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'The evidence provided by the research now gives us a real platform to start thinking about how to release the real potential of voluntary and community organisations in East London'. Jake Ferguson, Assistant Director, HCVS.
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For a full copy of the report please download the report here as a PDF document. If you have problems downloading please email jake@hcvs.org.uk. Limited copies are available please call jake on 020 7923 1962.
In This Section
Key findings
What is the research all about?
Who are the East London Voluntary Sector Alliance (ELVSA)
What are the next stages for Empowering East London?
Need a hard copy of the report?
Looking to the future: implications
Looking to the future: recommendations for action
A1. Recommendations to all Voluntary and Community Organisations
A2. Recommendations to Black and Minority Ethnic Organisations
B1. Recommendations to Local Infrastructure Organisations
B2. BME organisations: Recommendations to Local Infrastructure Organisations
C1. Recommendations to Statutory Partners and Funders
C2. BME organisations: Recommendations to Statutory Partner and Funders
Key Findings
- There are over 3500 Voluntary and Community Organisations working across the boroughs of TH, Hackney and Newham.
- These organisations had a combined income of ?585 million in 2001/02, an increase of 3.6% compared to 2000/01.
- Those with an income between ?10k and ?1m - saw falls in income of more than 10%.
- Almost half of the sector's income - ?284m - is from statutory sources. This is a key source for the sector, as it is increasing (over ?30m in 12 months) at a time when other sources are static or falling.
- Black and Minority Ethnic organisations were found to be small in size and supported mainly by unhealthy short-term funding arrangements. 9 out of 10 BME organisations reported a problem with funding.
What is the research all about?
Empowering East London is a research programme which looks at the collective contribution that community and voluntary organisations make to the area they are based in. This project covers 3 boroughs - Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham. It has examined things like how many people are employed in the sector, how many volunteers become active citizens, what sort of premises you work from as well as what grants or funding you receive on an annual basis. This information will help to ensure that we are considered equal players with larger institutions such as the health service or local authority.
What is the East London Voluntary Sector Alliance (ELVSA)
The East London Voluntary Sector Alliance is a three borough partnership of Hackney Council for Voluntary Service (HCVS), the Community Organisations Forum (COF) in Tower Hamlets and the Aston Mansfield Community Involvement Unit based in Newham. Together we represent over 3500 voluntary and community organisations in East London. ELVSA was set up to deliver Empowering East London and has commissioned NCVO to undertake aspects of the research.
What are the next stages for Empowering East London?
As part of the next phase of the research, ELVSA intends to host 3 borough based seminars for policy makers in the statutory sector (Local authority key staff, councillors, PCT etc) to examine the recommendations in more detail, look at borough based statistics and to decide on a way forward and action plan. We also intend to host a further seminar for Charitable Trusts and funding bodies. In addition, we will also be conducting focus groups on premises, regeneration and core costs as part of the follow up research phase with key stakeholders and community groups which will help our understanding of the barriers to organisational development.
If you would like to be kept informed please contact jake@hcvs.org.uk
Need a hard copy of the report?
A limited number of paper copies of the main report are available from jake@hcvs.org.uk. Alternatively if you would like multiple copies of the Executive Summary please contact Jake on 020 7923 1962.
Looking to the future: implications
"If the government's vision of building strong, cohesive communities is to be achieved, strategies to build the capacity of all organisations need to be developed."
"VCOs are willing partners in the drive to improve performance, but capacity building both infrastructure (and in turn frontline organisations) is required."
The Empowering East London report has clearly demonstrated that the Voluntary and Community sector (VCS) in east London is significant in economic terms, yet diverse in characteristics, aims and outcomes. The report also has also highlighted that the problems facing the component parts of the sector vary significantly. Nevertheless, the VCS in east London is bound by strong ties: a shared commitment to improving the quality of life of beneficiaries in particular runs through the sector, whilst the input of voluntary effort similarly underpins organisations. Our recommendations are by necessity generic, though as in the main body of the report we have addressed the specific issues pertaining to BME organisations. However, it is first worth identifying the drivers for the future development of the sector.
