SAVO is the county infrastructure group for the voluntary and community sector in Suffolk and has liaison and representation within the voluntary and community sector and between sectors as two of its core roles. This is fulfilled both by directly convening and servicing specific interest groups, forums, networks and one-off meetings, as well as through linking to other established networks and providing regular information and mailings to the sector.

It is a core function of SAVO to promote and support partnership working within the voluntary and community sector and between this sector and the public and private sectors. Through partnership working SAVO seeks to ensure that the expertise and experience of voluntary and community organisations is shared, enabling the planning and delivery of services in Suffolk to benefit from the knowledge, skills and local connections of the many voluntary and community organisations in the county.

SAVO seeks to ensure that all parts of the voluntary sector are able to have an opportunity to be involved in some capacity with partnership working, to have their needs taken into account and to have their views heard. It aims to assist the representation of voluntary sector views to public sector agencies and to enable voluntary and community sector people involved on partnerships to be accountable to the wider VCS.

SAVO also acts in a leadership role, using its specialist knowledge and experience to ensure that policy and strategy development at a local, national and regional level reflects the changing needs of the voluntary and community sector in Suffolk.

SAVO Membership is open to all voluntary and community groups active in Suffolk which support its broad charitable aims. Support and development is offered to all groups, whether members or not. Members elect the Trustee Board which oversees SAVO’s work and are regularly consulted on specific issues, whether on a one-off basis or through meetings and networks. SAVO strives to survey satisfaction levels of our members on a regular basis and feed these into the development of SAVO’s business plan, where resources permit.

Requests for voluntary and community sector representation in formal partnerships should initially be made to SAVO (or through One Voice Suffolk, for whom SAVO is the secretariat). We will then liaise with relevant established networks or groups to secure appropriate representation including, if necessary, convening a specific meeting or consultation to do so. In doing so, SAVO will strive to meet the requirements of the Compact in Suffolk.

SAVO will strive to maintain a register of who is acting as a voluntary sector representative on various partnerships and publicise this to other interested groups, along with the scope and remit for each role. Within its available resources, SAVO will assist those representatives in their role by providing support and training as well as input and feedback opportunities. These will be through mailings and meetings where appropriate to specific organisations and through networks and links to the wider voluntary and community sector.