5 things the Cambridgeshire ‘State of the sector’ research makes me want to shout about!

By Mark Freeman CEO at CCVS and research author.

This blog builds on the Support Cambridgeshire State of the sector research that can be found here https://supportcambridgeshire.org.uk/news/state-sector-survey/

There is a great deal of information in the report, and we hope that people find it useful and interesting. Using the findings, and what we know about everything else that is happening, these are the things that I think we need to make some noise about. I want to shout about the good and the bad and look at what we need to do moving forwards.

Is crisis here to stay?

The subtitle of the report is ‘The state of the voluntary sector in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.’ Just when we thought that the end of the pandemic would bring a time to take a breath, rebuild reserves of energy, money and enthusiasm, and take stock of the positives as well as the negatives that the pandemic had highlighted, we found there was no respite as we careered headlong into a different but equally damaging crisis.

People are tired and organisations are in a constant crisis mode. The levels of optimism have dropped from last year with only 43% of respondents thinking that next year will be better than last year (compared to 59% saying so in 2022). We have to recognise the impact this has on staff and volunteers and ensure that organisations prioritise their wellbeing as well as they do the wellbeing of those they work with.

We are seeing the impact of big social, political, and environmental issues on local groups and the people and communities they work with. These big issues are reflected in the survey results with more people concerned about climate change, divisions in society, uncertain economic outlook and changes in local politics than they were last year. Locally groups can do little to impact these issues but the fallout from them is impacting people in very real ways and is often adding to the work of groups.

We have to make more noise about what impact national policies are having locally on organisations and the people they work with. We need to get better at articulating the stories that organisations hear so that the impact of decisions nationally can be seen in the context of how they impact real people and communities. Collectively the sector can help to ensure that any impact is mitigated locally by helping to influence local statutory partners and Support Cambridgeshire will continue to advocate for the local sector where it can, to do this we need your stories and your knowledge of what is happening so please share with us.

Positivity remains.

I still see positivity from groups and those working and volunteering in them. I see groups continuing to deliver and looking at how they adapt and develop in order keep delivering. One respondent wrote,

“We have lots of opportunities and exciting projects coming up. 2022 allowed us to build up a lot of new connections and strong relationships, which are likely to result in additional funding this year.”

The pandemic allowed new relationships to form, it allowed groups to learn new ways of working and it provided opportunities for innovation. Across the sector we are seeing groups taking the best of the last two years and building that into their work moving forward. Groups are looking to Support Cambridgeshire and other organisations to build the skills and knowledge needed to keep moving forward. We are seeing a demand for more networking opportunities and a real desire to find ways to build on relationships that were formed over the pandemic.

We know it is hard for many to find the time to attend training or events and it is up to us to find ways to make this work. We need to look at both online and in person events but also how we use technology to help people keep in touch. There is a clear preference from the survey for online, but we know how beneficial groups find being together in the same room. We will find ways that recognise solutions may vary so that people can find what works for them. We will also work with our statutory partners to stop them slipping back into the old ways and to ensure they remain actively engaged as equal partners and not as the masters to the sectors servants.

Volunteers are key.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of so much of what happens in the sector. We saw people embrace volunteering in many ways during the pandemic. But we also saw volunteers stopping as roles changed and as people isolated.

Our survey is reflecting the national (and indeed international) data that is showing that many of those who volunteered during the pandemic have not continued, and that those who volunteered before the pandemic, but were forced to stop, have not all returned. This has left the sector struggling to recruit and retain volunteers. The survey shows 73% of organisations having an issue recruiting volunteers, this is up from 69% in 2019.

There is also a change in what volunteers want to commit to as this survey response highlights.

“We can recruit volunteers for one-off events but finding people who are prepared to make a regular commitment (e.g. monthly meetings, decision-making roles) is proving difficult since the pandemic.”

At Support Cambridgeshire we are looking at how we can help attract more people to volunteer and how we can help organisations adapt their volunteering offer to suit the way people want to volunteer. We are developing a county wide volunteer platform that will help organisations and individuals to find one another, and that we hope will act as a catalyst to promoting volunteering. We continue to provide training, support, and networks aimed at volunteer management and engagement, and we will continue to push for local funding to support volunteering programmes.

Money is also key.

The whole process of identifying, getting, managing, and reporting on the funding an organisation needs is exhausting and time consuming. The biggest issue highlighted by the survey is lack of funding with 85% of organisations highlighting this (up from 82% in 2019). When asked about the barriers comments like these were common.

“Securing funding for core costs / unrestricted funds.”

“Competitive tendering processes and short cycles being draining on staff and creating precarious conditions for employment.”

We need to find more money for the work the sector does. Equally importantly we need to push for this money to be available in different ways. We must move away from short term funding that funds a project, to longer term funding that funds the organisation to deliver its mission. Funders should review the monitoring they require, and at the same time organisations need to collect the data and tell their story in a way that gives the funders what they need, allows trustees to govern properly, and that highlights to the public the fantastic work that is happening.

Support Cambridgeshire will continue to work with organisations and the local funders to explore how we can make more money available in a way that reduces the burden on both the funder and the recipient. We need to shift how we fund as well as the amount that is funded. At the same time, we will look at how we can help organisations develop new funding sources and the skills to exploit them. We need to see an end to this type of comment and allow organisations to concentrate less on the money and more on their core purpose.

“Massive barriers with funding – some of the core services we offer aren’t funded by any agency and instead we have to rely on grant funding or fundraising.”

Community is in the ascendence.

There has been a growing recognition of the importance of the sector and the role it plays to help communities and individuals thrive. This has resulted in unprecedented interest in what the sector can offer and how it can help alleviate some of the issues that government at all levels is trying to address. This all means the sectors star is in the ascendence as statutory bodies look towards us and communities to deliver in a radically different way. It remains to be seen if there will be the real will and the resources to make the changes, but we have not been in a place like this with opportunities like these for a long time. As one respondent commented.

“The reputation of our organisation continues to grow. Our residents have more and more confidence in seeking help from us. And we have stronger than ever links other organisations. All of this puts us in a good position to fulfil our aims and objectives.”

Despite this desire to see communities and the organisations embedded in them deliver, the research shows that all is not equal across the county. There are more organisations and more money in some of the traditionally more affluent areas, and this will result in more services and support being available.

At Support Cambridgeshire we will look at how we share this information to raise awareness of the state of the Cambridgeshire VCS. Change and adaptation is essential for the sector and the same is true for us at Support Cambridgeshire, we will look at how we can use this information to improve our work and our offer to all the VCS across the county. We will use the survey to help us advocate for change. Change from statutory partners. Change from funders of all types. Change in how organisations work. Change in how organisations are supported. Change in how the sector is seen and supported by the public.

Conclusion

We hope that this survey helps to build understanding of the charity and community sector in Cambridgeshire. We hope that it shows the variety and size of the sector but also the issues it faces as society battles with the aftermath of the pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The sector is amazing, and resilient and innovative, but it needs to be supported and nurtured and not simply taken for granted. At Support Cambridgeshire this is our primary goal, but it is not something that we can do alone so we will be looking for help everywhere we can find it!

Four top tips to recruiting staff in difficult times.

By Mark Freeman, CEO. May 2023.

Introduction

This blog is to share our experience of recruiting staff. We definitely have not got all the answers, but we had a very successful recruitment round, and this was based on a new recruitment process. As such we want to share our thoughts in case they are of interest to others. You can read our procedures here https://www.cambridgecvs.org.uk/download/527

The statistics tell us that it is getting harder to recruit staff as vacancies rise and unemployment lowers. This blog explores what we did to successfully recruit to our development worker role and looks at what we got right and wrong, as well as what we might do to recruit and retain paid staff in the future.

