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Ask the expert - change

06/01/2010

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Ask the expert

Improving Support Magazine asked a range of support sector experts for their view on what the big changes will be that affect the support sector in the future and what support third sector organisations will need to meet these challenges.

Gethyn Williams, Policy and Networks Manager - London Voluntary Service Council
LVSC brings third sector organisations in London together to learn and share best practice and to create a coordinated voice to influence policy makers.

Impact of the recession
“The recession has meant the most marginalised and vulnerable Londoners are becoming even more so – with third sector organisations in London picking up the pieces.

Big Squeeze Campaign
Our ‘Big Squeeze’ campaign research shows that many frontline organisations are already dealing with the social fallout of the recession. It compounds existing challenges around poverty and community cohesion.

Rise in redundancy
LVSC’s specialist employment service, PEACe, took more than double the number of calls around restructuring and redundancy in the first half of 2009.

Collaborative funding and direction of resources
To support these organisations we recommend all funders – statutory and non-statutory - actively collaborate when directing their resources and be flexible with those they fund in coping with increases in demand. London’s voluntary community organisations need dialogue, genuine long-term partnership working and understanding if we are to minimise the impact of the recession on the most vulnerable.

Further information
For more information on the Big Squeeze campaign visit the LVSC website.


Rachel Quinn, CEO- One East Midlands
One East Midlands works to ensure that the third sector is actively engaged with various key regional bodies from across the public, statutory, business and social enterprise sectors.

Regional planning and collaborative working
"We have to get smarter about delivering our influencing roles in the future. Collaboration has to be key. When planning regional support there’s enormous opportunity for communities to draw together economic planning with social and environmental benefits.

Embedding the voice of social purpose sector
To get this right we must ensure that the voice of the social purpose sector is embedded in the design and delivery of this regional approach.

Action within the East Midlands
In the East Midlands we are exploring what it means to be part of the third sector at a regional level. We’re looking at how collaborating with other organisations might ensure a more powerful voice.”

Further information
To find out more about the work of One East Midlands, please visit their website.

 

Stephen Bubb, CEO - Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations
ACEVO works to connect, develop and represent leaders from over 2,000 third sector organisations.

Cuts in public spending
"In the next five years we’ll see major cuts in public spending. But at the same time, we’ll also see more services delivered through the third sector.

Capacity to deliver services
It will attract more funding from grants, but lose out on voluntary contributions, so the real issue will be capacity. “Do we have the capacity to deliver these services? What we can do is offer strategic support for charities, such as leadership development for CEOs.

Improvements to governance is required
I think that governance isn’t always as it should be – charities need to develop proper appraisals and a more professional approach."

To find out more about the work of ACEVO, please visit their website or Stephen Bubb’s blog.

 

Stuart Etherington, CEO - National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
NCVO is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector providing support and advice to people working in, or with, the third sector. It represents almost half the third sector workforce.

Improving efficiency despite cuts in public money
"The biggest challenge is how to continue delivering quality services despite impending cuts in public money. There are two ways the sector can respond to this and improve efficiency.

Increased collaboration
First, support organisations can ‘cluster’ together. This does not mean mergers but will mean greater collaboration to reduce unnecessary duplication.

New technology
Secondly, we need to invest in new technology to enable groups to share advice and information and learn from each other, as is already happening through the likes of Web 2.0."

Further information
To find out more about NCVO, please visit their website.

 

 

Dr Theo Gavrielides, CEO - Race on the Agenda (ROTA)
ROTA is one of Britain’s leading social policy think-tanks which focuses on issues that affect Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.

Recent legislative changes
"In terms of equality, recent institutional, policy and legislative changes such as the proposed Single Equality Bill offer new challenges for the third sector.

Mainstreaming equalities
These changes are seen as a new trend of mainstreaming equalities – moving away from a focus on individual equality strands towards a more holistic approach to discrimination.

Changing the way organisations operate
Whether you believe the changes are positive or negative, it will change the way many third sector organisations operate. Organisations working with equality are having to look at their work more generically.

Opportunities as well as challenges
But where there are challenges, there are also opportunities. For instance, we now have the chance to offer retraining and build capacity for these organisations to help achieve their aims.”

Further information
To find out more about the work of ROTA, please visit their website.

 

Vivienne Hayes, CEO - Women’s Resource Centre
The Women’s Resource Centre supports women’s organisations to be more effective and sustainable by offering training, resources and support.

Lack of understanding about value of the sector
"I believe that there’s a lack of understanding about the value of the support sector overall. Because of the state of public finances, and the recession, there’s going to be less money to go around in the future.

Links between frontline and infrastructure support
When money is tight, people tend to focus on frontline organisations, but there’s a clear link between the health of frontline organisations and the infrastructure support they receive.

Developing understanding
To get recognition, support services have to listen to the needs of their members and make frontline organisations aware of what’s happening in the wider sector so that they can make the best decisions.”

Further information
To find out more about the Women’s Resource Centre, please visit their website.

This article is taken from Issue 2 of the Improving Support magazine. Click here to request your free copy.