Dear Colleagues,
One and All, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As we approach the end of 2025, this is a time for reflection and review. We have seen a raft of policy changes over the year from central government with changes that have impacted the VCSEF sector and will continue to do so. The way services are organised across the region are changing and we continue to see the effects on the ground locally of shrinking opportunities for funding, increased competition and budget rationalisation.
Our VCSEF Sector Survey showcased the work and impact of our sector, providing invaluable insights into the dynamic and essential role played by the sector. It highlighted the wide variety of organisational types, personal motivations and diversity of leadership. It also pointed to potential opportunities for collaboration and development, especially in areas such as employment support and environmental initiatives.
As the Local Infrastructure Organisation (LIO), one of the core tenets of WVCA is our commitment to fostering open and equitable access to resources, ensuring that vital funding is distributed effectively among organisations, regardless of size.
Over the past year, WVCA has successfully secured and redistributed £294,000 to 43 different community groups and organisations across the city. These funds have directly benefited more than 2,400 local people, helping to deliver projects that improve health, wellbeing, volunteering, and community engagement.
We are proud to support such a diverse and inspiring range of groups and will continue working to secure new opportunities for the benefit of Wolverhampton’s communities.
New Integrated Care Board Cluster Leadership Team
Details of the appointments have been released regarding the new Integrated Care Board Cluster Leadership Team. You may remember that the Black Country ICB is transforming into a larger cluster area becoming Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country ICB. The Chief Officer level posts have been reduced from 18 to 6 focussed around, for example, finance, quality, communications and corporate affairs.
One of the aims of clustering is to be able to deliver more functions at greater scale, work together across borders, develop a range of shared support functions and to have a shared leadership team. Going forward, there will be a focus on strategic commissioning to deliver the goals set out in the NHS 10-year plan. The expectation of NHS England is for the new operating model to be in place from April 2026.
Clearly, the role and position of the VCSEF sector is key to achieving the Government’s three shifts of acute to community, treatment to prevention and analogue to digital and we will ensure that LIOs come together across the region to liaise with the new board.
NCVO’s Response to the Government’s New Asylum Proposals and Volunteering
The government is proposing to use volunteering as a way to measure the contribution of those seeking settlement, offering earlier status to people who volunteer extensively.
However, NCVO’s stand is clear that; “Linking settlement to volunteering is coercive, risks harming social cohesion, and would bring significant administrative burdens to organisations already under pressure” and further, that volunteering should be a free and positive choice.
NCVO’s aim is to have the proposals withdrawn; they will be collating and coordinating the sector’s response. Action has already been taken including MP and peer engagement and preparing a public letter from the sector to the Home Secretary. You can share your views here: Earned settlement: get involved | NCVO
Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy Launched
What great news that the Government has launched a national strategy for young people: ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State noted in her ministerial foreword that there has been no young people’s national strategy for twenty years, yet young people have experienced over a decade of austerity, political and economic turmoil, and a global pandemic. Sport, arts, music and youth work are central to the ambitions of the strategy, and these services are embedded within the VCSEF sector. We will see what opportunities the new year brings.
Finally, it is more important now than ever that we work together in partnership and support each other.
The next VCSEF Alliance takes place on Thursday 22nd January 2026, from 10:30am – 1:00pm (10:15 registration, 12:30-1pm lunch) at The Workspace, All Saints Rd, Wolverhampton WV2 1EL. Book your place here.
If there are any issues that you would like to raise or anything that you would like to hear more about, please contact me.
If you would like more information, please remember to check out our website and newsletter regularly – there is always new information, and opportunities are always presenting themselves.
Once again, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen
Chief Executive Officer