Over the last few days, we’ve all been moved by the support, appreciation, anger and sympathy expressed by colleagues, whether local, national or regional.  So many of you sounded shocked, especially by the speed of our closure.  We always knew the decision would be tight; I often talked of needing “good luck and a fair wind”.  In the end, we had neither.  And it was and is the right decision.

So what’s left?  I would argue, quite a lot.  Judy Robinson discusses critical relationships and how they matter, in her two-part blog ‘Financial model failure in public service delivery’.  As usual, she’s nailed it. However I want to add a positive perspective, which for me is making all the difference to the way in which we are closing.  It is because of these strong relationships that we can do it well, in a timely, dignified and creative way – preparing a practical legacy, with considerable depth and potential, since we are supported by careful yet critical friends.

Over the last weekend, what with the falling leaves and my strong desire to plant bulbs for next spring, I found I was thinking about acorns. By Sunday lunchtime I had realised I had a lot in common with squirrels and their purposeful hoarding, especially when I realised that their leftovers were in fact the seeds needed for future oak trees.

Here is one: a report produced in partnership with colleagues at the University of Leeds about the VCS’ (lack of) role in the ongoing devolution debate. It will examine and respond to plans for northern devolution from the perspective of Yorkshire and Humber’s VCS. It aims to give a voice to the region’s VCS and to better understand the specific challenges and opportunities that devolution may pose for its work, with a view to enabling the sector to more actively shape devolution plans in partnership with local and central government.

The other is a review of all Involve’s research. It will contain a longitudinal analysis of the 23 Quarterly Confidence Surveys we have conducted. This will be supplemented with quantitative and qualitative data from other Involve reports. It will describe trends over time and current themes, identify current and emerging policy areas that will impact on the work of the VCS in the region, and make recommendations to the VCS and those who work with the sector.

So here’s the rest of our acorn collection for you to consider, use and develop …

What to watch out for – and how

• Health and social care – Emma Baylin will be continuing her invaluable health and networks work in the region, as an employee of another (yet to be announced) organisation. The national Regional Voices team, Carol Candler and Jonathan Appleton will continue to deliver the current Regional Voices work as employees of VONNE.
• ‘Hull Pound’ report – Alongside Mel Bonney-Kane (CaVCA), I am undertaking an investigation into how the total commissioning spend in Hull is used by the voluntary sector – everything from probation to youth services and health. The aim is avoid duplication, promote collaboration (where effective) and make commissioning effective for the sector as well as commissioners. The end report should be so practical and useful elsewhere.
• Devolution in general – Given my previous history, I will continue to have a ‘watching brief’ on the Northern devolution agenda, keeping an eye on what’s happening and reporting back. I’ll update on this over the next few weeks.
• Quarterly survey of voluntary sector confidence – The Quarterly Confidence Survey (QCS) has been tracking and analysing the health and confidence of the voluntary sector continuously for over six years. As Involve will be closing at the end of November, the latest QCS report is the last one that we will publish. But there has never been a more important time for the health of the voluntary sector to be measured. As a legacy, we are keen to ensure that it continues to be monitored. If you or your organisation is able to continue this vital work, please contact us.
• Involve resources: can you host? – The Involve website is host to a wealth of important resources and information. This includes published reports, research and data, policy briefings, and expert blogs. We would like to ensure that these resources are available in the future to anyone who needs them. If you are able to host this important content going forward, please contact us.
• HealthNet – If you’d like to continue to receive news and updates about health and social care in the VCS, contact us and we’ll add you to the HealthNet mailing list. This mailing will be continued by our Development Officer for Health and Networks, Emma Baylin, after Involve closes.
• Voluntary & Community Sector Yorkshire & Humber LinkedIn group – Can you give a new lease of life to the VCS Yorkshire and Humber LinkedIn group? We are seeking a suitable new moderator/admin for the LinkedIn group. This group will need new a new admin/moderator(s). I think this group has huge potential, particularly if someone is willing to invest some time and energy into increasing membership and engagement. Click here to see the group. Would you like to be the new moderator for the group? If so, please contact us.
• Make us an offer! – Involve is also in the process of distributing our assets, both intellectual and physical. Everything from keyboards to cupboards, and crockery to coat stands. If you’re interested, then get in touch!

This will be my last blog post for Involve, but do keep checking the Involve website for news updates, and follow me on Twitter for my updates and opinions: @Jane_Hustwit

Pennine Way road sign courtesy of Brian Barnett

Read part 1: Seeing the wood for the trees here.

This blog post is about all sorts of things, but it focusses on the current financial models that underpin much of public and voluntary services, and their shortcomings or failures. And some of these have affected Involve.

I think, however, that Involve Yorkshire & Humber <aka Regional Forum> is also the casualty of fashions and political fickleness.First, infrastructure is flavour of the month (see: Capacity Builders, Change Up, the Big Lottery’s BASIS) then it’s yesterday’s news.

To draw a precise analogy: it is like building a motorway, then getting bored with it and failing to maintain it properly.

‘Regional’ – a dirty word or an aspiration?

Similarly, regions were once the new idea then the “r” word couldn’t even be mentioned in Government circles, and all the expensively set up institutions were dismantled. Only to find a few years later their poor relations in devolution turn up, but with none of the requisite support infrastructure in place.

I don’t want here to try to sum up Involve’s legacy: that needs more time and reflection. I was struck, however, last week, in all the messages I saw, how much people and organisations have valued its work and how much it will be missed.

I imagine that many different aspects of Involve’s work will be a loss to Yorkshire and Humber from research and policy analysis, advocating for equality and its voice promoting the voluntary and community sector and connecting it to other sectors.

Who will build the relationships now?

Yet, I don’t think these are the biggest loss. The biggest loss is relationships. I want to illustrate this by telling a story, not in Yorkshire, but in my home town of Oldham. This is what happened.

