Northern Rock Foundation

Evidence from local infrastructure agencies raises questions about the way charities and other third sector organisations are responding to changes in government policies, funding arrangements and the wider economic climate.

Mosaic, Jigsaw or Abstract is first publication from Northern Rock Foundation’s Third Sector Trends Study, which aims to provide detailed analysis of the scale, role and dynamics of charities, social enterprises and community groups in North East England and Cumbria. A team led by Professor Tony Chapman at the University of Teesside and Professor Fred Robinson from Durham University has interviewed 29 chief officers from the main local, sub-regional and regional infrastructure organisations that support third sector organisations in the region.

Interviewees described a general belief that grants are reducing in number and becoming harder to obtain and that public sector contracts favour larger organisations at the expense of smaller, local groups. Respondents thought that the sector was weak at representing its own interests and marketing what it does well to its beneficiaries, funders and the media. Larger third sector organisations that are entrepreneurial, opportunistic and well connected were thought to be doing best. Monitoring and communicating performance, risk assessment, and capacity to manage legal and financial matters were seen as priorities for sector skills development.

Professor Tony Chapman of the University of Teesside said: “All political parties agree that charities and the wider third sector should play a central role in delivering public services, tackling social problems and strengthening civil society. But trying to apply a single set of policies to such a diverse range of organisations is challenging and contentious. The title of our report refers to some of the ways people think about the sector. A mosaic suggests a unified picture, but made up of distinctive and separate parts. A jigsaw assumes that the sector’s component parts connect coherently. In an abstract, however, meaning depends on the point of view of the observer who may apply their own sets of values and expectations. To those seeking clarity and order, the sector may look chaotic.”

Professor Cathy Pharoah, chair of the Foundation’s advisory group for the Third Sector Trends Study, said: “The Government’s first study for the National Indicator of a thriving local voluntary sector has revealed that local organisations prize highly the ability to influence local decisions. But what are the means and processes by which they can do so? The sector’s dynamics and access to information and networks is a key area within Northern Rock Foundation’s study. As this first report shows, assumptions about the resources and reach of infrastructure bodies may be unrealistic, neglecting the need to invest in the infrastructure itself. I congratulate Northern Rock Foundation’s Trustees and staff, for their foresight in commissioning this innovative study, and I look forward to further dissemination of findings, which this publication kicks off.”

Work on the Third Sector Trends Study commenced in April 2008 with a major data gathering exercise led by Professor John Mohan of the University of Southampton, with colleagues at NCVO and Guidestar UK. The process of putting together comprehensive data on organisations whose records appear on official registers, including the Charity Commission’s, is being complemented by an effort to capture unregistered, ‘under the radar’ groups through compiling local listings held by funders, umbrella bodies and local authorities.

In autumn 2009, the Foundation will begin publishing data on the characteristics of both registered and unregistered organisations in the region. Professors Chapman and Robinson will then set up a large scale panel survey using Professor Mohan’s comprehensive database, so ensuring it is representative of the sector as a whole. The panel work will explore the experiences of different types of organisations in more depth. The team will also be talking to a wide range of funders, public bodies and other stakeholders to get their views and an understanding of the context in which the sector works.

Ends

Notes to editors

Northern Rock Foundation is a charity and company limited by guarantee with an independent Board of Trustees that makes all decisions on governance, finance and policy. The Foundation aims to tackle disadvantage and improve quality of life in North East England and Cumbria. To do this, it invests money, time and expertise in charitable activities using several tools including grants, loans, training, research and demonstration projects. The Foundation’s work is delivered by a professional staff team of 13 based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Foundation was established when Northern Rock demutualised in 1997. Up to December 2007, the bank gave, by covenant, 5% of its annual pre-tax profits to the Foundation, totalling more than £190 million. The Foundation will receive a minimum of £15m a year in 2008, 2009 and 2010 from Northern Rock, as part of the arrangement under which the bank was taken into temporary public ownership. Maintaining this arrangement is a condition of any sale of the bank in that period. The Government has asked the bank’s board to identify a viable long-term future for the Foundation.

The Foundation’s Third Sector Trends Study aims to provide detailed information about and analysis of the scale, role and dynamics of these diverse organisations in North East England and Cumbria, with a complementary strand covering Yorkshire and Humberside. In particular, the study will develop, test and share more effective research tools for reaching organisations traditionally absent from official data. The first phase of the research commenced in April 2008.

More information

•     Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends Study:
•     www.nr-foundation.org.uk/thirdsectortrends

The full report A Mosaic, Jigsaw or an Abstract? Getting a big picture perspective on the Third Sector in North East England and Cumbria by Tony Chapman, Fred Robinson, Judith Brown, Sue Shaw, Chris Ford, Emma Bailey and Robert Crow, June 2009, is available to download free of charge from the website above.