IT was founded shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War to help York’s charities and voluntary organisations – and 70 years later, it is still going strong.

Now York CVS, originally called York Community Council, has been invited by the Lord Mayor of York, Coun John Galvin, to celebrate its 70th birthday at a breakfast event at the Mansion House on Tuesday.

Chief executive Colin Stroud said the anniversary annual general meeting would follow on Wednesday, November 4, at the Priory Street Centre, when key people would be invited to explain the important role of voluntary and community organisations in the future prosperity of York.

The keynote speaker will be Kevin Curley, chief executive of the National Association of Voluntary And Community Action, who started his career with York CVS. The original idea for the CVS came from a Presbyterian minister, the Rev R D Whitehorn, in an address to the York Rotary Club in 1932.

The minister said York needed some form of council of social service, claiming: “There are an enormous number of people doing, individually and in groups, things very much for the benefit of the community, but a great deal of the effectiveness of the service is lost because it is not co-ordinated.”

Mr Stroud said the organisation was eventually founded in the autumn of 1939 and went on to help countless voluntary organisations over the following 70 years.

He said it developed, supported and promoted the work of voluntary organisations and community groups, helping them to be as effective and sustainable as possible.

It helped people who wanted to volunteer find the right activity and assisted other people to set up community action groups, understand relevant legal issues, get funding, and meet others with similar interests.

It also provided free or low-cost services and advice to help local organisations run effectively, from management committees, newsletters and funding to payroll, offices and meeting rooms.

He said there were currently 22 international, 108 national and 627 local charities based in York, with a combined income of £237 million.

There were also a significant number of sports clubs, faith groups and smaller, grassroots community, tenants and residents associations that were not registered charities – “so there are believed to be at least 1,000 voluntary and community organisations in the city in total”.