The chief executive of umbrella body Involve Yorkshire & Humber has said sector funding is “topsy-turvy”, with too much attention paid to a minority of charities which can take on social investment and a emphasis on the ‘vast majority’ of charities' funding needs.
Judy Robinson was speaking at an all party parliamentary group on civil society and volunteering meeting organised by NCVO.
Speaking on the topic of the future of charities, she said that the future for the charity sector is in preventative work, which is one if its strengths. But, she added, there are challenges to this.
“The role of local authorities is radically changing when grants are critical to organisations working in the area of Yorkshire & Humber,” she said. “Some local authorities are good in the process of redesigning services. But in some cases a postcode lottery is developing from funders. Sometimes money is on hold.”
Earlier this year, Blackpool Council proposed to cut all grants to the voluntary sector by 2016, shifting towards an emphasis on funding through commissioned work.
Robinson continued that the majority of the sector is small, not big, but do a huge amount of work. “This risks getting lost,” she warned, “as some are running dry.”
She called for a rethink on how the sector is funded. “Grants are critical. I worry about the attention giving to the small number of organisations who can take on loans or arrange bonds and the lack of attention to the vast majority of the sector.
“It’s topsy-turvy and crazy.
“I urge organisations not to listen to talk about scaling up or rolling out. Sometimes the best examples of civil society are organisations with local knowledge and local relationships.”
Robinson also focused on the drive for charities to demonstrate impact, suggesting it did not necessarily lead to funding as often proclaimed.
“Organisations I know are demonstrating impact but they are not getting support. I worry – we need something from the other side to match that.”
However, responding to Robinson’s concerns, Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said it was important to not divide the sector.
“It’s important that the sector does not say local and small is ‘good’, and large and national is ‘bad’. In some cases small charities make no impact, in other cases large charities are not working well. Overall the sector needs to improve.”
