Voluntary Action Waltham Forest closes

19^th October 2016

Dear Member

Closure Voluntary Action Waltham Forest

I am writing in my capacity as Chair of Voluntary Action Waltham Forest to advise that the organisation will be closing on the 31^st October 2016.  As you may be aware London Borough Waltham Forest retendered the Infrastructure Support contract and sadly despite a very strong bid with key sub regional partners the award of the contract went to Community Southwark.

It is indeed a very sad outcome for our service as well as our sector as another of our local organisations is side-lined in favour of an external organisation. The local Council of Voluntary Services has been a mainstay in boroughs for more than 25 years and VAWF in its various forms has always strived to support and represent the sector in Waltham Forest.  Due to the constraints placed on services across all sectors many of our neighbouring CVS’S have already closed. Unfortunately without the infrastructure contract the organisation is no longer a viable entity and therefore the board with a heavy heart have made the decision to close on the 31^st October 2016.
I am sure that you would like us to extend your thanks and support to all our staff who have worked so hard to maintain the service in what has been a very difficult three year period and to the trustees who have given their time voluntarily over many years to support the work of VAWF.

In order to ensure that there is a seamless transfer of service please be advised that Community Southwark has advised that if you are in need of advice or support the appropriate contact details are:

You can either visit this temporary website www.communitywalthamforest.org, email hello@communitywalthamforest.org or call Gordon McCullough  on 020 73580 7020 (this is the main Community Southwark number and is only temporary). 

                            

Yours sincerely

Helen Tredoux

Chairperson