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Hannah Gorf (Senior Programme Manager: Healthy Communities and Individuals Team, NHS Gloucestershire) would like to share some important updates for VCSE groups & organisations in Gloucestershire. 

Hannah's updates includes news about the co-development of a partnership model for the county, information about organisations that secured a Health & Wellbeing Grant and the launch of Joining up Insight in Gloucestershire.

Co-development begins for a new partnership model for Gloucestershire 

Work has begun on the co-development of a new VCSE sector-ICS (Integrated Care System) partnership model. This aims to support a thriving and sustainable VCSE sector and create community capacity and support to individuals on the ground. The first half of 2025 will see in-depth engagement take place to inform the future model. We welcome input on the best forums and ways in which to engage with the VCSE sector. We’d also like to hear your thoughts on what functions the new model needs to encompass and how to deliver these. 

This new model will build on learning and relationships to date, further informed by the outcomes of the engagement. Ultimately it is about building capacity in the VCSE Sector, as well as in our communities across Gloucestershire, and enhancing the opportunities for partnership across statutory and VCSE sectors for the good of the populations we serve. We will be engaging with stakeholders in the Spring, so please do get involved. Opportunities to do so will be promoted widely through Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance bulletins and other channels. 

Community Health and Wellbeing Grants 

Whilst we co-develop a new ICS VCSE Partnership Model, we are very aware of the immediacy of need in the VCSE Sector and in communities across our county. Therefore, Gloucestershire County Council and the ICB (Integrated Care Board) held an open grants round late 2024 for to VCSE organisations working in the county. We had 177 applications and have awarded grants to 32 VCSE organisations, spread across Gloucestershire. The purpose of the grants is to help build community capacity and provide much needed support to individuals and communities during 2025. 

The successful recipient organisations were:

Launch of Joining up Insight in Gloucestershire (JIG)

You are invited to sign up and contribute to JIG. This new workspace provides a central hub for gathering, collating and storing qualitative data or ‘insight’ – people's experiences, views, and feedback - so that people developing and delivering local services and support can access it, learn from it, and use it to influence their plans and decision-making. It reflects a commitment to putting people and communities at the heart of service development and decision-making across the Integrated Care System, ensuring that local voices are heard, valued and influential.

Qualitative data is being gathered by a range of health, care, statutory, voluntary and community organisations and groups on topics such as housing, education, employment, the environment, sport and leisure, criminal justice, culture and heritage. We hope that JIG will help foster a deeper understanding of what matters to people in Gloucestershire, reduce duplication of work and the risk of engagement fatigue in our communities. 

JIG is hosted on the FutureNHS online platform.  It is free and accessible to anyone working or volunteering in health and care, the statutory sector, voluntary and community organisations. Please join the workspace, add your reports and other insight to the collection, and use the information that is already there. 

We need your help to grow the information on JIG and make it a valuable resource for you and other people who support our Gloucestershire communities. If you have already signed up to FutureNHS you can use the search bar in the top right of the platform to find JIG  and request to join the workspace. Alternatively, you can request access by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..