VOIS

VOIS is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. VOIS was launched in December 1995 by two of its current Directors, Bisi Akiwumi-Jones and Michael Whiteley, to host web sites and link pages on the Internet on behalf of voluntary organisations and to promote the service to young people. VOIS clients, during the five years it operated its serv... ice for the voluntary sector, included a very broad range of organisations from Abbeyfield Society, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and National Centre for Volunteering, to, Shelter and Dogs for the Disabled. In 1997, the Directors decided that for the organisation to have impact in engaging young people, it would have to interact directly with them. They realised that making a difference would involve finding new, innovative ways of working with the target audience and were of the view that this would require integrating the values of the corporate sector and the voluntary and public sector. Another major consideration was the long-term ambition of the Directors for VOIS to become a self-funding organisation. Since 1997, the company has diligently developed its reputation for delivering good quality projects through small-scale pilots, extensive market research with its target audience and building strong partnerships with schools in its pilot Borough, the London Borough of Brent. Until recently, professional delivery on a shoe string, the ability to identify market sectors with potential opportunities for raising revenues and a firm commitment to empowering young people to see themselves as part of the solution to social problems have helped the organisation maintain the high standards of good practice expected by the Directors. The Directors are now poised to take the organisation on to another phase in its development. This involves ensuring not only that the projects are well resourced but, also, that the organisation can begin to reach and impact on the lives of larger numbers of young people than it has so far been able to do.Read More