Since 1990 Daventry Volunteer Centre has been promoting all aspects of volunteering in the local area. Our work includes:

  • recruiting volunteers for local charities and not for profit organisations;
  • delivering direct services through our projects to meet local need;
  • offering capacity building support to local voluntary and community organisations;
  • working in partnership with the local authorities and other agencies in order to share resources and deliver better services; and
  • hosting the Daventry Voluntary & Community Sector Forum that brings together local organisations and agencies to network, share information, deliver training and develop collaborative working.

We are staffed by a team of paid workers and volunteers, overseen by a volunteer Trustee Board who are responsible for the overall management of the Volunteer Centre. The Trustee Board is comprised of Agency and Volunteer Representatives, Advisory Members and Independent Members. 

Our Trustee Board
Derval O'Brien - Chair/Independent
Stephen Cave - Treasurer/Independent
Carella Davies - Secretary
Lynne Taylor - Independent
Pam Tomalin - Independent
Cllr David Smith - West Northants Council Advisory Member
Pat Coomber-Wood - Citizens Advice West Northamptonshire & Cherwell Agency Rep
John Lee - Volunteer Rep

Carella Davies
Chief Executive Officer

Carella has worked in the voluntary sector for over 35 years, and at the Daventry Volunteer Centre since 1995, developing infrastructure support services for local voluntary and community organisations, and promoting community cohesion through inclusive volunteering.

Her background in counselling, youth work, and Voluntary Organisation Management, and positions as Co- Chair of the Daventry and South Northants Forum, Chair of the Daventry Area Voluntary & Community Sector Forum, and board member of the West Northamptonshire Health & Wellbeing Board, allow her to play a leading role in promoting partnership and collaboration across the sectors, and ensuring local VCSE groups have their voices heard.

As a volunteer she is Secretary to the Daventry District Welfare Foundation.

Anne-Marie Bicknell
Admin Support & Daventry TimeBank Coordinator

Anne-Marie supports our volunteer recruitment and helps DVC place new volunteers with volunteer opportunities. 

She also co-ordinates the Daventry Time banking project.

Chris Harvey
Happy at Home Project Worker
Michaella Sutton
Happy at Home Project Worker
Michelle Santhi
Milk & You Project Coordinator

Michelle coordinates the Milk&You Peer Support Project; a Public Health and NHS funded service to support families to breastfeed. Her main roles include strategic planning, recruitment, training and leading the project’s staff and volunteer teams, supervision of volunteers and relationship building with partner organisations.

Michelle also takes an active part in the County’s breastfeeding strategy group and maternity workstream pathway groups alongside her role, while also running support sessions and events with the teams across Northamptonshire.

Bethany Brown
Milk & You Daventry and Towcester Peer Support Coordinator

Bethany is the Daventry and Towcester Peer Support Coordinator for Milk & You. She mentors volunteers and coordinates their roles, placing them in groups or with families for 1:1 support. She ensures parents are aware of the other branches of the service such as the donation bank, pump loan and buggy walks. Bethany has been a peer supporter since 2015 and has a wealth of knowledge to offer both parents and peer supporters.

Emma Pipes
Milk & You Project Worker

Emma joined Milk & You as a Peer Support Volunteer in 2020, and has been employed as Project Worker since 2022.

Her role includes administration, receiving phone calls and messages, welcoming new volunteers into their roles, and supporting families at weekly Milk & You Infant Feeding groups.

Abbey Crawford
Milk & You Antenatal Support Coordinator
Isabel Baker
Milk & You MUM Support Liaison Project Worker

Isabel joined as a peer support volunteer for Milk&You back in 2020. Since then, she has been a project worker for COVID Support and Recovery project within Daventry Volunteer Centre from 2021-2022. A new project within Milk&You was formed at the end of 2022, called MUM Support, which helps pregnant and new mums with smoking cessation and stress relief support. Isabel supports families by offering guidance and friendship, and through peer support to stay smoke free. This can involve cafe meet-ups, buggy walks, phone calls, texts, coming along to groups, donation bank, buddying up with one of our MUM Support Volunteers and more.

Natasha Hannah
Milk & You Project Worker
Caroline Molloy
Help to Work Project Coordinator
Katie Hopkins
Horizon Project Coordinator
Annie Cleaver
New Street Café and Horizon Project Support Worker

Annie is head chef and volunteer support worker for the New Street Café ,  overseeing the Café breakfasts, weekly Community Lunches and supporting and training a team of volunteer helpers.

In addition she works with the Horizon Project as a part time activity support worker.

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.

Get in touch

Daventry Volunteer Centre is located in the Daventry District Welfare Foundation Building next to Tesco in Daventry town centre.

Our postal address is 13 New Street, Daventry, NN11 4BT.

For all queries please contact 01327 300614 or get in touch via email – info@daventryvolunteers.org.uk

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