The newly set-up Parliamentary Select Committee on Women and Equalities has decided that it wants to get out of Westminster to hear people’s views directly in listening visits and the first of these was to Oldham last week.

From these conversations the Committee will agree the topics it wants to work on for the next 12 months.

The cross party committee of MPs gathered in a wonderfully restored Chapel, run by Oldham Age UK, and met with Oldham charities and community groups, brought together by Voluntary Action Oldham.

Asylum seekers told their stories supported by a volunteer-led group and Refugee Action. Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage community organisations explained their work with women and Age UK talked about activities to help older people stay healthy. Research and reports were passed to the MPs.

A question was asked about the impact of the Lobbying Act on charities and there were two significant comments. Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said almost all the evidence a welfare and work parliamentary committee is gathering comes from charities, so a loss of voice would have a very negative effect.

Maria Miller, the Conservative chair said “powerful, persuasive and evidenced campaigns (by charities) are hard to ignore.” Strong support there for the policy and voice work of charities, and reinforcement of the need for a re-imagining of the relationship between the state and the citizen. MPs need us!

Listening visits, like the one to Oldham, only work if people have been organised to turn up and talk! And you can only make this work if someone has a functioning mail list, administrative capacity to organise, good contacts and intelligence about who has something worthwhile to say, and who will come and say it. Important too that organisers are trusted enough for people to give up their time.

And that “someone” is the local infrastructure organisation.

Dismantling voluntary sector infrastructure: what is lost?

Without a functioning voluntary sector infrastructure at different levels, which is trusted not to act out of self-interest, the careful creation and maintenance of critical relationships is unlikely to happen. It is these relationships, and the networks that are their organised form, which help to cross boundaries of sector, geography and politics.

At a time when government, the private sector , banking and even some of the larger charities are not much trusted we desperately need these practical and principled ways to bridge divides, connect people and enliven and inform the dialogue which is the lifeblood of a democracy.

Some of the work of Involve, especially in health, will be carried on by others.

But carefully nurtured relationships which have breadth and depth, and the knowledge, connection and trust that come out of them don’t happen overnight, they take years to craft.

And that’s what is lost.

Guest blog post by Judy Robinson

Here’s some background. The tree campaign is against a plan by Sheffield Council to fell mature street trees all over the city because they say they are dangerous or damaging pavements. Campaigners discovered that tree, road and pavement maintenance has been contracted out under a 25-year private finance initiative by the council. The campaigners suspect –denied by the council- that it is cheaper to fell trees than pay for their care.

In the case of Kids Company, I take Karl Wilding of NCVO’s advice that we don’t know the full story so should not speculate. However, anyone who has run a charity will recognise some of what Camilla Batmanghelidjh said about the difficulty of managing multiple funding streams, negotiating for support and keeping the show on the road; especially with an open door policy, and in the context of poor child and young people’s mental health services.

Democracy and debt in public service delivery

The indebted business is Four Seasons Health Care which is owned by a buyout firm: hence the debt. It runs 450 care homes with 20,000 residents. Falling local authority spending on social care, under occupancy and the imminent national “living wage” affect the business model negatively. The providers fear there will be a collapse of a major care company within two years.

It seems to me that in all these cases the financial model on which they are based is broken. Local authorities, strapped for cash contract out services, often for the lowest price. However, as Sheffield is finding, this does not immunise them from responsibility or the wrath of citizens who feel that their democratic involvement in what and how services are delivered is, at best, compromised.

When a care home business goes under, the local authority will still have the responsibility to pick up the pieces, though capacity to do so must be diminishing fast: what happens to thousands of older residents then? Why do we have a care sector so unstable that homes are threatened with closure because hedge funds didn’t realise that care and debt don’t mix?

In other services, unit based contracts attempt to manage and ration demand. But as many ‘on the ground’ voluntary and community organisations know, it is very difficult in practice, to say “sorry, we are full up”. And this problem must be set to continue growing: witness the exponential rise in demand for food or welfare and money advice.

Public services commissioning and contracts: who are they working for?

Recent years have voluntary and community sector leaders welcoming in the commissioning and procurement of public services. Contracts were meant to fill in the gap left by the ending of grant regimes and it was thought there are real opportunities to improve services by delivering them differently. There were endless courses on “building consortia”, “successful bidding” and a lot of effort in building relationships with commissioners.

What all this seemed to miss was the actual position of most voluntary and community organisations.

The latest (2015) Third Sector Trends in North East England shows that 44% of organisations were not interested in bidding for contracts and only 16% were actively engaged in bidding or doing contracts.

This mirrors the findings in Involve’s (2014) study Third Sector Trends in Yorkshire & Humber: 33% were not interested in getting involved in contract working, and only 15% were delivering contracts.

Of course, the size of organisations correlates with involvement in contracts: the bigger ones are much more likely to be delivering public services and many well-known charities have been doing this for years.

What is newer is the setting up of voluntary and community sector consortia to win contracts, and the creation of charities from former local authority departments which blur the distinction between sectors. These organisations can seem distanced from the life blood of the sector in voluntary and community activity, which is locally accountable and independent. It is important not to infer that people in such organisations have dubious motives, but it is to say that they are part of a fix not a solution.

Not all contracting with charities is a disaster. However, the trend appears to be towards more state control and bigger contracts; to squeeze out the expertise of smaller organisations that are not in a position to bid and to distort relationships in the voluntary sector.

The impact of falling local and national government spending is reflected NCVO’s 2015 Almanac (roughly a loss of £2bn and falling) and explains much of the current worry about the sustainability of this commissioning and procurement business model.

The current mood music, particularly in ‘right of centre’ thinking and politics, is anti-charity. Ideas to ban voluntary organisations from campaigning or lobbying if they receive more than half of their funds from government, gagging clauses in contacts and the undermining of the voluntary principle in volunteering – they all undercut independence and give a flavour of this mood. I wonder, too, if the entanglement of larger charities with a market model of provision, disconnected from the roots of the sector in community and voluntary action and service, feeds into this mood in ways that undermine the whole sector.

