SEKTOR 3- Wroclaw Centre of Supporting Non-Governmental Organizations

Wroclaw Centre of Supporting Non-Governmental Organizations Sektor 3 is the initiative of the foundation ?Umbrella? financed by the EU under European Social Fund, and from the budget of the Commune of Wroclaw.

Mission:
Having in mind that the citizens? actions are the basis of Democracy, we support funding and development of non-governmental organizations and social initiatives in Wroclaw. That is why we engage in training, advisory and informative activities, and we also offer access to our premises and facilities.

Vision:
Our aim is to teach our co-operating organizations to act independently and efficiently, and to make them achieve their goals and develop dynamically. 

What can Sektor 3 offer Non-Governmental Organizations:

• Comprehensive training on funding and functioning of non-governmental organizations. We teach, e.g. how to start a foundation or an association, how to gain funds for its activity, how to manage human resources or build a team (?).
• Consulting in law, bookkeeping, operating, funds raising, organization management – all that is connected with issues of foundations and associations.
• Animation of local communities. We offer a comprehensive support to animate local communities! We organize animation meetings under Citizen Business Incubator program. We advise how to solve local problems, create efficient the rank- and- file initiatives or intersectoral partnerships.
• Free access to conference and training rooms for non-governmental organizations. We also give access to work offices with computers available. We can grant the address of the head office and correspondence address, phone number and a place on the server.
• NGO?s database – always up-to-date!. The latest information on associations and foundations from Wroclaw and local area.

All NGO?s, people wanting to start an organization and informal groups can benefit from the services of Sektor 3.

How did it all begin?
A few years ago in Wroclaw, local authorities and social organizations became ready to start cooperation to build a civil society, together as partners and with swing. A manifestation of this cooperation was, among other things, creating of Wroclaw Council of Public Benefit Activities and the post of Non-Governmental Organizations Counsellor by the President of Wroclaw, and also creating NGO?s Cooperation Office within the structure of City Hall.

Thanks to that, and also thanks to the creativity and involvement of people from those circles and institutions, we have made our many years? dream come true ? we have created a place, which we then provisionally called ?NGO?s Incubator?.

The Commune of Wroclaw assigned a part of old repair hall building on the premises of the depot at Legnicka street, and a sum of over 3 million PLN for its renovation, adaptation and equipment. Thanks to that, an object of surface of 670 m2, was created, as no other in the country.

The preliminary phase of starting this endeavor was made by the team of people assigned by the City Hall. This way, on April 10, 2007 Wroclaw Centre of Supporting Non-Governmental Organizations Sektor 3 was solemnly opened.

A second, very brave and innovative step of the local authorities was the decision to entrust running of Sektor 3 to a non-governmental organization chosen by way of public tender, and assigning for its functioning a sum of 600 000 PLN.

Following the tender, since September 2007 Foundation of Supporting Non-Governmental Organizations ?Umbrella?, founded by the leaders of Wroclaw organizations: Tratwa Association, Hobbit Foundation and St. Albert Association, has been running this project.

Since then, Centre Sektor 3 has been a part of social activity of citizens of Wroclaw supporting initiatives and activities of associations, foundations and informal groups.

After four years of its activity, one can say that this place is lively, useful and needed, reach not only by its supporting activities, but also by the diverse activities of other Wroclaw NGOs.

It must be also said that every month there are guests from official delegations and study visits from the country and abroad, mostly from the countries of former USSR, but also from Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

For some time Sektor 3 has also been a place where we socially activate senior citizens, who, we believe, are the source of considerable and unfulfilled potential.