Voluntary and Community Groups in North Lanarkshire
FACTSHEET
Introduction
This Factsheet is based on research carried out for North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Organisations Network. This was done by two independent research consultants, Margaret Lindsay and Peter Taylor. We sent a survey form to every group that was believed to exist in the North Lanarkshire area. The figures here are drawn from the replies to that survey. We also talked to some groups in more depth, and to people from existing support groups and agencies. Any opinions stated in this Factsheet are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of Network. The research was carried out in summer 1999.
How many groups?
Groups have previously been asked to join the North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Organisations Database. 385 local groups have done so. But we knew that far more groups are active in the area. With the help of support groups and Council staff, we were able to include 1,332 names and addresses in the survey. Of course some of these were out of date or inaccurate (Network would still like to know about any examples). But others could be added - less complete lists were available for some parts of the area than others.
So we estimate there are probably about 1,500 groups active in the area. Between them they probably:
- involve around 8,000 voluntary Committee members
- have between 50,000 and 100,000 other members
- make use of perhaps 20,000 active volunteers
- employ at least 2,500 people (even though only around one in three have any staff).
This is a big contribution to the life of the local community - and to the local economy as well. But could it be bigger? The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations has made a rough estimate of how many groups are active in Scotland as a whole. If North Lanarkshire had an equal share of the total, based on its population, then there would be not 1,500 but 2,850 active groups here. Is there an untapped potential here, which could be realised with more support and encouragement?
What type of groups?
Over half of the groups in the survey are independent. The rest (40%) are branches of a wider organisation. Just over a third are recognised charities. The vast majority have a formal written constitution, but only a few (6%) operate as not-for-profit companies.
Voluntary and community groups have a wide variety of purposes. We asked them to choose two ways to describe themselves. Here is a summary of the replies.
Most groups are small - over half have less than 25 members (not counting Committee); over half have an annual income of less than £2,000.
What support?
Only fairly small minorities get the majority of their income from membership fees or by charging for activities. A lot of effort goes into fundraising, but most groups nowadays also get at least some help from funding bodies. As the diagram shows, North Lanarkshire Council has helped far more groups than any other single agency, with grants both large and small. A growing minority have received support from the National Lottery.
Groups can also get some support from their parent bodies, if they have them, from forums of similar groups - or from bodies set up to help and represent voluntary groups generally, such as Councils of Voluntary Organisations. These are relatively weak in North Lanarkshire. In the Monklands area, almost half the groups surveyed belong to MAVS (Monklands Association of Voluntary Service). But in the Motherwell, Bellshill and Wishaw areas less than 20% belonged to their local organisation CAVOC (which has had funding problems) and no such group is available elsewhere in the area.
What help would they want?
We asked groups about any assistance which they currently got or needed with their activities. Many groups have got well-established ways of working which suit them perfectly well. But almost half (48%) identified some aspect of their work with which help was needed, but not much was available. The possibilities covered a wide range of practical help, training etc., but the most ‘popular’ aspects were:
- Information about funding sources
- Help with funding applications
- Information about policies of public bodies
- Representing views to public bodies.
Even more groups would welcome some additional support, without feeling that little or none was currently available. For example few felt ‘not much help was available’ with training: yet over 60% named some type of training which they would like to get more of. This was mostly for their Committee members.
Where could support come from?
Over 85% could identify at least one role that they would like a Council of Voluntary Organisations (sometimes called a ‘CVS’)to fill. There was not one overwhelming preference - a wide range of roles were nominated by different groups. Almost as many would also like to see more help from North Lanarkshire Council with each of these things. The groups we talked to said things like:
“A local CVS would be useful to provide information and support on funding and training in practical skills”
“We’re not sure about the role of a CVS but feel that the voluntary sector needs a stronger voice”
“This would be beneficial to the wider community but not necessarily to our group”
The Scottish Minister responsible has recently made it clear that she “intends to make sure that community activists in all parts of Scotland have a local CVS to turn to for support”. Because of this, and the attitudes of North Lanarkshire Council, the National Lottery and others, we think that there is a big potential to improve what is available in North Lanarkshire - provided that all local groups can get together and come up with workable proposals.
This means sorting out issues like:
- what should be the different roles of the Council, specialist groups like Community Care Forums or Sports Councils, and ‘umbrella’ groups like CVSs?
- what kinds of support can practically be organised at a North Lanarkshire wide level (in spite of the transport difficulties)?
- which areas are best served from which centres?
We asked groups to say where it was most reasonable for someone who provided each kind of help to be based (if necessary at all). The options were:
· Beyond North Lanarkshire
· North Lanarkshire wide
· Our main local centre (i.e. Cumbernauld, the Monklands, Motherwell)
· Somewhere more local.
Adding all the replies for all the different types of help together gives this result.
I
In our view this shows:
- a realistic appreciation that such services cannot be provided in every local community
- a strong preference for most things to be organised around the three main former District Centres (this was stated by the groups from each of these areas separately)
- a willingness to accept that some things might practically be organised at North Lanarkshire level.
This should be a good basis for groups to come together for fuller discussions and consultations about what is feasible.