In December of last year we went out for recruitment for a development worker here at CCVS. The advert and job information can be found on our website here https://www.cambridgecvs.org.uk/about-us/ccvs-staff/jobs

Our top four tips

How and where you advertise is important

We kept the applications open for a long time, including for the period over Christmas and the New Year. This worked well but it does prolong the application process. In future we will always look to have at least a 5 or 6 week application period if possible. This allows us to cover two of our newsletter cycles and to make sure we get our message shared widely.

We know that it is unlikely that someone will want to move to Cambridge for the salaries we offer. We also know we want people who understand the local area and live close enough to come into the office occasionally. As such we do not advertise in any of the paid national publications or websites. We make the most of our networks and contacts to share our adverts to as wide a community as possible. This includes working with statutory partners as well as with other local charities. We treat the recruitment like a campaign so that we are constantly sharing across all our communication channels, and always looking at how we can reach a wider audience.

Be clear what you ask for, and make sure adverts and job descriptions reflect that.

We want to ensure that we are getting the right person for the job, but at the same time we have to realise that the perfect experience and skills might not exist in anyone. We work to distil out what we need in a person and try to limit the skills and experience and recruit someone with the right beliefs and values as it is easy to train someone to gain skills, but less easy to get them to alter beliefs etc.

We work to ensure that the advert as well as the job description and person specification does not exclude people who may be good candidates and we are explicit about what we want. We write the advert and the job description to concentrate on the type of person and the attitude rather than a long list of experience. As the advert says

“We are looking for someone who cares about the voluntary sector and supporting people and who is conscientious, passionate, positive and ready to learn.
We are looking for someone who will thrive in a changing environment and will be willing to ‘muck in’ in order to ensure we are delivering a responsive service.”

We also stress in the advert that there will be training, and support and that the person will work as part of a team. We believe that we have the capacity and skills within the team to teach the skills and build the knowledge of someone who is passionate about the sector, eager to learn, and willing to muck in. These qualities are harder to develop than the skills, so we try and stress their importance.

Do your best to offer a benefits package that will make you stand out.

We know that we are not able to offer high salaries and lots of perks as we do not have the money. We try and ensure our salaries are comparable to (or better) than similar roles in charities but we have to look at what else we can do to ensure we are a place people want to work.

We try to ensure that we are flexible about the hours we want someone to work and put this prominently in the advert. This may mean we end up with less capacity than we would like, but it may well mean that an applicant who is brilliant may apply as they can see how the role fits around their lives or caring responsibilities. Trying to offer flexible options can be difficult, but it is a great way to broaden the appeal of the role.

How we would like to improve – In future we need to look at how we treat job share requests and how we make that level of flexibility work. This may increase some costs, but we were asked about this and were not able to accommodate it for a recent role.

Whatever people think about working in the sector salary and benefits are important. We still see too many adverts that don’t include the salary, and this can cause issues. The show the salary campaign https://showthesalary.wordpress.com/why-show-the-salary/ (which we are signed up to) explain why it is important.

We have tried to ensure that we offer other benefits and have a better than average holiday entitlement and a better than average pension contribution. We are also a Real Living wage member and we would encourage all charities to look at how they to could sign up to this. https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage

How we would like to improve – We would like to explore how we can offer child care vouchers and we are exploring the cycle to work scheme. These initiatives do cost us in terms of time but it is about helping us to stand out.

Hybrid working and a four day week

For a number of years now we put all staff on hybrid working contracts and we are working on a trial to see how we can move to a four day week. Our hybrid working does not mandate a minimum number of days in the office, but we do encourage staff to get together when they can, and when they need to, and we have a hot desk system in our office. We also organise in person staff socials every couple of months and have a weekly online coffee meeting as well as conventional team meetings.

We are starting to work towards a four day week and have agreed to trial the 4 Day Week Campaign silver standard for a year with a view to move to the gold standard after that. This has involved us reducing the working week from 37 hours to 35 hours. We will be testing this out and more information about the benefits and how it can work are available here. https://www.4dayweek.co.uk/ We know that we can’t dictate how staff use their hours but we will be encouraging those who are full time to look at having an extra day off if possible.

Look at how you can improve the appointment process.

We want to make applying for the job and the interview as stress free as possible whilst at the same time giving us the opportunity to appoint the best candidate. As part of our recruitment procedure we have altered the application form so that we only ask the essential questions. We also limit the number of previous jobs people need to include so we don’t get pages of useless information that will not help us identify good candidates. We have put in maximum word counts for some questions as we want people who are succinct and precise in how they write and who can pick out the important details, and (if we are honest) we want to make our job shortlisting easier by reducing what we have to read. As highlighted above we have designed our JD and person specs to reflect the idea of selecting candidates as much on attitude as experience and this carries over into what we ask on the forms and into what we are asking or testing at interview.

We use tests as part of the interview process (generally is a presentation on a topic we choose). This helps us understand the candidate’s ability to deliver information in an engaging way as well as their ability to research a subject. The task is less about them getting the right answer but more about their presentation skills and how engaging they are. We recognise that some people struggle with time to do this preparation, so we ask them to keep things short and we try to give them at least two weeks between telling them they have an interview and the date so they have time to prepare.

We are not testing people on their ability to think fast but want people who will be measured and take their time to answer if they don’t have all the information at their fingertips. As such we send out the interview questions around 24 hours before the interview. This allows people to think about what they want to say. We stress to them that they should not read out answers but we do realise that some people, especially those with dyslexia etc. can find this easier as it gives them time to think about their answers beforehand.

How we would like to improve – We are thinking about whether 24 hours is enough time. We will probably extend it to ensure that all candidates have enough time to prepare. At the moment we ask all candidates set questions and do not do a lot of follow up questions. Having looked into this we need to develop our skills to improve our interview skills in this area, this is not about looking to trip candidates up but about how we get the most from candidates and have a better ability to judge their merits.

Conclusion

We must be doing something right as we got a great bunch of applicants and we are delighted that Jigna has joined us (more info here https://www.cambridgecvs.org.uk/about-us/ccvs-staff). I think we have more to learn but we do have a positive process in place according to those that have applied in the past.

Whilst the voluntary sector offers much in the way of job satisfaction and interest, we will not be able to match pay and pensions from other sectors. In the past we tried to offer more flexible working, but this is now a universal offer. We need to look at what helps us stand out against other charities and other sectors. This may be a four day week, it may be greater emphasis on job satisfaction, it may involve better coffee. Those of us working in the sector know how fantastic it can be, but we do need to ensure that we are better at convincing others of this, or recruitment will only get harder.

Why we need to deliver angrily

By Mark Freeman, CEO of CCVS. November 2022.

This blog is about why we as a sector need to be angry. It sets out my thoughts on why we need to deliver angrily and starts to think about how we might communicate our anger. The blog was inspired by the latest CCVS research.

Gordon Brown wrote in the Guardian that

“For the first time since the welfare state was created, it is the food bank, not social security, that is now our safety net, and charity, not universal credit, that is our last line of defence.”

Foodbanks have become the norm, so much so that we have seen politicians visiting, opening, and congratulating them on their work.

We are helping set up warm hubs because people can’t heat their homes.

More people are losing their homes as they find rent, mortgage or energy costs spiralling.

Everyone working in the sector will have their own story. They have told us how demand has increased. How the people they help have more complex needs as they cannot get access to services.

Yet as a sector we quite rightly try to do that bit more, raise that bit of extra funding, ask those volunteers to do that one extra shift. The sector quite rightly doubles down and keeps delivering. that is how it should be. that is what you do.

