How we work: Our Values and Vision
Our Vision is of a fair society where local people and communities are able to shape their future
Our Mission is to help individuals, voluntary and community organisations to respond better to the needs of local people and communities
Download our Strategic Review: Our vision, mission, outcomes and objectives for 2008 – 2011
Our Values
It’s important for all organisations to set out their fundamental beliefs about the world. These are our values. We believe that:
- Many of the solutions to the challenges faced by society should lie within local people and communities - our role is to affirm and enable all people to play an active part in their community, both individually and collectively
- We should maintain a strong bottom up approach and maintain a high degree of transparency
- Strong communities are built through opportunities for involvement, participation and democratic representation
- The diversity and independence of the voluntary and community sector gives it a unique role to play in responding to the complex needs of our society
- HCVS is committed to challenging oppression and prejudice and aims to promote both diversity and full access to opportunity in all areas of its work and structures
- Equality is the cornerstone of social integration and without it, efforts to promote a fair and participative society will be undermined
- Priority should be given to working with communities and groups whose full participation in society is limited by economic disadvantage or institutional discrimination
- Innovation is often to be welcomed, but not ‘for its own sake’, and must be balanced against what we know already works
- Accurate, comprehensive and relevant information and the infrastructure for engagement are critical aspects of building strong communities.
Our Operating Principles
These set out our key beliefs about our role and the approach we wish to take.
- Our role is sometimes to support, sometimes to participate with and sometimes to lead
- We have a responsibility to use our limited resources, including public funding, effectively and accountably
- We cannot do everything, and so need to make choices
- We believe that these choices should be clear, open and accountable and that we should be able to defend them
- We are committed to promoting quality and efficiency within the voluntary and community sector, and this means we must lead by example and ‘practice what we preach’
- We are committed to equality, and this means that we will make judgements and choices on merit alone in all areas of our work
- Although we work within an often competitive landscape, we are committed to operating transparently – our goal is to empower the sector and support organisations and networks to become strong and independent in their own right
- We will be welcoming and open in all our dealings, and try and overcome barriers faced by those who, for whatever reason, find our services difficult to access
- We believe that working well with other individuals and organisations brings us new ideas and inspiration, and produces more than the sum of its parts
- We believe that actively listening to people, communities and organisations is key to shaping and delivering our work, and that constructive criticism is as welcome and useful as praise
- We believe we should celebrate our common humanity by being respectful, courteous, compassionate and fun
- We expect the same in return from those we work for and with, believing that respect is a two-way process.
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