The latest report from the Panel on the Independence of the Voluntary Sector lays out these changes and their implications compellingly and sets out the importance of an independent sector.

There are attempts to mitigate the worst of these developments (such as the Social Value Act) but the problem is systemic and no end of tinkering will solve that.

It’s not that we haven’t had a preview of what contracting out means in practice. We have had a long running “pilot” in the care in the community changes , where the care of older people was opened up to different contractors outside the local authority which would manage  services, but not provide them. And what a success that’s been!

There are opportunities, but not as we’ve known them. Perhaps we will have to face the fact that most local volcom organisations will be smaller, but that can be turned to advantage. Ed Cox, the director of the think tank IPPR North, commented (perhaps controversially) at Involve Yorkshire & Humber’s recent annual conference ‘Politics into Practice’, that the voluntary and community sector should not soak up system failure by running things like food banks: we have to confront injustices on behalf of and with users. And not having government sources of funding enhances independent voices.

There are straws in the wind of different thinking:

• Firstly, the NHS England guidance on grant making, especially for smaller voluntary organisations .
• Secondly, there are examples of well-designed commissioning and procurement processes, especially around social prescribing. Voluntary Action Rotherham’s project (and others similar) to support discharged patients from hospital is a good example. Infrastructure organisations often have a critical role to act as the single contractor that manages sub-contracting to a range of voluntary and community sector providers of every size. The assurance that the infrastructure body will not get involved in delivery means it is trusted to be impartial. Some of these sorts of arrangements seem to me to look more like planning services than open market tendering.
• Thirdly, a fascinating blog by Nick Timmins at the King’s Fund asking if the purchaser-provider split in the NHS is dying and mentioning the new health landscape in Greater Manchester, where planning and collaboration will have to play a much bigger role to make the goals of savings and transformation happen.

Devolution, and a new relationship between the state and the individual

The devolution agenda in the North opens up chances to offer more local or neighbourhood solutions to councils who know they have to do services differently, even if they haven’t worked out how. Councils are trying to re-think their roles. There are co-operative councils. And others, such as in Preston or Nottingham, are exploring setting up their own energy or housing and using local social enterprises -and they give a glimpse into this re-invention. The NHS is talking about being a social movement too.

Into this mix, we need to add our diverse sources of energy, connection and knowledge. Devolution, even if not perfect, is the best recent chance to re-shape how local government, the economy and services work and maybe collaboration is back on the agenda?

This is big picture stuff. Julia Unwin the CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said in her Independent interview (22^nd September 2015): “we need…a new understanding of what is the relationship between the market, the state and the individual.”

Trees and campaigners in Sheffield, poor children and families and vulnerable older people all certainly need this new understanding. It isn’t just about systems. It’s about re-imagining democracy and services from the bottom up and the voluntary and community sector as part of civil society has a vital role to play.

When the condition of care homes is reported as much in the financial pages of newspapers as in the social work ones and the fate of thousands of older citizens rests on the whims of hedge funds, it really is time to re-think, re-group and re-invent.

Guest blog post by Judy Robinson (September 2015)

With thanks to Alison Haskins, CEO of NOVA Wakefield District, for her helpful comments on this blog.

Post script about Involve’s closure

Since I wrote this blog the news was announced that Involve has to close because although the mission is still relevant, and there’s a mandate from members there isn’t enough money. I’ve been asked to extend the blog in the light of this news.

Read ‘Part 2: What is lost when infrastructure organisations close?’ here

Corrina with volunteer chef Patrick

Guest blog post by Corrina Young, who two years ago launched Corrina’s Homeless and Vulnerable Project to help homeless and vulnerable people in Harrogate. In May the project launched Corrina & Friends Community Café and in the same month Corrina received Stray FM’s Local Community Hero Award and was highly commended in the Community Impact category of the Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards.

It is more than five months since Corrina & Friends Community Café featured in the media launch of Involve’s Action Tracker’s Research, and the publication of the Holes in the safety net and The collapse of the safety net reports.

We had just opened Corrina & Friends, Harrogate’s first Pay as You Feel community café, in response to the growing need to tackle foodwaste, homelessness and poverty. Our not for profit cafe, run entirely by volunteers, helps us to raise funds to allow the project – currently awaiting charitable status – to do more for Harrogate’s most vulnerable citizens.

People are frequently amazed that poverty exists in middle-class Harrogate. Despite its affluent exterior, the UK’s ‘happiest town’ has residents who sleep rough or who have no food to feed their families.

The holes in the safety net are widening

In line with Involve’s own research, we are seeing increasing numbers of people who live a hand to mouth existence.

In our first four months we have had around 5,000 paying customers in our café – and their contributions are making a real difference, enabling the project to offer more help to homeless and vulnerable people. Since we opened we have provided 4,200 free meals and drinks to people who are homeless or vulnerable.

Two years ago I launched a weekly a free two-course dinner every Sunday, which has moved from a community centre to our café.  We regularly feed 30 – 60 people each week, who are either homeless or vulnerable in some way.  They include entire families, single parents with babies, and pensioners.

Since May we have handed out nearly 300 emergency food parcels – and the demand is increasing by the month with referrals from local organisations, including social services, Citizen’s Advice and housing associations.  An emergency food parcel costs from £17 to £30 – depending on how many people it is to feed. These parcels help people in desperate situations while they go through the referral procedure to obtain a food bank voucher.

How our Pay What You Feel concept works

We’re open 10.00 – 5.00, Monday to Saturday, when paying customers donate what they feel their meal is worth, or what they can afford.  All our food is made using surplus produce donated by local suppliers or volunteers.  At the end of a day we invite people who are homeless or vulnerable in some way, to have takeaway food and drink that has been pre-paid for by our customers.

