Portsmouth’s voluntary sector joins forces and launches new Victory Consortium. Proving there is indeed strength in numbers, a new voluntary and community sector consortium has launched in Portsmouth.

The new Victory Consortium will enable voluntary and community groups in the city to work more effectively together, sharing skills and expertise and benefiting from collective bargaining, economies of scale and shared contract management. 

Gathering at the Royal Maritime Club in Portsea on 19 May, more than 40 voluntary and community leaders joined forces to get the new consortium officially underway.

Margaret Geary, Portsmouth City Council strategic director, said: “The launch of the Victory Consortium is excellent news for local people. They need the city’s voluntary and community sector to be as strong as it can be, so it is able to provide the excellent services the residents of this city really need, and the Victory Consortium is a big step in the right direction.”

Interim directors of the new consortium have been working together since November to establish a structure for Victory, creating a local network for organisations to work together.

Janice Bell, interim chair, said: “As the income the voluntary and community sector receive from contracts is reducing and the costs and skills needed to bid for contracts increases, there are real benefits for us in sharing our costs and skills..”

The consortium will enable voluntary and community groups in the city to benefit in other ways from working together, including economies of scale, collective bargaining, and will provide a stronger base to help members win contracts.

Community First for Portsmouth and First Wessex jointly funded an expert, Neil Coulson, to work with the consortium and make sure they benefitted from best practice around the country.

Learning Links is proud to be part of the Victory Consortium.