Bringing together the region’s voluntary sector

A community hub to develop and support the voluntary and charity sector in the Tees Valley and beyond has been set up by Teesside University.

Nearly 100 representatives from a variety of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations visited Teesside University to attend the launch of the Teesside University Community Hub.

Attendees at the launch event heard about the different ways in which the University was already working with voluntary and charitable organisations through initiatives such as student volunteering, joint research, bid writing, consultation and evaluation of impact.

Professor Paul Crawshaw, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law, said that working with the voluntary sector was a major part of the University’s mission in its role as an anchor institution driving economic and cultural growth in the region.

He said: “As a region we are right in the spotlight of the levelling-up agenda and the voluntary sector will be key to its success. We want to strengthen our partnership with the voluntary sector to help them succeed in what they do.”

The community hub will as act as a ‘front door’ to the University for organisations working across the voluntary and community sector.

It will enable them to access some of the University’s key support services such as its volunteering organisation VolunTees, the TUCan digital studio, the Business Clinic, the Launchpad business accelerator and its higher and degree apprenticeship offer.

However, the hub will also act as a two-way forum facilitating knowledge exchange between the University and the sector, enabling it to feed into academic research with data and insights from the people and communities it works with.

The event’s keynote speaker, Anne Fry, the Deputy Chief Executive of Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East (VONNE), said a successful working relationship hinged on working together as equal partners.

She said: “We can support universities as they demonstrate the impact their research has had.

“Our networks in the community can provide intelligence and access to people directly impacted by policy.

“There is huge capacity within the University and finding ways to unlock it is very important.

“That is why the community hub is such a good initiative because it’s a pathway for voluntary organisations to engage with the University.”

Following the keynote speeches, the launch event split into thematic working groups to discuss the next steps forward.

The launch event will be followed by a programme of co-produced events and activities over the next 12 months

A steering group is also being established to provide direction and input to the community hub. Anyone interested in joining the steering group is encouraged to contact the community hub.

Dr Helen Dudiak, Associate Dean (Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange) in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law, said: “We were delighted to see so many people engage with the University at the launch event.

“It is vital that this is a two-way process and we want to gather ideas and information.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work with our partners in the voluntary sector through a series of events, workshops and masterclasses.”

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