Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

What Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency does

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency (MVDA) is a registered charity (No. 1094112) and Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 04509224) founded in 2002 and headquartered in Middlesbrough, UK. It operates as a voluntary and community sector (VCS) infrastructure organisation, providing development support, funding guidance, volunteer management, and sector representation to charities, community groups, and social enterprises primarily in Middlesbrough and increasingly across South Tees. MVDA's service portfolio includes the Volunteering Academy (funded by the National Lottery Community Fund), the Volunteering Academy Quality Award (VAQA), the Sector Connector directory, the Find a Funder portal (run jointly with Middlesbrough Council), the Freebies goods-redistribution scheme, the TeamKinetic volunteer management platform, and community programmes such as Changing Futures, LocalMotion Middlesbrough, We Care You Care, and Enhance Redcar and Cleveland.

MVDA's business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. It does not charge end users for core services; instead, it secures multi-year grants from the National Lottery Community Fund, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Rank Foundation, Tees Foundation, Woodsmith Foundation, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, and Middlesbrough Council, supplemented by in-kind support and partnership delivery. Distribution is hybrid: self-serve via website, Outlook ebulletin (600+ subscribers) and online tools, combined with face-to-face training, Volunteer Coordinator Forums, and event-based engagement. The underlying technology stack is lightweight, relying on Eventbrite for event registration, SurveyMonkey for surveys, and Google Analytics for website measurement, with no proprietary AI or platform technology of its own. Operating geographies are limited to the UK, with primary focus on Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland, and the organisation runs with a small staff of 1-10 employees.

Name

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Legal name

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Website

https://mvda.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MVDA is a Middlesbrough-based charity that provides infrastructure support, funding guidance, volunteer management, and sector representation to voluntary and community organisations across Middlesbrough and South Tees, funded primarily by grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Voluntary Sector Infrastructure Support

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Voluntary sector infrastructure
• Community development support
• Volunteer programme management
• VCSE capacity building
• Funding search support

Headquarters

HQ city

Middlesbrough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. National Lottery Community Fund: Primary funding for Volunteering Academy programme. The National Lottery Community Fund provides grants to support community initiatives.
2. Lloyds Bank Foundation, Rank Foundation, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Tees Foundation, Woodsmith Foundation: Joint funding for Enhance Redcar and Cleveland service to support VCSE sector development over three years.
3. Government and Council Funding: Funding from government and local authorities for various programmes and initiatives including community engagement and sector support.
4. Middlesbrough Council Community Grant Fund: Grants of up to £1500 available through Community Grant Fund programme for community activities.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency provides infrastructure support to the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector across Middlesbrough and South Tees, offering development advice, volunteer brokerage through the Volunteering Academy, funding search access via the Find a Funder portal, an online VCSE directory (Sector Connector), training and events, a goods-redistribution scheme (Freebies), community safety resources, and programmes addressing disadvantage such as Changing Futures, LocalMotion and We Care You Care.

Product overview

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency (MVDA) operates as a voluntary and community sector infrastructure support organization, offering a portfolio of interconnected services rather than a unified technology product. The core offerings include the Volunteering Academy (a virtual hub for volunteer support), Sector Connector (an online VCS directory), Find a Funder (a funding search tool), and TeamKinetic (a volunteer management platform). Additional services encompass community safety resources (Protect and Prevent), quality assurance programmes (VAQA), goods redistribution (Freebies scheme), and various community programmes including Changing Futures, LocalMotion Middlesbrough, and We Care You Care. The organization also provides training courses, downloadable resources and toolkits, and maintains a community venues directory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Volunteering Academy: A virtual hub offering support to make Middlesbrough a volunteering-friendly and inclusive town, providing training, resources and events for volunteers and organizations.
• Freebies Scheme
• Find a Funder

