The Social Futures Institute is the longest established of four major institutes at the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough. The Institute investigates ways of tackling social exclusion and building sustainable communities, and, over the last few years, it has become well known in North East England and nationally as a significant contributor to VCS research, evaluation and policy development. The Third Sector Development Unit was established as a way of capturing this expertise by bringing together academics, researchers and practitioners from across the University. Members of the Institute’s research team have a track record in the evaluation of policy initiatives and services including neighbourhood renewal, crime and criminal justice, public health, education, social cohesion and neighbourhood management.
www.tees.ac.uk
The University of Southampton’s School of Social Sciences has strengths across all research methodologies, with a particular concentration of expertise in advanced quantitative methods. The University is home to the largest group of demographers and social statisticians in the country; research expertise in methodology and applications of Statistics is brought together in the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute (S3RI) which has a particular focus on statistics for social policy. The School of Social Sciences hosts the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) (which has a remit covering both quantitative and qualitative methods). Interdisciplinary research centres, such as the Centre for Citizenship and Democracy are also a feature of the school.
www.southampton.ac.uk
GuideStar UK is an independent charity which maintains a free public website presenting a comprehensive database of the activities and finances of charities. GuideStar UK also delivers web applications, such as Local Government Intelligence, which utilise the comprehensive database to promote higher levels of engagement between key audiences and the Third Sector. GuideStar UK’s information is presented on the website and through a range of web applications designed for specific audiences. GuideStar UK has now established basic regulatory information for all incorporated organisations and is developing robust and sustainable data capture processes to ensure that all third sector organisations have data comparable to that held for registered charities. GuideStar UK data provides the basis for NCVO’s UK Voluntary Sector Almanac and has been utilised in a number of central government reports and regional and local studies.
www.guidestar.org.uk
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the leading umbrella body for charities and voluntary and community organisations in England. It has over 5,000 members ranging from national household name charities to an increasing number of small, ‘grass roots’ community groups. NCVO represents these organisations on issues including funding and finance, governance and employment, and works with policy makers across government to improve the environment in which VCOs work to support beneficiaries. NCVO’s Research Team aims to support the development of effective policy and practice, working closely with practitioners, academics and decision-makers. Its expertise covers: analysis of the VCS economy, covering funding and finance issues; charitable giving by the public; workforce and employment issues, including skills needs; active citizenship and civil renewal; performance reporting; and strategic environmental and trends analysis.
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
Newcastle Council for Voluntary Service (NCVS) is a long-established infrastructure agency whose remit is to support voluntary action in Newcastle. It does this by:
NCVS has pioneered research into the voluntary sector in its area with three reports: The Voluntary Sector in Newcastle upon Tyne 2001; The Voluntary Sector in Newcastle upon Tyne 2005; In Depth: 8 Case Studies (the Voluntary and Community Sector in Newcastle upon Tyne, Part 2).
www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk
Cumbria CVS is the new infrastructure support agency for the region. Drawing on the expertise of four constituent former agencies, it will provide organisational development support and representation for the voluntary and community sector in across the county. www.thirdsectorcumbria.org.uk/support_CumbriaCVS.htmltop of page