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Verve Community CIC


Verve Community CIC is a collection of Armed Forces Veterans, Charities, and community groups of local businesses joining forces to create the ‘Veterans Hub, Leigh in the beautiful heritage site of the Spinners Mill, Leigh, Greater Manchester.

We are Not for Profit’s, CIC’S, charities and community groups work collectively to support our Veterans, families, children & young people in our community.

Collectively, we came together through blogs and Verve’s community campaigns including our knitting campaigns. These campaigns created significant social & community impact, all from a little ball of wool, and the kindness of our communities who care…

They are the glue which bind us together.

Image of a ball of wool, text reads, the social impact of a ball of wool is huge when we add love.

Verve’s knitting campaigns; made with love from a little ball of wool…

Knitted toys for children in care…

Our knitted baby clothes and toys have gone to children in care with Local Authorities and Not for Profit Charities.

Give mums a helping hand…

We donate to Sure Start & community centres in our communities to give local mums a helping hand.


To make a difference…

Our knitted clothes, toys and blankets make a difference for local families, including fostering families and looked after children in our communities.

This is one of the things we do best…

So far, we have achieved…

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Recruited foster carers for Not for Profit charities & Armed Forces Veterans to mentor young people in the Re-Engage programme.
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Found wonderful Ladies who Knit and knitting groups who donate and support our campaigns.
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Worked together with Charities, community groups and corporate businesses.
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Donated knitted toys to charities and Local Authorities for children in care.
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Donated Bereavement Blankets, knitted Hearts and teddies to the Swan Team at Salford Royal Hospital.
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Donated knitted baby clothes, blankets and toys direct to families in need at Sure Start and Community Centres in Greater Manchester.
Image of a child looking through a window. The text reads, Verve, every child matters...

Verve’s Partner Testimonials…

Val has been supporting us with recruiting new foster carers at Caritas Care for the last two years; her support has been much valued. Some of the enquirers referred by Val are now approved foster carers. They are a much-welcomed addition to the Caritas Care family, providing an outstanding job caring for children.

Val has also prepared case studies for us of existing foster carers, staff, and a care leaver to be used for marketing our agency. Val does an excellent job of this, ensuring the individuals feel their voice is heard.

The #facesoffostering campaign has been one of our most successful campaigns to date; we are incredibly grateful for Val’s significant contribution.

Rebecca Hughes,

Caritas Care



‘When we receive an enquiry from Verve, they are detailed and give us a good understanding of the desires and experience of the applicants. I get a real sense that we are all working towards the same goal.’

‘Val listens to our needs as an agency and shows a good understanding of the independent fostering sector. She is knowledgeable and friendly, which makes working with her a positive experience.’


Helen Underwood

Operations Manager, South –  The Foster Care C0-Operative

Thank you so much for your donation of knitted clothes to the community centre. We will ensure these go out to families who need them in the area. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.


Higher Folds Community Centre & Nursery, Leigh.
Higher Folds Community Centre logo

Our paths crossed with Val at a perfect point where two charities could work together to support families who use our hospitals within the NCA. Val has been so flexible and supportive to our service (Swan charity within the NCA) and has helped us considerably to be able to continue to provide a universal offer to all families of the use of knitted hearts and bears with children and adults where someone in their lives is sick, dying or sadly died.

The idea being, knitted hearts or bears are identical pairs; one is with the family and one with the person who died; this creates a link between them. In the early days following a death, comfort can come from just holding the bear/heart, knowing they have a link to the person (where they can talk to it, squeeze it, hug it, whatever helps), as time and their grief evolve the meaning and importance of this item may change and evolve.

During the height of Covid, these items were significant for all our patients as people could not visit, but ongoing they are still important and really helpful for families to create comfort. Val has totally embraced and understood what we are trying to achieve. With her enthusiasm, she is helping us to keep this going and reinvigorate the passion for people to support this campaign, especially when we are all a little ‘Covid tired’. Val is so caring and has a passion for people and their wellbeing.


Lisa Jones

Swan Bereavement Nurse & Trainer for Children & Families –  Salford Royal NHS Trust

Val is extremely friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. I have found Val always makes time for people and really wants to find an agency that is the right fit for the prospective foster carer she is speaking to. Val goes the extra mile wants to ensure vulnerable children are matched with the right home. I have really enjoyed working with Val over the last year, and I’m sure this will continue to be the case for a long time.