Some people worry that customers might exploit the Pay What You Feel initiative.  We ask people to pop their donation into an envelope and all payments are anonymous.  In the four months that we have been open 90% of our customers have paid more than their meal or drinks were worth.  Pay What You Feel is fundamental to what makes us different – and makes a meal, or tea and cake, affordable for people who can’t normally afford to eat out.

Volunteering is at the heart of our project

We have 35 volunteers at Corrina & Friends who include professional chefs and cooks. Working with organisations such as Harrogate CVS and the Prince’s Trust, ensures that we recruit a volunteer base from a wide cross section of the community.

Some of our volunteers have been in challenging circumstances themselves.  We plan to be able to offer volunteering opportunities to young people, those with learning needs, ex offenders and the long-term unemployed.

Our volunteers are all trained to the highest standards so are learning new skills – including barista training and food hygiene. For some of our volunteers these skills and the experience of working in the café can help them find paid work. We are constantly looking at how we can improve both the volunteer and customer experience.

Why our services are so vital

People might come to us for many reasons. They will be living hand to mouth with just enough money to pay bills and buy food – when a big unexpected bill comes in, then they can turn to us for food.  In one case funeral bills following the death of an immediate family member meant they had nothing left to live on.

In another case due to false information being given to the DWP, which consequentially turned into an investigation that lasted some time, a client had their benefits stopped until the investigation was concluded.  We had to step in with food parcels because they had no money to feed the family – the allegations proved false.

Zero hours contracts are another reason why people will turn to us. One client had their hours cut, but obviously their bills aren’t cut. It was time consuming to amend their benefits so they had no food.

We help some people who can’t cope with, or don’t understand, universal credit.  They don’t get the advice and help they need to manage their money and it all gets spent, so by week three they have no money for food until the next payment is due.

Since opening the café we have spearheaded a forum with other local organisations helping homeless and vulnerable people to discuss how we can work together more effectively to tackle poverty and the fallout from benefit reforms.

Corrina & Friends Community Café is at 12 Mayfield Grove, Harrogate.  Follow the café on Facebook and on Twitter @Corrinafriends

Guest blog post by Leeds resident, teacher and volunteer, Ian Martin

What kind of region do you want to live in? With all the recent talk of Northern devolution, many of us have been asking ourselves this very question. But with much of the agenda focused on economics and “growth”, how can we – as Northern citizens – get involved in the devolution agenda, and bring the conversation back to what really matters: the people?

In the lead up to our open public discussion on this topic in Bradford in November (“ours” because YOU are invited along too), I wanted to share my thoughts on what makes the place you live unique – and why it is so important to be involved in conversations that affect it.

What makes you proud? What would you change?

What makes you feel proud of where you live? What do you think needs sorting out”?

When I think about my home, East Leeds, the things that have impressed me most have been the people, particularly those people who take time to wonder how to make things better and try to make those things happen. Often, it’s local volunteers.

But how are these things best achieved? Important things like making newcomers feel welcome, making sure there are places for young people to live, that locals can access jobs and fun stuff cheaply and quickly without destroying our environment.

I wonder why people with far more power and influence than me don’t seem to have to done it?

And then I think: This is my home, this is our home! Maybe we can do it; maybe we should do it… or at least try. Maybe it’s about self-determination? Maybe it’s about self-determination for individuals and for communities of individuals who choose to act together for the common good?

What is self-determination?

To me self-determination means:

1. starting from where we stand now
2. taking responsibility for making it better
3. looking around positively
4. seeking opportunities for working together with and learning from others
5. welcoming inspiration from outside
6. and then trying to be a beacon for all the good things that we want to see in our society.

In that sense, many people are already doing self-determination. People like the members of Involve, people like you, people like Good Stuff Armley, and Hannah Directory.

And it is in building up from the good stuff in these self-determining streets, neighbourhoods, villages, towns, cities, districts, counties and regions that we meet something else: ‘devolution’.

Whitby harbour arms – photo courtesy of Ian Martin

Could devolution be a driver for self-determination?

Are you bored of ‘devolution’ yet? I know many people who are. But what happens if we meet the ‘devolution’ agenda on our own terms. Could ‘devolution’ from above start to mean ‘self-determination’ from below?

But what would that look like? Is any of it possible in the near future?

Devolution has become such a tarnished word, a way in which a Tory chancellor tempts those who have held nominal power in the North for a long time (generally Labour) into accepting responsibility for austerity by setting northern cities up to compete with each other to create the conditions for international businesses to make the biggest profits.

Ultimately devolution is about somebody above you with more power deciding to give you some of that power on their terms. However the success of Scottish devolution and the democratic, decentralising, pluralist vision of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties of the time show that devolution doesn’t have to be Osbornian. Devolution can lead to genuine self-determination.

How can we determine how devolution plays out?

Something called ‘devolution’ is happening to us from above. If we are to make ‘self-determination’ happen from below, I believe that we need to engage, to find the opportunities for hope in the small steps whilst keeping hold of and promoting our ambitions for a better society based on self-determination.

Creating a new democracy has enabled people in Scotland (plus Wales and London to an extent) to think again about what kind of society they want to live in. Old assumptions and cynicism about positive change have been put to one side and ways of building an inclusive and engaged democracy have been developed, including open and family friendly routines in Holyrood that promote finding common ground as well as newfound confidence amongst a wide variety of individuals from different backgrounds that politics can bring about positive change and therefore it is worth engaging with elections and more.

Red kite above my house – photo courtesy of Ian Martin

Who holds the power?

In all devolved scenarios, there are voices saying that what they have is not enough. In London, progressives argue that the assembly should have legislative power. Lesley Riddoch said at the first Northern Citizens’ Convention meeting in Huddersfield that it’s not enough for Scotland’s new ‘friskiness’ to make the nation a little bit better than England – but from where we stand, both those options are steps into a devolved democratic future that we crave.