But if our research has shown anything it is not a bottomless pot of capacity, organisations and individuals are stretched. We know staff have left; volunteers not returned after the pandemic. We know that money is harder to come by but still we keep delivering, right up to the point where we can’t anymore.

Gordon Brown goes on to say

“Just as need rises, our country’s voluntary sector finds itself as beleaguered as the people it is helping. Compassion is not running out but cash is. Donors who have a little and generously give to those who have nothing will soon be unable to give at all. Gifts left on supermarket trolleys are declining. Many charities, like a local welfare fund I know, are flat broke. Even churches, which have selflessly offered their heated halls to help elderly people stay warm, fear they will now struggle to pay their own fuel bills.”

So, what are we, what are you going to do about it?

I suggest that you start to deliver angrily.

That is not to direct anger at those you work with, for them you will be the helpful, approachable, non-judgemental professionals you have always been.

• Reserve that anger for the people who have put us and more importantly those we work with in this position.
• Reserve your anger for those that spread the myths of the striver and the shirker.
• Reserve your anger for those that blame the people in need and t those who make decisions that are about preserving their power or their fortune.
• Reserve your anger for those that deny there is a problem or offer too little too late

Those people need to hear the roar of the small charity and the community group.

Too often the voices of our larger cousins in the charitable world are lost or are just one side of a balanced news item or are dismissed as fake news.

But when the thousands of small charities raise their voices how powerful could that become.

I ask you to tell your stories and those of the people you work with

I ask that you make more opportunities to explain why you have to exist and what you are dealing with

I ask you to call out the consequences of decision makers at all levels.

I ask you tell people what needs to change so that your services are no longer needed, however unlikely that is to be the case.

I ask you to join together with other local voices to amplify your message.

Your organisations should not be the safety net, they should be the support that helps people get off the net once you have landed on it or the harness that ensures people do not fall onto the net.

It is no longer enough to just be brilliant at what you do. I am asking you to shout. To stamp your feet, to demand change.

I am asking you to deliver angrily

Lessons from the pandemic

In September 2020 Support Cambridgeshire were commissioned to carry out some quantitative research into how the sector and statutory partners had adapted and worked together during the period of lockdown as part of this we talked with:

• 19 groups made up from a range of countywide, small and newly formed community groups and charities;
• representatives from 6 district/city hubs and the county hub.

We carried out some basic desk research into reports and research carried out by other local and national bodies, we combined these findings with our first-hand experience in working with organisations[1] during the period March to September 2020. This included learning from networking events, from requests for support and from catch up calls with colleagues. The report forms part of a wider document that is available here.

We have witnessed thousands of individual acts of kindness, some small some big, but all important, and all of which have contributed to the fact that people and communities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have weathered the crisis up to this stage as best as possible.

The Surprises

It has been a surprise the number of bridges we have seen built. Organisations and statutory partners have reacted in ways that would not have been envisaged without the catalyst of a global pandemic.

Adaption – By the time local government looked up, activity was happening on the ground. Organisations, communities and individuals were the first and the quickest to react to the needs of people across the county. In the main everyone recognised this and went along with it. Statutory partners were able to adapt as they developed their own services and what emerged was a set of co-produced solutions that were different in each area and that built on the infrastructure that existed locally.

Relationships – These have proved vital and are the oil that allowed the machine to function. Where they were better and stronger we often saw better and more co-ordinated responses, but we have also seen new relationships formed and new partnerships entered into.

Very often how well things worked was down to who knew who. This highlighted the importance of connectors – individuals who bridge communities and organisations and can bring people together. It also highlighted the fact that it is essential for statutory partners to engage with local organisations and to build connections and trust.

Equality – Not everyone has been impacted by the pandemic in the same way. The virus has shone a light on issues of inequality; it has amplified inequalities of all type including digital, health, ethnicity, income or any other indicator. We have seen those suffering these inequalities facing additional pressures and barriers to staying safe or healthy, or access services. Much of the work of organisations has been to look at how they can reduce these barriers with their client groups to ensure people are best able to ride out lockdown or other restrictions.

What we learnt

Our overriding lesson was that there was no one correct response to the pandemic. Responses were not perfect, they were sometimes messy, confused and complicated, but organisations and statutory partners innovated, adapted and worked tirelessly to help and support people. Errors were made and these were addressed in positive ways as all organisations found ways to adapt and survive.

On the whole organisations in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have faired reasonably well. Whilst both CCVS and Hunts Forum have had to help organisations find solutions to difficult problems brought on by loss of funding or other areas, we have not seen large numbers of closures and the groups we work with have avoided large scale redundancies.  Whilst organisations have lost funding, seen demand increase and had issues with volunteers not being available, we have not seen the large scale issues reported by Groundwork in their national research.

Organisations are worried.

We asked organisations whether they could continue to deliver essential services, especially during periods of further lockdown. The overriding answer was yes, but not with the capacity of first-time round, burnout is an issue as are availability of resources and volunteers with the right skills and experience.

Funding is a crucial issue. In an immediate and short-term response funders and councils have stepped in coupled with government grants or furlough payments to enable organisations to adapt services and meet demand. However, there is a growing concern about future funding. There is acknowledgement that many funders have overspent in the crisis, that local councils will be even more cash strapped than before the crisis, and that we are entering into a protracted recession. In addition the restrictions necessitated by the crisis have severely impacted on organisations ability to fund raise. We will never know if locally the sector has lost the £34.5 million predicted. But numerous national research reports say that the sector has lost anything up to £10 billion nationally.

Local is good…

Each district responded differently in response to the very different characteristics of their area and to the organisations active in the location, to geography and to the relationships that were in place and that developed. This tailored response from the local authority was welcomed by all organisations; but it did make it harder for those working across multiple districts to ensure they were plugged in to all the right places.

However, this approach has meant that not all communities have had the same support or services, resulting in a bit of a postcode lottery. Often, we have seen more activity in more deprived areas and this is born out by the groundwork report nationally.

Centralisation nationally probably caused as many problems as it solved, this included ‘Boris boxes’ and the national volunteer scheme. We did not see these issues replicated between county and district functions and organisations working at the different tiers. Essentially things worked well between local partners from all sectors.

Embrace change but maintain the focus

Client services will look different going forward even once the pandemic is behind us. Much of the move to digital delivery will be combined with a return to face to face work for many charities. There is likely to be changes to where and how people work and there is a universal desire from many statutory partners to continue to use video for many of the meetings they convene.

Communication has been key, and especially social media. Facebook and WhatsApp have been pivotal in the setting up and development of groups; they have also played a key role in allowing communities to keep in touch. This change from one central communication path to many creates a challenge in the future for organisations and statutory bodies communicating key messages.  They must also ensure they meet the needs of those not able to access digital communications.

Organisations have faced challenges in maintaining the day to day functions of service delivery and not moving away from their mission.  This is a particular issue for small organisations who have had to alter their services but who have few resources and little time to spend on this. These organisations will need support to enable them to embed essential changes to meet the demands of the new normal.

Moving Forward

Much can be learnt from the pandemic, from the impact it has had on organisations, and from the way that we have seen the best and the worst of society Locally we would like to see the best of this practice encouraged and built on. This will allow real change to come from relationships and partnerships that have flourished due to Covid 19.

Keep reducing bureaucracy

There has been a significant reduction in bureaucracy during the pandemic. Organisations, funders and statutory partners have worked together to implement new services to ensure that people have been given the support they need. We want to keep this new way of working that has seen a more outcome focused rather than output focused partnership. It has been recognised that this is already starting to slip as partners regress back into their old ways of working.

