Partner Article

Recession advice for VCS

Charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises in the North East are being offered support to help them through the recession.

One North East, along with other public sector bodies, is showing ‘third sector’ organisations how they can become more resilient.

Following the completion of a Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) survey, Surviving Not Thriving, which looked at the impact of the recession on the Third Sector, an event was organised which was attended by dozens of representatives from the North East’s frontline and infrastructure organisations.

Jo Curry, Chief Executive of VONNE, said: “Whether a beneficiary presents themselves to a voluntary, public or private sector organisation, we need to ensure that we are able to access the best support available to help meet their needs. This event, organised by VONNE, was the start of a process of information sharing and partnership working within the sector which aims to meet that goal.”

Delegates heard from a range of representatives from regional public sector organisations including Jobcentre Plus, County Durham and Darlington Community Foundation, Business Link and Durham County Council about some of the support available to help their beneficiaries during the recession.

Suzzanne Henderson, Employability Senior Specialist at One North East, said: “The priority during the recession has very much been on the support available to the business community and while that remains of the utmost importance, we did accept that there was a need to offer more assistance to the Third Sector.

“The event proved extremely valuable, not only giving public sector organisations like One North East the opportunity to look at what support we can give, but also showed those within the Third Sector how working together can lead to a more stable and resilient foundation.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .