"Government must work with Civil Society"
This is the message of a unique short documentary film, The Big Society: A View from the Frontline, commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Launched today in Westminster by the Prime Minister's Big Society adviser Lord Wei, the film gave frontline managers and volunteers the opportunity to give their view of the Big Society.
Gulbenkian Foundation Director Andrew Barnett said: "We have heard a lot from policy makers and thinkers about the Big Society but very little from those who are working on the ground and the beneficiaries of their work. Five very diverse civil society organisations were asked: How do they connect to their communities? What do they think the Big Society means? What is their contribution to - and their big ask of - the Big Society?"
"It is clear from our film that charities, voluntary and community organisations want to be part of the debate around the Big Society. Many organisations feel they are delivering the Big Society already - and have been doing so for years - and they are keen to have their voices heard. They all have considerable experience and expertise to offer and believe that with the right help from central and local government they could do more. They want politicians and public officials not just to pay lip service to involving communities and volunteers but to ensure that they are part of the policy discussion at the beginning."
Lord Wei added: "The Big Society represents an important opportunity for civil society organisations. At its core is the notion of shared responsibility where each sector of society can take part, including citizens, government, civil society and business. I welcome this contribution which highlights the important contributions that citizens and civic entrepreneurs are playing already."
Key points made to national and local government by frontline organisations:
• Involve the voluntary and community sector in policy making not just delivery
• Make the commissioning process less bureaucratic
• Recognise that volunteers require support and don't come 'free'
• Enable long-term unemployed to volunteer for more than 16 hours a week
• Speed up CRB checks
• Recognise that payment by results is not always practicable - prevention cannot be measured
• Recognise that charities must be business-like
• Recognise that stability of funding is essential in this period of transition
See a short version of the film on You Tube
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1 The Big Society: A View from the Frontline is a short film and booklet commissioned and produced by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK.
2 For further information on this release or for a copy of the booklet please contact:
Felicity Luard on 020 7012 1410, 07766348631, fluard@gulbenkian.org.uk
A View from the Frontline: Background Note
The Participating Organisations:
Bournemouth Churches Housing Association • Samaritans • City Gateway Women's Project, London • Craigmillar Community Arts, Edinburgh • Age UK Oxfordshire
Quotes:
Sarah Ward, Homelessness and Substance Misuse Manager, BCHA
"BCHA's one big ask of the Big Society would be that we're very much included, that what we're doing already is recognised. We're doing a huge amount, we feel part of the Big Society and that we are creative and innovative.
We want to be round the table with the local authorities and other partners looking at what are the actual problems and what are we already doing and what can we offer in terms of finding solutions."
Nicola Peckett, Head of Communications, Samaritans:
"We are engaged in the Big Society debate, because this is how Samaritans has provided its service for the last five decades. We can bring to the table the grass-roots view of what local communities are really feeling and thinking and we would like that to come from the bottom up.
Measuring impact for us is always very difficult because we don't know who calls us - Samaritans is an anonymous service."
Beth Johnston, Head of Women's Programmes, City Gateway:
"The Big society is something that's really exciting for us but a lot of it is still unknown at the moment and that uncertainty makes it very difficult to plan.... One big concern is the transition ... we don't want to lose good staff, we don't want to lose momentum because of this lack of short-term support."
Rabea Begum, Volunteer:
"One of the key mottos of this place is 'learn, grow and develop', and I believe that strongly ... you learn you grow, you develop and then you go out into the community and ... help others do the same thing."
Nick Shaw, Service User/Volunteer, Craigmillar Community Arts
One of the problems with volunteering, because I'm unemployed, is that you can only volunteer for 16 hours. If you try and volunteer over 16 hours, they'll cut your benefits. It seems a bit daft to me because I'm not only volunteering here, I was also volunteering for Leith Festival - I was visual arts co-ordinator for Leith Festival - but I had to knock it on the head because I was getting threatened with having my benefits cut.
Bee Myson, Manager Banbury Centre, Age UK Oxfordshire
"One of the issues when dealing with large numbers of volunteers is that of CRB checking. If we're going to increase the number of volunteers then we're going to have to ensure that the process of CRB checking is as smooth as possible. It would be really helpful if delays in the CRB checking process were ironed out.
I think ... if we were asked what we wanted of the Big Society, it would be very difficult to answer that question without referring to financial resources. When it boils down to it, volunteer services don't come free, we have to resource them, if we want more volunteers we're going to need to resource them with more support from staff, and in order to do that we are going to have to use the 'R' word."
A View from the Frontline: Voluntary and Community Sector 'Asks':
Involvement - Government and the public sector should recognise and respect the contribution of people in voluntary and community organisations and fully utilise them; not just in the delivery of services but in policy-making at both local and national level.
The commissioning process for publicly funded services should be less bureaucratic, less prescriptive and easier to navigate.
Volunteering - Government should recognise that volunteers need resourcing. They offer a great deal but they do not come 'free'; to varying degrees volunteers require training, mentoring and support.
Unemployed people often use some of their time to volunteer but there are restrictions on the ability of the long-term unemployed to volunteer for more than 16 hours each week.
Speeding up the process of CRB checks would greatly assist the efficient recruitment of volunteers.
Evaluation - Government needs to recognise that payment by results will not always be practicable for organisations working intensely and over time. Those organisations that work with the most disadvantaged and with people who have multiple problems and needs cannot easily calculate what they have prevented from happening in terms of financial and social costs.
Funding - There is a need for stability of funding during the current period of transition and in the longer term voluntary and social sector organisations require support through frequent reorganisations of government services.
For these organisations, longer-term funding is often more effective than short-term 'project' funding.
The public sector should appreciate that charities need to take a business-like approach to their costs if a more robust and capable voluntary and social sector is to be developed.
About the Foundation:
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is an international charitable foundation with cultural, educational, social and scientific interests. Based in Lisbon with offices in London and Paris, the Foundation is in a privileged position to support national and transnational work tackling contemporary issues. The purpose of the UK Branch in London is to connect and enrich the experiences of individuals, families and communities, with a special interest in supporting those who are most disadvantaged. One of our current aims is to contribute to the enhanced effectiveness of the organisations we work with across the sector in order to maximise social and cultural value. www.gulbenkian.org.uk
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