The Voluntary and Community Sector has grown and developed considerably over the last decade: NCVO estimates that the resources available have doubled in the last 10 years. However, it is clear that not all organisations have shared in this success; in particular, evidence is suggesting that the distribution of resources has become more uneven over time, whilst government strategies for the delivery of public services have benefited the largest national charities disproportionately. Key issues over the next five years are likely to be:
- Relations with government: The further development of national and local Compacts (and their codes) and their enforcement should provide a more stable framework for relations with government. However, concerns remain that relations at the local level are uneven and based on a lack of mutual understanding and trust. Nevertheless, government policy will be a key driver.
- Resources: the consolidation of different funding streams, increasing competition as the number of organisations grows will provide a major challenge for smaller organisations. Strategies to diversify income, including building capacity for earned income, will move up the agenda. The reorganisation of local government finance will cause disruption to funding streams.
- Local infrastructure: Substantial Home Office (?72 million) investment in the VCS infrastructure has the potential to build the capacity of frontline organisations across a range of key areas, including workforce development.
- Technology: making better use of technology (such as email and the web) to interact with supporters will enable organisations to become more networked. Online transactions (such as filing accounts) may reduce some costs. ICT skills are increasingly likely to be a core competency.
- Public services: Localisation, personalisation and choice are the latest buzzwords. The VCS has a real role to play here in providing voice and choice, particularly given its diversity and proximity to users and beneficiaries. Demand for skilled paid staff from the statutory and private sectors will be a significant challenge.
- Social and demographic change: An increasingly diverse, ageing population is likely to drive the need for more (but different) public services. The increasing fragmentation of society (as demonstrated by more single-person households) and changing attitudes influenced by consumerism and choice will place more emphasis on the role of VCOs in building cohesive communities.
- Public participation and commitment: Long-term trends suggest that fewer people are choosing to participate as volunteers or active citizens. Where people are choosing to participate, it is increasingly around specific single issues.
- The evidence hurdle: Organisations will increasingly need to demonstrate their achievements (or outcomes) as funders themselves look for value for money. The focus on quantification of achievements is likely to continue, facilitated by increasingly available neighbourhood-level data.
- Accountability and transparency: The need to be transparent and accountable is a challenge facing all organisations, and VCOs potentially have an advantage on this agenda. However, better reporting will be required as the web enables easier comparison between organisations.
Looking to the future: key recommendations
The report identifies VCOs as major contributors to the local economy as purchasers of goods and services, as employers and, most importantly, as organisations aiming to build the quality of life of citizens, many of whom are marginalized from the mainstream. If the government's vision of building strong, cohesive communities is to be achieved, strategies to build the capacity of all organisations need to be developed. A clear implication from the research is that formal resources in the sector are shared by a relatively small number of organisations. Whilst there will always be organisations wishing to remain small, there is clear evidence from others that resources are a constraint to growth. It is clear that statutory agencies are investing significant sums in the sector, although the sector needs to remember that local authorities are also financially constrained. Income diversification strategies, including more emphasis on earned income, are a key challenge. Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of VCOs should be a matching component of any future strategy. VCOs are willing partners in the drive to improve performance, but capacity building both infrastructure (and in turn frontline organisations) is required. Investment across the areas identified by the Home Office's own capacity building framework (ICT; performance improvement; workforce development; funding; volunteering; and governance) should address some of the more intractable resource issues identified by VCOs.
The BME research indicates that inadequate financial, physical and human resources significantly hamper the development and growth of BME organisations. The invisibility of BME people in regeneration means that BME organisations face difficulties in getting their needs addressed. Public authorities will need to make a concerted effort to work in partnership with BME organisations to find new ways of addressing old problems. Persistent and disproportionate levels of poverty and deprivation, unemployment, ill health, school exclusions, etc. experienced by BME communities demonstrate that racial inequality damages lives. The existence of BME organisations attests to people getting involved to constructively tackle these inequalities. The research suggests that the BME voluntary sector requires more than energy and commitment; it needs resources. The mindsets of public authorities need to shift: BME organisations are not part of the problem, but part of the solution. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 recognises the detrimental affect that racism has within society. To achieve greater levels of equality public authorities need to prioritise the issues of equalities or else poor services and wasted opportunities will prevail. Moreover, in East London race equality should be a mainstream issue. The following recommendations for the sector as a whole are followed by
recommendations specifically (though not exclusively) for BME organisations.
