Strengthening the VCSE Sector
The VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) sector is a powerful force for good and one of the most trusted parts of societies. Lloyds Bank Foundation and Telford COG (Community Organisations Group) commissioned us to co-design an action plan for strengthening the VCSE sector in Telford & Wrekin. Speaking to over 100 organisations to shape a way forward for the region to work more collaboratively, we brought together a lot of useful learning and insights for any region facing similar challenges.
Throughout the conversations, reinforcing cycles of behaviour kept being described:
1. Being in survival mode – firefighting
2. Chasing funding that can lead to competition and erode some of the trust between sector partners; and
3. Challenges around capacity and where people put their time and effort
“There are missed opportunities right now because organisations don’t know what other organisations do, or could do, together.”
Three key themes were identified that were going to be crucial for breaking these cycles:
2. Sharing current and new resource and expertise between organisations, to shape better services for communities.
3. Having a shared language and understanding of what impact means to make better decisions for the region.
These formed the basis of a theory of change approach, which provides a visual roadmap to sector-wide change.
View video resources below
Join Ann Johnson from Lloyds Bank Foundation’s Place Team who explains why a project focussed on strengthening the VCSE sector was commissioned
Hear from Louise Cross, CEO of Telford Citizen’s Advice and part of the Telford COG summarising what will happen next to put the research into action
Join Charlotte Walshe from In Kind Direct who summarises the main themes emerging from the research
Here they are together in conversation highlighting the key take aways for any locality thinking about long-term change.
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