About Us
Who We Are
WFCVS is the voice and support system for Waltham Forest's vibrant community of social purpose organisations. As an independent registered charity, we exist to ensure that local organisations have everything they need to serve our communities effectively.
Who We Support
We use the term "social purpose organisations" to describe the wide range of groups and organisations that exist primarily to benefit communities rather than generate private profit. This includes:
Charities – Registered organisations with exclusively charitable purposes
Voluntary organisations – Groups that rely on volunteers to deliver their work
Community groups – Local organisations serving specific neighbourhoods or communities of interest
Faith organisations – Religious groups delivering community benefit
Social enterprises – Businesses that trade for social or environmental purpose and reinvest profits into their mission
Community Interest Companies (CICs) – A legal structure specifically designed for social enterprises, with an "asset lock" ensuring assets are used for community benefit
Our borough is home to hundreds of social purpose organisations – from small community groups run entirely by volunteers to established charities with professional teams, from faith groups supporting their congregations to social enterprises creating jobs and opportunities. Each one plays a vital role in making Waltham Forest a better place to live, work and connect. We're proud to support them all.
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Guidance on financial management, budgeting, funding applications, and financial sustainability.
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Support with premises, equipment, technology, data protection, and sustainable working practices.
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Help with marketing, social media, stakeholder engagement, and raising your organisation's profile.
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Our Network of Networks approach helps you build relationships, find partners, and collaborate for greater impact. We can also introduce you to commissioners and strategic partners from the public sector that can help you in your work.
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Support with monitoring and evaluation, demonstrating your impact, and using findings to improve your work.
What We Do
Aligned to the Trusted Charity Quality Areas
We provide practical, accessible support that makes a real difference. Our support is aligned to the 11 quality areas of the Trusted Charity model – the nationally recognised quality standard for the voluntary sector. We have also added a twelfth standard that we know is important to Waltham Forest which is about sustainability. That is your organisation’s sustainability and the work that some of you do to support sustainability more widely. This means we can help you strengthen every aspect of how your organisation is run.
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Support with board development, trustee and director recruitment, governing documents, and ensuring your organisation is governed effectively and responsibly.
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Help with strategic planning, business planning, setting priorities and targets, and reviewing progress against your goals.
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Guidance on leadership development, management systems, organisational culture, and effective communication.
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Support to design services around the people you serve, including needs assessment, service design, and user involvement.
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Help with recruitment, HR policies, staff management, and creating positive working environments.
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Training programmes, skills development, and support to build a learning culture within your organisation.
Meet our team
Terry Day
Trustee
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Terry Day has led Age UK Waltham Forest’s Befriending Service for the past 9 years, developing it from a service with 40 volunteers to one with 270 volunteers. She is passionate about the value of volunteers, and not allowing volunteers to be exploited by a statutory sector under pressure. She’s a keen advocate for older people in an ageist society. She’s been involved in the process of creating the CVS for the last 2 years and is particularly keen to raise the voice and influence of a wide range of VCS organisations in the health and social care sector. Prior to semi-retiring to Age UK Waltham Forest (not much retirement happening!) , she started her career in the NHS as a speech and language therapist, and was also CEO of Age Concern Liverpool in the 1990s. She has extensive experience of organisational change, having led equality programmes for many years in large organisations, including London Underground, Manchester City Council, the Healthcare Commission and the Olympic Delivery Authority. She is chair of Waltham Forest Patients Not Passports. She’s also an allotment holder, avid bird-watcher, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Lee Thomside
Trustee
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I Trained as a general nurse and midwife in South Africa and completed a post graduate course in Paediatrics at Great Ormond Street. Worked as the Paediatric Manager at St Mary’s Hospital. I then worked at the School of Nursing in Newham as an Allocations Officer with nurse training. Next I worked as a Health Visitor in Redbridge from 1989.
I retired in 2004.
In 2012 I became a Volunteer at the Afro- Caribbean Elders Association. In 2016 I took the post of Chair-Person at ACEA.
I was on the planning meetings of the CVS &Transition Board and now as a Trustee of WFCVS.
Brian Kelly
Trustee
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Brian Kelly has worked for Waltham Forest based environmental social enterprises since 2002. He is a founder member of OrganicLea, where his current role focuses on Fundraising and Partnership Development. As well as being a WF CVS Trustee he also currently sits on the board of three local organisations - Hornbeam Centre, GREEN (Growing Resilient and Energy Efficient Neighbourhoods) and HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Training). Previously he coordinated Forest Recycling Project for 10 years.