A more equal partnership

We want to continue, and build on, our journey shoulder to shoulder. This means continuing to develop a more equal partnership built around common values, trust and transparency, and an investment into co-produced solutions.

Local is good

Communities have stepped up. They have recognised their needs and have worked with new or existing organisations and structures to ensure the needs were met in the most appropriate way. We want to see more weight given to local knowledge, to social value and to community investment when deciding on how to deliver services.

Empower and invest in communities

We want to see investment into communities and the organisations that sustain and nourish them. This will help to build skills and strengths and ensure truly community led, co-produced solutions. We also need to see real power divested into local communities to ensure they are at the heart of delivering solutions and services.

Support is important

Communities and the organisations that work in them have many strengths and skills, but for them to continue to deliver they will need ongoing support and the opportunity to learn and develop – well-resourced and effective support organisations are crucial to deliver this.

Thank you

Our thanks go to all the organisations we interviewed and to the representatives from the district/city hubs and from the county hub. We have not named the organisations interviewed as we wanted to maintain full anonymity.

We would also like to thank the staff from Hunts Forum, Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service, Peterborough CVS and Living Sport who carried out the research interviews, and to CCVS for collating the results.

You can read more about the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, including additional information on this report on this Sway page. We will be adding to this as new research is published and as we develop further case studies.

Support Cambridgeshire is a partnership between Hunts Forum, Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service and Cambridgeshire ACRE.

General enquires info@supportcambridgeshire.org.uk www.supportcambridgeshire.org.uk

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[1] When we are talking about organisations, we are referring to charities, community groups and mutual aid groups. We will use this shorthand throughout this report.

Beyond the Inquisition – a reflection on our recent Trustees Question Time event

Taking part in this joint event with our colleagues at Hunts Forum has been one of the highlights for me, of what has been a challenging year.  The Question Time panel was diverse, informed and inspirational and they sent out some clear messages in response to the varied questions put to them.[1]

On diversity; we can’t sit and wait for it to happen we need to get out there and talk to people, let them see who we are, what we do and how they could make a difference.  We need to ask ourselves:

• Do we look like somewhere that welcomes people from different backgrounds and experiences? 
• Are we advertising our opportunities in places that a more diverse audience will see them?
• Are we removing unnecessary barriers to encourage people to find out more?  Are we set up to recognise people’s potential, offering support and mentoring where needed? 
• Do we know about the motivations, skills and interests of our fellow trustees?  What are the gaps in our knowledge bank, how will we plug these gaps?
• Is our culture open to difference? When are meetings held?  Do we encourage trustees to claim expenses so that those on low incomes are not disadvantaged?
• Can we take advantage of the help on offer?  For example, the Young Trustees Movement  exists to help develop a relationship between organisations and young people so that they can contribute their leadership skills within an open and supportive environment.

To lead our organisations through this crisis we need to be willing to learn and to listen to all our stakeholders. We need to

• Think ahead to plan effectively 
• Look for evidence to demonstrate the impact of what we are doing
• Seek to mitigate the impact of increased stress and isolation on staff and volunteer teams
• Collaborate with others  

All this needs to happen as we ensure that we keep our charitable purpose at the heart of what we do.

To discuss any of these issues further feel free to contact the development team at Hunts Forum or CCVS.  You might also be interested in upcoming online training our organisations offer, free to the voluntary sector, as part of our Support Cambridgeshire project particularly:

• Effective Business planning which includes developing a theory of change planning model and putting together a business plan.  26^th November 9.30 to 12
• Essential skills for trustees. A two-part event will take place over 2 evenings one week apart aimed at giving trustees from community organisations and small charities the essential tools to perform their role safely and effectively. 18^th & 21^st January 6pm to 8pm

Written by Chris Trevorrow training and development worker for CCVS

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[1] Out trustee Question time panellists:

Virginia Henley, Head of Charities, Education and Social Enterprise at Hewitsons LLP Northampton. She is a school governor and a trustee. Virginia specialises in advising charities, universities and schools, and a wide range of not-for-profit organisations on the core legal, regulatory and governance issues they face.

Monica Brown, Head of Charity Advisory and Programmes at the Charities Aid Foundation. She is an experienced senior charity executive with extensive experience of working in and with the voluntary sector including 12 years as the National Head of England for BBC Children in Need.

Anthony Wheeler, East of England Ambassador for the Young Trustees Movement and Chair of Trustees of Cambridge Student Community Action. Anthony first became a trustee at 20 and is passionate about empowering young people and breaking down barriers. He’s part of the 1% of trustees under 26 and 3% under 30.

Patricia Rose, The Diversity Trust – Pat Rose is part of the Windrush generation who came from the Caribbean to the UK as child in the sixties. The challenges of growing up in a predominantly white working-class background inspired a lifelong commitment to Equality and Social Justice. In 2014 Pat won the Mental Health Professional Award in the BBC radio 4’s “All in the mind” National Awards.

A #SmallCharity manifesto

This is our manifesto for #SmallCharities, short and sweet and only one point!

Loads of charities are writing manifestos in the run up to this election and I hope that whoever enters No 10 in December takes a look at these as they all make excellent points in a far more crafted way than I can. You can find some of the best here.

Good practice states that your manifesto should not be too long, and I read somewhere it should have an uneven number of points and have five or less demands. So this works!

To all prospective candidates, to all political parties and to all who are elected this is our #SmallCharity manifesto.

Give #SmallCharities more money.

That’s it! I really don’t care how this happens, but there should be a variety of opportunities to enable funding to flow to different organisations in different places doing different things. So maybe think about

• Unfreezing all the dormant assets and find a way to spend the money on #SmallCharities, maybe through community foundations (thanks to NCVO for this one)
• Repaying the lottery money used on the 2012 Olympics (thanks to DSC for this one) and while you are there increasing the percentage of money going to good causes.
• Increase funding to local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups so they can reinstate and increase grants to local groups.
• Increase tax and ring fence some of the money to be used to improve local communities.
• Give us a money tree.

If you do this #SmallCharities will carry on being the powerhouse for good that they have always been.

If you do this #SmallCharities will continue to make the communities we live in better, stronger and more resilient.

If you do this #SmallCharities will be able to grow and prosper and not wither and die.

It may seem a bit crass or simplistic just asking for money, but national research has shown that small charities have suffered more financial pressures in the last 10 years than bigger charities.

“Over the last decade, small charities have seen a 20% decrease in their overall income while income has increased by 30% for major and super-major organisations. At the same time, the proportion of income from government going to small charities has also decreased from 2.7% of the total in 2006/07 to 2.1% in 2015/16.”

https://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2019/01/21/small-charities-key-findings-from-our-data/

“There is no disguising the fact that the cuts have been dramatic and that there is now far less money to go around.”

https://www4.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/value-of-small-final.pdf

Coupled with the loss of funding smaller charities are more susceptible to short term funding decisions and to fluctuations in funding.

“Instability associated with short-term funding streams appears to be a more critical issue for smaller charities, for whom the removal or retention of single funding awards can be the difference between survival and closure.”

http://www.ncvo.org.uk/images/documents/policy_and_research/funding/financial-trends-for-small-and-medium-sized-charities-ncvo-lloyds-bank-foundation-2016.pdf

Not only have #SmallCharities seen disproportionate drops in funding, but by their nature they are less able to deal with these fluctuations. I would therefore ask that while you are finding us the extra money can you also ensure that this can be accessed by charities over longer periods; five years would be good 10 years would be better.

That’s it, my single point manifesto.

Give #SmallCharities more money.

• With more money we will recruit, manage and train more volunteers.
• With more money we will deliver more projects to reduce inequality, loneliness and ill health.
• With more money we will waste less of our time on fundraising and devote more to doing what it is we are best at.
• With more money we will run more clubs, activities and events for people.
• With more money we will still be here in the future.

