Useful Links and Jargon Buster

Baseline

The situation at the start of a project before any work has been carried out. It is the information that helps to define the nature and extent of a problem.

Capacity Building

Increasing the resources available to an organisation, including people, money, equipment, expertise and information.

Community Cohesion

A cohesive community is a community that is in a state of well-being, harmony and stability. Local authorities have an important role in facilitating community cohesion, through listening to communities, engaging residents and assisting interaction between communities.

Compact

An agreement between a public sector body and the voluntary sector. Following the development of a national compact, local authorities, health authorities and other public sector agencies are developing local compacts stating how they will work in partnership with voluntary sector groups.

Commissioning

(definition from NAVCA website)

Commissioning means securing the services that most appropriately address the needs and wishes of the individual service user, making use of market intelligence and research, and planning accordingly.

CYP

Children and Young People.  Resources for the VCS Children and Young People’s Strategy Group can be found on the Gloshub website.

Floor target

Floor targets set a minimum standard for disadvantaged groups or areas in relation to a particular government service.

GAVCA

Gloucestershire Association for Voluntary and Community Action.  GAVCA supports and represents local voluntary action by working in partnership to promote equality. GAVCA is a local development agency supporting voluntary and community groups in Gloucester and Cheltenham.  It also has a countywide role. 

GCC

Gloucestershire County Council.

Gloucestershire Assembly

The Gloucestershire Assembly aims to strengthen and support the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in Gloucestershire, by providing an arena for discussion and a strategic voice for the sector.

Gloucestershire Assembly Team

The Gloucestershire Assembly Team builds and supports voluntary and community sector (VCS) involvement in partnership working across Gloucestershire.

Gloshub

The website for the voluntary and community sector in Gloucestershire, and the name of the Bulletin – a weekly email newsletter.

Gloucestershire Conference

(definition from Gloucestershire Conference website)

The collective name to describe the strategic partnership arrangements in Gloucestershire.

GOSW

(definition from GOSW website)

Government Office for the South West: Represents central Government in the South West (and similar Government Offices perform a similar role in other regions of the country) and represents the South West within Government. For the LAA, GOSW acts as the go-between in negotiations between Gloucestershire and Government.

GSP

(definition from GSP website)

Gloucestershire Strategic Partnership.  The GSP is a 'partnership of partnerships', providing the framework within which other partnerships operate.

In Kind

Non-monetary contribution to your project or organisation. This can include free office space, volunteer time or other support services provided free of charge.

LGB&T

Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender.

Leverage

The process of using your project or some funding to bring in other funds.

LAA

Local Area Agreement: Agreement made between central and local government in a local area. Their aim is to achieve local solutions that meet local needs, while also contributing to national priorities and the achievement of standards set by central government.

LSP

Local Strategic Partnership: LSPs seek to improve quality of life locally. They are intended to co-ordinate better local service delivery by involving all sectors of society: public, private, community and voluntary.

Match Funding

The process by which certain funders will only fund a percentage of the total costs of a project (e.g. 50%) and require the remainder to be matched with income from other funders or in-kind donations.

PCT

(Definition from Gloucestershire PCT website)

Primary Care Trust. Gloucestershire PCT was formed on 1st October 2006 and replaced the three former Primary Care Trusts in Gloucestershire (Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, Cotswold and Vale and West Gloucestershire).

Performance Indicator

A way of measuring how a service is performing against its objectives. Performance indicators may be collected for local or national purposes.

Pooling

The process whereby an area can bring various funding streams together to make up a total budget for a specific work area.

Procurement

Procurement is the whole process of buying goods and services, from initial advertising through to appropriate contracting arrangements.

RDA

(Definition from SWRDA website)

Regional Development Agency: The agency within each of the 9 English regions, Scotland and Wales that promotes economic growth and regeneration.  The RDA for our region is the South West RDA.

Social Capital

A concept that refers to relationships of trust between people from within one particular social group and between people from different social groups in a particular area.

Stakeholders

People who have an interest in an organisation or process including users, customers, partners, employees, residents, owners, government and regulators.

Sustainable Communities Strategy

(Definition from SCS website)

Gloucestershire has a Sustainable Communities Strategy for the county, which sets out the long-term (10 year) vision for Gloucestershire.

VCO

Voluntary and community organisation.

VCS

Voluntary and community sector.  Sometimes referred to as the Third Sector. The name used to describe organisations that are neither public nor private sector. Voluntary organisations are typically larger and unlike community organisations may not be rooted in one individual local community.

Volbase

Database of voluntary and community organisations in the county, held by GAVCA.