Agenda item - Community and Voluntary Sector Forum - Update

20.1 Libby Young, CVSF Operations Manager gave facts and figures about the Community and Voluntary sector. She outlined changes to CVSF within the Transforming Local Infrastructure Project, and how CVSF will be supporting the community and voluntary sector in the future.

20.2 The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimated there were more than 160,000 voluntary and charitable organisations in England, approximately half of which have annual income less than £10,000, are unlikely to have paid staff and rely solely on donations. There were an estimated 16.1 million volunteers in England. Volunteers are thought to contribute around £23 billion to the UK Economy.

20.3 The 2013 CVSF audit called ‘Taking Account’ of the size, importance and value of the sector locally is in progress. Figures from the 2008 audit showed an estimated 1,600 groups and organisations in Brighton & Hove, 700 of these are estimated to be small, informal groups. It is estimated that there are nearly 20,000 volunteering positions in Brighton and Hove and that nearly 60,000 volunteering hours per week are given in Brighton and Hove. This volunteering is worth over £24 million to the local economy.

20.4 The local community and voluntary sector is made up of different types of organisations and groups eg community groups, informal groups, voluntary organisations, charities, social enterprises, resident and resident organisations, co-operative and community interest companies. They can be run by just 2 or 3 committed volunteers or be part of large international organisations with hundreds of employees. The common factor is that the primary purpose is not for profit, and working for the benefit of local communities and people.

20.5 The local community and voluntary sector contributes an estimated £96 million to the local economy every year.

20.6 Community and Voluntary groups/organisations are community led and run, they provide volunteering opportunities and are well placed to reach isolated communities. They are a source of knowledge and expertise to help identify emerging issues facing communities, provide a champion voice and inform better and more targeted services and service planning. They bring in additional funding into the city eg from national government and independent grant and trust funding.

20.7 Libby Young outlined the main challenges facing the community and voluntary sector that includes: finding resources needed to support volunteers; fluctuating funding that impacts on the ability to plan; ‘squeezing’ of contracts; significant monitoring and evaluation requirements and meeting demand for services at a time of reduced public sector funding, more people turning to community and voluntary sector groups to meet their needs, and changes in key areas of national policies and priorities.

20.8 CVSF, an independent charity, has existed for about 15 years and has over 350 members. The main focus of its work has been around informing, networking and representing CVSF members for the benefit of local communities. CVSF is now broadening the support to include capacity-building to ensure a sustainable, diverse and influential Sector.

28.9 The Transforming Local Infrastructure Project is bringing about changes:

•        The volunteer Centre, Performance Development Service, Skills Exchange and CVSF have all merged to become one new sector support organisation.

•        CVSF will be the legal organisation through which the new organisation will operate. It has changed its charitable objectives to enable for a wider scope of support services, and is developing a new name, and identity for the new sector support organisation.

•        This new organisation will be moving to reside in Community Base, so that it is more accessible to the people of Brighton and Hove.

•        The new organisation has developed a new business plan and new services.

•        The new organisation will have a new staffing structure to deliver the new services

•        The project has had widespread engagement, involvement and consultation both with CVSF members, the wider sector other sector support organisations in the city, and also funders.

28.10 New CVSF Services will continue to support the Sector to influence key decision-makers. It will also however, focus more of its time on developing sector partnerships and consortiums to be able to bid for, manage, and deliver on large public sector contracts for public services

28.11 It will also provide support around volunteering, both good practice support for those developing and running volunteers schemes, but also help people to access volunteering opportunities, matching local people with the right local organisations. This will include a focus on working with people with additional support needs to ensure that they are able to access the volunteering opportunities they are interested in.

28.12 It will provide more one-to-one support to ensure the Sector has the right advice, information and knowledge, to run their groups and organisations as effectively and as efficiently as possible. This will also include support for workers and volunteers in the sector to develop their skills through providing training courses, a mentoring programme, and by sharing skills and knowledge.

28.13 It will provide access to low cost, high value consultancy services for the sector and connect more closely with the business sector.

28.14 The substantial changes such as new brand, new staff, and some of the new services are expected to be in place by the end of the year/early 2014.

28.15 The Changes aim to ensure that:

•        The sector will continue to be influential

•        More people and more diverse people will come forward and volunteer and be involved in community activity

•        Community and Voluntary Sector Groups and Organisations will have access to more resources, and more opportunities to develop their skills, which means they are better able to govern and manage themselves and as a result are more sustainable

28.16 Further information on becoming a member, receiving a free newsletter, using the volunteering service was available on 01273 – 810230.

28.17  Libby Young answered questions on the structure of the TLI project, posted on the CVSF website; the use of the ‘theory of change’ approach;  and the development of Healthwatch, detailed in newsletters and on-line, or more information on 01273 – 810235.

28.18 The Chair thanked Libby Young for her helpful thorough presentation.