But who is talking about it? People who already hold power and those already used to talking to and about power. Given the nature of politics, this means overwhelmingly white, middle aged, middle class men. Given the nature of our society and communities, this is a disaster. What is the point in devolution if it doesn’t really change anything?

Devolution changed Scotland, and its bottom-up political renewal is led by many more young, female, BME and working class voices than south of the border. If we want that, and I for one really do, we must find ways to understand and break down barriers to participation. Those of us in privileged positions must actively try to engage those most left out by our centralised state to ensure that any new, hopeful democracy here is truly based on the experiences of those who need change the most. Not as recipients of “Do Gooder” beneficence but as empowered citizens in control of their own destiny.

Devolution must be about self-determination, and self-determination starts with the good stuff around us that we all do, whoever we are.

Join the conversation!

So a few of us residents who don’t hold any power (but who genuinely want the best for all our fellow citizens) have organised a public event to ask the question: “What kind of region do we want to live in?” It’d be great to see you there.

Event: What region do we want to live in?

Date/time: Saturday 7 November, 11am – 4pm

Venue: Carlisle Centre, Manningham, Bradford

Information and booking details

Ian Martin is a primary school teacher from Leeds and occasional volunteer presenter on community radio station, East Leeds FM. He often tweets about radical regionalism, refugees and rugby league under @ianeastleeds

This blog post is a shortened summary of a longer article that can be found here:

http://theculturevulture.co.uk/blog/headline/devo-yorks/comment-page-1/

This event, and Involve’s ongoing partnership with utility infrastructure organisations Northern Powergrid, Northern Gas Networks and Yorkshire Water have had me mulling over the role and purpose of infrastructure – and how we can best support the valuable work done on the frontline.

What has our electricity supply got to do with the voluntary sector?

You might be wondering what the electricity supply chain has got to do with voluntary sector infrastructure: why are we working with utility companies? I asked the very same question when I became Acting Chief Executive of Involve. But after sitting on Northern Powergrid’s stakeholder panel (and having a revealing encounter with some smart electrical engineers involving bidoyngs and rezaps!), it all makes perfect sense now – and we can learn a lot from each other.

A definition of infrastructure:

“The underlying base or foundation needed by an enterprise

It provides physical and organisational structures eg facilities, services, systems.”

In our world, these services include support, advice, voice and (ideally) challenge.  When the authors of the Change for Good report, the impetus for today’s workshop, looked ahead at the future for our infrastructure, they added these interesting concepts – enabler, broker, catalyst or in my terms, fixer!

I’ll come back to bidoyngs and infrastructure in general later. I first want to share what I’ve learned about the voluntary sector context over the past few months.

The voluntary sector: our current climate

The Involve strategic review (due to be published on our website next week) reaffirmed and developed what we knew:

• We are valued as a “supra-local” organisation, formerly regional, linking the national and the local, ideally with purpose, collaboratively and with clarity – avoiding duplication and territorial infringements, and filling in gaps.
• Life is not now geographically simple, if it ever was.  Maybe a pan Northern role for us, doing different things with Leeds City Region to Sheffield City Region – this is all still to be decided, especially considering the submission of no less than SIX different devolution bids for Yorkshire and Humber.
• We have options for new business development and different potential alliances/structures, again to consider and ideally to grow.

Broadly speaking, there is a lot of enthusiasm, but no magic money.

Drawing on what we know from our research and that of others, such as Third Sector Trends, our Action Trackers work tracking the impacts of welfare reforms and the voluntary sector response, and analysis of statements from the Conservative government, we found that for voluntary and community organisations here in Yorkshire and Humber:

• Demand is increasing, while resources of all sorts have shrunk. Even where resources have increased, demand is outstripping that. This is set to continue.
• Reduced capacity means less time to plan, to be strategic; and more time spent on funding applications and volunteers. The need to survive, often in the very short term, takes over.
• However, there is still a real desire to speak up, to speak out, to tell the stories and provide the data about what’s going on, as well as to catch new opportunities as they emerge, but sparse capacity to do it. This is a consistent trend in our Quarterly Confidence Survey reports. In the latest (report due to be published soon), two thirds of organisations said they were not currently involved in a campaign to influence policy. The reason? 65% said it was because they did not have the resources or capacity to do so. Which is where the infrastructure offer comes in – and why it’s vital, especially when so many policy changes that affect the sector are being rolled out.

What can we learn from bidoyngs?

Now, moving to the private sector world of those electrical engineers. Utility companies are charged by regulators to engage with the communities they serve. As a result of this, I sit on the Northern Powergrid Stakeholder Panel, as one of the VCS reps.  They move electricity to wherever it’s needed, so pylons and cables are their bread and butter.

At the Panel, amongst other things, we discuss the impact of emerging technologies on those we know and work with. Smart metering, for instance, allows you to schedule household activities to coincide with cheaper power tariffs, so your washing can be done cheaply in the middle of the night.

But organising that can be complicated: how can this play out well for those who ideally should benefit from it most? That’s where we use our knowledge and influence.

Recently, we heard about new kit for electricity substations to reduce the length of power outages (cuts). This “secondary fuse”, known as a ‘bidoyng’ (yes, real name!), is sprung into action by an electronic sensor based miles away, the process being a ‘rezap’. This mysterious magic had produced excellent results.

I asked how this had come about, and was struck by how relevant the answer was to the survival and development of voluntary sector organisations – and our need to change our behaviours, in the light of new models of care in health or devolution, never mind minimal budgets.

