About us
Founded in 1943, Barking & Dagenham Council for Voluntary Service (BDCVS) supports the voluntary and community sector in the borough. We share news and information about events, activities, and development opportunities. Through local, regional and national links we facilitate voice, representation and advocacy. We lead and participate in programmes to promote local groups and their work.
In 2011, BDCVS moved into the Ripple Centre in Barking taking on the community building’s lease and management. The Ripple Centre has office and meeting space for local organisations.
BDCVS is run by a small staff team governed by a board of trustees.
Our role
A short video explaining the role of Councils for Voluntary Service. It sets the work of Barking & Dagenham CVS in context locally and regionally.
Our People
We have a senior team and a team whose specific focus is the Ripple Centre. Our staff email address format is firstname.lastname@bdcvs.org.uk.
Senior Leadership Team
Chris Downham
Operations and Business Development Manager
Chris has worked at BDCVS for more than 20 years. In his current role he manages the Ripple Centre and its small, dynamic, enthusiastic staff team. He is the person to speak to about building customer experience at the Ripple Centre. Chris works full-time. A good time to catch him at his desk is first thing Monday to Friday.
Mala Alina
Community engagement Manager
Mala has been with BDCVS since 2013 in various roles. As the first point of contact, she prides herself in ensuring all visitors to the Centre, venue hirers and users have a positive experience. This has enabled her to build and maintain relationships. She considers herself a good team player as she believes teamwork is the key to ensure we all work towards a common goal. Enabling us to meet our organisational and statutory requirements.
As Community Engagement Manager, Mala is in the process of mapping the capacity building needs of Voluntary Sector organisations in the borough.
Ripple Centre
The Ripple Centre is a vibrant, modern, flexible venue for all occasions. Our small team strives to give the best customer service experience possible. Reception is managed Monday to Friday by our Reception Manager with out-of-hours cover from our team of Caretakers. We are supported by Volunteers.
Parissé Devaux
Reception Manager
When you come into our building you will be greeted with a warm smile from Parissé. She is highly skilled in diversity and inclusion, great at design and creating a welcoming space.
Parissé manages all our Reception functions and will take care of your bookings.
Caretakers
- Amor Elakermi
- Hassan Hajaig
- Jane Peck
- John Smith
- Steve Campbell
- Sue West
- Terry Humphreys
Board of Trustees
Pip Salvador-Jones (Chair), Nighat Bhola (Vice-Chair), Karen West-Whylie (Treasurer), Sarah Robertson, Syed Ghani.