These key recommendations have been selected from the research report by ELSVA Directors.
- A1. Recommendations to all Voluntary and Community Organisations
Adiaha Antigha, Director HCVS
Most community groups concentrate on service delivery at the expense of marketing themselves correctly. It is imperative that they understand that having the right policies, marketing strategies, staff structures, and outcome monitoring processes in place will make them more attractive to funders. Working within networks on common issues makes them stronger and will help them become more sustainable.
- A1. Recommendations to all Voluntary and Community Organisations
6) Involvement in networks is vital to access information - the currency of the age. Membership of local networks ensures you benefit from information about new resources or initiatives. Many networks are increasingly web-based and free - are you taking advantage?
7) Think about how you demonstrate or market your organisation's outcomes. Tools such as those from www.ces-vol.org.uk will help. Look at the quality and accessibility of your annual report.
- A2. Recommendations to Black and Minority Ethnic Organisations
3) Utilise the support of local infrastructure organisations and networks that have been set up with the express purpose of supporting BME and small organisations.
8) Co-operate and join up more with other BME organisations working in the field. There is strength in numbers.
9) Make links with mainstream statutory agencies to pursue a mainstreaming agenda to influence public policy and practices locally.
- B1. Recommendations to Local Infrastructure Organisations
Caroline Rouse, Programme Development Manager, Community Involvement Unit, Aston Mansfield
As infrastructure organisations we have great potential to increase the level of support offered to community organisations. Funding our core activity is of paramount importance. We can only achieve real change with real commitment to long term solutions. Voluntary sector should lead the agenda. What we do already is working we just need to do more of it.
- B1. Recommendations to Local Infrastructure Organisations
2) Develop strong links with national and regional infrastructure bodies - take advantage of ChangeUp, the Capacity Building and Infrastructure Framework for the Voluntary and Community Sector
3) Recognise that there is real potential for the sector in east London to drive up its share of earned income, which is much lower than for the UK sector
5) Recognise the increasing role of the paid workforce within the VCS, and that voluntary organisations need support in their role as employers.
7) Work strategically to address capacity issues across the three boroughs. This might be based on joint provision of some services.
- B2. BME organisations: Recommendations to Local Infrastructure Organisations
3) Identify and disseminate models of good practice, tools and templates to ensure BME organisations are well equipped to carry out the work they do.
7) Investigate feasibility of developing a consortium of core services that BME organisations could access, e.g. administrative support, finance, community accountancy services
8) Explore the cluster model for BME sector development as a long-term approach to sustainability.
9) Promote increased representation of BME groups in local networks and partnerships.
- C1. Recommendations to Statutory Partners and Funders
Jez Reeve, Chief Executive Community Organisations Forum
This research offers a real opportunity to cement relationships between voluntary sector and statutory sector agencies - we need each other and must coexist. Old practices of competition only slows change down. Statutory sector can learn a lot from voluntary sector in terms of working with communities on the ground. If engaged as an equal player from the start as well as being properly resourced there is a lot more we can achieve together.
- C1. Recommendations to Statutory Partners and Funders
4) Recognise that the increasing emphasis on outcomes and quality has cost and capacity implications.
6) The limited physical infrastructure available for voluntary action is a key capacity barrier.
7) Properly resource infrastructure agencies as strategic bodies responsible for the development of the VCS. This means identifying and funding core strategic functions, rather than short term funding for time limited projects.
8) Work with infrastructure agencies and Government Office at a strategic level to interpret how to take advantage of ChangeUp
- C2. BME organisations: Recommendations to Statutory Partner and Funders
1) Resource and promote the development of a Voluntary Sector Strategy Group to take forward critical BME sector issues, e.g. funding, premises.
5) View and action race equality as a mainstream issue. Investigate and develop mainstreaming tools for racial equality.
8) Recognise the cost of learning and development activities, i.e. make them an eligible cost in funding programmes.
10) Implement the Compact on the BME Code of Good Practice and Funding for effective partnership work.
For a full copy of the report please download the report here as a PDF document. If you have problems downloading please email jake@hcvs.org.uk
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