About Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership (DVP)

Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership gives people and organisations in the Derwent Valley area the opportunity to work together and take action on local issues.

What we do

We're a partnership that consists of members of the public, representatives from Durham County Council, police, fire, health, housing, business and voluntary organisations. Together we:

work with communities and organisations to meet the needs of the community, through identifying local priorities and actions required to tackle them
allocate funding to local organisations and support their development
monitor the difference that funding and support is making to communities
ensure that you can get involved with consultation activities, and are aware of what's going on in your community

Where we cover

The areas that Derwent Valley AAP covers are Allensford, Blackhill, Benfieldside, Bridgehill, Burnopfield, Consett, Crookhall, Delves Lane, Dipton, Ebchester, Flint Hill, Hamsterley, Hamsterley Mill, High Friarside, High Westwood, Iveston, Leadgate, Leazes, Lintz Green, Low Westwood, Medomsley, Moorside, Pickering Nook, Pontop Pike, Shotley Bridge, Templetown and The Grove.

You can see this information on our Derwent Valley AAP map (PDF, 1 MB).

For more information, including how to become a board member see Get involved with your Area Action Partnership.

How we work

The AAP consists of a board, task groups and forum that work together to tackle issues in local communities.

AAP forum

Our AAP forum is a group of people and organisations - on average about 900 and can meet up to twice a year to decide on our AAP's direction, including where funding should be spent in future (AAP priorities). Anyone over the age of 11 can join the forum.

If you join our AAP, you become a forum member. As a forum member, you're invited to take part in our forum meetings, where you'll have the opportunity to let us know where you think funding should be spent in your community. You will also receive information on other AAP activities which you might be interested in getting involved with.

AAP board

The AAP board is the decision making body of the AAP. It consists of 21 members, made up of:

seven elected councillors
seven members of the public
seven representatives from partner organisations

Anyone over the age of 16 can apply to join the board.

Anyone can attend a board meeting which meet at least six times a year to:

approve AAP funded projects
manage the AAP spend
discuss the work of the task and finish groups
listen to and respond to local consultations
receive updates from partners

We put plans and actions in place to help community groups and local organisations develop projects that meet our AAP priorities. We have a combined budget of nearly £120,000 to support local projects.

This is in addition to a neighbourhood budget which each county councillor has to use for local initiatives which is supported by the AAPs.

For further information on AAP funding for community groups and local organisations see Apply for funding for your community or group.

Board members

The AAP board is the decision making body of the AAP. See our Derwent Valley AAP Board meetings page for a list of our board members.

Priority task groups

We take actions on issues linked to our priorities. To do this, we have priority task groups. See Our priorities for a list of our priorities, and further information about out priority task groups.