Civil Society Futures - final report
This week we saw the launch of the Civil Society Futures report - the result of a two year inquiry into the future of the VCSE sector and how the sector must adapt to economic and social changes, over the next decade and beyond.
The report calls on individuals, charities and organisations in civil society to commit to a new ‘PACT’:
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POWER:
shifting power and sharing more decision-making and control, being a model of inclusive participation for the rest of society.
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ACCOUNTABILITY:
being primarily accountable to the people they serve – instead of putting funders and government first – and being accountable to future generations.
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CONNECTION:
broadening and deepening connections with people and communities, bridging damaging social divides, and investing in a new ‘social infrastructure’.
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TRUST:
devoting more time and resources to build trust in all civil society activity, earning trust by speaking up to politicians and corporations, trusting communities to make the decisions that affect them.
NAVCA CEO Jane Ide said the following in response to the report:
“NAVCA has been engaged in the Civil Society Futures inquiry since its launch two years ago, and we enabled many of our members to be involved directly, feeding in their views and those of the organisations they support and represent.
“The outcome of this wide ranging, in depth, inquiry is a report that is both constructive and challenging. In many ways, as with any good inquiry, it tells us things that in truth we already know but that sometimes are not clearly articulated or described with authority.
“There is much within the report for all of us to consider, not least the potential for change in our own personal practice and behaviour, and of course there are some very specific references to NAVCA and our fellow national infrastructure bodies, with some direct challenges for us to think about.
“But I would say - I hope without complacency - that much of what the report describes is a journey that NAVCA, in its own right as an organisation and with its network of members, is already on.
“The concepts of sharing power with the communities we are here to serve, of being accountable to our beneficiaries, of building deep, meaningful connections and of investing in trusting relationships in order to deliver real change - these are all concepts that I believe are absolutely in the DNA of the local, place based social action movement.
“I look forward very much to exploring the ideas underpinning the report with our members, identifying the very real barriers to making the PACT real, and continuing the journey that we’ve already started towards playing our essential, collaborative role in a healthy, vibrant, powerful civil society of the future.”
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Forging Community headline sponsor announced
We are very happy to introduce our headline sponsors of Forging Community, Ladbrook Insurance.
Ladbrook Insurance is a specialist award winning insurance broker in the third sector, which currently insures a large number of CVS and VA organisations. It has expertise in the insurance requirements of umbrella groups including those that offer specialist accountancy or HR advice. Ladbrook Insurance is always happy to visit clients and the company also provides risk management support and training sessions, not only for NAVCA members directly but also the local networks of community groups that NAVCA members support.
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News, views and opportunities
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Fifth of UK population in poverty, reports UN human rights specialist
Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has issued a statement following a research visit to the UK, in which he confirms that
14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty.
Four million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line, and 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials.
Describing the situation he discovered, Professor Alston said “For almost one in every two children to be poor in twenty-first century Britain is not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster, all rolled into one.”
The report explores the impact of Brexit, Universal Credit and the government’s ‘digital transformation’ in depth. It is heavily critical of the government for remaining “determinedly in a state of denial” about the dramatic decline in the fortunes of the least well off in the country. Professor Alston sets out a number of recommendations that he suggests could “readily solve” many of the problems that exist. You can
read the full statement here.
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Firesouls Community Hero nominations
Every month Firesouls asks their friends in the public and VCS sector to nominate a
#CommunityHero
: a local community based organisation making a big difference and which could do with a little help.
Every month Firesouls give a cash prize and shares a write up of your #CommunityHero across their networks and via the
Friends of Firesouls
.
This month’s local #CommunityHero is Off the Record, based in south west London. They do amazing work with young people, providing free counselling and information. You can find out more about them
here
.
Nominate
your local #CommunityHero: the next prize draw takes place on Thursday 29 November and will be announced @FiresoulsUK.
Please note: we're afraid you can't nominate yourself!
Get in touch with
dan@firesouls.co.uk
if you want more information.
Firesouls
make tools that drive innovation in, and get more resources to the public and community sectors. We’re delighted that Dan (co-founder and CEO of Firesouls) will be joining us at
Forging Community
as part of the Revolutionaries Roundtable.
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Charity Digital Code of Practice – self assessment tool launched
An assessment tool has been launched to help charities test how well they are embracing digital innovation.
The tool is designed to be used alongside the
Charity Digital Code of Practice
, which launched this week to offer advice to the sector on how to improve their digital capabilities.
The aim of the tool is to help charities establish where they fit within the standards set out in the code, and how they can most benefit from using digital.
Read more from Charity Digital News.
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£1m Digital Leadership Fund for charities
The government has launched a £1m fund to improve digital leadership skills in the charity sector. This is one of the main ways that the government is delivering on its commitment to build a digitally confident social sector, putting civil society at the heart of the digital revolution.
The
Digital Leadership Fund
is designed to add value to a number of existing digital leadership training programmes. The aim is for participants to develop an understanding of how technology can help their organisations achieve their social missions in a more effective and efficient way, and become better equipped to embed this change at an operational level.
