VAST was originally set up as Voluntary Services Council after the first world war to support returning & disabled servicemen. Our earliest records are minutes of a meeting from 1920 so we generally claim that as our start date.

VAST is a charity dedicated to developing, advancing and promoting the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire. We do this by providing key services and valuable support, and by enabling professional development. Our aim is to help the local VCSE sector prosper and grow, and we have lots of satisfied customers, from small community groups to larger regional organisations.

VAST is a charity providing services and support to a whole range of Voluntary and Community Groups, Charities and Social Enterprises in Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire. Our key aim is to develop, advance and promote the professional development of Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector. We offer free support services and volunteering brokerage to North Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent’s VCSE sector which we are funded to deliver through project funding.

We also offer 'business services' which are chargeable services.

Our business services include:
• Graphic Design
• Website Design
• Print Management
• Marketing
• CRM Databases
• Monitoring Outcomes Databases
• Accounts
• Payroll
• Bookkeeping
• Financial Training
• 1-2-1 Support

Our Facilities team run two community resource centres, The Dudson Centre in Hanley and The Hub in Stafford. These offer serviced office space for a range of VCSE sector tenants, meeting rooms, a café and the Dudson Museum.

For further information on the services that we provide please visit the VAST website at vast.org.uk

VAST is a charity that is managed by a ‘Board of Trustees’ who have a strategic overview and control over VAST’s charity status and the work we do. In essence they are responsible for making sure VAST is doing what it was set up to do.

For further information on the VAST Trustees please visit the page on the VAST website at vast.org.uk