Community Matters Yorkshire has picked up the baton from Advising Communities to ensure the resources previously managed by them are protected and made available to the voluntary sector across the country.
The resources include a large number of help sheets covering a wide range of subjects including Governance, Volunteering, and key information needed to manage community buildings. It also includes the VISIBLE and pre-VISIBLE Quality Improvement schemes.
The resources were originally created by Community Matters (National Federation of Community Associations) which closed in 2016. Advising London took ownership of the resources and made them available under the name Advising Communities, changing their name in 2017 to reflect this wider remit.
Community Matters Yorkshire recognised the value of these resources to the sector and has negotiated with the liquidators to release them and bring them back into use.
As before, the resources are available on a subscription basis, but to help support the organisations who had subscribed to the service, Community Matters Yorkshire’s Trustees have agreed to honour existing subscriptions and also to extend their subscription period when they were unavailable.
The intention is to provide the resources using the Community Matters name, in recognition of over 70 years of outstanding help and support offered to small community organisations by the original organisation.
Community Matters Yorkshire has been in existence since 2010 supporting communities in West Yorkshire and also offering advice and support nationally. Most recently this has included working on the Improving Quality project.
Nicola Turner, Community Matters Yorkshire’s, acting Chair, said: “Community Matters was established some 70 years ago to support the rise in community development work. It is vital that the expertise and intelligence they developed is not lost.
“We are really pleased to be able to safeguard these resources and ensure that they remain available to the small community organisations they were created for. This marks an exciting new chapter in the work of Community Matters Yorkshire, strengthening our national support offer.”