It really doesn’t matter how you do it – just make it happen.

What do you do when your lottery funding stops?

Or Is sustainability an urban myth?

There is no doubt that lottery funding has revolutionised how organisations are funded across the country, and that it has supported countless good causes. (Why not see what they have funded in your area on 360 giving). But what happens when your lottery funding runs out?

NCVO state that of the £50billion funding that comes into the sector in a year the lottery is responsible for 1% of this, so given the number of organisations that rely on this funding it is a surprisingly small amount. I have not analysed who is funded but this article concentrates on those organisations with incomes between £10K and £1million, that make up just under half the sector.

On the whole these organisations are relying on paid staff as well as volunteers to deliver predominantly local projects. Organisations work across the whole range of issues and causes that charities cover, and unfortunately NCVO research shows that these organisations have been disproportionately impacted by austerity, seeing income drop especially from statutory sources but also in other areas.

Apart from the biggest most of these organisations will not have a fundraiser, or, if they are lucky, they may have a part time fundraiser. Otherwise fundraising falls to other staff and to volunteers or trustees.

So, when these organisations get a three-year Reaching Communities grant, they breathe a sigh of relief and start concentrating on delivering services that make a difference. This funding will often cover the bulk of the programme that is being delivered. It will ensure a vital service continues and the organisation has a (by our terms) long term future. These days the money may also come with a Building Capabilities grant to improve how the organisation works and their sustainability.

But what happens when the funding starts to reach its end? How is this money replaced? What does sustainability mean?

If groups are very, very lucky they may get a second round of lottery funding, but this puts off the problem for another three years or so. But if this is not the case how do groups replace a single significant grant.

Earn your income. According to NCVO the biggest amount of money coming into the sector is from earnt income. This could be from selling services or a charity shop or from contracts. This is not long term income unless you are lucky to be able to get a contract which in the current climate is getting harder for small organisations. Couple this with the fact that many of these organisations are delivering to individuals and communities that can not afford to pay, earning significant income is not going to be a big source of new money. And to be fair the organisation was probably already maximising this to top up their lottery funding!

We have heard of groups being advised to try Social finance, but let’s get real this is a niche funding stream that the vast majority of organisations in this size range will not be able to access even if the trustees have reached the ‘we will try anything’ point to keep the organisation afloat. You can read one take on Social Impact Bonds here

Corporate sponsorship. If I had a pound for everyone that came to CCVS with the idea that this was going to solve their funding issues we could return all our grants! This is not a panacea as business does not have lots of free cash they are waiting to give to worthy causes. Building better relationships with business is extremely positive, many organisations benefit from financial and other support, but this type of fundraising takes time and energy. If you want to look at how business can help there are ways but it is more than simply sending them a well written email.

The public is the biggest external funder of the sector. But most of these organisations do not have the expertise, staff, or time to fund themselves in this way. Raising money from donations or legacies is time consuming. As technology moves on many organisations do not have the wherewithal to collect as much as they did in the past. Even in my local sandwich shop most people pay by card which means less change going into the collection tin on the counter. Fundraising from the public takes time and effort and you need to invest to make it happen. Maybe those organisations who get Building Capabilities funding should include investing in the skills and the technology to facilitate and grow this type of funding.

Statutory grants and commissions. This was a way many organisations were funded in the past but we are seeing grant levels going down, commissions getting bigger and services being taken inhouse. https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/NEF_Local_Government_Austerity_2019.pdf. The truth is they are not in the money so neither are we.

This leaves the staple for many of these organisations, grant funding! But many of these are for small amounts, often they want to fund something new and anything more than one years funding is unusual. We regularly see organisations trying to raise money this way. It didn’t take long to find a local group getting money from 45 different funders to find the £180K needed to run. The time and effort to apply and report to these is phenomenal and it has to be repeated year in year out. No wonder we are seeing burn out, organisations cutting projects and organisations closing.

What is sustainability in the real world. It is something we aspire to, something we pay lip service to because we have to, or something we can only dream about? How many of us are one funding decision away from partial or total collapse? People want our services, so do the professionals, it is not the need that is the issue it is the expectation that we will be there to deliver whatever. How much energy in the sector is wasted in getting the money and reporting and measuring? Energy that would be better used in delivering solutions and solving problems. Pretty much every organisation has the most senior person in the building not actually delivering services but filling in forms and writing reports.

What is the answer?

We need multi year grants from all providers three years minimum, 5 is better.

We need all funders to stop demanding their own reports. Organisations do financial reporting for trustees, they should also be reporting on activities and impact. Let us tell you as funders what we are already reporting and only ask for something different if you desperately need it.

We need more standardisation across how we apply for funds. This is the CV vs application form debate. If organisations have written project plans with budgets, needs analysis, outcomes etc. there should be an easy way to apply using them along with a covering letter about how you meet the funders particular priorities.

We need funding to enable small charities to catch up digitally and technologically with bigger charities in order to allow them to raise funds more effectively.

We need a long term, high profile campaign to change the narrative about charities so that the public recognise charities as the majority and not the minority of mega charities. That way they will think about smaller local organisations when they fundraise, donate or leave a legacy.

We need to reverse cuts to local government and other statutory services and ensure that they are funding local services and groups.

We need the HNS and local Clinical Commissioning groups to put their money where their mouth is about the importance of non-clinical and preventative services. We need to start to fund this to save money in the future.

We have to address inequality as a country in order to reduce its impact on people across all aspects of their lives.

Lottery funding is fantastic (if you are reading this we could do with some here at CCVS) but with it comes the inevitable cliff edge of what happens when it runs out. Fundraising is taking more time, energy, and resources away from delivering solutions. This is especially true in the smaller organisations who have been most impacted by austerity and reductions to income. We really need to address this or more organisations will be forced to close projects or simply cease to exist.

Who would be a trustee or committee member?

Attribution: Alpha Stock Images – http://alphastockimages.com/
Original Author: Nick Youngson – http://www.nyphotographic.com/
Original Image: http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/wooden-tile/t/trustee.html

If you ask many small charities and groups, the answer to the above question is “not enough people”. If you ask most members of the public, they would probably look at you blankly and ask what a trustee does. Almost nobody volunteers for a charity because of the quality and excitement of their trustee meetings. People get involved because it is a cause, an organisation, a mission they are passionate about; people want to make a difference by doing, campaigning, interacting and not by meeting to check the safeguarding policy is up to date or the annual returns have been posted! Too often trustees are press-ganged into the role, I have lost count of the number of trustees I have met over the years who were dedicated supporters and/or volunteers of a charity and have been co-opted (coerced) onto the board because there was a need for more bodies.

Lots has been written about diversity on boards and this is something that should be encouraged, but too often the reality for most charities is that ‘we will take anyone who offers’. I know any number of charities who are so desperate for a treasurer they would happily accept the Count from Sesame Street as at least he understands numbers. Sometimes diversity or skills are less important than warm bodies who will turn up. We need to think about how smaller groups can turn this around given that there is no budget, and that there is less kudos and more work in small organisations, often trustees have to take on the day to day management tasks as there are not the staff or volunteers to do this. Arguably the role of say the secretary in a small organisation with a £50,000 turnover is more time consuming than it is in a multi-million pound one. In the small organisation you are doing it all, in the larger one you are checking that someone has done ‘it’.

Without a doubt a diverse, highly skilled, and well recruited trustee board is a positive benefit to an organisation. There are lots of people thinking about this at the moment, but I wonder how many will do so in a practical way for small organisations. How much of the advice will take into account the reality of working in rural or more deprived communities?

