About Collaborative Worker, Ian Curtis

Ian Curtis started work with CVS on February 2007. His role is to support collaborative working between VCS agencies in Mid and North Bedfordshire and between VCS organisations and agencies in the private/independent/ local government sector. This project is in partnership with NCVO’s Collaborative Working Unit, and is funded by the Bedford Charity (The Harpur Trust) and Capacity Builders ‘Change Up’ Programme for three years.

Ian said “Local voluntary and community sector organisations are operating in a rapidly-changing business environment and may need additional and sometimes urgent support. I am here to help with such issues as governance, forward planning, funding, policy development and reacting to the new ‘service commissioning and procurement arrangements’ now coming out of the statutory sector. These issues are often better tackled in partnership because we can draw strength from each other’s experiences, resources and ideas.”

We are aware from recent research that most people in the sector understand the word ‘collaboration’ to mean ‘mergers’ and whilst this could be one outcome of two or more organisations working in partnership, collaborative working can also be on the basis of informal or formal partnerships, lead agency working, and consortium working. Ian said “I am not here to try to force partnerships but to help organisations explore options together and move forward in whatever way they think is best.”

Ian has been working in the voluntary sector since 2000 mainly in the fields of funding and development. Most recently he was Funding and Development Officer for all eight of North Yorkshire’s Citizen’s Advice Bureaux.

Ian can be contacted on: 01234 354366 or email ian@cvsmidandnorthbeds.org.uk