REVISED MEMBERSHIP SCHEME
(from April 2009)

VAL membership is changing! This gives you the details.

About VAL

Voluntary Action Lewisham (VAL) is the Council for Voluntary Service in Lewisham. In simple terms we are an umbrella organisation for all Third Sector (voluntary, community and not-for-profit organisations).

Our work includes:

• providing services – advice, support, training, information, and payroll
• representing and advocating for the sector,
• developing partnerships and liaising with Lewisham Council, Lewisham PCT and other statutory agencies
• supporting community development

We are funded through grants/contracts with government and local statutory agencies and grants from charitable trusts.

Our Trustee Board (Executive Committee) comprises mainly people nominated by member organisations.

We have a staff team (currently 15 people) who deliver our work and services.

VAL membership

From April 2009 VAL will have two levels of membership:

FULL Members

By becoming a Full Member of VAL you are not only demonstrating your support for the work we do on behalf of the Third Sector in Lewisham but you also:

• Have greater opportunities for involvement with us
• eligibility to vote at our AGM
• eligibility to nominate members to serve on our Executive Committee
• Receive substantial discounts** on training courses and other services, including our payroll service
• Gain access to the members-only area on our website
• Receive Grapevine, our monthly newsletter
• Receive information by e-mail (if you indicate you would like to do so)

Full membership costs (per year):

• £12 for organisations with no staff
• £24 for organisations with paid staff and annual income of less than £100,000 p.a.
• £48 for organisations with paid staff and annual income of more than £100,000 p.a.

** Discounts will vary; for training courses the discount will normally be 50% or more. Discounts on other services will range from 5% to 25% or more. We hope, in time, to negotiate discount deals for VAL Full Members from other suppliers.

If you use VAL training and services on a few occasions
during the year, it is likely that you will receive more in
discounts than the membership fee that you pay!

To be eligible for Full membership organisations must

• Be a properly constituted voluntary, community or not-for-profit organisation
• Be based in, or deliver the majority of their work, in Lewisham
• Complete all sections of the Full membership application form
• Supply a copy of their governing document (Constitution, Articles of Association, etc)

(For full details of the requirements of Full membership please see the application form)

Associate Members

Ideally we would like all Lewisham voluntary & community organisations to be full members but we recognise that some, especially new, very small organisations and those with very limited resources, may not feel themselves in a position to do this but nonetheless would like to show their support for VAL and use our services. Associate membership is a way of achieving this.

Associate membership is free, and provides access to many of our services, but does not cover the full range of benefits that are accorded to full members.

As Associate members you will:

• Receive Grapevine, our monthly newsletter
• Receive information by e-mail (if you indicate you would like to do so)
• Gain access to the members-only area on our website
• Receive small discounts on VAL training and services

To be eligible for Associate Membership organisations must

• Confirm that they are a voluntary, community or not-for-profit organisation, based or working in Lewisham
• Complete the Associate membership application form

To apply for either Full or Associate Membership, please complete the relevant form (enclosed).

Your application will be considered by the next meeting of the VAL Executive Committee (or Sub-committee) and we will write to you as soon as possible afterwards. (N.B. A Committee or Sub-committee meets every 6 weeks, so there may be a delay before you hear from us.)

Further information

If you have questions about VAL membership, or any aspect of our work, you can phone us on 020 8314 9411 or e-mail us: info@valewisham.org.uk

Grapevine

From June 2009, if you want to receive Grapevine
(our monthly news magazine) by post,
you must be either a Full or Associate Member of VAL