Dear Colleagues,
Hope you all had a restful break,
As we look forward to 2025, we know that the VCSEF sector makes a vital contribution to the economy, keeping local wealth local, supporting people into work and creating jobs. We deliver services, meet needs, and connect communities and individuals. However, sustainability is always a key issue for the sector, particularly now as we operate within an environment of rising costs, decreasing funding and increasing demands from our communities and citizens.
Our relationships with each other within the sector, and with our partners including the City Council, NHS colleagues, the university and the corporate/private sector are important for ensuring that there is collaboration across the board and to ensure that commissioning processes are improved so funding is more evenly distributed and can meet demand quickly. More work will be needed to agree our shared purposes, become stronger allies and ensure partnerships are effective.
We cannot take our volunteers for granted. We have an army of volunteers, however, across the country, there has been a reduction in people coming forward. The highest year for volunteers was post Covid when hundreds of people volunteered who had not volunteered before. Since that time, the figures have decreased which may be due to a number of different factors including, for example, people having to work and/or take on childcare commitments and the cost-of-living crisis. We may need to ensure that we are meeting the changing needs of volunteers by being more flexible, offering a range of roles, online and in person, and covering varying levels of commitment.
At WVCA we have lots on the horizon for 2025 including our calendar of events, meet the funder opportunities and training which will be available on our website and in our newsletter.
Please join us at the next VCSEF Alliance which takes place at 10-1 on 22nd January 2025 at The Hub at Ashmore Park where we will reveal the outcomes of our Wolverhampton VCSEF Sector survey!
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen
Chief Executive Officer