Halton & St Helens VCA is an infrastructure organisation that provides advice, information and development support services to voluntary, community and faith organisations and volunteers in St Helens and Halton. The organisation is affiliated to the National Association of Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) and undertakes five core functions:

• Development – Identifying local need, working with others to develop appropriate action and working strategically to benefit the local voluntary and community sector
• Liaison – Helping to maintain Healthwatch with a wide range of voluntary and community organisations and promoting cross sector relationships
• Representation – Enabling the local voluntary and community sector to present its views to statutory and public sector bodies through consultation, networking, fora, seminars and workshops etc
• Services – Funding information and advice, training, legal, financial, management and constitutional advice and information, meeting space, newsletters and mailings
• Strategic Partnership – Working with the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), helping to develop the voluntary sector compact, participating in neighbourhood regeneration and working with other statutory bodies at a strategic level

Halton & St Helens VCA is affiliated to Volunteering England (VE) and undertakes to deliver a volunteer recruitment, placement and support service to residents of Halton and St Helens as well as voluntary and community groups seeking volunteers. The core functions are:

• Developing Volunteering
• Promoting Volunteering
• Brokerage (information and referral for voluntary opportunities)
• Enabling participation in volunteering
• Providing information, training and research into volunteering
• Commenting and campaigning on volunteering

Together the organisation has more than 80 years’ experience of co-ordinating voluntary action and of representing, developing and supporting the voluntary, community and faith sector in the St Helens and Halton Borough’s.