By now most of you in the know will have heard about the decision by the Office of Third Sector to withdraw grants previously offered to a number of small to medium sized charities. I won't go into the details behind the case, information about that is already available in abundance but needless to say, I and my colleagues at Red Foundation are shocked at the way this situation has been handled and extend our sympathy and support to those charities affected.
What I want to reflect upon is how we, as the third sector, have to unite to make our voices heard on this issue. NCVO, supported by NAVCA, have taken up this case and have so far led the call for charities and voluntary groups to sign a petition to lobby the OTS, and are exploring the legal ramifications to ascertain if a case can be brought against them. Both NCVO and NAVCA are to be applauded. Both charities rely heavily on OTS funding and are showing considerable courage and leadership on an issue that affects us all.
And this is an issue that affect us all, make no mistake about that. If we allow the OTS to get away lightly with this decision then we open the doors for future governments to feel it is acceptable to treat the third sector in this way. These projects may have been small previously unheard of charities, but they are part of our sector and as such we need to show our support for them.
The petition set up by NCVO via their www.Louder.org.uk website has so far only attracted 200 signatures. Frankly that's a pretty poor show so far. There are at least a thousand charities on Twitter alone, not to mention those on Facebook and the charities that subscribe to NCVO, NAVCA etc. So why the poor turnout? It's not for lack of awareness I'm sure - Third Sector magazine alone have given the issue extensive coverage so far - so I suspect it may be more down to apathy.
It's very easy to sit back and ignore issues that may not affect us directly and I can understand that many charities that receive government funding may not want to rock the boat and be seen to be biting the hand that feeds them. But one day it could be any of us on the receiving end of such an outrageous policy decision and who would we look to to support us in our time of need?
The one thing that we as a sector have in abundance is our voice, and now is the time to make it heard. The government cannot be allowed to treat any charity in this way and only by uniting our voices to create a big enough noise will government, and the other powers that be, hear us and take notice.
NCVO and NAVCA cannot fight this case alone. They need every CEO, director, co-ordinator and manager of every charity and third sector organisation out there to make sure that the Office of the Third Sector understands in no uncertain terms that this sort of decision making is unacceptable.
Please show your support by signing this petition www.louder.org.uk/otscampaign today and offering any support you can. Your help today could make all the difference.
Jamie Thomas is Chief Executive of Red Foundation
Friday 27 November 2009
Monday 26 October 2009
Does High Unemployment Necessarily Have a Direct Impact on Increased Volunteering?
There is a tendency at the moment to look towards charities to help with our recession recovery process. It is hoped charities can provide volunteering opportunities which will help people gain work experience, confidence, motivation and references to support them in job-seeking. But do we already have evidence that there is a questionable link between the need for volunteering and the take-up of volunteering opportunities?
Looking at two sources of regional data, the Place Survey and the Annual Population Survey, it is apparent that the places which have the highest levels of worklessness also have lowest levels of volunteering. This is perhaps surprising for those of us who believe that volunteering increases at times (and in places) of high worklessness.
The 2008 Place Survey asked respondents if they had given unpaid help at least once per month over the last 12 months. In England 23.2% said that they did so – just over one in five of each people asked.
The Place Survey looked at this question, and many others, on a national level, local authority level and regional level. Of the nine English regions, the three with the lowest levels of unpaid help were the West Midlands (22%), London (21%) and the North East (19%). The highest were the South East (25%, Eastern England (25%) and the South West (28%).
Interestingly, these regions correlate almost entirely with the regions which have the highest and lowest levels of unemployment (Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey 2007). The worklessness data includes people who are unemployed and people who are economically inactive, for example, people who are sick/disabled, students, people looking after the family and home, and retired people. Those regions with the highest levels of worklessness are London (31%), North East, North West and the West Midlands. Those with the lowest levels of worklessness are South East (22%), South West and the East of England.
There has been much talk of late about the role of the third sector in our recovery from the recession. They are cited as not only being the source of support for those in dire straits but of as providers of volunteering opportunities for those who are looking for work, people who are unemployed, students and so forth. The Place Survey data above suggests that the relationship is just not that simple. The ‘need’ for volunteering as a way out of worklessness and the time individuals have available to volunteer are not necessarily the driving factors towards increased regular volunteering.
It is useful to note that the Place Survey did not restrict itself to formal within-charity volunteering but used a wider definition looking at help given to any club, group or society. It did exclude, however, family-based care.
There are myriad reasons why times and areas of high worklessness do not correlate with high levels of unpaid help being given. Not least is the fact that voluntary and community organisations each have a set of aims and objectives, some of which are met by using volunteer help. Few organisations are set up specifically to take on volunteers solely for the volunteers’ sake which is a time-consuming and costly business.
What is clear is that we cannot assume that worklessness increases volunteering. Much more work is needed to understand the relationship with investment in the voluntary and community sector to develop appropriate measures to encourage volunteering.
Posted by Gudrun Limbrick, Associate Director (Research), Red Foundation
Looking at two sources of regional data, the Place Survey and the Annual Population Survey, it is apparent that the places which have the highest levels of worklessness also have lowest levels of volunteering. This is perhaps surprising for those of us who believe that volunteering increases at times (and in places) of high worklessness.
The 2008 Place Survey asked respondents if they had given unpaid help at least once per month over the last 12 months. In England 23.2% said that they did so – just over one in five of each people asked.
The Place Survey looked at this question, and many others, on a national level, local authority level and regional level. Of the nine English regions, the three with the lowest levels of unpaid help were the West Midlands (22%), London (21%) and the North East (19%). The highest were the South East (25%, Eastern England (25%) and the South West (28%).
Interestingly, these regions correlate almost entirely with the regions which have the highest and lowest levels of unemployment (Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey 2007). The worklessness data includes people who are unemployed and people who are economically inactive, for example, people who are sick/disabled, students, people looking after the family and home, and retired people. Those regions with the highest levels of worklessness are London (31%), North East, North West and the West Midlands. Those with the lowest levels of worklessness are South East (22%), South West and the East of England.
There has been much talk of late about the role of the third sector in our recovery from the recession. They are cited as not only being the source of support for those in dire straits but of as providers of volunteering opportunities for those who are looking for work, people who are unemployed, students and so forth. The Place Survey data above suggests that the relationship is just not that simple. The ‘need’ for volunteering as a way out of worklessness and the time individuals have available to volunteer are not necessarily the driving factors towards increased regular volunteering.
It is useful to note that the Place Survey did not restrict itself to formal within-charity volunteering but used a wider definition looking at help given to any club, group or society. It did exclude, however, family-based care.
There are myriad reasons why times and areas of high worklessness do not correlate with high levels of unpaid help being given. Not least is the fact that voluntary and community organisations each have a set of aims and objectives, some of which are met by using volunteer help. Few organisations are set up specifically to take on volunteers solely for the volunteers’ sake which is a time-consuming and costly business.
What is clear is that we cannot assume that worklessness increases volunteering. Much more work is needed to understand the relationship with investment in the voluntary and community sector to develop appropriate measures to encourage volunteering.
Posted by Gudrun Limbrick, Associate Director (Research), Red Foundation
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