ngage - Opportunities to become involved

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Opportunities to become more involved Top

Public consultations
Focus Groups
Tenant/Residents Groups
Voting in local and general elections.
Community Forums
Neighbourhood Watch NHW
Join a management committee/become a trustee/school governor or PTA member
Voluntary sector organizations
Community Involvement Board
Thurrock Independent Advisory Group (IAG)

Volunteer Centre (VC) Thurrock Volunteer Centre works to promote and co-ordinate volunteering in Thurrock, and to support both volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations.

If you are thinking about volunteering ...

Volunteering is something that everyone can do and there are many groups and organisations in Thurrock that can use extra help. Whatever your interests, whether you have a lot of time or a little, the Volunteer Centre can help you find out what you what you want to do and point you in the direction of suitable organisations and opportunities. Volunteering is a great way of making friends, gaining a skill, improving your CV and helping others.

Volunteering in Thurrock is led by Thurrock CVS (council for Voluntary Services) have launched a new website to support Volunteers in Thurrock. It has been designed to be an information hub with news on volunteering, frequently asked questions (FAQ’s), a directory of voluntary organisations as well as other useful elements.

The Volunteering in Thurrock website will also build dynamic content with information on events, images and video about volunteers, charities and other organisations. Organisations that are supporting the Volunteering in Thurrock initiative include Thurrock Council, TRUST, V-involved and Ngage.

Please visit the website to find out more about volunteering. Better still register your details for one of the newsletters about events and volunteering activity in Thurrock.

http://www.volunteeringinthurrock.org/ or phone 01375 389883

There are lots of different ways to become an ’active citizen’ and get involved in your local community!

Public consultations— consultation offers you the chance to voice your opinion on how services are delivered in your community. By taking part everyone has an equal opportunity to make an effective contribution, on-line, by phone, post or doorstep interviews.

Focus Groups—bring together people who share a common interest, e.g. transport, environment, health etc. Focus groups can help to identify needs and shape policy on how these can be met and services delivered.

Tenant/Residents Groups—do you care about where you live? Your neighbours may feel the same. Why not join your local tenant/resident group.

Voting in local and general elections—voting offers a real opportunity to shape services and policies. The more people who vote, the more representative both local councils and central government will be.

Community Forums—There are 20 forums covering the whole of Thurrock. They are area based voluntary, non political groups, run by local people for local people. A Forum brings together people living and working in the area to have a say about issues that affect them and encourage community involvement. To support this work each forum receives funds from Thurrock council and by getting involved, you can help decide how this money is used for the benefit of your neighbourhood.

Membership of the forums is open to individuals, voluntary/community and faith groups, local business and schools.

Neighbourhood Watch (NHW)—NHW combats and reduces local crime and disorder. It provides a voluntary communications network banding together individual homes and streets across Thurrock, in cooperation with the Police and other interested organisations. It aims to establish a safer environment by reducing violence, crime and fear. build a safer community, prevent crime that affects you, develop community spirit.

Join a management committee/become a trustee/school governor or PTA member—effective community action needs people to take a lead role. There are lots of opportunities to brush up your skills or learn new ones to help you take on these roles. Training is usually free of charge through the ACE programme.Volunteering—volunteers give their time freely to benefit non-profit organisations that support communities. Opportunities range from office/admin, befriending/conservation/environment/animals and much more. For those of you who cannot make a regular commitment, why not look out for one off events such as clean ups, fêtes etc.....

Voluntary sector organisations— lots of local charitable organisations are keen to involve local residents with an interest in their services (older people, people with disabilities, black and ethnic minority groups etc)

Community Involvement Board—representatives from across the community and voluntary sectors come together to ensure that local people have effective opportunities to influence priorities for Thurrock and shape policy.

Thurrock Independent Advisory Group (IAG)- works to improve the trust and confidence of the community in their police service. It aims to assist Thurrock Police in developing their understanding of the needs and expectation of the community, to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different groups in Thurrock.

The group is made up of members of the diverse communities in Thurrock. You need to be over 18 and able to spare a minimum of one evening every 8 weeks.