Ten years of uniting efforts: CaVSA’s Tenth AGM
Photos from the AGM
The above 2 photos show the speakers at the AGM
Complete the Evaluation form for the CaVSA AGM
CaVSA AGM 2009 Report
- Our origins
- Taking stock – Our tenth AGM
- The road forward
“We’re here. We’re here to stay!” The energy and enthusiasm running through the Hammersmith & Fulham Third Sector was clear to all at CaVSA’s tenth AGM. Yet leafing through CaVSA’s founding documents, the welfare of the Sector did not always look so healthy – in fact it looked worryingly unstable.
Independent analysts had concluded that Hammersmith & Fulham voluntary groups were becoming increasingly isolated with few places to turn to for support, difficulties in developing skills or networks, and a widespread lack of funding. The lack of coordination meant no one was able to take an overview of the Sector or to provide a lead in strategic issues. In short, standards were slipping and workers becoming demoralised.
It was in this climate that a few individuals came together and decided on the borough’s need for an effective CVS. This, they hoped, would lead to the provision of more effective and secure Third Sector services by building capacity, developing resources and providing a happier working environment. CaVSA’s first two staff members, the Director and a Groups Development Officer, were appointed and began work in January 1999.
On 4th December 2009, one of CaVSA’s original trustees and our current Chair, Jose Tsuchihashi, opened the organisation’s tenth AGM. The hall was packed with 14 members of staff and a full attendance of over 75 movers and shakers from Hammersmith & Fulham’s vibrant Third Sector.
Many thanks were duly given to all those who helped us to where we stand today – as one member put it, “a true, strong voice for the sector”.
After a review of the year and an appeal for trustees, we were treated to the introduction to CaVSA’s brand new, user-friendly website. (If you are interested in becoming a trustee and would like to find out what’s involved, simply email Peter
The gathering was then addressed by Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh, cabinet member for the Third Sector and leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Calling the future both difficult and bright, the Councillor acknowledged our strengths in local expertise and called on the Third Sector to deliver where the public sector couldn’t and the private sector wouldn’t – this, he said, is where we would flourish.
Following the Councillor were speakers from five organisations that did just that: five organisations that played to their strengths, built services based on local knowledge and excelled in their field – Fulham Black Community Association, The Albert and Friends Instant Circus, West London Health Unlimited, Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, and Keeping Youth Active. Some have moved in leaps and bounds in their first year of establishment, others are local organisations with international reputations. Some have been given a helping hand from CaVSA, others believe they would not have been able to achieve their goals without us. All give an invaluable service to the community.
The Grove Neighbourhood Centre was packed with similar such stories, of hard-working dedicated people – brought together, working together. While the funding climate is, no doubt, as difficult as it was at the time of CaVSA’s founding, the welfare of the Hammersmith & Fulham Third Sector is, by any standards, a healthy affair. While we hope to have contributed to the Sector’s capacity and resources through our training, networks and capacity building support, we are in no doubt that the outstanding quality of finger food at our AGM made for a significantly happier working environment!
So, have the past 10 years brought success for CaVSA, success for our Sector?
Success: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) American Essayist & Poet.
In this, we have succeeded. “We’re here. We’re here to stay!”