Recently Susan Elan Jones, the Labour MP for Clwyd South and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Charities and Volunteering introduced a 10 minute bill that has passed the first stage in parliament. This would add trustees to the list of activities that organisations have to give employees reasonable time off to attend, putting trustees on a par with councillors, magistrates and school governors. This is a good thing but there has been a recent issue with these bills making it through the parliamentary process. And anyway parliament seem to be obsessed with something else at the moment! – We can hope this is successful and you can find out more in this article.

If we assume that this happens will it help our small groups? Yes but …. What is reasonable time off? What does it mean to smaller local firms who may employ the local trustees? What does it mean for those in low income or temporary work who may be the trustees of the grassroots organisations? Will this mean more trustees for small local charities?

Should we pay them

My answer is and always will be no. This may seem idealistic but if you start paying people then motivations change and so does the whole ethos of charities IMHO. So, no payment but let’s be better about expenses. Encourage people to take them, if all do it, it won’t make that person who does need to take them feel stigmatised. If those that don’t need them donate the money back to the charity or another charity great, and we can claim gift aid, so great with a perk! Also remember expenses might include paying for child care or to overcome other barriers to coming out like a carer or interpreter. We all say we pay expenses but how many of us are doing it as no one has asked?

Open recruitment will make us more diverse.

That is what the research says, and I have to agree. But (and there is always a but), how practical is this for small groups with no budget and little experience. Luckily there are lots of resources available including a new guide from Getting on Board called ‘How to recruit trustees for your charity’ This has lots of advice that builds on the ‘Taken on Trust’ research. This included work to support 30 charities to recruit new trustees of which 74% were successful. Whilst this is great if only ¾ were successful when given significant help and support then it shows how difficult it can be for small organisations.

CCVS is there to offer some support so do contact us if you need help, but you have to sell your organisation and the role! Few organisations do advertise, and when they do it is generally in the free places where they are appealing to the ‘usual suspects’. By putting your advert on Reach or on Do-It, or for that matter on the CCVS website, you are advertising to people who are engaged. By advertising on social media, you are competing with all the other noise. This is a start but if you are looking to diversify your board you are going to have to invest time, energy and resources into this then. Use the above guide to try and get it as perfect as possible and be creative with your ad and where you place it..

Why do no diverse people come forward when we advertise?

There is an issue about diversity on boards. The Charity Commission has been (unhelpfully) highlighting this for a while. I am pretty sure that most of those working in the sector are aware of this. Unfortunately, open recruitment will not solve this alone. We need to address some fundamental issues which stem from the ‘that’s not for the likes of me’ syndrome. We need to look at any issues that exist about why some people do not see themselves as trustees. We need to look at why those from the working class or those from lower income groups do not see them selves as trustees. We need to address why there are fewer people from BAME communities who are trustees. We need to think why young people are not becoming trustees. We need to spread the word that trusteeship is about them, that they do have skills, insights and experiences that are important, we need to highlight the things that people can gain from being a trustee (there is a whole blog about what I have gained from it, but do check out this). If whole sections of the community do not see themselves as potential trustees no amount of open advertising is going to improve things.

So what can we do?

I think that there is a disconnect in the advice and the reality for small charities (those with an income below £100K). I also think that there is more that we as a sector can do, and more that we as a local support organisation can do.

• We see many adverts that list the skills needs for trustees as HR, finance, management, social media etc. and less that stress the need for commitment, passion, interest, lived experience. We need to get better at appealing to a wider group of people, we have to work to write better adverts.
• We need to find ways to make more people see themselves as trustees. This means that groups working with these individuals need to look at how we educate and inform people that charities want them.
• We need to find funders that will fund grassroots programmes to provide advice, support and training to get more people to become trustees.
• Charities have to want diverse boards and not just say they do. Often boards become ‘clubs’ and this is very off putting if you do not naturally fit in. It is important that all organisations look for new ideas and disrupters, and are able to engage with and encourage the change that they bring.
• We need to think where we are advertising and not simply use the usual channels, and this is where open recruitment needs to be better – if we have an advert that appeals to a certain group, we need to put it in front of that group.
• We need to put in place appropriate training and support for new trustees. This has to be from infrastructure organisations and also from the trustee’s own organisation. We need to make this support and training flexible and appropriate to trustees from all backgrounds.
• We need to be better at articulating both the difference that trustees make and the personal benefits that being a trustee brings. Many volunteering opportunities are couched in this way and sometimes it feels that trustees are looked at differently than volunteers when in fact it is simply one form of volunteering.
• We need to make our meetings accessible to different people, this means looking at the times and venues but also at the use of technology and how we structure meetings.

Without trustees the sector grinds to a halt, yet for many small groups getting trustees is an ongoing struggle. We need investment that will both help the groups look in new places as they recruit, and will also help more people to see themselves as potential trustees. We need good quality advice, support and training for new and existing trustees to ensure they are kept informed and up to date with best practice and legislation. We need everyone, including the Charity Commission, promoting the fantastic work charities do and how trustees contribute to this.

What I need to move my charity forward and be the best it can is someone committed and passionate about our vision. I can’t teach that, I can teach a bit of charity law, or finance or strategic planning.

Improving the way we communicate, and the language we use to enhance volunteering experiences for the global majority.

Takeaways from the NCVO Time Well Spent 2023: Volunteering Among the Global Community launch event.  

By Lorna Gough. Communications Officer at CCVS. 

Time Well Spentⁱ is NCVO’s research programme focusing on volunteers and their experience. The 2019 reportⁱⁱ showed that the experiences of global majority volunteers needed to be explored more deeply. Time Well Spent 2023ⁱⁱⁱ is the first in a new series of reports.  

I attended the event in a comms capacity, with an interest in how we can all improve communication, and the language we use in our comms, to ensure we are being fully inclusive. Although this webinar focused on volunteering experiences, the improvements we can make apply to all areas of our work. 

The report found that global majority volunteers are less positive about their volunteering experience than volunteers overall.  

What can we do to improve that?  

The first thing I learned is to consider adopting and using the term ‘global majority.’ This term describes all ethnic groups, except white British or other white backgrounds, including white minorities. Global majority is a shortened version of ‘people of the global majority.’ NCVO have been reviewing their language and the words they use around race^iv, replacing terms previously used, such as BAME, which are outdated. You may feel global majority as a term is not yet used widely enough to be recognised, but this should not be an excuse to do nothing.  

At the very least have conversations as an organisation and decide what you can do to improve the words and terms you do use, and take action. You could talk to local organisations who work with global majority people to find out what terms they use in their work.  

We spoke to Ila Chandavarkar from Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum (CECF) who are a charity working in the field of Race Equality. They are a leading organisation within the voluntary sector in Cambridge, in working with Black and Minoritised Ethnic individuals and groups. They bring expertise in anti-discrimination work and specialisation in asylum and refugee welfare matters. They also give special social, cultural, moral, and practical support to groups and develop projects where needed.  

Ila told us that: 

“Language constantly changes and recently there has been a great deal of discussion about the right term to use for communities other than white British. At CECF, we recognise that the reason for an umbrella term is to acknowledge that certain communities are more exposed to race discrimination and race hate crime, rather than treating these communities as homogenous. We choose to use the term BME for Black and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, in agreement with the Law Society description “Minoritised ethnic’ (or the similar term ‘racially minoritised’).. recognises that individuals have been minoritised through social processes of power and domination rather than just existing in distinct statistical minorities.” The term has been accepted by some organisations within the sector such as Voice4Change England.” 

As the NCVO event used the term global majority, we will continue to use that term throughout this article to avoid confusion.  