Products and services

• Volunteering Academy A virtual hub supporting volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations through training, resources, events and volunteer brokerage to help make Middlesbrough a volunteering-friendly and inclusive town.
• Sector Connector An online directory of voluntary and community sector organisations in Middlesbrough, allowing users to search for services and activities by service type, area, client group and postcode.
• Find a Funder A free online funding search portal operated jointly with Middlesbrough Council that allows users to search hundreds of funding opportunities from government, Lottery, charitable trusts and other sources.
• TeamKinetic A free online tool funded by the Volunteering Academy project that helps organisations recruit, retain and recognise the impact of volunteers, with recruitment, communication, impact measurement and reward capabilities.
• We Care You Care A communications and campaigns initiative supporting unpaid carers across South Tees by raising awareness of caring and the support available locally.
• Protect and Prevent Community safety resources providing organisations and communities with information on the Prevent safeguarding approach and Protect counter-terrorism preparedness measures.
• Volunteering Academy Quality Award (VAQA) A quality award scheme that gives organisations a mark of assurance for the quality of their volunteer experience, assessed against criteria around recruitment, training, retention and support of volunteers.
• Freebies Scheme A scheme that redistributes donated goods such as baby bedding, towels, household items, toys and office furniture to voluntary organisations to prevent items going to landfill.
• Middlesbrough Community Venues A curated directory of community venues in Middlesbrough available for hire for meetings or gatherings, with bookings handled through MVDA.
• Resources and Toolkits A library of downloadable information sheets, good-practice guides and templates covering governance, safeguarding, funding applications, GDPR and other operational topics for VCSE organisations.
• Changing Futures Programme A three-year programme supporting people facing multiple disadvantage (homelessness, domestic abuse, offending, addictions, mental ill-health) through workshops and system leadership development, hosted by MVDA as part of the South Tees Changing Futures programme.
• LocalMotion Middlesbrough A community programme focused on making connections between people and organisations to address local issues, strengthen the local economy and build community wealth in Middlesbrough.

Quantifiable outcome

• £1 million worth of items redistributed to voluntary organisations through Freebies scheme since inception
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Middlesbrough Environment CityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2026Lead organisation for Third Space initiative secured £1.5m National Lottery funding. MVDA works with Middlesbrough Environment City on community partnership bringing together seven organisations.
• Middlesbrough CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint partnership on Find a Funder online funding search tool, Community Grant Fund, and various community initiatives. MVDA provides infrastructure support to the sector while Middlesbrough Council provides funding and strategic alignment.
• Redcar and Cleveland Borough CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint funder of Enhance Redcar and Cleveland VCSE infrastructure support service. Strategic partner in community development across the borough.
• Tees Valley Infrastructure PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership of voluntary sector bodies providing advice, support and voice for VCSE organisations across Tees Valley. Developed the Tees Valley Volunteering Charter.
• You've Got This (Sport England)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMVDA hosts and partners on this Sport England funded project supporting communities through sport.
• We Care You CareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunication and campaigns project for unpaid carers across South Tees, hosted and partnered by MVDA.
• LocalMotion MiddlesbroughminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMVDA contributes to LocalMotion work focused on connecting people and organisations to address local issues and strengthen local economy.
• Changing Futures ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree-year government programme hosted by MVDA, bringing together organisations to support people facing multiple challenges including homelessness, domestic abuse, justice involvement, addictions, and mental health.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action): National infrastructure body for the voluntary sector in Wales, providing funding, training, and policy support to VCS organisations. Comparable to MVDA's role but operating at national Welsh level in a different jurisdiction.
• SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations): National representative body for Scotland's voluntary sector, providing policy, training, funding advice, and digital tools comparable to MVDA's offering but at scale across Scotland.

Emerging players

• Reach Volunteering: UK-wide charity that connects professionals with board-level volunteering opportunities at charities. Provides a complementary specialist volunteering service that could substitute parts of MVDA's Volunteering Academy.

Broad incumbents

• NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action): National membership body for local voluntary and community sector infrastructure organisations in England. NAVCA represents and supports CVS infrastructure bodies like MVDA, making it a direct super-set peer in the same role at national scale.
• NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations): Largest umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England. Offers research, policy, training and resources for VCOs, providing a national-level analogue of MVDA's local infrastructure role.
• Locality: National membership organisation supporting community-led organisations including local infrastructure bodies. Locality provides development support, policy advocacy and resources similar to MVDA's role, but at national scale with significantly larger resources.

Direct peers

• Community Matters: Yorkshire and Humber regional support body for community organisations and voluntary groups, providing training, resources, and development support akin to MVDA's local infrastructure role.
• Manchester Community Central: Voluntary and community sector infrastructure body for Manchester, providing development support, funding advice, and training to VCS organisations — direct regional counterpart to MVDA's role in Middlesbrough.
• Foundation for Social Improvement: UK charity providing training, support, and resources to small voluntary and community organisations. Strongly comparable to MVDA in providing capacity-building support to grassroots VCS organisations.
• Sheffield Council for Voluntary Service: Local CVS infrastructure body supporting voluntary organisations in Sheffield through training, funding guidance, and sector development services — closely mirrors MVDA's local infrastructure function.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mvdanews
• Facebookfacebook.com/mvdamiddlesbrough
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/middlesbrough-voluntary-development-agency

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency