Daventry Volunteer Centre (DVC) has been a registered Charity (No: 802879) since 1990 with NCVO Quality Standards Accreditation. The work of DVC is based around NCVO's 5 core functions for Volunteer Centres and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Membership of DVC includes around 300 local not-for profit-organisations.

Our members are offered capacity building support (funded through Daventry District Council) plus good practice information and advice, information on the DVC website, regular e-bulletins including consultations, funding information, and access to free or low cost training opportunities, the quarterly DVC Newsletter, and membership of the Daventry VCS Forum.

Our Core Aims

Daventry Volunteer Centre delivers NCVO's core aims of:

• Strategic Development of Volunteering - Through the activity of the Volunteer Centre and its engagement with local networks and decision makers there is a positive environment in which volunteering flourishes.
• Good Practice Development - Through the activity of the Volunteer Centre organisations from all sectors (involving or providing volunteers) improve or attain positive consistency in their volunteering programmes.
• Developing Volunteering Opportunities - The Volunteer Centre’s development activity increases and improves the quantity, quality, and diversity of volunteering locally.
• Voice of Volunteering - Through the Volunteer Centre’s activities there is an increased awareness of the issues impacting on volunteering.
• Brokerage - Through the Volunteer Centre’s activities the general public and all sectors are better informed about, and have access to, an effective and efficient brokerage service. Both individuals and groups interested in volunteering are matched with appropriate opportunities in the local community. Volunteer Centres hold information on a comprehensive range of opportunities and offer potential volunteers support and advice matching their motivation to volunteer with appropriate volunteering opportunities.

The district is a large, mainly rural area of 257 square miles in the West of Northamptonshire. It is the largest district in the County, but has the second smallest population and the lowest population density per hectare. It is made up of 74 parishes plus the expanding town of Daventry, where around 25,000 of the Districts 77,843 population live (2011 Census data).

Daventry is a market, shopping and administrative town, and is the District’s main employment centre. More than half of the District’s 78 villages have a population of less than 300, while the three larger villages of Brixworth, Long Buckby and Moulton each have a population of more than 3000.

The District's residents form 31,647 households, 74% of which are owned, 14% are social housing and 12% are privately rented. The population is expected to have risen by 7.9% by 2021. The fastest growing age bracket is those aged 60 – 64 years and Daventry District Council has produced an Older Persons Strategy to implement services to meet the needs of the increasing older population of the district.