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This month, Angela Gilbert, VCSE representative on the Cheltenham Integrated Locality Partnership (ILP), shares how she, and fellow representative Andy Herbert, have helped make it possible for VCSE groups & organisations in Cheltenham to influence priorities for the Strengthening Local Communities grants.

Can VCSE representation make a difference? 

Applying for funding is a common task that we face in order to sustain the work and activities in our organisations. However, we have fewer opportunities to shape and influence the criteria used to award grant funds.

As VCSE representatives on the Cheltenham ILP, we have been able to develop an opportunity for the VCSE sector to share their knowledge and insight in order to influence and shape the priorities and criteria for the Strengthening Local Communities Fund. 

For the last two years, at the suggestion of VCSE representatives, the ILP has organised an event bringing the VCSE sector together to:

1. Share where the sector sees the need and gaps in support to tackle health inequalities in Cheltenham.
2. Hear from a selection of projects that had been supported by the Fund during the previous year.
3. Receive an update from the ILP about its work and local health priorities.

Each year, the information gathered at this event has been used to develop the criteria for awarding grants from the Strengthening Local Communities Fund.  

The event has been one of the ways that the VCSE representatives have been able to use their role to encourage and enable engagement from the wider VCSE sector in the work of the ILP. By working together to identify emerging issues, gaps in services and local need, more resources have been targeted to local community-based activity that supports the health and wellbeing of Cheltenham residents.

Find our more about ILP's in Gloucestershire

You can find out more about ILP's and the important role of ILP representatives across Gloucestershire on our ILP page.