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Vicky Browning
, ACEVO Chief Executive, put the role of the third sector in society sharply into perspective in this impactful #YouMadeItHappen tweet, which received more than 580 likes and 263 retweets.
Follow Vicky on Twitter
and catch her speaking at
Forging Community 2018
as part of our Provocations and Inspirations session on Friday 7 December.
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VCSE organisations are invited to attend a webinar hosted by NAVCA and NHS England to discuss one of the building blocks being looked at as part of the NHS long-term plan: systems architecture.
The webinar, which takes place on
26 November at 2:30-3:30PM,
will look at current policy direction on health and care system design, which is focussing on collaboration across NHS systems and with external partners including VCSE organisations.
This collaboration marks a shift towards models of care that are more responsive and reflective of the needs of local communities and more joined-up in the way in which they are delivered.
In the session we will explore how integrated health and care systems (ICS) are developing partnership working across both large and smaller geographical areas as they seek to run services in a more coordinated way, agree system-wide priorities, and plan collectively how to improve residents’ day-to-day health. We will look at the potential impact on VCSE working and partnerships, drawing on emerging examples from the north west of England.
The webinar will be chaired by NAVCA. Speakers are Dan Northam-Jones, deputy director in NHS England’s System Transformation Group who is leading on system design work and Warren Escadale, chief executive, Voluntary Sector North West.
This will be of interest to VCSE organisations working across wider geographic areas in both infrastructure and provider roles, especially those involved in capacity building and alliance working with statutory partners, and interested in the future direction for health care commissioning and provision.
Register for this webinar here.
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Join us in our home city of Sheffield for two days of debate, learning and collaboration, all about community.
With a
fantastic line up
of revolutionaries, provocateurs and pirates we promise an event that will leave you buzzing with ideas and inspiration, as well as the tools to put them into practice. We will explore data and digital, philanthropy, funding and commissioning, diversity, leadership and more.
Single day tickets
and
two-day tickets,
which include our members' AGM, workshops and a three course dinner, are available.
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Visit our
jobs page
for more details on current vacancies in the voluntary and community sector:
Also here's a
quick guide
to selling yourself when applying for a job in the voluntary sector.
Advertise jobs and contracts here, on our website and through our Twitter page!
Just send details including a weblink to
webedit@navca.org.uk
.
This service is free to members.
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Funding, contracts & awards
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The Rayne Foundation looks for creative ways of tackling entrenched social issues through the arts, health, wellbeing, and education. They support projects that can be replicated and led by people with vision, and encourage applications that apply to their evolving list of areas of special interest, which are available on the web-site.
Environmental education in the UK, particularly projects finding practical ways of involving children and young adults; Youth work that supports the rehabilitation of young people involved in anti-social or criminal activities, and helps remove the barriers to social inclusion.
Over a 20 year period, the Forces in Mind Trust will be providing UK-wide support and advocacy for Service personnel, veterans and their families to make a successful transition back to civilian life.
Buttle UK was established to ensure that children and young people in desperate need are given a brighter future. They achieve this through a range of grant programmes that are designed to provide vulnerable individual children and families the support they need to overcome immediate crisis, or ensure the best possible opportunity for a successful education.
The inaugural Grimple's Green Grants was launched in August 2010 by The Green Insurance Company. They have already encouraged green behaviour on our roads through their green insurance policies but Green Grants gave us the opportunity to extend this into communities across the UK.
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Patrick Butler
asks are big charities "losing the plot"? in this article for The Guardian, which take a look at the Civil Society Futures report on renewing the voluntary sector.
Madeline Sugden
gives a great round up of the #YouMadeItHappen Twitter activity, looking at a sample of 10 small and 10 large charities, and how they each used the hashtag to say thank you to their supporters.
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VCSE health and wellbeing fund announced
A new fund has been announced by the government to support VCSE organisations that help children and young people with their mental health.
Applications are invited from existing schemes to trial a new approach to helping children and young people. The deadline for applications is midday on Friday 15 February 2019.
Projects should:
- adopt community and person-centred approaches to improving the mental health of children and young people aged 0 to 25 years
- particularly support children and young people through life-changing events
- have strong local connections already in place
- be delivered by the VCSE sector
- be co-produced with service users and stakeholders.
Through this programme, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England are working with VCSE organisations to promote equality, address health inequalities and support the wellbeing of people, families and communities. You can find out more about this fund, including dates for a series of 'meet the funder' webinars
here.
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Digital wellbeing – Guidance for parents October 2018
Created as part of
Childnet’s
work in the
UK Safer Internet Centre
, the newly published hot topic looks at
Digital Wellbeing
, giving guidance to parents about the impact that the online world can have on the lives of children and young people.
Our overall wellbeing is determined by the physical and emotional experiences we have on a daily basis. As technology continues to be such a huge part of our lives, from the way we represent who we are to the interactions we have with others, it too has an impact on our wellbeing. This is often referred to as your 'digital wellbeing' or 'online wellness.' You can
read the guidance here
.
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