London Voluntary Services Council and NCIA are organizing a joint event with and for CVSs from all parts of the country to debate their role to support local communities under pressure and those active to resist cuts and austerity policies. The meeting will be on Friday September 13th, 11-3.30 at a central London location near … Continue reading
Some notes are now out, of the event we held on 10th May to launch our Inquiry into the Future of Voluntary Services. The discussion was kicked off with strong contributions from Elizabeth Bayliss, Kevin Nunan and Bernard Davies, followed by a spirited debate within the meeting. The range of people attending and their organisations … Continue reading
Our latest newsletter is now out. Read about our Inquiry in the Future of Voluntary Services – can they still be called ‘radical’? Plus tales of heroism … and the madness that continues. Read it here – http://ymlp.com/zAthfM… Continue reading
Can voluntary services survive? And survive as what? Launch of NCIA Inquiry, Friday May 10th, 2013, 11-3pm at Institute for Family Therapy, 24-32 Stephenson Way London NW1 2HX
Come and join our inquiries….
The pressures on local voluntary groups providing services are immense and getting worse. Cuts in their funding… Increasing need from desperate communities….. … Continue reading
Mark Restall, from the world of volunteering, tell us how volunteering has never been higher on the political agenda. Government ministers and voluntary sector Chief Executives love to tell us how important it is. He says, “I know it’s hard to believe, but I get the impression that they don’t actually understand voluntary work at … Continue reading
As we brace ourselves for the benefits cuts on the 1st April, read our latest news on who is fighting what …… and who isn’t – newsletter No 32… Continue reading
Here We Stand, the NCIA Inquiry into local activism and dissent has now reported its findings. The Inquiry, carried out with Manchester Metropolitan University, documents how local activists exert an active democratic and egalitarian influence. We found growing resistance to cuts and austerity, with local people organising around what matters to them: safeguarding public … Continue reading
Message from 38 Degrees… please act now! It’s being called backdoor NHS privatisation. And if we want to stop it, what happens in Parliament this week is crucial. Some Labour, Lib Dem and Green MPs have tabled a motion demanding the NHS privatisation plan be immediately withdrawn. [1] As of last Monday, only 72 MPs … Continue reading
An inspiring video – ‘A Polite Revolution’ – from activists in Barnet shows how an alliance between occupy, trades unions and local people can make an impact that goes beyond the sum of the parts. Faced with the closure of Friern Barnet library, the building was occupied and kept open by local people. This forced … Continue reading
Just before Christmas the government laid before Parliament the regulations governing the new ‘Healthwatch’ bodies, that will, in April, take over from LINK the role of patients’ watchdog within the NHS. Hidden in these regulations is Provision 36, which effectively disbars ‘Healthwatch’ from any involvement in matters of Law or policy relating “.. to any … Continue reading