Charities are working hard to keep up with demand.
Read a report here:
https://www.probonoeconomics.com/breaching-the-dam-the-state-of-the-charity-sector
There are also looming workforce challenges facing the Third Sector. Over the last two years, 20 per cent of Third Sector employers have found it harder
to retain staff and 43 per cent have experienced recruitment problems.
Regular volunteers produce about one fifth of the ‘energy’ that the Third Sector injects into its work. And in micro and small organisations, volunteers put in all or most of that energy. 80 per cent of organisations say that they rely mainly on volunteers who can commit time on a very regular basis.
There are about 4.3 million regular volunteers working in the Third Sector. In workload terms, this is equivalent to 190,000 full-time equivalent employees.
Over a quarter of organisations (26%) have been losing volunteers who joined them during the Coronavirus pandemic. 41 per cent of the biggest organisations (income £1million - £25million) are losing these volunteers compared with 18 per cent of the smallest TSOs (income below £10,000).
“We have seen issues of recruitment across many sectors in the UK,
the NHS perhaps being the highest profile, but it is clear it is hitting
the charitable sector hard too and our communities will suffer. The last
three years have seen the sector step up to support the most vulnerable
in our communities, first during covid and now the cost-of-living crisis,
but they are burnt out and many are leaving. With increased costs and
reduced funding, organisations aren’t always able to pay high enough
wages to attract staff. We and many other funders are looking at how
we can support them to raise wages and cover costs. Our cost-of-living
fund is supporting organisations over the winter to do that - but more
needs to be done” Rob Williamson Chief Executive of the Community Foundation
Read More:
Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022: Employees, volunteers,
diversity and investment in people
State of the social sector survey November 2022: VCSE Data and Insights National Observatory Pro Bono Economics
https://www.probonoeconomics.com/breaching-the-dam-the-state-of-the-charity-sector