This is what l learnt:

• The value of strong professional relationships. Mick, the Northern Powergrid engineer (aka the commissioner) had known the Irish industrial designers for years, meeting up at conferences, sharing the odd drink.  During this time, the Irish team (the ‘commissioned’, in our terms) had been offering products and ideas, on spec. One or two minor ones had been taken up and worked.
• Mick, as commissioner, made sure he kept up with global developments through this relationship – he didn’t have to be familiar with the latest industry trend and technologies himself, but stayed close to someone who did. Another offer to a commissioner, therefore.
• The regulators (funders) set hard targets which were compulsory – so there were economic incentives. Penalties in their terms; the equivalent of survival in ours, possibly?
• Finally, there is an environment of neighbourly co-operation and/or competition between Northern Powergrid and their national equivalents, so there’s continual challenge and pressure to be the best.

And this is what I concluded, hard though it is, in very tough times: we (the voluntary sector) must learn new tricks or polish existing ones.

The voluntary sector: what next for progress?

• Don’t wait to be asked – develop, then offer your services and products.
• Keep up with technologies somehow, and your relationships – collaborate and cooperate where you can.  This is all about meeting need; not saving our own organisations.  Change is inevitable.
• Finally – big stuff but increasingly important in these days. Know your market; measure your impact; communicate your value.   Make sure those who hold the funds know you: what you do; why it matters; and how well you do it. Never make assumptions about who knows what. (If you need help with this, Involve is running comms strategy workshops.)

Next week, we’ll be discussing how to plan for the future in this changing policy environment at Involve’s annual conference (the ticket deadline has passed, but if you ask our Conference team very nicely they might be able to squeeze you in last minute – programme and ticket info here).

Hope to see you there!

Blog post by Involve CEO Jane Hustwit. Talk to her on Twitter: @Jane_Hustwit

Guest blog post by Lee Beresford, Third Sector Strategic Lead for the NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group.

Having worked for the NHS for more than 30 years (and the last 14 in Wakefield) in a variety of clinical and commissioning posts, I was last year seconded to a local social enterprise.

Spectrum Community Health CIC provides advice, care and treatment through a range of health and wellbeing services for the people of Wakefield on behalf of the NHS. In addition, they provide healthcare services beyond the district in a number of prisons and community settings across the North of England.

Spectrum uses its flexibility as a social enterprise to be responsive to the needs of our local community, extending beyond traditional healthcare boundaries to deliver care that is personalised, evolving and effective.

My time in this first-class third sector organisation taught me many things, notably:

• That that through hard work and focusing on goals that really matter huge improvements in the quality of healthcare can be achieved.
• That there is an immense amount of untapped added value available in the third sector.
• I also experienced the challenges of working day to day in a ‘compete to stay alive’ market, coping with cumbersome and insensitive public sector contract decision-making and monitoring processes.

So following the completion of my secondment, I was delighted to be asked by my employer NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to become its ‘third sector champion’ earlier this year.

What does being a third sector champion involve?

In short, I am challenged to be active in four broad areas:

• Raising awareness of the opportunities and benefits of working more closely with the local third sector to my own organisation;
• Working with and supporting what I have discovered to be dedicated individuals and organisations with our local third sector to better understand, access and influence the local health economy and its associated commissioners;
• Add to existing strong partnership working and plans for service integration and
• Influencing the practice of local health contracting and procurement.

In order to really tackle the enormous challenges facing the NHS it is important for the whole NHS strengthen its focus on (and support for) services of all kinds.

In being more active (in promoting health and wellbeing) and being ‘available earlier’, services can better promote good health and recovery and prevent illness and hospitalisation. The social prescribing project led by Rotherham CVS is a great example of this in action.

There is strong evidence to support the case for the greater effectiveness of the third sector; particularly in mental health, the health of young people and in healthy lifestyles.

I firmly believe that the ability of the local third sector to contribute here is strong and that to play a full part it is critical that the sector is better supported and resourced.

How can the third sector and commissioners work together to tackle challenges faced by the NHS?

This can be best achieved by not re-inventing the wheel (as we in the NHS have done so many times before), but by bringing about new services that ineffectively link with or even overlay existing resources in our communities.

I am working to gain greater commitment within the CCG for health funding to flow more directly into our communities and the structures that exist within them.  I am still learning about this process and how it can best work effectively – and I welcome all thoughts and ideas. I’ll be leading a seminar at Involve’s 2015 annual conference in September so please join me to share your knowledge and bring your ideas to the table.

From what I’ve learned so far, here are my thoughts:

To champions and prospective champions:

• Enthusiastically engage your board particularly its non-executive members
• Engage the strategists and contractors within to sell third sector ‘benefits’
• Avidly promote frameworks that help to describe, assure and make more visible the investment and outcomes potential of the sector
• Pursue opportunities to introduce the sector into mainstream business.

To commissioners:

• Understand the resources of your communities and take care not overlay newly commissioned services onto what may be an already working framework of third sector structures
• Preventative services delivered by third sector can provide real cost savings and also reduce demand in areas such as primary care and social services
• Develop intelligent commissioning processes by working closely with your own third sector to ensure that ‘added’ and ‘social value’ is equitably ‘weighed’ in your planning and decision-making
• Even small voluntary organisations can provide economy in the delivery of public services.

To third sector organisations:

• Find ways to talk to your CCG and be persistent
• Promote your ‘place’ – your existence in the heart of local communities
• The engagement of people and active health prevention at all levels are strong skills – shout about them!
• Focus on your unique talents and expertise.

Lee will be leading a seminar on this topic at Involve’s 2015 annual conference, Politics into practice. Lee invites you to join him at his seminar to share ideas and best practice, to set out a better way of working together, moving forward.

Politics into practice agenda and booking information  

**Booking deadline 7 September**

I’m volunteering! It’s a project with Age UK on local history and people’s stories. It’s the sort of thing that’s best suited to volunteers with expert support.

The recent Volunteers Week celebrated all kinds of similar projects as well as volunteers helping to run public services like libraries or supporting people who are affected by the withdrawal of provision. There did seem to be much less noise about sitting on committees, acting as a local rep voicing local needs and concerns, or campaigning. Or, indeed, about the expert support: volunteer centres. There is a difference between the sort of project I’m volunteering for and the emerging and expected role Government sees for volunteering, especially in public services.

