Blog Posts

We are absolutely over the moon to announce that we have been awarded £305,496 funding from the National Lottery Community Fund which will enable us to continue to deliver GetInvolvedCoventry for the next three years. Through this grant we will be able to ensure that people in Coventry can get support to engage in community activities – it might be giving their time through volunteering or contributing their skills through community action. We know there is huge demand in Coventry for volunteers - we know how much voluntary, community and social enterprises rely on the contribution of volunteers to run their organisations and deliver essential services to those in need. We also know that are many individuals who have time and skills to give but face barriers (real or perceived) which are preventing them from fulfilling their potential GetInvolvedCoventry unites our projects Improving Lives and Chat Central with our volunteering brokerage service ensuring that anyone who comes to us will get the right support to enable them to flourish and contribute to community activity, volunteering or employment. A huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players for making this grant possible!

Watch this space for an update on our 200th member... but in the interim, we'd like to introduce you to our new friends who, just like all of our members on Get Involved Coventry, are passionate voluntary sector organisations and groups providing much needed support to the people of Coventry and beyond. You can find Empowr-U, Back and Forth - Men’s Mental Health, Coventrians Football Club and All Our Shoes CIC in our C ommunity Directory!

WE'VE REACHED 199 VOLUNTARY ORGANISATION MEMBERS ON GetInvolvedCoventry !! Could your #charity , #community group, #faith organisation or #nonprofit be our 200th member? #GetInvolvedCoventry is the place to attract #volunteers , highlight and promote your services and community events and connect with the #peopleofcoventry . We're offering the 200th organisation that registers on the platform a PR special feature, so don't delay to get an extra boost in your promotions from #VoluntaryActionCoventry !

Read how Voluntary Action Coventry's Improving Lives project helped someone who'd had a knockback due to ill-health and the pandemic

Celebrating and promoting the peer to peer sharing ethos of Voluntary Action Coventry's volunteer coordinator support network

Coventry volunteer celebrated by Voluntary Action Coventry and Underground Lights Community Theatre

Coventry volunteer celebrated by Voluntary Action Coventry and Underground Lights Community Theatre

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!* Betty Innis was a driving force for a lot of community change in Coventry, especially Willenhall. She worked on behalf of her community making sure all residents had what was needed, teaching people how to cook, how to grow fruit and vegetables, how to be sustainable and stretch money as far as it could possibly go. Betty worked with so many individuals trying to turn their life around and find their feet, and after her death in 2019, her family and the community continued her legacy with The Betty Innis Foundation. The Foundation has a Charity shop in the heart of Willenhall, selling donated items at low prices and also provides a food bank. The Betty Ennis Support System provides a mechanism for those with no budget to apply for goods, services or advice in times of need. Find The Betty Innis Foundation in our Community Directory for more information.

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!!* No Panic is a charity that helps and supports anyone across the UK living with Panic Attacks, Phobias, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and other related anxiety disorders. Quite often people who contact No Panic are unable to get help or have been waiting a long time for therapy. No Panic offers support that can prevent certain situations from reaching crisis point. Their helpline is available 365 days of the year 10am to 10pm. For more information, check out their profile on the Community Directory!

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!!* Coventry-based physical theatre company Highly Sprung Performance work with children and young people through workshops and touring performances. "We know that stories can change the world, and we use stories to evoke change. To demonstrate the power of the human spirit. We inspire young people to learn through fun, motivation and engagement which feels important and relevant – especially as it is inspired and often designed by them. Spoken text is limited, to enable the body to tell the story and our audience’s to listen. We celebrate and make space for the physicality of each person, knowing they bring with them their own thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. We are not afraid to work with young people to explore important questions. Working together to make the complicated accessible, through story-telling and movement." For more information, check out their profile on the Community Directory!

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!!* Intercultural Roots brings together practitioners, artists, scholars and teachers to create collaboratively and develop their practices for health and social change. They provide health and social wellness through a range of initiatives in cultural, artistic, educational and mental health programs. These include dance &movement, visual arts and crafts, breathing and vocal techniques, music making and listening skills. For more information, check out their profile on the Community Directory!

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!!* Arts Uplift specialises in arts and health and heritage and works with a wide range of the community from children and young people to older people from across Worcestershire, Coventry and Warwickshire. Arts and health uses a diverse range of arts practices to improve health and well being, both physically and mentally. The art is a vehicle to producing positive health outcomes. The arts forms might be drama, dance/movement, music (singing, performances, percussion/drumming), creative writing (poetry/stories/plays), drama, film and radio drama. For more information, check out their profile on the Community Directory!

*Welcome to our new VCSE Alliance member!!* FoodCycle Coventry is a community dining charity that uses surplus food to create a FREE weekly community meal to their guests. Their aim with these meals is to provide much needed food provision to the local area, but also to tackle isolation and loneliness. By bringing people together to share a meal, they are looking to build resilient communities. For more information, check out their profile on the Community Directory!

Hands together please to celebrate August's Volunteer of the Month, Gareth! Gareth was nominated by St Giles Trust, where he has been volunteering in their social supermarket, The Pantry. St Giles Trust's volunteer coordinator Hannah told us, ""Gareth is a dedicated team player and the change that we have seen in his confidence in recent months has been tremendous. Gareth has increased his volunteering hours and passed his L3 Advice and Guidance qualification. He requested to do this as he wants to give back to clients who have been in similar situations to himself. This shows his investment in himself and the community within which he lives. He has an exceptional ability to make clients feel welcome and at ease and is able to build a good rapport with them. Gareth is very self-aware and has developed to see challenges as a stepping-stone for the next part of his journey rather than as a barrier which is how he previously viewed set-backs. He is willing to learn and extremely reliable with excellent communication skills. He is also supportive of the project, helping to develop ideas to further grow the Pantry and as a result further support clients accessing it. Gareth is very much seen as part of our team and is an asset to the clients who he supports." Congratulations Gareth, and thanks for all you do.

Fabian Logos recently registered as a volunteer, and he shared his motivations for offering his support to local charities: “I am a 20 years old university student, looking to expand my horizon in all type of ways. I am charitable and I always try to support and do something that can have a positive impact on people's lives. Coming from a family background based in healthcare and care home settings, I have rapidly came to realise the daily struggles and harsh reality of some people that are constantly being mistreated or abused just because they are different. Being different is what makes you unique, and I completely stand by that! It takes very little effort such as a compliment to change the outcome of someone's day, so why not do it? Why not be the change? Well, I am planning on being the change to put a smile on people's faces.”

Allen attended a volunteering course run by Voluntary Action Coventry in 2023 and has really thrown himself into community life. He’s quite a busy chap and is incredibly dedicated to the causes he has made a connection with. We caught up with him recently to talk to him about his volunteering experiences: “Struggling with my health, I sought ways to enhance my physical and mental wellbeing. That's when I discovered Voluntary Action Coventry. Enrolling in their 'Improving Lives' programme provided me with valuable insights into the diverse volunteering opportunities available. I became a part of Healthwatch Coventry, where I engage with patients and medical staff to see if any improvements can be made to the NHS. I also enjoy being at a nursery school, offering them support and playtime. Additionally, I also joined G.Y.M (Guiding Young Minds). These experiences have reignited my sense of purpose, aiding in the alleviation of my anxiety and enhancing my physical health. Volunteering a few hours weekly has not only made a tangible difference in the community but has also given me a renewed sense of purpose and fulfilment”. Great job Allen and thanks for sharing your story with us!