Supporting Hertfordshire’s Local Government

Community Action Dacorum works in close harmony with our local and national government partners. We provide a wide range of support and assistance to members and officers alike drawing together our local and national information and data to advise on current and future trends for the area.

We are always happy to provide informal information and guidance on the current state of the community, sharing the issues we are uncovering on a day-to-day basis to inform your decisions and direction.  We have also been commissioned to produce formal reports that consider in more detail those data we hold about any social topic, to support horizon scanning and give an alternative perspective to civil planning.  

Our team supports several key focus and advisory groups to represent the community sector and champion community needs. For example, we are proud to be members of the Hemel Place Strategy Board, contributing to the future of our hometown.  Our team advise the Dacorum Economic Recovery Board and help shape the future growth of the Borough. This allows us to champion existing community assets and encourage community involvement in our area.  We can bring together the voluntary sector and provide you with trusted routes into the community.

Commissioned Services

We can support you to support residents by providing high-quality cost-effective services that are bespoke to the needs of the community. We offer a wide range of services including delivering adult care services such as transport or life-long learning.  We deliver home-school transport solutions including bus services that can get into rural communities, for example we run the E111 route from the villages around Long Marsdon to Tring school.

We can also work with SEND children to provide tailored solutions including one to one coaching, private interpretation support, or transport solutions.  Our aim is to support statutory delivery of services as part of a bespoke solution that brings together our expertise with your needs.

Working with Community Action Dacorum to deliver your needs, ensures the maximum value for your money. All of the money you spend with us goes to support the local community meaning every penny makes a difference.

Payroll Services

Our payroll services are trusted by town and parish councils around the county because we work with you to provide a full-service including tax and NI, pensions, and even payment. We can hold a balance for you to make the payment to your staff along with their payslips.  This means you do not have to pay staff directly.

Our payroll team can advise you about how to minimise your costs and provide a trusted service for your employees.

To discuss your payroll needs, call Gery on 01442 253935 or email payroll@communityactiondacorum.org.uk and we can talk you through your options.

Coordinating Voluntary Sector Responses

Community Action Dacorum has great experience of bringing together a voluntary sector response to support civic initiatives and emergencies. Talk to us as part of your contingency planning, whether that is coordinating public responses with Radio Dacorum or mobilising volunteers to support civic responses. When Buncefield exploded in 2005, Community Action Dacorum supported the emergency response with volunteers. More recently with the Covid-19 pandemic, we provided volunteers to marshal patients through the vaccination process. We can quickly mobilise our volunteers and provide you with safeguarded volunteers who can support the local community in a wide range of ways.  We hold a database of over 1000 people who are willing to support in an emergency. Contact volunteering@communityactiondacorum.org.uk to discuss how we can be part of your contingency planning.

As the CVS for Dacorum, we can also help you to talk to the voluntary sector.  Whether that is getting you into meetings of local charity or community leaders, organising conferences, or linking you with key people, we are here to help. Our advisory boards provide insight into the current issues that our community is facing, our groups bring together community leaders to talk about issues that matter. That may be a focus on BAME issues, LGBT matters, or disability and mobility concerns.  As a charity we are often trusted by hard-to-reach communities who are less comfortable talking directly to authorities.

Delivered Services

Through our trading arm, we offer interpretation and translation services to Local Government bodies and the NHS across the UK.  Many of the councils in the East of England trust our services to professionally interpret sensitive conversations in a way that is both accurate and clear.  With hundreds of languages available for face-to-face or virtual bookings, we offer a fulfilment rate of over 98% of all requests for support. 

Our services can be delivered face-to-face, on video or by telephone, can be scheduled or offered on demand.  We have over 380 languages available including BSL interpretation as well as written translations and so together we can provide a holistic package on a one-off or contract basis to suit your requirements.

If you need support being understood, call our team on 01442 867212 or drop us at line at interpreting@communityactiondacorum.org.uk and we will help you to help others.

Events

The Community Action Dacorum Events Team can make your event something to remember.  From organising the community sector to support, sorting stalls, to closing roads and ensuring your health and safety requirements are met we can take on the whole organisation of your event go off without a hitch. 

Our team run annual events including Berkhamsted Festival of Lights and King’s Langley Festival, we can support you to make it special.  With years of experience our team will work with you to bring in sound equipment, staging, and can even provide hosts and coverage on Radio Dacorum.

To make your event come to life call us on 01442 253935 and see how we can make it happen.

Volunteering

Community Action Dacorum run the Dacorum Volunteer Centre and have years of experience to share in recruiting and managing volunteers.  Whether you want to volunteer your time (maybe your company will give you time to volunteer), or whether you need to recruit volunteers (perhaps to support a cadet’s scheme) it’s worth talking to us first.

We have worked with police and fire cadets to help recruit adult leaders and support units with their operation.  We provide DBS checking and interviewing services, as well as training you to recruit your own team of volunteers. Our team will help you to manage your volunteers and can support you to adopt the Hertfordshire 6 Point Promise which is an excellence in volunteering model.

We can also place your staff in volunteering roles across Dacorum and within the wider County. If you are encouraging your staff to commit some time to the voluntary sector, get them to contact us.  We have a list of opportunities we can share that will help them to find something that matches their skillset or that just provides them with a moment of joy.

If you work with volunteers or you want to volunteer, whether you come from the voluntary healthcare sector or statutory provision, give us a call to discuss how we can support you.  You can call us on 01442 247209 or by emailing volunteering@communityactiondacorum.org.uk