The context of all this is important. I talked to a worker in a community centre recently. Their youth work is entirely volunteer-run since the local authority cut the youth service. But the volunteers have had no training to deal with troublesome young people and feel out of their depth. Some local authorities have re-organised services with the expectation that the voluntary sector will automatically and quickly fill in the gaps with volunteers; but this has been done with little visible support and even less consultation.

A Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report, The Cost of Cuts: the impact of local government and poorer communities, shows that the “poorest places and the poorest people are being hardest hit” by cuts implemented by central government on local government since 2010. It goes on to say that the speed of such cuts means that long-term, preventative approaches are being compromised by the need to make short- term savings. I know that Local Authority CEOs and service directors often say that loss of organisational capacity means their ability to explore and test new solutions and respond to local voices is inhibited.

NCVO’s UK Civil Society Almanac 2015 shows how changes in income from government to the voluntary sector have seen largest falls in the north east, north west and London, Yorkshire and Humber being midway. So, we know that capacity in the voluntary and community sector is also being affected in different ways in the regions.

Evidence from the JRF report indicates that this lack of capacity makes it difficult for organisations to harness volunteering or develop new services. Further cuts to unprotected services in the Comprehensive Spending Review will exacerbate these trends. Initial indications are that the Chancellor is asking departments for 40% reductions in spending. Even if “only” 20% actually happen, think of the wide impact on local authorities, social care, arts and leisure. Think of the social cost, the impact on vulnerable people and the loss of public goods from parks to civic capacity.

Cuts to public health further reduce capacity to develop preventative strategies. Both the NCVO 2015 election manifesto and Involve Yorkshire & Humber’s Doing Better Together manifesto for the last general election majored on the voluntary sector’s preventative role and how this can save money in the long run.

But the role of the VCS to bring new solutions to the table, to reflect community needs and engage with people through volunteers (the “voice” function), starts to be undermined because there’s nobody able to listen and act. And if local authority services have been outsourced on long contracts to companies that operate commercial confidentiality, the chance of influencing provision retreats into the distance. What role then for campaigning volunteers?

Foodbank charities report that some volunteers find their experience opens their eyes and previous pre-conceptions are challenged when the reality of in-work hunger or the arbitrariness of benefit sanctions becomes apparent. The Trussell Trust is careful to make the critical point that food banks are not the solution to hunger but a temporary stop gap. In doing so, they combine getting food to people who need it and saying why this need should not exist.

When Government changes to benefits, according to their own impact assessment, will increase children in poverty by at least 333,000 and make housing out of reach for unemployed families reliant on housing benefit in increasing number of areas now outside of London, can we simply fill in the gaps?

In these situations, I started to wonder what the role of volunteering is and is there a point at which volunteering might be part of the problem not the solution?

I think that point is reached when the voluntary sector operates as if its primary role is celebrating and promoting volunteering and filling in gaps, and then stops speaking up.

And by speaking up I don’t mean shouting, but the careful documenting of the impacts of policy on people, the telling of stories about experience and having a clear and principled message about society which we keep making.

The power of persistence – and a strong message

It is much harder to get a hearing. As this government goes on, however, dissenting and more sympathetic politicians will appear, and alliances will form and shift. We need to be ready with persuasive and well researched messages, drawn from experience, which we keep making. Persistence pays.

It isn’t all about opposition either. The voluntary and community sector has an alternative story about better ways to organise society which create equality and opportunity. We know about ways to find solutions to public policy problems and we have dynamic models of economic development that come from people and communities (and they are not just or primarily about commissioning and contracting).

We are the superb example of the original networking, face to face and real, which could be harnessed by the power of technology. And we have principles which tell us that neighbourliness is a good thing, that collaboration is just as powerful as competition and that the point of all this is the well-being of everyone.

Governments of all hues like their charities tame. The Coalition and the Conservative governments have taken this one step further through the Lobbying Act and further planned legislation.

If we stop using our voice the Government won’t need to tame us, we’ll have tamed ourselves.

Guest blog post by Judy Robinson @JudyRob9

August 2015

Following the 2015 election results announcement, many organisations expressed concern about the future for their organisation and the people and communities they support. These concerns, along with uncertainty about where the next round of cuts would fall, were clearly evident in the results of Involve’s latest Quarterly Confidence Survey.

That was back in May. Fast forward just over two months, and the initial shock has given way to a flurry of activity. In the North, devolution is high on the policy agenda. Health and social care delivery is also under review, with opportunities for the voluntary sector to influence and be part of the solution.

But what else can the voluntary sector expect from this new government, which has already introduced so many sweeping changes? How can small community organisations influence national policy?

At Involve’s annual conference in September, Caroline Slocock will be sharing her insights on this very topic, and discussing how voluntary sector organisations can work with and influence policymakers in this new political landscape.

In the following article, first published in Charity Times, Caroline examines how this new discourse could play out, and how refocusing on early action and putting prevention first could be the answer:

“There needs to be a new kind of conversation between government and the voluntary sector about how to improve service delivery”

Looking back over the last five years, it is hard not to be pessimistic about the relationship of government and the voluntary sector. Big Society rhetoric (which re-emerged in the Conservative parties manifesto), combined with poor or no delivery, left a legacy of cynicism. Austerity and cuts in welfare hit the poorest and least powerful in society hardest – and left the voluntary sector with rising demand and reduced resources, as the state stepped back. After five years of commitment in the Compact to uphold the right of charities to campaign, regardless of financial relationship and numerous references to “co-production” of policies and services, Eric Pickles announced in February a “no lobbying clause” for charities and other organisations receiving money from the Department of Communities and Local Government, urging other government bodies to join suit – another example, along with “gagging clauses,” restrictions to judicial review and the Lobbying Act,  of how politicians increasingly want charities to be seen but not heard.

