CVSA is the collective voice for about 1,300 voluntary groups and communities in Croydon and brings them together to decide how to take forward issues that are central to their existence and delivery in the borough.

Recently it has been instrumental in the creation of the Croydon Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Sector (VCSE) Strategy, which fed on in-depth interviews with a broad range of VCS groups to better understand and make the business case for the sector. Leaders of the Council have been invited to respond to the VCSE strategy and discuss how they will play their part to ensure Croydon’s VCS thrives.

Sarah Burns Head of Communities (shared) talks about the importance of working closely with Croydon Council, after the election of the new labour administration in 2014

Croydon's Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have also been invited to respond to VCS concerns with the proposed commissioning process. After the event Paula Swann, CEO of Croydon’s CCG, commented:

‘..it was great to see so many interested groups represented.. – it really made us think about how best to engage deeper at individual group level for example Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Support Group, to better understand some of the issues.’

The CVSA network has fundamentally increased its involvement in partners’ work on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, with CVA now being the voluntary sector champion on DASV for Croydon and working alongside Croydon Council, Health Authorities and the Metropolitan Police to raise awareness amongst our members.