People who identify as global majority population make up 85% of the world’s population and it’s really important that we get the language around this right.  

There are many barriers faced by people wanting to volunteer, particularly from the global majority population, and if we don’t get the language right in the first place, we are potentially losing out on dedicated and skilled volunteers.  

Points to consider to reduce barriers to volunteering: 

• Recruitment – when promoting volunteer opportunities, be clear with your language about the role. Clearly state that you welcome anyone who meets your basic criteria, but also consider explicitly stating that global majority volunteers are welcome. This will ensure everyone feels confident that there are no barriers to them joining you as a volunteer. If you’re not clear, you risk putting people off.  
• Be clear and transparent about the role so people know what is expected of them.  
• The term ‘voluntary work’ is incorrect when advertising voluntary roles and can be off putting. A volunteer provides services voluntarily, and a voluntary worker usually works under a contract.  

• Consider how you can encourage and welcome refugees or asylum seekers, and others who may be new to the country. Paul Harvey, Head of Volunteering at Voluntary Action Sheffield, (an organisation who have worked with refugees and asylum seekers for over 20 years) urged us to change our perspective and stop thinking of these groups as ‘People in Need’ but as people with assets. We need to remember that refugees and asylum seekers had full lives before they had to leave their countries. They are often highly skilled and experienced and can be a huge benefit to organisations. It’s good to show people they are needed. 
• Recruitment process – references – life circumstances mean these are not available to many – consider whether they are actually needed. What do they actually prove?   
• Volunteer structure – think how to word volunteer role descriptions to demonstrate that you recognise volunteers may only be temporary. There can be a high turnover of volunteers, and rather than that trying to encourage longer term volunteers only, think how you can benefit from all help you are offered. 
• Expenses – how you communicate that you actively encourage volunteers to claim expenses is vital, as it’s one of the biggest barriers to volunteering. High numbers of volunteers don’t know that they can claim and feel embarrassed about doing so.                                               

Make sure that all volunteers know that claiming expenses is usual, expected and encouraged and make it a straightforward process. Remove the stigma. At every opportunity, be proactive and ask your volunteers if they have received their expenses, make it a normal friendly conversation. If they wish to decline claiming, that is their choice, but it should not be seen as a badge of honour not to claim. If everyone is encouraged to claim, people can choose to donate back discreetly, and can even gift aid if appropriate.  Baris Varli from the Muslim Charities Forum reminded us that it can actually help an organisation demonstrate their true operational costs if they factor in volunteer expenses.                                                       

Many volunteers simply cannot afford the financial burden of volunteering if expenses are not reimbursed. Work out if there is a way to pay travel costs up front, so that volunteers do not have the stress of working out how to fund getting to your venue. Make sure your volunteers know they are worth more than their bus fare. Communicate clearly so that everyone knows where they stand and so that awkward conversations are avoided. 

• Avoid assumptions – assumptions made by organisations are another big barrier to volunteering. Karris Morris-Brown from Black Cultural Archives suggested improving the way you use data to make volunteering a better experience. If you’re going to run volunteer surveys, or exit interviews, act on the information you collect. People should feel comfortable voicing concerns or sharing ideas and feel confident that they will be taken seriously. Don’t just collect data for the sake of it. Make it meaningful. Use it to improve volunteer experiences. As Karris says – Live the values you proclaim to hold. 
• Representation – do your best to ensure your Trustee board and your management team are representative of the communities that people live in. Ensure you communicate that you welcome Trustee applications from global majority people. If a person from the global majority is interested in volunteering and they discover that everyone else in the organisation is from a white background, they’re not going to feel comfortable going back. Not fitting in is a bigger barrier to global majority volunteers than concerns about a lack of skills and experience.  

We can all do our bit to continue to improve the experience of volunteers generally, and we all need to work a little bit harder to make volunteering for the global majority population an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Thinking about the language we use, and how we communicate, is a good place to start. 

Martyn’s Law Public Consultation

by CCVS Development Officer, Jigna Vyas Gosal. 12 March 2024.

If you operate a venue or an event with a capacity of 100+, this will impact you. 
 

The Government is currently consulting on The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill also known as ‘Martyn’s Law’ in tribute to Martyn Hett, who was tragically killed alongside 21 others in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017. 

Martyn’s Law will aim to improve the safety and security of public venues and keep the British public safe from terrorism. Those responsible for public venues will have to consider the threat of terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures.   

 
Please take a few minutes to complete this consultation. This is your chance to have your voice heard. They particularly welcome views from those responsible for the smaller premises which would fall within the Standard Tier, (with a capacity of 100) especially those in the community and voluntary sector.  

The consultation can be completed online or in an alternative format upon request. The closing date is Monday 18 March 2024. The response will be published in due course. Complete the consultation here. 

Will my centre be affected? 

If your venue capacity is under 100 Martyn’s Law will not affect you.  

If you run a public centre (see list below) or event with a capacity of over 100 you will be eligible under Martyn’s law  

1. Capacity: The maximum occupancy of the premises meets a specified threshold – either 100+ (Standard Tier) or 800+ (Enhanced Tier) 

2. If your public venue provides (qualifying activity): 

• Entertainment and leisure. 
• Retail. 
• Food and drink. 
• Museums and galleries. 
• Sports grounds. 
• Public areas of local and central government buildings (such as town halls). 
• Visitor attractions. 
• Places of worship, health, and education.

3. Eligible premises will be those which are either: 

• a Building (including collections of buildings used for the same purposes, e.g. a campus). 
• a Location/Event (including a temporary event) that has a defined boundary and capacity. 

If you run a venue or event capacity of 100+ you will need to: (Standard Tier Requirements.) 

1. Notify the Regulator that you or have become, responsible for premises.  

2. Have in place reasonably practical measures that could be expected to reduce the risk of physical harm to individuals at the premises in the event of an attack. It is not expected or required that physical changes will be made, or additional equipment will need to be purchased for Standard Tier premises. Measures could include:  

• locking doors to reduce attackers access whilst guiding staff and customers to alternative exits.  
• completion of appropriate training such as first aid and preparedness from Protect UK

If you run a venue or event with a capacity of 800+ you will need to (Enhanced tier requirements) ensure that you undertake a thorough and reasonably practicable risk assessment and have a clear security plan.  

Places of worship will receive individual treatment. All places of worship will be placed within the standard tier regardless of their capacity. There will be a small number of exceptions across all faiths, for those that charge tourists for entry or hire out the site for large commercial events. 

How will this affect accessibility? Most changes will involve security systems, procedures and how staff are trained. If you do make any changes to your venues as a result of Martyn’s law you must ensure that the changes do not limit accessibility. 

Enforcing the law 

Who is the Regulator? The regulator will be identified when the bill is enacted.  

Guidance and support from ProtectUK is available to ensure that those in scope have the required information on what to do and how best to do it.  

Martyn’s Law will extend to and apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. 

Further information and resources:  

Martyns Law Factsheet from the Home Office  

Protect UK overview on Martyns Law 

Onlinefistaid.com blog on Martyns Law 

Volunteering brings people together

As we launch www.volunteercambs.org.uk to try and match volunteers and organisations, and to try and draw more people into volunteering this is a timely reminder from Rob Jackson about how volunteering can bring people together and build connections and understanding.

