Doing great work in the face of adversity – can your business step in to lend support?

Struggling VCSEs need more support to survive. Can your business step in?

Some of our VCSE members in Coventry are facing a dilemma in terms of their future survival. St Francis Employability, supporting people in Radford who are struggling to make ends meet. As reported in the Coventry Observer, the charity says they may soon have to restrict numbers of food parcels and offers of support.

“We’re always applying for all the money we can, but the pots of money are shrinking, and the demands just keeps on rising.” 

Coventry Observer (3 November 2023)

St Francis Employability are not alone in this situation, other charities in Coventry are facing uncertain futures following the increased cost of living. A recent report from the National Council of Voluntary Organisation (NCVO) highlights the reality the VCSE are facing. In the last three months alone, 36% report hat their financial position has deteriorated yet demand for services increases. NCVO are calling this “the cost of giving crisis.”

Larger charities have mitigated this through “expanding and supporting their workload with additional staff,” but this is not possible for smaller charities who rely more on volunteers – gaining new volunteers to meet increasing need is challenging.   

 https://www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved/cost-of-giving-crisis/ (November 2023)

According to Pro Bono Economics almost 6 in 10 small charities reported that securing more volunteers was a major concern for them” (Pro Bono Economics Oct 2023) https://www.probonoeconomics.com/a-tale-of-two-sectors

This information is backed through a short survey carried out by Voluntary Action Coventry where part of the sector is “just about managing” thanks to their volunteers “taking on extra duties” and one organisation said that they “had doubled the size of their volunteering team”.  Engaging new volunteers takes time, capacity, and resources which most of our smaller charities don’t have.

Nevertheless, out of these challenges new services have been created. One charity said that “we had 1477 people referred into our counselling services last year” resulting in “longer waiting lists and new services”.

Our VCSE volunteer services “helped us to tap into corporate volunteer groups who helped immensely …we have worked with 750 hard to reach people – the enquiries for our service have tripled, we now provide budgeting courses and multi-agency information days, all designed to help those who now find themselves struggling post-covid with the cost of living crisis. We have formed new alliances with food hubs to deliver our service and we have recruited and trained volunteers to deliver this rise in demand.”

Something needs to change. Smaller charities and VCSE organisations meeting social needs can no longer rely on public funding – they are having to shed services or go bust. . Businesses and companies have  knowledge and expertise that can support the VCSE sector. Society is better and fairer with a thriving VCSE that is supporting the most vulnerable, giving people the skills to meet life’s challenges and succeed. Let your business become part of the solution  –  contact info@voluntaryactioncoventry.org.uk to explore how you can become involved.