Newsletter No 36 …. triumphs and disasters, heros and villains….
Our latest newsletter is now up, read all about it…. here… Continue reading
News
So Who’s Running the Show?
Over here at NCIA we often rail on about the apparent shortage of radical voluntary organisations. But maybe we wouldn’t be so surprised if we took the trouble to find out who is running these groups. This is what Mike Barker does in an incisive article called the ‘The Austerity of Charity’. Mike charts the … Continue reading
NCIA calls on NAVCA to speak out on poverty and inequality
Inequality and poverty is increasing in the UK. Policies that cut rights and entitlements, and dismantle and privatise public services, make this worse. Voluntary and community agencies cannot be silent on this. They must speak out and act alongside those campaigning to stop this damage. It is the job of charities to fight poverty and … Continue reading
What does a CVS stand for and who with?
CVSs are “adrift from the grassroots and they tend to be silent around issues such as welfare reform”. So says the Chief Executive of Community Action Southwark. “There isn’t that voice. We have been seduced. The more fundamental questions aren’t being asked. That seduction is diminishing voluntary and community action.” And he’s not the … Continue reading
Radio 4 puts NCIA line, then reaches some strange conclusions
‘What are charities for?’ was the theme of last Monday’s Radio 4 ‘Analysis’ programme. 25 minutes of powerful evidence, including from interviews with us, set out the stall of how state co-option and contracting has sapped the independence of charities and all but extinguished the fire in their belly to fight for social justice. But … Continue reading
Voluntary services – comply or resist?
Another excellent contribution to our debate about the future of voluntary services comes from Linda Milbourne and Mike Cushman. ‘Complying, transforming or resisting in the new austerity?’ powerfully unpacks “… changes that appear to be modifying and restricting the voluntary sector’s previous role in social welfare, limiting its influence and its ability to act simultaneously … Continue reading
The impact of commissioning and procurement – next briefing now up
Another new briefing paper for work on our Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services – this one deals with commissioning and procurement, “….the single most important factor in the progressive co-option of voluntary groups as servants of state plans and policy and, increasingly, as subservient to the profit-making activities of private companies.” You can … Continue reading
Wales keeps up the pressure to retain grants
English second tier bodies have largely given up on retaining grant funding for voluntary groups but vigorous support for the virtues of grants over contracts persists in Wales. A recent BBC Wales report quoted Graham Benfield, Chief Executive of Wales Council for Voluntary Action, as saying the procurement process of offering and awarding contracts for … Continue reading
Has neo-liberal thinking colonised the voluntary sector?
In an important new paper, Ursula Murray, from Birkbeck University of London, addresses many of the key issues of our ‘Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services’. Entitled ‘To what extent is the voluntary sector colonised by neo-liberal thinking?’, the paper examines the involvement of the voluntary sector in the dismantling of the welfare state, … Continue reading
Newsletter No 35 now out – triumphs, disasters and dirty dealing
Our bi-monthly round up of all that is best and worst in the wonderful world of voluntary action is now out. Be inspired, be depressed, be angry here….. Newsletter No 35… Continue reading