Blog | Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Shining a light on Teesside Ability Support Centre

13 June 2023 - 11:35am

I had a great conversation with Amanda Bolderson from the Teesside Ability Support Centre (TASC) last week. TASC provides a brilliant service for its members but I don't think it gets a lot of recognition, so I asked Amanda for some information to share - and here it is:

Making Caring Visible, Valued and Supported across the South Tees

23 June 2022 - 3:45pm

Last week, Carers Week, was up there with being one of my favourite weeks as the Project Lead for We Care You Care. It was fantastic to get out in the local community and meet some really interesting people both carers and professionals. Despite working closely with professionals from a range of local organisations over the last two and a half years, this was the first opportunity I have had to meet many of them in person, after forging our working relationship online because of the pandemic.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

25 April 2022 - 9:45am

We have have had a number of enquiries about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, so we thought it might be helpful to blog what we have learnt about this fund so far.

Main points:

My whistlestop tour of Boro with Paul Streets

30 March 2022 - 3:40pm

John Atkinson, Community Action Development Officer at MVDA took Paul Streets, the CEO of Lloyds Bank Foundation on a whistlestop tour of Middlesbrough in March.

Paul has been a driving force behind LocalMotion, a 10-year programme supporting System Change activities in 6 towns across England and Wales including Middlesbrough with the backing of 6 major funders. Paul was in Middlesbrough to get a sense of the town, its brilliant people and inventive Voluntary and Community Organisations.

Minority communities, people with learning disabilities and Annual Health Checks – a role for the VCS?

16 March 2022 - 1:32pm

The uptake of Annual Health Checks (AHCs) by people with learning disabilities is low in all parts of the Country. It appears to me the NHS needs all the help it can get to ensure numbers increase in general and, in particular, for those from minority groups. However, in a meeting we were invited to of health practitioners in the Midlands area there appeared to be the same old, same old in terms of who is being involved, what is being funded and lack of understanding about the VCS.