This year's Voluntary Action Scotland conference is looking to discuss ways local action can impact on everyday services writes chief executive Calum Irving

Earlier this year Voluntary Action Scotland launched its ‘Collaboration Works’ series of booklets, case studies and short films. Our aim was to highlight how third sector interfaces can lead collaborative approaches locally to tackle some of the big issues faced in society.

As we see budgets becoming ever tighter and the strains on public services becoming ever more visible, we must look at new ways of working and approaching service design and delivery.

We believe the third sector can be at the forefront of this and can be the real champions of community led change.

Across Scotland third sector interfaces are demonstrating how they can be the champions of change locally, creating partnerships between public bodies, the third sector and others, and leading new ways of working.

Whether it’s the likes of Aberdeen Council for Voluntary Organisations leading a social transport project to help tackle loneliness and social isolation or CVO East Ayrshire bringing together statutory and third sector partners to support young families, the examples are many and need to be championed and this is what we seek to do.

So the theme for this year’s conference is ‘Collaboration for Community Impact’ The conference brings together third sector interfaces from across Scotland to provide a space to share ideas, start conversations and, crucially, find solutions to some of the big issues we face as a sector and a society.

Included in the topic of collaboration is a big focus on Health and Social Care Integration. This has been a hot topic for many within the sector over the past couple of years and shows no signs of abating.

Third sector interfaces have a crucial role in advocating for the third sector in integration and our members are finding it a resource intensive exercise.

It is important that we look at these big picture topics and try to find where things are working well and what we need to do to break down the barriers that persist.

As the public service reform agenda continues we are seeing the role of the third sector interface evolving.

Events such as the annual conference are a welcome opportunity to take stock and help set our collective aims for the year ahead. It promises to be a busy, informative and challenging two days, but ones in which we aim to make the most of the best attributes of the TSI network: focussed on the third sector – focussed on community impact.

The VAS TSI Annual Conference and AGM takes place at the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre, 13th and 14th October