The Council of Voluntary Organisations (CVO) recently held its first conference, with the theme ‘Together We Can - The Community Working Together.’
The conference, which took place at Keyll Daree earlier in April, was opened by CVO Chairman and Age Concern Isle of Man Chief Executive Penny Creighton MBE and attended by representatives from the voluntary sector and Health Minister Eddie Teare MHK.
Mr Teare said that the CVO had already ‘made an impact in advancing, promoting and involving the voluntary sector within the community and creating a conduit for more effective communication with government’, adding that the organisation had lent ‘depth and quality to Island life’.
Praising the efforts of the Island’s third sector, Mr Teare said ‘without such voluntary services and charitable organisations, the Isle of Man Government would have a much heavier burden of social responsibility’ and went on to say the sector had the ability to help Government ‘shape policy through knowledge.’
Following the event, Mrs Creighton said ‘Feedback from the conference has been brilliant. What came shining through was a genuine willingness from across the whole voluntary sector to work together and share skills and expertise to help improve the quality of life for people in the Isle of Man.
‘The Isle of Man Government is seeing a strong and vibrant voluntary sector which takes its professionalism very seriously. In the two short years since it was formed the CVO has become a success because it’s given the voluntary sector a voice – a voice government listens to and respects.’
Other speakers were Crossroads Caring for Carers Chief Executive Jackie Bettridge; Cruse Bereavement Care Isle of Man manager Lorna Trevethen; CVO information officer David Gawne MBE; consultant to the Isle of Man Government on the Safeguarding Children programme Caroline Halls; Isle of Man Children’s Centre Chief Executive John Knight; Superintendent Paul Cubbon; Chairman of the Tynwald Mills Group Bob Jeavons; and H&S Davidson Trust chairman Hugh Davidson.
Mrs Creighton said ‘The conference itself was a triumph of team working at its finest and benefited from the support of Tesco, Shoprite and Ramsey Bakery.
‘All of us who attended the conference came away confident that through membership of the CVO there will be even greater opportunities to pool our extensive breadth and depth of knowledge, experience and resources to help make a very real difference to people’s lives.’
Pictured (l-r): Peter Cartmel, DHSS; John Knight, Chief Executive of the Isle of Man Children’s Centre; Superintendent Paul Cubbon; Heath Minister Eddie Teare MHK; Lorna Trevethan, Manager or Cruse Bereavement Care Isle of Man; Jackie Bettridge, Chief Executive of Crossroads Caring for Carers; and Penny Creighton MBE, Chief Executive of Age Concern Isle of Man.
