Haverhill Association of Voluntary Organisations, HAVO, is a Registered Charity whose aim is to act as a service provider working to support the Voluntary and Community Sector in Haverhill and the surrounding villages.
Services provided include:
Provision of information and practical advice to the Voluntary and Community Sector
Publication of monthly newsletter to keep the Voluntary and Community Sector organisations informed of what is happening locally, funding opportunities and legal updates. This publication is circulated to 150 organisations
Support through the provision of toolkits, information packs and a signposting service to experts
Organisation and hosting of training courses for the Voluntary and Community Sector, covering topics such as:
How to run meetings
The roles and responsibilities of trustees
Book keeping courses for treasurers
Our training courses are run by experts in the field such as Suffolk Association of Voluntary Organisations (SAVO) and Suffolk Volunteering Federation. They are either free or made available at a very modest cost
Representation of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Haverhill, through involvement with partnerships, focus groups, locality groups and other bodies
Provision of "back office services" to the Voluntary and Community Sector including Internet and email access, availability of a 'hot desk', meeting rooms, fax and photocopying services
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Services for the public, private or voluntary and community sectors, this is offered as a free service for volunteers and at a small admin charge of £10 for private and public sector organisations
Identity confirmation through the Veri-fy system offered at highly competitive prices and a minimal charge for volunteers
Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)
Organisation of the annual Family Health Day and Wellman Clinic
Funding fairs and surgeries - facilitating the sharing of ideas and experiences amongst member organisations.
Examples of our work in the community
Haverhill Performing Arts Festival
HAVO guided this group through the procedures involved in setting up and gaining charitable status.
WASH Sailability
HAVO established and continues to offer support to WASH Sailability, a group that provides sailing opportunities for people over the age of seven with any form of disability. We recently wrote a constitution for WASH Sailability to enable them to register as a charity.
Shopmobility
HAVO were instrumental in setting up the Shopmobility scheme in Haverhill, which is now operated by 3 Counties Transport and the Haverhill Volunteer Centre. The scheme hires manual and electric wheelchairs or scooters to people who may have difficulty walking around the town and the shops.
Coming soon
Due to the withdrawal of several streams of funding HAVO will be launching new initiatives in an effort to become self funding.
Recycling of mobile phones
Recycling of DVDs, CDs and computer games.
If you would like to get involved in these new initiatives by having a collection box in your premises please call Michael Simpkin on 01440 714 641.
Contact us
Our offices are open Monday to Friday from 9.30am - 3.30pm. Call us on 01440 714 41 to see how we can assist your voluntary or community organisation or discover what cost effective services we can provide for your business.