Renfrewshire Council for Voluntary Services (RCVS) and Paisley.org.uk have formed a new partnership to promote the good work being done by Renfrewshire’s charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises.
“Community Champions” is the name of the new section on the popular Paisley.org.uk website that will publicise a different local charity or voluntary group each month. Each profile will provide some background on the Champion of the Month and highlight the good work they’ve been doing to make the local area a better place. New services, upcoming events and volunteering opportunities will also be featured.
Community Champions was created thanks to Councillor Kenny MacLaren talking to RCVS and Paisley.org.uk about new ways of promoting local charities and voluntary groups.
Councillor Kenny MacLaren: “This is an excellent opportunity to promote worthwhile groups in Paisley. Combining RCVS’s knowledge of the local voluntary and community sector with Paisley.org.uk’s excellent online presence will help to promote local groups from Paisley.
“In an era of ever reducing budgets this is an excellent example of local organisations working together to promote the best of Paisley.”
Brain McGuire, who runs Paisley.org.uk, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new partners, the Renfrewshire Council for Voluntary Services. We are introducing a brand new section “Champions in our Community” – this section will highlight a different organisation in Paisley and Renfrewshire who themselves champion great and worthy causes in our area.
“We are all about promoting our town – now we also get the chance to promote local champions. It should certainly be a very exciting add on to www.paisley.org.uk.”
Community Champions launches on Wednesday 7th July with a profile on Rainbow Turtle – they’ve had a lot of success in getting fair trade products into schools and businesses across Renfrewshire and selling such products from their shop in Paisley town centre. They have also worked hard to raise public awareness of fair trade by giving educational talks and organising special events and fundraisers, as well as playing an important part in Renfrewshire’s Fairtrade Fortnight and lobbying local and national politicians to make changes in the system of world trade for the better.
Gordon Mclean, RCVS’ Information and Communications Officer who will be working on the Community Champions section with Brian, said: “RCVS is very excited about Community Champions and the potential it has for showing everyone the incredible work all the charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises are doing across Renfrewshire. These organisations are providing an incredible range of services and opportunities that make a real difference to people’s lives and help make Renfrewshire a better place.
“One of the main aims of RCVS is to promote the good work being done in Renfrewshire’s charity and voluntary sector and so it simply makes good sense to work in partnership with Paisley.org.uk to bring Community Champions to life. The website is very popular, respected and well-liked because it works hard to promote the positive side of Paisley and Renfrewshire as a whole. The new Community Champions section will enable visitors to see why local charities and voluntary groups are a vital part of the positive side and allow us to reach a whole new audience.
“RCVS is proud to be working in partnership with Paisley.org.uk on Community Champions and we urge everyone to check it out and discover something new about the local area.”
Paisley.org.uk is a community-driven web site, ran by people who either reside in Paisley or have roots in the town, dedicated to the positive promotion of Paisley to a wider audience. They offer a wide range of information services and opportunities for citizens to engage with each other, such as a public forum, events calendar, history section, Twitter account and lots more.
RCVS is a voluntary organisation that seeks to promote the interests and the effectiveness of all local community and voluntary organisations for the greater good of Renfrewshire’s citizens. From securing funding, training staff and running events to handling payrolls, printing and the creation of promotional films, RCVS also aims to help local groups no matter what their needs are.