Rhonda has been involved with the voluntary and community sector (VCS) most of her life. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience about the VCS and, in 2007, she took on the running of Whitwick Community Coffee Shop. With Rhonda's passion and commitment, the Cafe has developed into a major training initiative covering North West Leciestershire. Rhonda joined Voluntary Action LeicesterShire's (VAL) 2013 Future Focus Conference to give a workshop on how collaboration can help voluntary and community groups sustain themselves in a difficult economic climate. The workshop looked at ways to streamline services by joining together and developing a shared purpose and vision. Specifically, Rhonda's workshop helped organsiations find out what a consortium looks like, why a group might consider creating a consortium, how to overcome challenges, and the pluses and minuses of consortium. While the 2013 Future Focus conference is now over, VAL runs trainings and workshops like Rhonda's year-round. If you'd like to learn more about training for your organisation, visit www.Valoneline.org.uk.