Anatomy of a merger

On 22 March 2007, Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service came into being. Its creation has been the subject of almost three years' dedicated development work and the culmination of a collaboration which started over 15 years ago. What is remarkable about Cumbria CVS is that it represents the first merger of all the district CVS in one county into a single delivery agency. What follows is an overview of the process and the drivers and critical success factors that underpinned it. This overview does not attempt to deal with the detail or the mechanics of merger which are well documented elsewhere. It is written as a case study to provide guidance and inspiration for other local infrastructure organisations for which merger might present similar opportunities.

Anatomy of a merger (PDF, 420KB)

Hard copies of this publication can be ordered using the NAVCA order form.

• The merger resources web page provides a wealth of other signposting information available to LIOs considering merging.