The growing momentum behind early action and the transformation of public services is the best hope, I believe, of starting a more positive conversation. More and more people are talking about how early action could change lives, improve public services and save money and promote growth. And the voluntary sector has the expertise to help make this happen.

Read the article in full in Charity Times here.

About Caroline Slocock

Caroline Slocock is the founding Director of Civil Exchange, a think tank set up in 2011 to help government and civil society work better together, and is an expert on the relationship between the voluntary sector and government.

Caroline is no stranger to influencing government policy. As Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 2002 and 2007, Caroline helped push gender equality much higher up the agenda. Before joining the EOC, she was in charge of the National Childcare Strategy at the Department for Education and Skills, greatly expanding the amount of childcare and nursery education.  She also held many senior positions in the Treasury shaping policy on public services and  has worked at No 10. She is also a former Chief Executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice.

Caroline is the principal author of The Big Society Audit, which took a forensic look at how far the Big Society and its predecessor initiatives have delivered on promises made by governments and what the lessons are for the future.  The third and final Audit, Whose Society? was published in January 2015 and makes important recommendations about how to draw more effectively on wider social forces for future governments and public servants, as future governments and public servants look for new ways to deliver public services more cost-effectively and seek to respond to social changes.

In 2014, she also edited and published Making Good: the future of the voluntary sector, which brings together essays by voluntary sector leaders looking at the opportunities and threats that lie ahead.  For the last four years, Caroline has also been Secretary to the Panel on the Independence of the Voluntary Sector, and produced four annual assessments for the Panel which looked at the independence of the voluntary sector and how best to protect it.  The latest report, An Independent Mission: the voluntary sector in 2015, was published in February 2015.

She is also a member of the Early Action Task Force and a contributor to 100 Days for Early Action

Caroline Slocock also writes for The Guardian. Read Caroline’s Guardian articles here.

Caroline on Twitter: @CarolineSlocock

Thanks to the lovely Peg Alexander, I took part in a TV discussion last week alongside Nick Hodgkinson and Tom Chigbo from organisations working right on the frontline: Bradford Citizens Advice and the newly created Leeds Citizens. Our discussions focused around the #SummerBudget impacts and the #Devolution agenda. It was nerve wracking, but so useful for sorting out what’s important. You can watch the show on catch up here (Go to Current Affairs > On Closer Inspection> S2 E7 Parts 1 & 2).

As I’ve been in this role now for three months, and with the holidays approaching, I thought I’d instead share some observations about being an interim and life at Involve:

The positives

• Staff – classic quality! In my time so far, three have moved on, three have been recruited. Not what I anticipated; but it’s great to have Liddy as our Administration and Research Officer, and two new health colleagues joining later in the summer on the big national health programme (see below)
• Trustees – supportive, clever, available and willing to challenge. And we have the tricky issue of “roles and boundaries” sorted:  we all know our place. In August we will be studying the review of Involve’s future options.  With their support, I’m looking forward to making decisions and implementing them in the autumn. If you’d like tocomment or contribute, please contact Alison Haskins.
• Our new office – what a difference that’s made! Working in the centre of Leeds in a building shared with other voluntary organisations is great. Anyone wanting a good venue for an event, check out Leeds Church Institute conference facilities – and do visit us whilst you’re here!
• My new gang – the practical support and challenge offered by colleagues in other infrastructure organisations is invaluable, especially from my equivalents in the North at VONNE and VSNW who share the developing interest in devolution.

The potential: two big opportunities  

• Health

Our health team did a brilliant job of embedding the ambition to work with the voluntary sector in the NHS Five Year Forward View. Making it happen is not going to be easy, but there is so much opportunity: to be pioneers, to create innovative new models for health and social care delivery involving the voluntary sector, at a time of unprecedented change and development. That’s why I’m so pleased that Olivia Butterworth – who was instrumental in achieve this – will be joining us as a keynote speaker at the Involve annual conference.

Olivia will speak on the opportunities for voluntary and community organisations to work on the expanding health and social care agenda. With the value and potential of the voluntary sector being embedded in the NHS Five Year Forward View, Olivia will speak about her work, advocating the rich range of services the VCS has to offer to the NHS, as well as innovating and developing working partnerships.

• Devolution

There’s so much going on here, but within constrained, informed circles I suspect. Having worked at the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, I am keen not to repeat mistakes: talking structures and not issues; not listening; getting bogged down in detail etc. It’s a huge opportunity but so complex. Yet the voluntary sector must be involved to ensure the voices of real people in our communities are heard and that everyone benefits. We need to have a seat at the table wherever that is located.

To take our thinking forward, we’re working with Dr Alex Schafran and Zac Taylor from the Geography Department at the University of Leeds to check out what the sector knows and wants from devolution.

*Watch out for a short devolution questionnaire, which should reach you very soon. We plan to use the results to inform our work in the autumn, starting with our conference in September.*

And for further insight, this from Bishop James Jones in the Yorkshire Post is an easy read on Northern devolution.

Learning all over again

Being back in responsible if short term employment again after a gap, at the heart of a challenged sector, is certainly provocative. How to lead and manage the team, myself, our reputation, our support for the sector in these hard times is a constant concern.  I keep returning to some tried and tested principles that have worked for me:

• Developing and maintaining resilience
• Perspective, balance “equal strain on all parts”
• Maintaining the political energy – on this note, try this excellent article by Alex Feis-Bryce, which really hit home to me why we do what we do, why it’s so important.

And of course, we’d love you to join us for our annual conference in September – Olivia Butterworth (@LiviBF) will be sharing details of opportunities for the sector within health and social care, Ed Cox (@edcox_ippr) will be unpacking devolution. And we will be sharing the results of our strategic review – and asking you to help us decide how best to move forward.

Let’s keep that heather crackling throughout the summer and into the autumn!