information
Protecting Vulnerable People
Child Protection

PoCSA Training Packs can be obtained from CVSA. If you want one, please call us on 01330 825027 or email mail@cvsa.co.uk

To download the PDF document '10 steps to writing a constitution' click here.
To download a sample constitution click here.

As this website is updated we will be adding more downloadable documents that we think may be useful to local groups and organisations. Until then, the Skye & Lochalsh Community Toolkit is an invaluable resource for local groups where they can gain access to documents ranging from Good Practice, Data Protection, Health & Safety to Hall Licencing, Fundraising and Recruitment.

Visit the Skye & Lochalsh Community Toolkit from here.

CVSA offer practical help when it comes to supporting your group. We have a photocopying, laminating and fax service where you can come in and use our facilities for a very small fee. Costs are:

The above prices are for self service. If you would like CVSA to complete the job for you, we will be happy to give you a quote.