Across the divide

Work, skills and health

By CCVS CEO, Mark Freeman, February 2024

A short blog to update those organisations that have an interest in skills, learning and employment support. This is based on CCVS attendance at various meetings and the publication of a new Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Work Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Support Cambs were invited to be a part of the Work Health and Wellbeing Strategy Group and CCVS took up the opportunity as it relates to the work of the GET (Guidance, Employment and Training) network. This invite came at the end of the work to develop the strategy so we had less input than we would have liked. It was also at the same time that a bid was being developed for government funding that would help those with long term health conditions maintain or get into work. Again, we came to this late and it would have been better if we had been involved from the start. The fact that we are engaged is a positive, if the bid is successful then I can see the VCS being able to find some funding. I also believe that there is a real desire from the authors and principal partners to include the VCS moving forward.

Why is a strategy needed?

There is a growing evidence base that more people are not working because of health reasons since the pandemic ended. Unsurprisingly government wants to see these people getting back into work, paying taxes and not being on benefits. That said there are also lots of reasons why it is good for individuals to be able to take on appropriate work, not least the fact it can benefit their overall wellbeing as well as most likely making them better off.

The strategy states:

“The majority of people spend the greatest proportion of their lives as part of the working age population. There is solid evidence that jobs and the workplace environment are key influencers on health and wellbeing outcomes.

There is also a strong economic case for Work and Health action, nationally combined costs from worklessness and sickness absence amount to around £100 billion annually.  In the UK, 131 million working days are lost to sickness absence every year.  34.3 million days are lost to minor illness, 28.2 million days lost to Musculoskeletal problems and 14.2 million days lost to stress, depression, and anxiety.

Enabling people with health issues to obtain or retain work, and be productive within the workplace, is therefore a crucial part of the economic success and wellbeing of every community and industry.”

It is worth looking at the executive summary of the strategy and we have uploaded this onto the GET network website. (this will download a pdf).

 This states that:

“The Work, Health and Wellbeing strategy has a vision that aims to ensure that the system through working together will enable:

“A healthy workforce that supports a local healthy economy, that there is good work for everyone, and that disability or poor health is not a barrier to being in work.”

The Strategy has two core and one cross cutting strategic ambition.

●             To ensure that there is robust support in place for people with a disability or health condition who are not working to help them back into employment. This will include addressing their health, social care and skills needs as part of increasing the overall support for getting them back to work.

●             To ensure that people have “good” work. That there is secure employment, with good wages, fair terms and conditions and working environments that support good health and enable those with a long-term health condition or disability to remain in work.

●             To ensure that the multiple needs of working age people who have a disability or long-term health condition to enter and remain in work are met though increased engagement and integration of services across the system and a commitment to employers and employees being engaged in shaping the Strategy and its delivery.”

In their words

“The Strategy will support delivery of a range of outcomes that will contribute to the overall health of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough population. The ambition is for more people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough remain fit and healthy throughout their working lives, a reduction in health inequalities and a vibrant growing economy.”

What about the funding bid?

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area had been a pilot to start to look at this and it had been proposed to set up ‘Healthy Work Hubs’ (my name) in three parts of the county, Peterborough, Wisbech and Cambridge City and surrounding area. This work is progressing. On the back of the strategy and this work an application has been made to government for funding to build on this work. This will see significant amounts of funding over a number of years that will support getting people back into work. We are waiting information as to the success, but it is likely the pot will be oversubscribed.

So, what about the VCS?

As I said we have come to the discussions late. We commented on both the strategy and on the bid and whist our comments were noted and did make for minor changes we did not get involvement early enough for this to look anything like a co-produced way forward may have looked.

We have had confirmation that the work that the VCS does around support for those looking to get employed, and the importance that volunteering can play in the journey back to work is understood. I think that there will be a genuine desire to work with and possibly fund the sector moving forward, I also believe that now we have a seat at the table we will be able to influence future plans and possible funding bids.

The strategy authors have already attended a GET network meeting to let people know what was happening and where their thinking was. You can see the slides here (this will download a pdf) and watch the video of the presentation here.

Want to stay informed?

If you wish to stay informed on this topic (or any aspect of work, funding and policy around skills and employment) then you should join the GET network. The current form of the network is evolving following the transfer to CCVS but to find out more then check out the GET network website.

We will invite statutory partners to come back to the GET meetings with updates on funding or the strategy and the GET contact list will be informed of any opportunities that arise. We will also look at how this work fits in with other strategies, funding pots and initiatives coming from all local and national partners.

How to nominate a voluntary champion for an honour or award

by CCVS Communications and Development Worker, Karen Cann. February 2024.

The UK honours system recognises people in the voluntary sector who have gone above and beyond to shape and improve their communities, and who have made a significant impact, making life better for others. 

For those actively involved in charity or community work, the most relevant honours include the Order of the British Empire (OBE), the Member of the British Empire (MBE), and the British Empire Medal (BEM). 

Do you know someone who has been exceptional and made a positive impact in the charity or community sector? Perhaps a community leader, volunteer or philanthropist who has made a real difference? 

The great news is, to nominate – it’s easier than you think! 

Anyone can be nominated – it isn’t to do with age, class or how long they have been working or volunteering. 

When nominating, you don’t specify what honour you would like your nominee to receive – that will be decided by the honours committee. 

How do I nominate someone? 

You could start today! There isn’t a specific deadline: you can submit your nomination at any time of the year and the process takes one to two years to verify. Try to nominate when your individual is still active. 

Nomination forms are available online, and require detailed information about the individual’s accomplishments. 

You’ll need to begin with why you are nominating your person, and this will include their: 

• Name 
• Address 
• Contact details 
• Relevant work or volunteering 
• Recognition they have received, such as awards 
• Two supporting letters 

Please use descriptive sentences to describe the transformative nature of their efforts. Highlight specific projects, initiatives, or programmes they have contributed to, along with details of the benefits to the community and the lives they’ve touched.  

In simple terms: why is their work important? 

A few tips! 

• Please use all the characters you are given and try not to leave any part of the form blank. 
• Provide some background to the organisation they are working or volunteering for. 
• Link facts, such as roles, dates, and actions, to the impact your nominee has made. 
• Provide evidence to back everything up. 

Please do not list all their work roles, qualifications, and achievements in a ‘CV’ style. 

The focus should be on their IMPACT and the selfless way they have provided service and changed lives for the better. Tell their story! 

To do this, the committee recommend that you think about: 

• What were things like before their efforts began? 
• How are things now?  
• What makes the nominee different from other people doing similar work? 

You will need to gather and provide evidence for your individual’s achievements, such as news articles, weblinks, photos and other relevant files. 

Supporting letters  

Anyone who has worked with or has experienced the work of the individual can write a letter of recommendation to be submitted along with the nomination. It should be from people who know the nominee, such as: 

• Someone from the nominee’s organisation or community. 
• A high-profile individual such as a local councillor or MP. 
• Someone who works alongside them. 

Confidentiality 

Please keep everything confidential – it is very important that the individual doesn’t find out that they are being nominated, as they will feel disappointed if they don’t receive an award. Moreover, there will be personal data collected so be careful where this is stored. 

Please don’t worry about nominating, the honours committee doesn’t expect the submission to be perfect or overly formal – so give it a go! 

The Honours are announced at New Year and on the King’s birthday. You shouldn’t contact the committee about your nomination – if you are successful, the honour will be made public. If you haven’t heard after two years, then you may submit again. 

The UK Honours system is a powerful way to celebrate and elevate those who make a significant difference in the charity and community sector. By nominating individuals for these awards, not only do we recognise their efforts, but it could also inspire others to contribute to the well-being of their communities and highlight some fantastic organisations along the way!  

So, why not celebrate one of your staff or volunteers, an unsung hero who works hard to create positive change, they may really appreciate the award! 

For more information please visit: Nominate someone for an honour or award: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

This nomination process is for individuals only, to nominate a voluntary group for The King’s Award for Voluntary Service: The King’s Award for Voluntary Service: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)