Prior to 2002 Brian worked for 3 years in India and 1 year in Mexico supporting the development of social and environmental justice initiatives in indigenous / tribal communities. Previous to that he worked in nature conservation management with RSPB, National Trust and TCV.
He has a BA in Sociology and MSc in Environmental Science and Environmental Policy. He is originally from NE London and lives in Walthamstow.
Franklyn Sweeney
Director, Community Arts
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Frank Sweeney, MA is a Senior Arts Manager with over 30 years of experience working in the Voluntary and Community Sector, focusing on using the arts to drive social change and community engagement.
He has had significant roles in producing and managing cultural events, particularly at the Hackney Empire, where he helped launch the careers of many now-prominent artists. As co-Director of GB Carnival, Frank produces large-scale community arts initiatives, including town carnivals for Margate, Ramsgate and Waltham Forest. Through his arts management company, Desire Paths, Frank produces the primary stages in the formation and realisation of artists' creative ideas.
He is Executive Producer of the African Diaspora Festival Choir, an International Community Arts Cultural Exchange, developing programmes across the African Atlantic Diaspora.
Frank serves as a Charity Trustee and Non-executive Director for youth & community, youth music and dance theatre organisations, The Show Crib, Rising Tide Trust, Prevention Better Than Cure and the Clod Ensemble.
Over the past 10 years, his fundraising work has secured over £3 million for ensuring the long term sustainability of various arts and community projects.
Frank practices as a Sector Expert and Peer Mentor on the Clock Yours Skills non-formal higher education assessment framework. He is currently undertaking a non-formal Clock Your Skills Level 8 Professional Development Award, working towards a PhD in Community Arts Practice.
Frank is known for his ability to build and maintain strategic partnerships across sectors, leveraging his experience to create impactful arts and cultural programmes. His ongoing research into African-Caribbean Carnival & Masquerade traditions, the cultural histories of the African Atlantic Diaspora and the Artistic Direction of Carnival & Masquerade reflects his commitment to preserving and promoting cultural heritage.
Tyron Williams
Membership and Communications Officer for Waltham Forest CVS
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Tyron has worked in Waltham Forest for five years, collaborating with a range of community and social purpose organisations across the borough. His professional background is in local government, where he spent ten years in housing management roles at Lambeth Council, followed by two years in project management, contributing to the development and implementation of their current CRM system.
From 2021 to 2022, he worked as a Project Coordinator and Facilitator for The Man Den, a social purpose organisation supporting boys and men through intergenerational learning, with a focus on improving mental health and wellbeing. He also served as a panel member for the Leyton Loves Film Festival in 2023.
Alongside his role at the CVS, Tyron is a visual artist and the founder of Jon Judace Art. His hand-drawn ink work explores African and Caribbean culture, alongside themes of science, mathematics, and nature. Through his artistic practice, he has delivered workshops, curated and contributed to exhibitions, and led community events, many within Waltham Forest.
Across his professional and creative work, Tyron is committed to engaging, inspiring, and supporting communities and local organisations.
Nate Gabbidon
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Nathan Gabbidon is a passionate and resilient youth advocate, community leader and Founder of Skills Within Developments CIC (The Skills Within)—a community-focused project management company dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses through skills development and economic independence. The organisation aims to reduce reliance on social services while fostering grassroots community growth.
Projects are designed through a blend of lived and learned experience and include initiatives such as community living rooms, a community food truck, youth mentoring and SEN school gardening and growing. The Skills Within prioritises relationship-building, networking and collaboration—linking activities to measurable outcomes, recommendations and a framework for scaling, adaptability and ultimately, self-sustainability.
With over two decades of experience in youth mentoring, career guidance and pastoral care, Nate has excelled in roles at Hackney Council, Haringey Youth Offending Service, Parliament Hill School and Victory Christian Centre, where he supported over 1,000 young people aged 8–25.
He blends academic knowledge with lived experience and deep compassion for those he serves. As a Trustee of the Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre, he also champions early years development through innovative community partnerships.
Whether mentoring at-risk youth or leading transformative initiatives, Nate’s mission remains clear: to inspire, uplift and guide the next generation toward empowered, fulfilling lives.