Louise Thwaites

Fostering Recruitment Manager –  Team Fostering

‘My name is Jasmin, Founder & CEO of Women with Wings C.I.C. I met Val from Verve Recruitment three years ago at an event in Manchester. We spoke and connected together due to the nature of our work, which is supporting families in our community. Our organisation supports women and their families to improve lives; during the pandemic, we supported these families with food essentials, care products, and baby essentials. During those times, Verve has supported our organisation by providing children’s clothes as well as knitted items such as Baby clothes, baby blankets, cardigans, socks, hats and gloves for new babies and grown children and other items. The ladies we support gratefully received these items, and they helped them a lot during wintertime.

Also, Verve Recruitment helped to raise awareness of the Diaspora Food Parcel Project by creating a social campaign. This campaign increased our members through Food Parcels, which meant we could support many more families throughout Greater Manchester.

We are still supporting each other through our work, and our connection is growing stronger and stronger. We at Women with Wings are grateful and appreciate all the help and support we have received and continue to receive.’   



Jasmin

CEO – Women with Wings CIC.

I have received a lot of help from Verve Recruitment and the links from the Verve blogs. I met Val Hogan at a conference in 2019, and since then, we have had an active friendship and partnership. I totally support Vere Recruitment in all it does to provide quality foster care for vulnerable children. Through Verve, I have made links with other like-minded charities; subsequently, we have been able to work together for the good of families.

We have had help from a wide area to knit for the deprived children and babies; this campaign continues to provide warm clothing for them. We also supply through these blogs Bonding blankets for premature babies and mums, bereavement blanks and comfort hearts and toys for those dying or the bereaved families, comfort toys for fostered children.

Also, Salford Food Parcels provide food and essentials; we had received cries for help when Verve published the blogs, for Salford Food Parcels. Our public profile has gone up, and through this campaign, we have been able to help those in need or direct them to get help.

Networking is vital in local charities, and Verve helps Not for Profit’s link to each other, and we can promote many other projects via these blogs.

I have received so much help, even when I am just mulling over things with Val Hogan, Verve’s director; I recommend Verve in all its aspects to you.



Yvonne Simms

Salford Food Parcels /Holiday Hunger Project & Verve Recruitment Ambassador

Fostering teenagers & older children…

Fostering teenagers and older children are challenging. However, foster carers who do, see what lies beyond the labels; they see the child.

These foster carers are the difference these children need because over 50% of children in care are over ten years of age. More than half are boys who have lived with labels that don’t relate to them or the journey in life they have travelled so far.

They need foster carers to look beyond the label and see the child…


Image of an older child. looking ahead. The text reads fostering teenagers & older children; what lies beyond the labels.

Verve’s Foster carer testimonials…

Having fostered young people previously said part of a couple, I knew it’s what I did. And needed to again, but as a single parent, I also knew what I wanted from a fostering agency and what I didn’t. I contacted Verve, and I discussed things, and Val recommended a charity-based agency. After a lot of hurdles, I finally got approved again. Not all agencies are the same, and it’s about finding the one most suitable for you and your needs, which Val at Verve has done xxx

Joanne Mills

A leaflet had been posted through my door from Verve Recruitment. The flyer said that Verve recruits foster carers only for Not-for-Profit fostering charities, which immediately grabbed my attention. I wanted my fostering journey to be about the children and young people, not about who benefits financially. I telephoned Val, and I immediately knew from talking with her that now was the ‘right time’ and she matched me with the ‘right people’ Caritas Care, for me to embark on my fostering journey.

Sarah

Verve recruitment agency is an incredibly supportive service for carers! It was the start of our fostering journey, and Verve provided us with invaluable advice and guidance about fostering agencies out there. We haven’t looked back since!

Because of Verve, we were able to choose a non-profit fostering agency, Caritas Care, and this has been the best decision we could have made.


Sobia & Akmal

My husband and I initially spoke to Val at the beginning of the year and it went from there. We’re nearing the end of our fostering application which has been a very smooth process from start to finish which is down to Val for steering us in the right direction and putting us in touch with a fostering agency which suits us perfectly. I highly recommend Verve Recruitment as they listen which is key. Val also made us feel at ease which can’t be underestimated.

Cheryl

I contacted Val through a Facebook campaign. I was impressed that she only used the charitable foster agencies/charitable purposes. She did this because they thought about placements and matching rather than “Beds for Heads. Also, the recruitment process was lovely, like talking to a friend, chatting to see if fostering, is something that you’re looking to do now. When that’s done, Verve looks for the agency that will best fit your situation, wants, area, and who can best support you.

Bronagh

Contact Verve

If you want to help us achieve our mission for change, get in touch.

Together we are stronger.