History
CVS have been operational in Burnley since 1935, initially as the Citizens Guild, then the Council of Social Service from 1945 and with the current title since 1973.

The intervening years have seen a commitment of service to the local community which has been second to none with a series of notable achievements including:

• For 40 years CVS ran the Citizens Advice Bureau
• For the last 43 years we have operated a Distress Fund for local families
• We have run a Volunteer Bureau for over 30 years
• We ran a young peoples homelessness project for 10 years
• We ran a Community Concern Group from 1991-1999 which provided recycled, good quality furniture and clothing and emergency food parcels to clients referred by Social Services, Health Visitors etc.

CVS has been instrumental in supporting the development of a wide range of local organisations including the Marriage Guidance Council, Guide Dogs for the Blind, CRUSE Bereavement Care, Crossroads and the Open Hand Centre.

Current Role
CVS is a local development agency which exists to develop, support and promote voluntary action and charitable activity. The activity can be summarised in six key statements:

• We provide a range of support services to groups such as training, information, advice, payroll and office functions including access to sources of funding and constitutional advice
• We, through contact with individuals and groups, identify gaps in the provision of services and develop initiatives to meet those needs
• We bring together voluntary, community and faith organisations to discuss issues of common concern. This helps to avoid duplication of effort to ensure that groups work together
• We help to disseminate information about statutory service provision and development
• We represent the views of the voluntary sector on many statutory led committees
• We are engaged in strategic partnership acitivity.

CVS is the accountable body for Burnley Community Network.
A body set up to support voluntary, community and faith sector organisations working at grass roots level in Burnley to engage with Burnley Action Partnership (BAP), Burnley’s Local Strategic Partnership.
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