The Voluntary Sector: a brief tour influence  inform  connect

Northern Rock Study Key Findings in Yorkshire & Humber: There are over 14,000 registered third sector organisations (Mapping TSOs) They have an annual income of over £2.75 billion and total assets of £3.73 billion (Mapping TSOs) They employ 72,700 paid workers or 3% of the region’s workforce (Paid Work and Vol) There are 335,400 volunteers who contribute over 25 million hours per year to the sector (Paid Work and Vol)

Northern Rock Study Third sector employment as a proportion of total employment by local authority

Northern Rock Study

Below the Radar? For every registered third sector organisations there is at least one unregistered organisation (BTR)

A Big Society in Yorkshire and Humber? Participation and Involvement

A Big Society in Yorkshire and the Humber? Context and Place Variation is deprivation across Yorkshire and Humber Concentrations of deprivation at different levels

Surprises Rural and Urban Vulnerability Sources of income Not everywhere is the same: the geography of cuts

What’s happening now? Quarterly Confidence Survey – 3 years Doing more for less Economic gloom…but a significant minority thriving – not just surviving Latest Survey More than half expect their finances to be stable 38% expect it to deteriorate Frustration that policy makers take voluntary & community organisations for granted and are listening a lot less influence  inform  connect

Citizens Advice queues | £1m | Food Banks growth | Benefit changes It’s the economy…

It’s different up North…

Health and Social care Nationally 57% of VCS staff work in health & social care organisations 45%of social work staff work in the charity sector In Yorkshire & Humber almost 20% of general charities focus their activities in social services Involve’s growing HealthNet : 500 and rising Life expectancy is 12 years lower for men and 8.3 for women in the most deprived areas of Bradford than in the least deprived. In North Yorkshire it is 6.3 and 4.6 influence  inform  connect And some finer focus…

So what is different about rural? It has long been known that rural needs are overlooked – or not given equal weight when policies are being decided or delivery programmes devised. (ACRE 2009). In addition the fact that provision/purchase of such services is more expensive is also well recorded (LG Futures, Costs of Providing Services in rural areas, 2011and State of Rural Services 2011).

And…. City Deal funding has focused on the bigger cities and the benefits are not translating to rural areas. In metropolitan areas rural communities and the Community and Voluntary sector who support them are on the fringe of policy not central to it. “A few years ago we were supporting the development of buying local food for many reasons, now we are helping to set up food banks.” (Rural Voluntary Organisation)

What else? It is impossible to overlook the impact of severe reductions in public funding It costs more to deliver services in sparse rural areas; and Central government gives less grant funding to rural than to urban local authorities. Recent work for SPARSE-Rural found that, on average, Predominantly Rural authorities receive £324 per head of population in 2011/12, whilst Predominantly Urban authorities receive £487 per head of population – a difference of £163. (LG Futures, 2011)

What can work well? The Voluntary and Community Sector can work with business to help them build relationships and with the community in which they operate. Working in partnership with the local authority and others is often key to success, collaborate rather than compete. Libraries potentially closing and the VCS supporting communities to take them on. Other opportunities have been found as a result to overcome rural isolation.

The Voluntary Sector: a brief tour influence  inform  connect

All can be downloaded from Third Sector Organisations in Yorkshire & Humber Below the Radar A big society in Yorkshire & Humber? (CRESR Hallam, ESRC, Involve Y & H) Quarterly Confidence Survey HealthNet Rural Network influence  inform  connect References

influence  inform  connect Involve is an important organisation, especially in these times, since it encourages people working in the voluntary and community sector to think – and to do. Both are necessary; progress is impossible otherwise. Julia Unwin, Chief Executive Joseph Rowntree Foundation