Welcome to the Borders Voluntary Community Care Forum

Welcome to the Borders Voluntary Community Care Forum’s website. We hope you enjoy finding out more about the work of the Forum and find the information, contained on this website, helpful.
What is the Borders Voluntary Community Care Forum (BVCCF)?
Independent Voice…The BVCCF is an independent voluntary organisation that aims to represent the interests of local people in the planning and provision of community care. The Forum acts as a collective voice raising and addressing issues of local and national concern.
Inclusive…The Forum’s membership is open to anyone with an interest in community care and includes interested individuals, service users and carers and local voluntary organisations.
Informed…The BVCCF acts as a focal point for consultation by gathering local feedback about services and by setting up special groups to address specific areas of interest.
Involved…The Forum supports services users and carers and representatives from local voluntary organisations to take part in a wide range of joint community care planning and working groups within the Scottish Borders Community Health and Care Partnership.
Innovative…The Forum helps to set up new initiatives in community care and gives on-going support to a wide range of voluntary sector projects eg:

  • Princess Royal Trust Borders Carers Centre
  • Borders Disability Forum
  • People First Borders
  • Borders Independent Advocacy Service
  • Borders Direct Payments Agency
  • Borderline

Information from the Forum… The BVCCF provides information about community care:

  • ‘Communicare’ newsletter
  • ‘Here To Help You’ - useful contacts in the Scottish Borders
  • ‘Signpost’ to local voluntary organisations

Information from You…We would like to hear from you if you have any concerns about community care that you wish to raise or feedback to us.
If you are interested in the work of the Forum and would like to get involved in any of our activities, please get in touch with us.


Forum News

Pleased to meet you!
FORUM MEETS NEW NHS CHAIR
AT the September meeting of the BVCCF Executive Committee, following the election of Meg Roper, the Forum’s new Convenor, members met with Mary Wilson, the new Chair of NHS Borders. There was a members’ information sharing session and concerns were raised about pressure being put on a wide range of local voluntary organisations. Mary Wilson recognised the important role the Forum plays and the need to feed concerns to the Public Governance Committee of NHS Borders.

PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP FORUM
THE recently launched Public Partnership Forum (PPF) will, hopefully, provide increasedopportunity for members of the public, service users and carers and local voluntary organisations to exert an influence and help to improve services. A steering group has been identified to take the work of the PPF forward. In future open meetings of the PPF will be open to all members of the BVCCF.

FUTURE MEETINGS AND FEEDBACK
FORUM members discussed future plans to meet with senior officers and MSPs There was feedback from the Eligibility Criteria Monitoring Group and the Vulnerable Adult Protection Committee, as well as an update on the Joint Commissioning Team for Community Care, which is currently taking forward a major review of services forolder people.

REVIEW OF OLDER PEOPLE’S SERVICES
THE Forum’s Service User and Carer Working Group is involved in detailed discussions about the Review of Older People’s Services, eg Home Care Review, Review of Day Support Services and changes to the Duty System for Social Work Services. The Forum has been asked to take part in a special group being set up to look at Preventative and Community Services.

SPECIAL EVENT ON DIRECT PAYMENTS:
Self Directed Support
THE Borders Direct Payments Agency recently held a special event for people who manage their own care through a Direct Payment. Over 50 participants had an opportunity to share their experiences and learn how to be a good employer.

    A presentation was made by Jean Maclennan on the new national guidance on Self Directed Support, published by the Scottish Government.This guidance follows an independent review of Social Work in Scotland entitled ‘Changing Lives’ which states that ‘more of the same’ in Social Work will not work and innovative approaches must be developed to ensure that individuals get the support that is right for them.Self Directed Support will build on the work already taken forward through Direct Payments and provide more opportunities for people to meet their assessed care needs through more flexible and creative arrangements, putting the key principles of independent living into practice.

      Following the successful development of Direct Payments in the Borders through the Borders Direct Payments Agency and, in the light of the above developments, the Agency will be changing its name and becoming independent from the BVCCF.The BVCCF has helped to manage and provide development support for BDPA over the past five years and is forming a working group to set up the Agency as an independent organisation.

        If you are interested in joining the Working Group or would like more information on any of the above, please contact the BVCCF or the BDPA.


All Change at the Borders Independent

BIAS provides advocacy for individuals who want support to represent their views with health, housing and social work services. Our goal is to help people to get the support they want and need from the NHS Borders, Scottish Borders Council and other services. BIAS can help people to decide what is best for them or to challenge decisions made by others, about their need for care and support.

    Two years ago, with the introduction of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act, BIAS took on the provision of advocacy to people with mental health problems, including supporting people to challenge compulsory treatment decisions. BIAS continues to provide advocacy support for people with learning disabilities and general advocacy for people in need of community care services.

      This year BIAS started a project, funded by Comic Relief, to provide long term support and advocacy to older people living in residential care homes. BIAS aims to match isolated older people with a volunteer who will visit them regularly, get to know them, provide social contact and, crucially, also be able to stand by them if problems should arise.

        Recently BIAS appointed a new worker to support families whose children are subject to child protection. This was in response to an increasing number of requests for advocacy around these issues and is an innovative piece of work being the first advocacy service of this kind, in Scotland.


Aims & Objectives

Aims and Objectives
II To act as a focal point for consultation and representation about community care issues.
II To enable users and carers to have a voice in the planning and provision of community care.
II To promote the provision of accessible information and to raise public awareness about community care.
II To assist in the provision of training to improve the quality of community care services.
II To support the development of new initiatives in the field of community care.
II To work in partnership with all agencies both locally and nationally to improve community care services.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE FORUM
Membership of the Forum is open to all voluntary organisations and individuals with an interest in the planning and provision of community care services in the Borders. From the membership, 15 representatives are nominated to serve for a period of 3 years on the Executive Committee of the Forum. The Forum of Councils of Voluntary Service represents the Local Associations for Voluntary Service as ex- officio members.

FUNDING AND STAFFING
The BVCCF (Forum) is jointly funded by the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and the NHS Borders. Annette Scobie, Co-ordinator; Dawn Roche, Development Worker; and Helen Rogerson, Administrative Assistant, work as part-time members of staff and are based in the BVCCF office. Joan Lawson, temporary Development Worker has been assisting with business planning and funding applications.
The Forum currently manages and provides development support to the Borders Direct Payments Agency, which is funded by SBC Social Work Services. Niccy Kershaw, Project Manager; Brian Stewart and Lucy Morrice, Community Care Project Workers; Louise Salvesen, Children’s Services Project Worker, Quentin Grant and Sheila Cochrane, Administrative Assistant and Sheila Cochrane and Hazel Jack, Payroll Assistants, staff the Agency based in Galashiels.
The accounts are circulated at the Annual General Meeting and are audited by Rennie Welch, Chartered Accountants. Copies are available from the BVCCF office.

MISSION STATEMENT
‘To represent the views of all those with
an interest in community care to the
agencies responsible for the planning
and provision of community care
services in the Scottish Borders.’